CWS4322
Chef Extraordinaire
M DH loves that Fargo accent...I can always tell when my mom has been back her hometown in very far north MN and spent time with my aunt and cousins...she has that lilt!
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Slang phrases or words prevalent in your locale
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buckytom
Chef Extraordinaire
uff da is actually a fairly common, old norwegian expression. i guess the norskie immigrants in meena-sow-tah have kept it alive and kicking.
taxy, like i said, the oot accent is heavier in some, but very slight in most other canadians i've met, but not all. i guess you're not one. i'm sorry if you were offended.
since i've apparently declared war on canada, another interesting accent up in the great white north is how to say again.
i've heard a lot of hockey players pronounce it a-gane (hard a) where most americans say uh-gen (hard g, soft e).
back to slang instead of accents, my neighbor's kid came over to borrow the lawnmower today. i laughed when i realized that he never outgrew his habit of saying "yo" in almost every sentence. he's 25 or 26 now, but he still talks like a teenage rapper.
taxy, like i said, the oot accent is heavier in some, but very slight in most other canadians i've met, but not all. i guess you're not one. i'm sorry if you were offended.
since i've apparently declared war on canada, another interesting accent up in the great white north is how to say again.
i've heard a lot of hockey players pronounce it a-gane (hard a) where most americans say uh-gen (hard g, soft e).
back to slang instead of accents, my neighbor's kid came over to borrow the lawnmower today. i laughed when i realized that he never outgrew his habit of saying "yo" in almost every sentence. he's 25 or 26 now, but he still talks like a teenage rapper.
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It's important to realize that most people with an accent/dialect...can't hear it! When they see it written out, they know they absolutely don't say it that way. My sisters and I used to drive one of my dad's work-study students nuts, asking him to say different things. He was from Boston and we were incorrigible.
bakechef
Executive Chef
My mom's Maine accent is really thick, she's a hoot to listen to.
I'm not offended. It just doesn't sound that way to me. I hear Yanks say "aboot", imitating a Canadian, and it doesn't sound the way the Canadians say it. I admit that many, if not most, Canadians don't pronounce "about" the same way as Yanks do. To say that Canadians say "aboot" is equivalent to saying that Swedes sound like the Swedish Chef. Yes, there is some similarity, but it's not really what they sound like. Maybe if you don't listen carefully it sounds the same. And, maybe you have to hear it often enough to be able to distinguish it. There are certainly times when I say something in Danish and non-Danish speakers can't hear the difference between two sounds that are easy for me to distinguish.
Dawgluver
Chef Extraordinaire
- Joined
- Apr 12, 2011
- Messages
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I learned a phonetic language/alphabet when I took theatre classes and of course can no longer remember it. Would be a much better descriptor. "Aboot" isn't really it, it's more "abouoot", only shorter. And I too remember Canadian friends saying "a-gane" instead of "agen".
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Bolas De Fraile
Executive Chef
- Joined
- Oct 28, 2010
- Messages
- 3,191
Gravy Queen and I come from Liverpool and we are known as SCOUSERS,scousers have their own accent and dialect, we are vilified by the rest of the UK. This is very unfair as it is those Manc B******* who cause all the trouble.
Harry Enfield - The Scousers Visit The Beach - YouTube
Croatian Dreams :: 2006_1019yorkshiredales0010.mp4 video by Hvar2010 - Photobucket
Harry Enfield - The Scousers Visit The Beach - YouTube
Croatian Dreams :: 2006_1019yorkshiredales0010.mp4 video by Hvar2010 - Photobucket
That's it! Well not exactly, but I can tell you have heard it. It's also sort of like "a boat"
CWS4322
Chef Extraordinaire
I learned the IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet). Oh goody, I get to be pedantic! Within any language, there is a range of acceptability re: pronunciation of a sound. This is why you have "ruff" for "rooof" and to-MAT-o for to-may-to. Depending on one's geographic location (and the isolation of the people in that location from other native speakers of the language--Newfoundland English is an example, as is the English spoken in the Bahamas, etc.), you will get what is called a vowel or consonant shift. Hence why people in the southern US stretch their vowels, don't have as much nasal, etc. when they speak. What constitutes this difference in pronunciation is what is called the normal position of rest of one's tongue in the mouth. All infants are born being able to mimic all sounds in all languages. As one learns a language, the position of the tongue is trained to rest in a certain position. Although I am a native English speaker, my exposure to Germanic languages means that I hit my consonants hard--this was especially problematic when learning French where syllables are open (end in vowels); in Germanic languages, syllables are closed. This is why people develop accents and why after the age of 13, it is very difficult for one to master the intonation and accent of another language as if one were a native speaker. I pass as a native speaker (from Northern Germany) in German until I try to say certain words that have a certain dipthong followed by a harsh consonant. In french, it is the "ll" that often gives people away. When I speak Swedish, people answer me in German. Yup, I have a Germanic accent in Swedish, as I do in French. But in English, I have that Midwest/Norski accent! Go figure.
Claire
Master Chef
I aced a test in Esperato once upon a time many years ago. Weird.
Greg Who Cooks
Executive Chef
Interesting post CWS. I never knew any of that.
What do people from California sound like? I grew up here. If I have any accent it is surely Californian.
I like to think we Californians speak unaccented US English, but as it was said earlier, people cannot sense their own accent.
Admittedly we Californians have some "speechisms" that are tells. They are often exaggerated in TV and movies ("Gag me with a spoon," never heard that except on TV or in movies.)
What do people from California sound like? I grew up here. If I have any accent it is surely Californian.
I like to think we Californians speak unaccented US English, but as it was said earlier, people cannot sense their own accent.
Admittedly we Californians have some "speechisms" that are tells. They are often exaggerated in TV and movies ("Gag me with a spoon," never heard that except on TV or in movies.)
Thirty years ago, the California accent was considered to be "the neutral US accent". There were so many people from other places that the differences got rounded off. But, nowadays there are enough California natives that an accent is developing.
Andy M.
Certified Pretend Chef
Nah. We New Englanders speak unaccented English. It's the rest of the country that talks funny.
Greg Who Cooks
Executive Chef
I don't understand that. Fewer and fewer of the people I meet in California are native to California. It seems that most native Californians left on the boat. Maybe I'll do that too, a new boat leaves every day.
It would be interesting to know the statistic which states are declining most in native born population. I can't imagine California not being near the top.
I can't imagine why I'm still here except that the fruit drops near the tree.
Andy M.
Certified Pretend Chef
I imagine a hefty percentage of Californians have Hispanic influences in their speech. That has to work its way into the accent of the general population eventually.
My data are probably out of date. The balance may be shifting.
Greg Who Cooks
Executive Chef
A hefty percentage of Californians are from Mexico or south of there. No native about it. Part of the reason why so many native Californians are leaving for points north and east...
Really, my best Spanish is barely beyond ordering food at Mexican restaurants. ¡Ay chihuahua!
(I don't really know what that means. It took me 5 minutes to figure out how to make the upside down exclamation mark. If I had to do it again it would still take me 5 minutes. Does 'caramba' mean anything different than 'chihuahua?' -- I had to use my spell checker twice to spell the dog breed. I'd have to use the spell checker again if I wanted to use it a third time.)
Really, my best Spanish is barely beyond ordering food at Mexican restaurants. ¡Ay chihuahua!
(I don't really know what that means. It took me 5 minutes to figure out how to make the upside down exclamation mark. If I had to do it again it would still take me 5 minutes. Does 'caramba' mean anything different than 'chihuahua?' -- I had to use my spell checker twice to spell the dog breed. I'd have to use the spell checker again if I wanted to use it a third time.)
Addie
Chef Extraordinaire
We take great pride in our accent. We still call it tonic, don't pronounce our "R", have rotaries, and many more. To really understand us I would suggest you go to the following site. It is really wicked on spot.
The Wicked Good Guide to Boston English
Addie
Chef Extraordinaire
Nah. We New Englanders speak unaccented English. It's the rest of the country that talks funny.
As I tell tourists who seemed to be amused with my 'so called accent', we were the first here with the Pilgrims, so we started the English language here. What the rest of you folks do with it is your own fault.
We take great pride in our accent. We still call it tonic, don't pronounce our "R", have rotaries, and many more. To really understand us I would suggest you go to the following site. It is really wicked on spot.
The Wicked Good Guide to Boston English
He loved us, John was so tolerant of us and enjoyed our company. He became a nurse, is now a doctor and still a friend of the family. He still has an accent, despite living in this part of the country for 45 years.
