When I Googled, “Differences between east coast and the Midwest,” Google corrected me. “Do you mean east coast and west coast?”
Of course. Who would bother to even research the Midwest? The coasts are just better, right? Maybe I sort of even felt that way too, until I found out about the snit.
What’s the snit, you ask? Well, this reprobate had never heard of it either, until a recent breakfast—just go ahead and assume this was a weekend—when a friend took me to a non-descript, earnest sort of diner in Madison. We ordered Bloody Marys, because it was breakfast and we aren’t animals, and the waiter uttered the most magical words I had ever heard:
“We have two beers on tap for your snit.”
After attempting to research, I can report the snit is so wonderfully Midwestern it isn’t even in the Wikipedia, though the urban dictionary, god bless it, has “3 ounces of beer served with a Bloody Mary” as the first definition of snit, even before “unreasonable fit of anger.”
A couple of snooty food sites seem to have consensus about the origins. To sum: Snits began in Minnesota, where Bloody Marys used to be made with beer. Bartenders never used the whole can because they had to make room for the tomato juice and the celery and the beef-tack or whatever else they were putting in it.
Minnesotans, as even casual listeners to Prairie Home Companion can attest, are something of a thrifty bunch and not about to waste the remaining 3 to 5 ounces of beer. This they poured into a lowball and served it alongside.
The snit has made its way to Wisconsin and, hopefully (if Rauner doesn’t screw this up too), it’ll be de rigueur in Illinois soon.
Why is it called a snit? Don’t know, don’t care. But Midwest VS East Coast? For me that’s now settled.
I’m Dan Libman, and that’s my Perspective.
