1. Citizenship
What it means everywhere else: American.
What it means in Alaska: Alaskan citizen first, American citizen second.
2. Reindeer
What it means everywhere else: That Rudolph guy you’ve been singing about since you were a kid.
What it means in Alaska: The caribou that you run side-by-side with for Fur Rondy.
3. Sarah Palin
What it means everywhere else: “I have this hilarious Sarah Palin joke…”
What it means in Alaska: “Hey, I have a joke too. It’s shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up. Then? Shut up.”
4. Mushing
What it means everywhere else: What you did to your potatoes for dinner last night, or what you do to a cute widdle baby’s cheeks.
What it means in Alaska: Driving a sled with a team of dogs, like Iditarod. Be very jealous.
5. Roadblocks
What it means everywhere else: Construction or some other random inconvenience keeping you from getting to work in time.
What it means in Alaska: Oh, you know, it’s just a Grizzly bear. No big deal. We’ll wait.
6. Adventure
What it means everywhere else: The bucket list of things you want to try, if only you could get to where you need to go to do them.
What it means in Alaska: What awaits you in your backyard.
7. Winter Coat
What it means everywhere else: What you wear when the temperature drops below about 50 degrees, give or take 10 degrees depending on just how rough and tough you are.
What it means in Alaska: Coat? What is this, the Midwest? We don’t need no stinkin’ coat.
8. Spring Carnival
What it means everywhere else: When the colorful tents, ferris wheels and funnel cake come to town.
What it means in Alaska: Skis, costumes, and ice-cold water plunging.
9. Sourdough
What it means everywhere else: A delicious bread that can double as a bowl. In other words, the perfect bread.
What it means in Alaska: A longtime (or forever) Alaskan native, otherwise known as the ultimate frontiersmen who make Davy Crocket weep in embarrassment for being such a wuss.
10. Igloos
What it means everywhere else: What everybody in Alaska lives in.
What it means in Alaska: The thing no one in Alaska has ever seen, let alone lived in.
11. Solitude
What it means everywhere else: What you had to wait six months to find, when you were finally able to go for a walk on the beach alone. With 200 other people.
What it means in Alaska: The peace you can find whenever you want. All you have to do is go outside.
12. Gigantic
What it means everywhere else: Texas-sized everything.
What it means in Alaska: Oh, please. Try Alaska-sized everything. And considering that Alaska could swallow half of the country for breakfast, I’d also suggest not worrying about messing with Texas and worry instead about not messing with Alaska.
13. Hot Dogs
What it means everywhere else: The wieners made of either pork or beef that you usually get during a baseball game.
What it means in Alaska: The glorious world of reindeer sausages. You’ll never look at a traditional hot dog the same way ever again.
14. Snowmobile
What it means everywhere else: A jetski for snow that you’ve only ever seen ski patrol use.
What it means in Alaska: A snowmachine. A jetski for snow that you actually use regularly.
15. ATV
What it means everywhere else: That nifty picture box that brings Back To The Future and other movies into your living room.
What it means in Alaska: Roads? Where we’re going, we don’t need roads.
16. The North Pole
What it means everywhere else: The place where Santa had his elves make your toys… When you believed in such a thing, that is.
What it means in Alaska: Go ahead, say Santa isn’t real… If you dare.
17. Grocery Shopping
What it means everywhere else: Heading to the supermarket to grab some food for the week.
What it means in Alaska: Heading out on the boat to catch dinner for the week.
18. Aurora Borealis
What it means everywhere else: A bucket list phenomenon.
What it means in Alaska: Everyone’s night lights.
19. Salt
What it means everywhere else: What they lay on the roads before it snows to help it melt, if you’re lucky.
What it means in Alaska: The sand and gravel that they use on the roads to melt the snow instead, which totally works. Your car is constantly covered in a chalk-white coating, but at least it won’t eat the paint job away that you have underneath it somewhere.
20. Java
What it means everywhere else: Starbucks
What it means in Alaska: Espresso huts. There are more in Anchorage per capita than anywhere else in the country. Take that, Seattle.
21. Water
What it means everywhere else: The stuff you filter from your tap or buy in bottles.
What it means in Alaska: The liquid diamonds that run from your faucet, making the water the best-tasting on the continent.
22. Crab
What it means everywhere else: Saucer-sized crustaceans in the seafood section of the grocery.
What it means in Alaska: Alaska King Crab. Literally the king of all crabs. Everything else is just imitation.
23. Ice
What it means everywhere else: The stuff keeping your Diet Coke cold.
What it means in Alaska: The world around you. And it’s getting smaller with every passing year.
24. Art
What it means everywhere else: Looking at the picture hanging on your wall.
What it means in Alaska: Looking out your picture window.
25. Allowance
What it means everywhere else: What you used to beg your parents for so you could afford to buy a CD, a magazine, and a piece of pizza all in one shot, the big spender you were.
What it means in Alaska: PFD DAY! Buy all the things!!
26. Hot Tub
What it means everywhere else: Where you chill to catch up with the grannies at the YMCA.
What it means in Alaska: Natural hot springs, where the water is hot but the climate is sub-arctic, and you love every minute of it until your body hits the cold air and you begin cursing the person who had this brilliant idea.
27. Slide
What it means everywhere else: The plastic 10 foot slide at the playground that you haven’t gone down since you were about 11 years old.
What it means in Alaska: Life is short. Slide fast.
28. Daytime
What it means everywhere else: When the sun is out for around 12 hours of the day, every day, all year long.
What it means in Alaska: The prolonged sunlight of the summer months. It’s much more distressing than the prolonged darkness, contrary to popular belief.
29. Nature
What it means everywhere else: Where you go to rough it.
What it means in Alaska: Your majestic second home.
30. Perspective
What it means everywhere else: What you’re reminded of when something bad happens to someone else.
What it means in Alaska: What Alaska reminds you of every day. There’s nowhere you can go where you will feel like your problems are bigger and more important in the grand scheme of everything. Beauty has a way of doing that.
What other words mean something different in the Alaska? Tell us in the comments below! 
