Where does Minnesota’s Wrong ‘Duck Duck Gray Duck’ Come From?
My wife is from Minnesota. She lives up to many of the stereotypes of one hailing from the land of ten thousand lakes. Including saying the name of a children's game wrong.
Despite living in South Dakota now for about half of her life, she is still Minnesota nice. She loves to go "up to da lake" to travel to the lake but only goes "down to da lake" when she walks to the dock or shore from a car or camper nearby.
She also calls it "Duck, Duck, Gray Duck."
For the moment I will suspend my conviction that she and the entire state of Minnesota are wrong in their assertion that the circular seated game of youth is not "Duck, Duck, Goose" but "Duck, Duck, Gray Duck." Why do they say it this way? It comes down to history. From WCCO.com:
"...there are two (versions of the game) in particular that come from Sweden. One called “Anka Anka Gås,” which translates into “Duck, Duck Goose.” Another is “Anka Anka Grå Anka,” which translates into “Duck, Duck, Gray Duck.” He believes the Swedes with that version likely made their way to Minnesota."
So "Duck, Duck, Gray Duck" is a real thing and it actually comes from the same place as "Duck, Duck, Goose," Sweden.
So how do we get Minnesota to quit saying the name of the game wrong? I don't think it is possible. They are stubborn. If a bunch of people live in a place that has arguably the coldest and harshest winters of any state in the lower 48, and they don't voluntarily leave, you probably can't convince them to change the name of their game.
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