I was thinking about Midwest speech today because sometimes, particularly dealing with teachers or other professionals who didn't grow up here--I notice that I really struggle to understand their conversation. Like, do they mean praise? (I hear a lot of people calling a lot of things "amazing" and it always seems very overenthusiastic to me.) For a Midwesterner for whom high praise is "yeah, I could see that," or "that's not the worst idea I've ever heard," it's hard to understand how seriously to take others' more blatant positivity. :)

Thanks so much for your comment. I hope you have learned to use the crowbar when you need to!