Dylan Schneider Answers, ‘What Is a Hoosier?’

What is a Hoosier? That is the question that is usually thrown around by opposing fans when the University of Indiana takes the court or the field.

After all, where does such a unique nickname come from? If you check the dictionary it comes back with: "a native or inhabitant of the State of Indiana." Seems pretty straight forward right? Not so fast, as there are actually some much better explanations.

When Dylan Schneider, a native of Indiana, joined Taste of Country Mornings with Wood and Nicole that was on my mind, so I asked Schneider and the artist had a great answer.

"It comes from back in the day when people would answer the door with 'Who's here?' and that term got shortened up to 'Whoser?'"

Believe it or not, he may be on to something. According to some research there are many answers to the question. A poem called "A Hoosiers Nest" from 1826 is sometimes citied, but many Indiana residents, like Dylan, believe it comes from the shortening of the greeting. Works for us I guess?

Somehow or another, when Indiana joined the Big Ten in 1899, they went by the name of the Hoosiers and it stuck. Of course, the moniker was borrowed for the title of the 1986 Gene Hackman led cult classic about high school basketball Hoosiers.

No matter how it got started, it isn't going away anytime soon.

Dylan Schneider is getting ready for the release of his upcoming album Puzzled, which is set to hit shelves on Sept. 27.

Wood is host of the Taste of Country Mornings With Wood and Nicole, which can be heard every morning from 6-10AM CT on the Taste of Country app, on local affiliates where available and online at tasteofcountry.com.