The "squinny" mystery endures
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A 13-lined squirrel. Photo: Courtesy of Eric Burson
Welcome to "Ask Axios," where we try to answer your questions about this great, sometimes weird place we live.
- Today, the emphasis is on the "try" to answer part.
Q: Axios Des Moines reader Jo Ann Kazor writes, "How did ground squirrels come to be called (squinnies)?"
A: For people who grew up in Des Moines, "squinny" is just another name for a chipmunk or ground squirrel (though some argue it specifically references a 13-lined squirrel).
- It's a local colloquialism that doesn't venture much past the central Iowa area.
State of play: We researched high and low and struck out finding the etymology of the word.
- No one on staff at the Iowa Department of Natural Resources knew where it came from.
- The hosts of the public radio show "A Way With Words" didn't know where it was born.
Yes, but: It's been in our vernacular for at least 90 years now.
Flashback: The earliest "squinny" reference we found was a photo published in the Des Moines Register in 1939 showing a woman who befriended a "squinny" and held it in her hand.
- In 1961, a Register article about the Wakonda Country Club references some golfers who claimed they taught a squinny to roll their golf balls into the hole.
- In 1980, an article focused on a poor second grader who was bitten on her thumb by a squinny who refused to let go and firefighters had to intervene.
- Still, no references to where the word comes from.
Zoom in: The 1970 academic article "Midwestern Terms for the Ground Squirrel" notes that "squinny" is used in Des Moines and nowhere else in the upper Midwest.
- It says the word is typically used to describe a generic chipmunk or ground squirrel.
- However, "grinny" is a more common reference outside of the Des Moines area.
🤝 The bottom line: Squinny, grinny, pocket gopher or streaked squirrel — whatever you call it, we're all friends here.