Boston Accent

[rosarugosa]

I feel so special, not to mention smart and annoying:

https://whdh.com/news/boston-accent-ranked-most-annoying-in-america/?fbclid=IwAR0O_NpYgt44ghX3wy3-eKF-7yUsxH8FrmSy8A96VOO4qBnhFOnvzE2Szow

[catherine]

Oh, cool, you have a Boston accent, rosa? I love that accent! In fact, I find regional accents and dialects to be SO interesting and fun!

I scanned the article, and I'm wondering what they mean by New York accent? And where is "Standard American" in the list? If course I feel that that's what I have--I have only a few tell-tale signs that I grew up in New England, like saying "awnt" and not "ant" for "aunt. And I say "merry," "Mary," and "marry" exactly the same way--the vowel sounds are identical.

And speaking of New York, I have my own pet hypothesis on how we diverged from the British in terms of accents. When I went to the Netherlands I noticed they sound a lot like Americans when they speak English. So my theory is that when the Dutch were settled in the New York area and intermingled with the British colonialists, the sounds of the Dutch vowels and some consonants were transposed onto the English and they merged. Anyway, just my theory.

Fun article. My favorite accents in the US are Boston and Midwest (Minnesota). Least favorite is Baltimore/Philadlephia and, of course, Joisey.

Thanks for sharing!

[LDAHL]

I spent a few years there, and it seemed to me there were three or four Boston accents. You heard Southie spoken in Charlestown. The Cape and Back Bay accent sounded like Mass politicians on CSPAN. North of town you heard kind of a Downeaster way of stretching out certain words. And as you got closer to Providence, they sounded more New York.

[Alan]

I worked with someone from Boston for a few years, he had the Southie accent we midwesterners were most likely to hear on Saturday Night Live skits from a few years ago. He thought our bland midwestern accents made us sound like hicks, and wasn't shy about telling us so. lol

[LDAHL]

I worked with someone from Boston for a few years, he had the Southie accent we midwesterners were most likely to hear on Saturday Night Live skits from a few years ago. He thought our bland midwestern accents made us sound like hicks, and wasn't shy about telling us so. lol

I have always found New England to be far and away the snobbiest region of the country. I’m not sure why that would be.

[Teacher Terry]

No matter where I live people know I am from Wisconsin.

[rosarugosa]

I have always found New England to be far and away the snobbiest region of the country. I’m not sure why that would be.

Because we are the best and we know it, lol.

[rosarugosa]

Oh, cool, you have a Boston accent, rosa? I love that accent! In fact, I find regional accents and dialects to be SO interesting and fun!

I scanned the article, and I'm wondering what they mean by New York accent? And where is "Standard American" in the list? If course I feel that that's what I have--I have only a few tell-tale signs that I grew up in New England, like saying "awnt" and not "ant" for "aunt. And I say "merry," "Mary," and "marry" exactly the same way--the vowel sounds are identical.

And speaking of New York, I have my own pet hypothesis on how we diverged from the British in terms of accents. When I went to the Netherlands I noticed they sound a lot like Americans when they speak English. So my theory is that when the Dutch were settled in the New York area and intermingled with the British colonialists, the sounds of the Dutch vowels and some consonants were transposed onto the English and they merged. Anyway, just my theory.

Fun article. My favorite accents in the US are Boston and Midwest (Minnesota). Least favorite is Baltimore/Philadlephia and, of course, Joisey.

Thanks for sharing!

I've been told I have a wicked Boston accent. I pronounce car keys the same as khakis, and scented the same as centered. When I saw a Bahaba t-shirt on vacation one time, I was surprised that there is apparently another way to pronounce it. People from the south cannot always understand what I'm saying (their loss, lol - sorry, just being a wise-ass).

[herbgeek]

When I first moved to Massachusetts at 17, I was completely bewildered by terms like bubbla and tawnic (translation: bubbler= water fountain and tonic meaning soda, respectively). It was like I entered a foreign country and I was only moving one state over from Connecticut. LOL.

[LDAHL]

No matter where I live people know I am from Wisconsin.

Go to the “Manitowoc Minute” website and check out the Midwest Language Translator. Or Midwestern Siri.

[Teacher Terry]

In Milwaukee the drinking fountains are bubblers.

[rosarugosa]

Go to the “Manitowoc Minute” website and check out the Midwest Language Translator. Or Midwestern Siri.

Those were good, LDAHL. I used to have a work contact in WI, and I always thought her accent was from another country (Ireland?) until one day my manager told me it was an Upper Midwest accent. I wonder what country the contact thought I was from? :laff:

[rosarugosa]

The Midwest Meets East is hilarious!

[catherine]

The Midwest Meets East is hilarious!

That website is great! I sent the link to my Minnesotan brother and told him to look at the videos.

While we're on the subject of making fun of accents, this has always been one of my favorite SNL bits, because of my DH being Scottish, and knowing full well what it's like to be in a room with raucous Glaswegians and not knowing what the heck they're saying even though they are technically speaking English..


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGRcJQ9tMbY

[jp1]

I love a good Joisey accent. I have a friend who I first met as a work contact maybe 15 years ago. Strong NJ accent and Polish last name. After talking to her on the phone for at least a year I finally met up with her for happy hour one day and was completely floored when she walked up and introduced herself. Apparently I looked exactly like what she expected so she had no trouble picking me out in a crowd of lower manhattan workers. She, on the other hand, turned out to a be a 5 foot nothing Asian girl. It turned out that she had been born in Vietnam but adopted at birth by a working class Polish American family in a blue collar neighborhood of Bayonne NJ, just across from Staten Island.

[LDAHL]

In Milwaukee the drinking fountains are bubblers.

Bubbler, fountain. It’s really a horse apiece.

[Alan]

Bubbler, fountain. It’s really a horse apiece.
More or less.

[rosarugosa]

Good one, Catherine!

[LDAHL]

Sometimes you need to be careful. “Jabone” can be a serious insult in an East Coast Italian neighborhood, but it’s a much milder one in the Northwoods. More or less a synonym for “razzbonya”.

[early morning]

I have always found New England to be far and away the snobbiest region of the country. I’m not sure why that would be. That's funny - my experience has been the exact opposite. I have always felt that the South was most unhospitable. Don't be all "yes Mam-ing" me and then blessing my heart the moment I walk off! :D

[San Onofre Guy]

I grew up in Maine and am often asked why I don’t have an accent. My mother was from Montreal and father from Massachusetts and they both went to college in the late 40’s and early 50’s.

A high school classmate of mine had her first teaching assignment Down East teaching second grade. She found it challenging teaching young children that “hoss” is spelled with an “r”, Horse.

[LDAHL]

That's funny - my experience has been the exact opposite. I have always felt that the South was most unhospitable. Don't be all "yes Mam-ing" me and then blessing my heart the moment I walk off! :D

I always found the south to be more cliquey than class conscious.

[early morning]

I always found the south to be more cliquey than class conscious. Well, I don't see class consciousness as a bad thing - awareness of one's class and inherited place in society can - and should - lead to a better understanding of people in other walks of life. Understanding generally precludes contempt, and often leads one to a realization that one is not, in fact, solely responsible for any good fortune that may come ones way. So to my way of thinking, class consciousness can encourage actions which benefit others. Cliquey, to me, is that "mean girls" group from junior high, which discourages insight into ones own character and belief system. As always, YMMV.