Hoosier
Hoosiers is a slang name for the people of the U.S. state of Indiana. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the etymology of the name is unknown but it has been in use since at least 1826. When said by non-Indianans, the term is often used as gentle ridicule--humorist Dave Barry has suggested that it comes from "the sound pigs make when they sneeze".
According to Bill Bryson, there are many suggestions for the derivation of the word Hoosier, but none is universally accepted.
One of them is that the word derived from a contractor in 1825 named either Samuel Hoosier or Hoosher. His workers, who helped build a canal on the Ohio River, were predominantly from Indiana. They were called "Hoosier's men" or "Hoosiers".
A more gruesome, and most likely untrue, meaning to the term relates to many a fight that happened in the taverns and inns in the early 19th century. A common practice during fights was to attempt to remove their opponent's ear by biting or cutting it off. Afterwards, it's said, someone would hold up the ear and yell "Who's ear?", which became the basis for "hoosier".
Another—probably more plausible—explanation is that the term may derive from "hoozer"—a word that in the Cumberland dialect of Old England means "high hills".
Hoosiers is the team name for Indiana University Bloomington athletic teams.
Hoosiers is also the name of a movie about basketball in Indiana.