'Yooper' to be recognized as dictionary entry

ESCANABA (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." Published: Wed, Mar 26, 2014