What is that? In what sort of context is it used? What (if anything) is it used to mean?
Example:
We were cleaning up the shop, picking up all the nuts, bolts, washers and what not when we heard the phone ring.
Well, in that case it is standard English usage, attested in the OED as long long ago as 1540.
I thought this was supposed to be a thread about odd, regional linguistic quirks, not well established standard idioms.
What is up with it? Nothing is up with it. It is part of the English language.
Is “what not” Midwestern, too? I thought it was universal.
edit: I see njtt confirms my suspicions.
That’s nowhere near a Wisconsinism. It’s pretty much just conventional slang now. We’ve had threads asking about it.
Also, “then” at the end of a sentence connects the sentence to the previous one, and can convert it into a question." E.g. “The park would be a lot of fun.” “You wanna go, then?” The latter statement is more fully rendered, “Since you think the park would be a lot of fun, are you saying you would like us to go? I think it would be a good idea, and I’ll go with you if you do.”
Another Wisconsinism:
‘Who’s she/he from?’ = who are her people, how would I know them?
This was common in South Dakota; confused me when I first heard it.
Don’t forget “go down by” - and not just in sentences where it might make sense, like, “You wanna go down by the lake?” but also “We’re going down by Piggly Wiggly.” (a grocery store chain)
I don’t know if it’s true, but that’s another usage that supposedly was influenced by the grammar of German immigrants.
I’ve lived in south-central Wisconsin for 25 years and have never noticed the “yet.” What I have noticed is “and that.” It’s sort of used like “et cetera.”
“I went to the grocery store and that.” could mean I went to the grocery store, got gas and went to the hardware store. Or it could mean I only went to the grocery store and it’s just a habit to tack “and that” onto the end of every sentence.
Yeah, I had my doubts that it was a regional thing. Glad the OED confirmed it.
Also common in American contemporary urban speech in the variant, “and shit,” or more politely, “and stuff.”
I misunderstood “what not.” In that context, I’d expect to see it spelled as one word, “whatnot.”
Try being a professional cook and having to hear this several times a day from a coworker.
Nah, I hear that (and say it myself) all the time in Washington (state). I’ve never been anywhere near Wisconsin.
That almost sounds like it’s being used to confirm an unspoken question.
This link may be of interest. Unfortunately the entire dictionary isn’t online.
Brian
Here’s one guy’s compendium. He acknowledges that “Soda vs "pop” is debatable as a Wisconsinism (although I’ve never heard it called “pop” there); supports my “come with,” (I won’t fight that it’s only used in Wisconsin, just testify that I’ve never heard it used in any of the nine other states I’ve lived in (including 11 years in Mr Rik’s Washington);and considers “bubbler” for water fountain as being pan-Wisconsin, though among all the Wisconsinites I knew that was understood to be exclusivley Milwaukeean usage.
I think what you’re hearing is “ain’t so?”, as in “ain’t it so?”, as in “isn’t it so?”, as in “isn’t it true?”
They know how to say “ain’t” around here, and en-so ain’t it.
Besides saying “ain’t”, I also hear “mayn’t” a lot too. As in “may not”. “Momma says I mayn’t come out and play 'cause it’s Sunday”.
Sheboygan? Do you still have to submit your color sceme to the Kohlers-that-be before you can paint your house there?
That only ever applied to the Village of Kohler, and it still applies there.
I was born in central WI and have lived here all my life.
Loved the joke about Oconomowoc. I think that is my absolute favorite WI place name. Love to think about how tourists must mangle it.
I also ask if people want to come with (or better yet, “Do you want to come with, or no?”).
Also, FWIW, I always drink out of bubblers and always have (even if they’re not the particularly bubbly kind). “Water fountain” just sounds, I dunno, pretentious or something, like calling the living room your “salon.” I love that our locally owned grocery store has an official sign over the bubbler that says “Bubbler.” 
And yeah, “en-so” is just a sloppy way of saying “and so” to my ear.
Never heard the “yet” thing.
Thank goodness for **AllShookDown **and **Scarlett67 **- I was about to think I’d gone bonkers. I wasn’t born in Wisconsin, but my parents moved there when I was 6. In 2001, I moved to Minnesota, meaning that I’ve lived in one of the two states for 28 years now. I’ve never heard the “yet” construction. I have heard the “then” one, though.
“Bubbler” is strictly Milwaukee. Say that in Eau Claire and people’ll look at you funny. But “come with” is in full force (and is awesome, BTW). Bring/take and loan/borrow is madness, however.