Illinois slang is part traffic report, part food order barked at 1.25x speed, and part civic pride yelled from a bleacher seat. If these live rent-free in your brain, you didn’t just visit—you shoveled out a spot and guarded it with a busted lawn chair.
Table of Contents
Chicagoland
The metro area plus a few “trust me, it counts” counties. Locals use it like a weather map and a personality test.
The Chi
Shorthand for Chicago (say it “shy”). You’ll hear “Chi-Town” too, but “The Chi” keeps it cool.
The Loop
Downtown inside the elevated tracks. “Meeting in the Loop” = pack a Ventra card and comfortable shoes.
The ‘L’ (El)
The CTA trains, elevated and otherwise. If you’ve sprinted for a clattering Brown Line, you’re fluent.
LSD (DuSable Lake Shore Drive)
The lakefront highway with postcard views and surprise lane closures. “Hop on LSD” is not a chemistry suggestion.
The Kennedy / The Ryan / The Ike / The Edens / The Stevenson
Expressways are people here. “Kennedy’s a parking lot” is both traffic and therapy.
Dibs
Claiming your shoveled winter parking spot with chairs, cones, or an ugly end table. Not a law—more of a neighborhood treaty.
Frunchroom
Chicago dialect for the front room/living room. Grandma has plastic on the couch; respect the frunchroom.
Italian beef: dipped/wet, sweet/hot
Ordering code for the city’s signature sandwich. “Beef, dipped, hot” = gravy-soaked with spicy giardiniera; “sweet” means roasted bell peppers.
Giardiniera
The Chicago relish: oil-packed pickled peppers and veg. Put it on beef, pizza, eggs—basically everything.
“Dragged through the garden”
Chicago dog loaded with mustard, relish, onion, tomato, pickle spear, sport peppers, celery salt (no ketchup—don’t even ask).
Tavern-cut (party-cut)
Thin-crust pizza sliced into squares. Corner pieces are currency; middle pieces test your fold technique.
Malört / Chicago Handshake
Bitter local liqueur, often paired with an Old Style. One shot, two grimaces, instant membership.
The Friendly Confines
Wrigley Field’s nickname; by extension, Wrigleyville = pre/post-game patio nation. Sun, ivy, and a warning to pace your day beers.
Downstate
Everything not Chicago (definitions vary, opinions don’t). Springfield to Carbondale, it’s a whole different map with its own loyalties…