Re: PLEASE SHARE YOUR ACCENT

PhilaLady1 · ‎03-11-2010

I am a little late commenting on this post, we're up to almost page 6 on my device, so I will try but probably fail to make it brief so as not to bore you 😁. Just a few comments.

I love accents, think they're fascinating.

Not unlike Will Smith, I'm West Philadelphia born and raised. I moved 3 miles further west outside of city limits when I was 55, ten year ago. Demographics in larger cities change, always in flux, and the Philly accent is not the same as it was when I was a child or young adult. People here don't speak, for example, like in the Rocky movie anymore. The stereotypical Philly accent exists only in old folks like me.

If anybody is kind enough to read through my post without falling asleep, something I haven't been able to figure out.... who says anyways? Who says alls, as in alls I want to know is....What region adds the s on the end?

Thanks!

faeriemoon · ‎03-14-2010

@Oznell Please let us know if you locate the test you thought was in depth and accurate!

~Whenever a king sees that his people are about to revolt, he starts a war...~ Napoleon

bmorechick · ‎03-11-2010

I too love different accents and pronunciation of common words. I have that typical Baltimorese accent...fast talking, sometimes odd take on words. My family were people from inner city Baltimore and wow, we truly have our own thing going! I now live on the Eastern Shore of MD and they have their own draw on words. My husband grew up in a rural area around here and sometimes, when he and his family/friends get together, 43 years later I still have to ask them to repeat at times...they jumble words together, talk super fast and use a lot of regional slang.

Last month I had someone who was born on Tangier's Island in the Chesapeake do some outdoor work for us. Couldn't understand a word he said. They still have snippets of what sounds like a 1600's dialect of English. I didn't understand his slang and he didn't understand mine! We laughed and laughed. Rather than critize, we found it oddly fascinating. Sometimes, folks take language usage as incorrect english and while it may be at times, that too can be regional. I don't know anyone who speaks correct and proper english (although sometimes folks swear they do).

Like my mom always said "ain't dat the troof..." 😍

Stray · ‎04-20-2013

Northern NJ which is different from Southern NJ & accents even vary county to county. I am Hudson County type & very strong.

Kitty Galore · ‎03-16-2010

@Tori3569 wrote:
NYC born and raised, so I think I sound like a typical New Yorker, even though when I travel, people don't believe I'm from NYC for some odd reason. Mary, marry and merry are pronounced very differently here. Caught and cot too-different sounds.

Adding that I took the Babbel quiz and it said Northeast of course. The "soda" was a dead giveaway. 😁

@Tori3569 soda is the give away . When lived in the west coast it was pop ! East coast....soda , which is all I've ever known it as.

Caaareful Shopper · ‎10-09-2012

I was born in Da Bronx. I moved out of the country....to Brooklyn (NY-kers will understand) when I got married, and lived there until I was 35.

I've been told I never had a Bronx accent. More than one person have told me I have a news anchor, non-specific-accent/dialect.

Now that I'm in my early 60's it actually makes me a little sad. I really wish I did have a Bronx accent. All of my family there certainly do, and they crack me up. I love it; it's home.

Sage04 · ‎07-10-2011

@Mersha Google says that is possible that rubber bands were sold in your area under the trade mark gumband. When I think of rubber band I somehow associate it with gum but never knew why.

Harpa · ‎03-10-2010

@PhilaLady1 wrote:
I am a little late commenting on this post, we're up to almost page 6 on my device, so I will try but probably fail to make it brief so as not to bore you 😁. Just a few comments.

I love accents, think they're fascinating.

Not unlike Will Smith, I'm West Philadelphia born and raised. I moved 3 miles further west outside of city limits when I was 55, ten year ago. Demographics in larger cities change, always in flux, and the Philly accent is not the same as it was when I was a child or young adult. People here don't speak, for example, like in the Rocky movie anymore. The stereotypical Philly accent exists only in old folks like me.

If anybody is kind enough to read through my post without falling asleep, something I haven't been able to figure out.... who says anyways? Who says alls, as in alls I want to know is....What region adds the s on the end?

Thanks!

@PhilaLady1 "Anyways" and "alls" is not too lost on me, though I hardly ever say it that way.

I was born & raised in the suburbs, went to school & taught in the city, moved away for a while, then moved back.

But I agree that this lingo is generational.