Accents

[methodwriter85]

I find accents to be pretty interesting. I've been checking out some videos that showcase my regional dialect, which is the Mid-Atlantic Accent. (Basically, Philadelphia/Baltimore/South New Jersey/Northern Delaware.)

 

 

The young guy's accent there was so Jersey Shore stoner there...I loved it.

 

 

I'm guilty of the elongated "o" sound. Although there were times when I listened and thought, "Wait, where's the accent?", which kind of scared me. LOL.

 

He's got a great point, too- you really don't see much representation of an accurate Philly accent- people just have them talk like they're from New York ala Rocky. It's fun- you don't have the stereotypical Yankee accent, but you don't have the Southern accent, either.

 

Anyone else love learning about and understanding accents?

[Bleu]

I still have difficulties recognizing the different American accents. I love the variety that exists in Britain, though.

 

What I love best in accents is when they seem really out of place: you expect an accent when you see a person and then some completely different accent comes out of their mouth.

I was once on a jury panel for an English exam in France and this French girl comes in and gives the jury a pretty remarkable text explanation in English. However, her accent was puzzling. I looked up her name: she was of Spanish descent. Still, it didn't explain the accent. So after she was done I asked her where she had learnt English and where her accent came from. She replied that a year prior she hardly spoke any English, but she had just spent about 10 months working for a charity in India. That explained why I suddenly felt like I was back in North-West London. It was definitely a change from ze French accent zat I 'eard all day.

[Sympathia]

Ooooh I love accents, especially a french one. It's always funny when I visit family DEEP in eastern germany and spend 2 days nodding randomly because I cant understand them before picking up on the accent again. Central Sweden is also an interesting place since there the accents differ from town to town in some areas and are almost completely incomprehensible to the uninitiated...like the german immigrant trying to hold a conversation with a friends grandmother...I honestly think she thought I was mentally challenged or something.

[Bill W]

In the US, the really noticable accents have slowly been disappearing since the 1950s. With the mobility of large segments of the population, the use of non-descript dialects in television and movies, we're slowly bleaching out regional dialects. Don't get me wrong, there are still some very noticable dialects in use, but they are probably less dramatic now than 50 years ago.

 

When I first moved to the south, I expect to be surrounded by the southern dialect, but was surprised how small a percentage of the population actually speak this way. Yes, there are still a few with very strong accents, but there are so many transplants down here that a lot of what I expected didn't exist.

 

My fascination with accents began when we had an Australian exchange student in high school. I was fascinated listening to him speak. Then I went to the UK for six-months in the 70s and was in heaven. I loved to listen to the variety of accents and was surprised that they were just as fascinated my my accent - which I didn't think I had. I was even more amazed at how tge accebts differed in varous areas of London, the more rural areas, and then even more so in Wales and Scotland. At times I wondered if we had a common tongue.

 

An interesting incident happened about a week before I left, when a student from France moved into the same place I was staying. I tried to speak to him, but we were having trouble communicating. He eventually told me that he only spoke English, not American, and that's when I realized I tended to use a lot of slang terms, metaphors and other terms that were different than those used across the pond. After that, I tried to choose my words more carefully.

[Mikelaing74]

Lol, this is funny.

 

The accent of where I grew up in Sunderland is called Geordie. Now go about fifty miles south into Yorkshire and you have a completely different accent. Go north by about sixty miles and you are into Scotland which again is completely different. Now I live on the west coast of Scotland, about 170 miles from where I grew up and the accent is almost unintelligible ! We are a small country but the hodge podge of accents we have is truly amazing.

 

Picking up on what Bill said, even across the different districts of London you have variation !

 

For me the south of America seems to drawl, where places like Boston have less of an accent.

 

As for me personally, I don't have much of an accent as I've lived all over the place both in Britain and the continent. When I first moved to London people had huge problems understanding me as I spoke way too fast. By the time I'd slowed my speech down I moved over to the Netherlands, and they had problems with the way I spoke once again ! After being in the Netherlands for a couple of years intended to speak with an Amsterdam accent when I was talking Dutch !

[comicfan]

Please I'm from Long Island. There are accents from Brooklyn to Montauk. Everyone hears Long Island and thinks Fran Dresser. UGH. But even my LI accent has been blunted by years in Connecticut. Give me another year or two and I'm sure I will be right back to where I was. Granted I tend to speak fast. Habit I guess but the way you pronounce words will vary. Considering I was a speech minor I pay more attention then most would.

 

And yes I'm one of those who listens to accents and falls in love. British, Irish, Scottish accents are varied and sexy. A true southern accent can keep my full attention even if they are just reading the phone book. Hell there is even something about a midwest twang that cute.

[Daddydavek]

I agree with Bill that in the US most of the regional accents are heard less. I blame 50 years of TV too. I do think that accents add to the variety of the language and that as more of the rest of the world learns English (or American English) as a second language that there will continue to be some interesting results.

[Yettie One]

As a foreigner in the UK i'm gob smacked by the variety of accents here in the UK. I actually wrote a blog about it not so long ago!

The accents here have lead to some pretty funny situations over the years.

 

I'm also amused sometimes to think of the different use of words, and the crazy situations it can lead too. So right funny stories when you look back in time.

[Y_B]

Thank you, come again

[Ashi]

Thank you, come again

 

I say no starch, you starch. Starch no pay.

 

Anywayz.... I was in Jorsey earlier this year and didn't notice any special accent. Maybe it's too close to NY where I went. I think Connecticut police officers spoke in a very distinct New England accent.

 

And how about them street language? I was around some dudes once, and they were like switched to standard academic language when they talked to me, when I just heard them using street slang! Like gays would switch when they talk to guys....

 

And I watched way too much British drama.... Sometimes I don't notice any difference when I talk to a British. The only difference I found between British in California and British in London was when Londoners talked, they didn't give a bloody shiiite.

 

Then there was this Australian customer I helped once, and he was asking for "Pi phone." For the longest time I had no idea what he was talking about, and he looked frustrated. Then I figured..., oh, pay phone. I would say public phone. This was before cell phones were popular, of course. OMGsh, I am showing my age....

Edited June 17, 2012 by Ashi

[methodwriter85]

This is probably my favorite tribute to an accent:

 

 

It seems like the key to a SoCal accent is everything comes out like a question, you know?

[TetRefine]

My grandpa has a combination of a Brooklyn accent (where he grew up), and a Long Island one (where he's lived since 1950s). I still don't understand what he says sometimes.

 

As for myself, I've been told I have a normal northern accent, like how they speak on tv. New England is famous for its nasally accents, but the only people in New Hampshire who still have those accents are the rednecks and country bumpkins who live in the woods. The vast majority of people here have standard northern accents.

[methodwriter85]

My grandpa has a combination of a Brooklyn accent (where he grew up), and a Long Island one (where he's lived since 1950s). I still don't understand what he says sometimes.

 

As for myself, I've been told I have a normal northern accent, like how they speak on tv. New England is famous for its nasally accents, but the only people in New Hampshire who still have those accents are the rednecks and country bumpkins who live in the woods. The vast majority of people here have standard northern accents.

 

What do you think of the Philly accent? It's well-studied- it's considered unique to the East Coast because we don't drop the R's.

[Nastasha]

I love accents. I have a friend from high school whose father has a British accent, despite living in New York for 20 years. I loved hanging out at her house just to hear her dad talk.

 

I hear a lot of really cool accents where I work, too. I'm a cashier in a grocery store, and you meet lots of awesome people stopping for groceries, since we're just off the NY thruway. We're also really close to a racetrack (as in, horses) so there are A LOT of hispanics during the summer - we all know when the trainers are bringing the horses back from Florida as spring approachs because short, skinny, young guys who hardly speak English start showing up. I also got a very good sense of various American accents over the winter when the racetrack had a snowmobile racing event. Teams came from all over the country, and most of us cashiers started asking them all where they were from. It was really interesting.

 

It's also not just how people talk, but what they say. For example, I live in a region where most people refer to carbonated beverages as either "soda" or "pop." Last night I had this conversation with a customer who bought a six-pack of Pepsi:

Me: Would you like your soda in a bag?

Customer: My wha- oh, the coke. Nah.

Me: Uh... did you want Coke? This is Pepsi.

Customer: Yeah, I know.

Me: Uh... okay.

 

It all definitely makes life more interesting.

[methodwriter85]

I lived in the Greater Pittsburgh area for two years, and it was amazing to me just how different the dialect was there as opposed to what it's like in the Great Philadelphia area. People saying "pop" instead of "soda". People saying "needs done" instead of "needs to be done." And so on and so forth.

 

 

The Pittsburgh accent cracked me up. I'll definitely miss it.

[comicfan]

Oh lord word choices become interesting. "Soda" and "Pop" are just one example. Depending on where you live do you have a "Sub", "Hero". "Grinder", "Torpedo", "Hoagie", or even a "Poorboy". I've been in restaurants where you can either order "fries" or "taters". Accents, dialects, and word choices all make part of the language.

Edited June 18, 2012 by comicfan

[Zombie]

Agree with Bill. In Britain it was more about regional dialect coupled with the accent, but nowadays dialect has largely gone though regional accents remain. With increasing mobility and media influences I wonder how long that will continue. And Ashi's right - in cities it's all about "street" and gangsta-speak.

 

Gotta say English spoken in a foreign accept can so damn sexy! Here's a hot Mexican - Gael García Bernal

 

 

Britain is full of regional accents. Used to be a time when you couldn't get jobs at the BBC or in acting unless you spoke "standard" English using "received pronunciation" (= talking posh ). Then more acting roles used regional accents and today the posh accent roles are limited to things like costume drama and Hugh Grant type stuff. Oh yeah, and the English villian in Hollywood movies. Yeah, gotta have the posh English guy as the villain - dude, that accent is just sooooo eeeevillll !

 

Btw I hafta switch on subtitles to understand you damn Yankees

[Ashi]

Depending on where you live do you have a "Sub", "Hero". "Grinder", "Torpedo", "Hoagie", or even a "Poorboy". I've been in restaurants where you can either order "fries" or "taters". Accents, dialects, and word choices all make part of the language.

 

I am not sure about others, but hoagies are different from subs or hot dog buns. Hoagies are better, usually use bread flour for chewy texture, and usually more artisan type of bread. Po' Boy usually refers to a type of sandwich, rather than just a type of bread. I've only seen torpedo used in restaurants.

 

Taters are definitely different from fries. At least in California, term "fries" specifically refers to French fries, whether it be regular cut "chips" or spiral cut or crinkle cut. Usually you just cut them in strips and fried them (only fastfood chains did the cheater way by mashing them and then reshape them for texture consistency reason). Taters (short for tater tots) are more hashbrown like, except made into little balls. You chop potatoes into tiny little pieces, mold into shapes then fried them, so you get to taste the little textures. They don't taste the same, fries and taters.

 

Here's a hot Mexican - Gael García Bernal

 

Gael García Bernal, oh yeah. He is cool. I watched a movie with him in it, and he played a transgender. That might have been the reason why I rented that DVD. I was like, "Who was that sexy guy?" <-- That's me talking gay, can you tell by my subtle accent? Okay, if you want to speak street gay, it might be, "That jalapeno is so hot, it's gonna be an *ss scorcher." See why I don't speak like that?

 

"Hugh Grant type stuff." Man, that's deep. You almost got me there, bro. Cool. Cool. (notice the repeat) Me and my homey ain't watching nothing like that, not even if chicks drag me like Hector in Trojan War. <-- that's just street, unless the speaker is closeted.

 

I find it difficult to include a character who speaks street because people don't talk like that around me..., so my vocabulary is limited. But I like that street/posh combination for my couples.

[comicfan]

Actually the names I gave refer to the same type of idea. On Long Island alone I can go 30 minutes in different directions and get nearly all the sandwiches including the poorboy. The poorboy on LI just usually means the bottom of the roll is torn out so the meat goes there and the dressing on the top. Then the sandwich looks thin like you were too poor to get much on it. lol. The joys of sandwich making. Roll choices do alter as you head into areas though.

 

As for taters and fries they were the same thing at least when I headed down to Florida, say about 20 years ago now. They simply asked if you wanted your taters "crispy" or "baked".

[Arpeggio]

Southern accents are strong where I live. Wash is "Warsh" here. I grew up in Boston, but I don't really have an accent, sometimes I slip and say Cah for Car. XD

[Bill W]

along the same line as soda and pop, down here in GA it's only referred to as coke.

 

Do you have dinner or supper? Do you wear a swimsuit or a bathsuit? Do you wear sneakers or track shoes? Some of the country folk still wear overalls, not jeans. Do you say milk or melk?

[Ashi]

As for taters and fries they were the same thing at least when I headed down to Florida, say about 20 years ago now. They simply asked if you wanted your taters "crispy" or "baked".

 

I think they used taters to mean potatoes. It's also used here depends on where you go. Typically in a chain restaurant, they'd ask if you want fries or baked potatoes in standard California English.

 

Southern accents are strong where I live. Wash is "Warsh" here. I grew up in Boston, but I don't really have an accent, sometimes I slip and say Cah for Car. XD

 

:-D

 

I totally adore Southern accent for some reason. I used to have a coworker who spoke in that. He always called me "Sweet Lou." That's like our ritual when we first met at the beginning of the day and he'd yelled that. Never got around to tell him that made me sound like a toilet.... I didn't have the heart. He always played "A Boy Named Sue" for me. He was like a HUGE country fan, and Johnny Cash in particular, except not many people at work liked country (it was more of a hip-pop/rap workforce).

 

Your slip also reminds me of something. For those of you who don't speak English as a native speaker, do you show your accent (or getting even worse) when you are nervous? (I do) There is this guy at Costco, we never really talked because he was always nervous around me, even though I gave him so much chance.... Anyways, there was this time he finally talked a little more than "Is there anything else I can help you?" (and not making a proper eye contact with me...) And we got into a little chat, and he was really excited and he slipped. I almost asked him, "Is that German accent?" Could have been Danish or Scandinavian accent. Anyways, do you guys slip an accent when you do that?

Edited June 18, 2012 by Ashi

[Zombie]

There is this guy at Costco, we never really talked because he was always nervous around me, even though I gave him so much chance.... Anyways, there was this time he finally talked a little more than "Is there anything else I can help you?" (and not making a proper eye contact with me...) And we got into a little chat, and he was really excited and he slipped. I almost asked him, "Is that German accent?" Could have been Danish or Scandinavian accent. Anyways ...

 

"... he was really excited and ... Anyways ...." No no no! You can't just leave us all dangling like that! What happened next??

[Ashi]

"... he was really excited and ... Anyways ...." No no no! You can't just leave us all dangling like that! What happened next??

 

What are you talking about? Nothing happened. That's the thing. Nothing ever happened between us. It's frustrating.

[Zombie]

That's the thing. Nothing ever happened between us. It's frustrating.

 

Ah well. Maybe your next checkout guy will make proper eye contact And it's all good material for your writing