From: utzoo!decvax!harpo!ihnss!ihps3!pcl Newsgroups: net.jokes Title: Etymology of "hoosier" Article-I.D.: ihps3.271 Posted: Fri Jun 18 09:18:43 1982 Received: Sun Jun 20 06:06:48 1982 Back in the earlier days of our country, the "not-quite-civilized West" included Indiana, Michigan, & Illinois, instead of just California and the surrounding area as it does now. At that time, apparently, Indiana experienced quite a large number of bar brawls, and it was not at all uncommon for the participants to bite off one another's ears as one way of expressing their hostility. Well, as one might imagine, cleaning up after one of these ordeals included picking up a number of unattached ears, and trying to identify their owners so they could be returned (as a keepsake, perhaps). Out of this oft heard inquiry as to "whose ear is this?", came the identification of natives of Indiana as "whose ear"s (phonetically transcribed as "hoosier"). [That's what they said on the radio, honest!]