ESCANABA, Mich. (AP) — The term "yooper" is getting recognition in the dictionary.
Residents of Michigan's Upper Peninsula call themselves "yoopers." The Daily Press of Escanaba and MLive.com report officials announced Monday that the term will appear in the 2014 edition of Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, which goes on sale next month.
The entry follows more than a decade of efforts by Gladstone resident Steve Parks, who starting writing the dictionary's editors about "yooper" in 2002. Parks began the personal endeavor after a friend challenged his use of the word in a game of Scrabble.
Parks, the Delta County prosecutor, was in private practice when he started writing about the word.
"Yooper," a noun, is expected to be defined as "a native or resident of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan — used as a nickname."
Hans Ahlström is the host of several programs including the daily musical variety show Weekday, the mostly straight ahead jazz show Night Studio, the self explanatory Blues Today, and the eclectic Sound Spectrum. You can also hear Hans as the local host of NPR's All Things Considered news magazine. He also helps manage Public Radio 90's web content, interviews local and visiting writers and artists, works with NMU student interns, and writes the occasional news story.