Accents

[cowboy rich]

Man, you're just a freakin' mess!

pretty much!! ??

[Harry P.]

I'm waiting for Joe Z. to chime in. I have a feeling he's a real Nooo YAWKAH!

[Can-Con]

Funny thing is, if you ever watched any science fiction TV or movies, including anything made by Marvel, chances are it's made in Canada. 

Avis/Budget car rentals even had a call center here in Fredericton for about 10 years. Their thinking was because our accent is indistinguishable by most US citizens from what they consider "American", it would be better accepted by the customers than a "foreign" accent..   

[slusher]

The southern states here have different accents Mississippi, and Alabama are very unique to me so is Louisiana and Texas..  

[Ace-Garageguy]

Louisiana's got Cajun too, and Texas has regional ones as well.

[Harry P.]

Avis/Budget car rentals even had a call center here in Fredericton for about 10 years. Their thinking was because our accent is indistinguishable by most US citizens from what they consider "American", it would be better accepted by the customers than a "foreign" accent..   

I've called "customer service" many times and had a guy named "Brad" answer the phone. Except "Brad" had a very distinct Indian accent!

I have a funny feeling "Brad" was in New Delhi!

[Harry Joy]

Interesting topic, but let's try this on for size, my mother was born in Alton Illinois as were her parents, my dad Baton Rouge. My dads father was born in Kentucky and his mother in Iowa. Then along comes me I was born and raised in central Washington and north east Oregon. Everybody asks me what part of TEXAS I'm from??

Ugh, I lived in Alton for four years. Just long enough to get caught in the Flood of '93, and long enough to make the mistake of marrying a girl from Grafton. Ugh.

[Rob Hall]

Accents are likely a result of generations of people living in a certain region, developing 'localisms' in words and pronunciation.  I've read that American regional accents have diminished as people are more mobile, I certainly see it of people my generation that have moved around a lot..

My parents were from rural Kentucky, but spent most of their adult lives in various parts of Ohio and S. Florida..growing up w/ them in E. Ohio, I didn't really notice any accent--compared to my cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents that lived in various parts of Kentucky and S. Indiana.   I did notice distinct accents from people in my area from the West Virginia panhandle (just across the Ohio River) and from nearby Pittsburgh.  

I spent my jr high and high school years in the Florida Keys, around a lot of different accents because so many people weren't from there...then as an adult, I've lived in NE Ohio, SE Michigan, Colorado and Arizona..

 People think I'm from California, I guess because I have a neutral accent--kind of a typical American TV newscaster accent.

I worked with a lot of Canadian transplants in Colorado, and several words always stood out for me--about, out, process, and Java (the computer language)...plus their generally higher alcohol tolerance.

 

[Tom Geiger]

I've called "customer service" many times and had a guy named "Brad" answer the phone. Except "Brad" had a very distinct Indian accent!

I have a funny feeling "Brad" was in New Delhi!

Then he must know my friend Skippy!

'ello, My name is Skippy, please do the needful and have a veddy acceptable day!

[slusher]

Accents are likely a result of generations of people living in a certain region, developing 'localisms' in words and pronunciation.  I've read that American regional accents have diminished as people are more mobile, I certainly see it of people my generation that have moved around a lot..

My parents were from rural Kentucky, but spent most of their adult lives in various parts of Ohio and S. Florida..growing up w/ them in E. Ohio, I didn't really notice any accent--compared to my cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents that lived in various parts of Kentucky and S. Indiana.   I did notice distinct accents from people in my area from the West Virginia panhandle (just across the Ohio River) and from nearby Pittsburgh.  

I spent my jr high and high school years in the Florida Keys, around a lot of different accents because so many people weren't from there...then as an adult, I've lived in NE Ohio, SE Michigan, Colorado and Arizona..

 People think I'm from California, I guess because I have a neutral accent--kind of a typical American TV newscaster accent.

I worked with a lot of Canadian transplants in Colorado, and several words always stood out for me--about, out, process, and Java (the computer language)...plus their generally higher alcohol tolerance.

 

Makes so much sense Rob. My mother did not leave South East Kentucky until she was 28 and has never lived there since. Living in Chicago for many years and here for 30 still has the Kentucky accent and she is 83. My Father never lost his either but died 3 years after moving here. I am told i still have my Chicago accent but not as strong as it was. 

Does being in collage help some people lose accents?? My neighbor has no accent at all and he said he believe going to collage had some to do with it...

[Joe Handley]

Has anybody here have some sort of unintentional ability to pick up some of the accent of the person their talking too?

[SfanGoch]

Has anybody here have some sort of unintentional ability to pick up some of the accent of the person their talking too?

I have a good ear for accents and dialects and can do it intentionally to annoy or confuse that particular individual if it suits me at the moment. I've mimicked accents since I was a kid. There was plenty of material to practice with growing up in Brooklyn. I mimic everything from Newyorican Spanglish to Yiddish-accented Brooklynese. I attended my son's Confirmation practice Wednesday and was imitating one of the Polish priests. The other parent I was sitting with was cracking up in the pew. So was one of the other Polish priests, who looks is a dead ringer for Kurt Jurgens, standing behind me!   Yesterday afternoon after the actual Confirmation Mass, as we were waiting around to get a photo with the bishop, somebody behind me said, "So, you are de fanyi boy, eh? Mebye you can provide for me de voiceover for homily eef I have de laryngitis, yes? Kurt Jurgens ratted me out.

Journalist Robert MacNeil wrote an excellent book and hosted a fantastic nine part documentary called "The Story of English" which go into great detail explaining the history and evolution of the language and how the numerous English accents heard around the world developed. 

 

Edited April 18, 2016 by SfanGoch

[Rob Hall]

Does being in collage help some people lose accents?? My neighbor has no accent at all and he said he believe going to collage had some to do with it...

Probably..my parents both went to college, and I went to college in NE Ohio and grad school in Michigan..

[Can-Con]

I've called "customer service" many times and had a guy named "Brad" answer the phone. Except "Brad" had a very distinct Indian accent!

I have a funny feeling "Brad" was in New Delhi!

Yea, they closed that call centre down about 5 years ago. It was only open for 10 years ,, surprisingly, the same annount of time the government incentives lasted. Funny how that works, Eh? 

[JTalmage]

Accents always interested me as well. I seem to not have an accent even though I live in the country. However you can tell the region I'm from based on certain words I use like pop instead of soda.

However, since I have little to no accent, I can pick one up pretty quick if I'm around friends that do have some sort of accent. And I'll talk like them slightly. 

Also, I seem to be pretty good about imitating a lot of different accents... British, Australian, New York, and a few others.

I can always seem to pick out people from northern Ohio, near Cleveland area and upstate NY, as to me all the accents sound very northern in the way some words are pronounced. I call it the "almost Canadian" accent. 

I also find it interesting as someone pointed out earlier, how British accents make people sound more intelligent (even if they aren't) and on the opposite side of that, southern accents tend to make people sound "less intelligent" to others, even if they are not at all. All about perception. 

and I do enjoy a woman w/ an accent.. whether it's southern, British, or Australian. I'll take all 3

 

[MrBuick]

This isn't necessarily on point with the original thought, but speaking of accents, it amazes me how well some people can mask their accent. I've met people who can do this very well, but from a "public eye" standpoint, look at Hugh Jackman and Hugh Laurie (huh, both named "Hugh). Jackman is from Australia, but if you didn't know it, you wouldn't be able to tell. Laurie is English...again, if you didn't know it, you wouldn't. 

[Kit Basher]

Yeah, that amazes me as well. I've seen interviews with Hugh Laurie where he talks with his natural English accent, but on "House" he sounded totally American.

Incidentally, my name is also Hugh, but I cannot hide my accent, and I'm not rich!

[JTalmage]

Also the lady who played in X files... who's name escapes me now... she's also Australian.. and I didnt know this until I saw her on the episode of Top Gear (UK) and it really caught me by surprise!

[Greg Myers]

Went to  visit my brother in North Carolina. We got off the plane in Raleigh and thought we were in a foreign country.

[sjordan2]

I used to think that TV would homogenize regional accents, but it's never happened.

Many years ago, when visiting my parents in Hong Kong, I was introduced to some friends of theirs -- Texans with very pronounced drawls, y'all; their little girls, however, had the most proper British accents -- they attended a British girls' school in HK.

Edited April 18, 2016 by sjordan2

[10thumbs]

Harry asked originally why folks speak dialects, I think he said accents.  Living in a foreign country has made me very aware of accents and dialects.  Germany is full of dialects too,  and Germans aren't exactly a type of people who choose to live far away from their home, excluding jobs of course.  My take is, folks are just proud of their homeland and area, and they choose to support others from the same area to show they belong.

I'm from Florida, my father was born there too, but he spoke like Ronald Reagan.  My mother was from Ohio, so no real dialect or accents were available at home.  My older brother has no noticeable dialect, neither do I.  When my older sister talks I think the milk will turn sour, it curls my toes to hear her speak like that.  So, I deduce it's a choice, an environmental issue.  I'm proud to be from Florida, a wonderful place to grow up, but I speak a neutral type of English.  Even Brits ask where I'm from.

 

[dshue76]

My wife can't understand people with thick southern accents, I have to be the interpreter, I think it's hilarious but the person speaking rarely does. I will say though I was getting gas in Virginia once and the female attendant was trying to tell the guy at the next pump over something through the intercom and he and I couldn't understand a word she said and he had Virginia plates. It sounded more like she was from way up in the West Virginia hills and was eating laughy taffy while talking.

Pittsburgh Pa and the area surrounding it have their own accent. It comes from the people and cultural background that make up the community. Pittsburghese, yinzers etc.

[Harry P.]

Yeah, that amazes me as well. I've seen interviews with Hugh Laurie where he talks with his natural English accent, but on "House" he sounded totally American.

Same here! I never knew Hugh Laurie was British. His "American" accent on House was absolutely perfect. I remember the first time I ever saw him on TV speaking in his "normal" way... I couldn't believe it!

[Harry P.]

This is not meant as political commentary, so please don't take it there... but how funny that Bernie Sanders has that super thick accent, while Donald Trump has (to my ear, at least), no discernible accent at all. Yet they were both born in the same city! (Bernie in Brooklyn, Donald in Queens, just a couple of miles apart!). Weird how that works.

[Roger U]

Many years ago we were thinking of going to a LA Kings (NHL) road game so I called information in Boston to get the address of the Boston Bruins hockey team. The lady gave me the address saying they were at not station. I thought for a minute then asked how is that spelled, n-o-t or k-n-o-t-t. She said it's spelled n-o-r-t-h. ....hmmm, ok, thanks.