Various Souther Accents...

griffin729 wrote: I grew up in southwestern Indiana.

Where in SW IN? My mom is from Bloomfield.

I've grown up in the Chicago suburbs. By Chicagoan standards, I don't have a Chicago accent, by anybody else's I do. When I'm down at school I pick up just a little bit of a southern accent, central Illinois starts to get it.

We've a town in MT named Anaconda. I know several dozen folks from the area...every blessed one of them says the name of the town Andaconda. Drives me crazy.

Accents are funny. We have several different accents in SC alone. I can't here my own accent when I speak, but hate to hear my voice recorded. My wife's family used to joke about my accent behind my back, and I grew up 40 miles away from where they did. People that grew up 10 miles from me have a distinctly different accent. And of course the blueblood Charlestonians are like no other in the state. Think Fritz Hollings.

mtn wrote:

griffin729 wrote: I grew up in southwestern Indiana.

Where in SW IN? My mom is from Bloomfield. I've grown up in the Chicago suburbs. By Chicagoan standards, I don't have a Chicago accent, by anybody else's I do. When I'm down at school I pick up just a little bit of a southern accent, central Illinois starts to get it.

Bah, that's barely south and barely west. I live 2 or so hours southwest of Bloomfield, in Evansville. I've lived here for most of my life, but my mom's from Wisconsin and my dad grew up on a farm in the middle of nowhere Indiana with first generation German-American parents(although he pretty much speaks like anyone else from rural southern Indiana), so I constantly had people asking me where I was from. They often wouldn't believe that I'd lived there my entire life.

Oh, and my dad totally does the extra R thing, and my sister and I would always make fun of him as kids. The newest addition to his words with an extra R? Prostrate. I've heard a lot of older guys around here say "prostrate" instead of "prostate".

16vCorey wrote:

mtn wrote:

griffin729 wrote: I grew up in southwestern Indiana.

Where in SW IN? My mom is from Bloomfield. I've grown up in the Chicago suburbs. By Chicagoan standards, I don't have a Chicago accent, by anybody else's I do. When I'm down at school I pick up just a little bit of a southern accent, central Illinois starts to get it.

Bah, that's barely south and barely west. I live 2 or so hours southwest of Bloomfield, in Evansville. I've lived here for most of my life, but my mom's from Wisconsin and my dad grew up on a farm in the middle of nowhere Indiana with first generation German-American parents(although he pretty much speaks like anyone else from rural southern Indiana), so I constantly had people asking me where I was from. They often wouldn't believe that I'd lived there my entire life.

I know Evansville well enough. Cousins live in Princeton, and all of them originate in the Owensboro area, so I'm down there at least once every two years.

Vincennes and Monroe City, so Knox County from the time I was 2 until 13. Then a couple years a half mile into Michigan from South Bend in Niles. I graduated high school in Terre Haute. Now I'm up near Lafayette. My half-sister was Born in Princeton.

Cool. My cousin teaches at south knox high school, starting this year.

I reluctantly clicked on that link, because I thought it was just another excuse for folks "up North" to laugh at Southern folks (AGAIN!)

But I have to admit (as a native Rural Southerner) that the man absolutely nailed it! Every region, every accent. Berkeley, that was funny! Only thing he didn't mention was the difference between the "po`folks" accent and the "aristocratic" one, but that difference is seriously old (like pre-Civil War old! Only heard it from my elders as a child.), and might be regional as well (the usual rich vs. poor..). Tim's South Carolina and Swaggart-style Louisiana's stuff is pretty close to the "aristocratic" one, and his North Florida and North Georgia ones are much like the "poor folks" one.

I can recall actively working to remove my own accent (my parents were from Louisiana, I grew up in North Carolina, so my own had a very strange twist) to get my first radio job, but after a few beers, I just go straight back into it. And even when I'm sober, I go straight back to it, should the need arise. Especially when I'm looking for parts for a 20yr old German car at the local Autozone. Among guys my age down here, driving an import is still like choosing to join the band in high school, instead of playing football.

And I guess that metaphor is another "Southern thing"...

mtn wrote:

16vCorey wrote:

mtn wrote:

griffin729 wrote: I grew up in southwestern Indiana.

Where in SW IN? My mom is from Bloomfield. I've grown up in the Chicago suburbs. By Chicagoan standards, I don't have a Chicago accent, by anybody else's I do. When I'm down at school I pick up just a little bit of a southern accent, central Illinois starts to get it.

Bah, that's barely south and barely west. I live 2 or so hours southwest of Bloomfield, in Evansville. I've lived here for most of my life, but my mom's from Wisconsin and my dad grew up on a farm in the middle of nowhere Indiana with first generation German-American parents(although he pretty much speaks like anyone else from rural southern Indiana), so I constantly had people asking me where I was from. They often wouldn't believe that I'd lived there my entire life.

I know Evansville well enough. Cousins live in Princeton, and all of them originate in the Owensboro area, so I'm down there at least once every two years.

Next time you're in E'ville send me a message if you want to have some beers and talk cars.

I love to discuss accents, local words with special meanings, grammar mistakes of various regions, etc. I grew up in Southern Ga with a very thick Southern accent. When I started coop-ing in Kentucky with people from all over the country, I had to learn to enunciate so people could understand me. I've since lived in Maryland, Atlanta (not as full of accents as you might think), California, and Florida. My accent is here forever, but I do alright, although my family back home still thinks I talk "so fast" sometimes. I can run my words together and revert right back into my native tongue though. I even give demonstrations when people comment about my "thick" accent just to show them they ain't seen nuthin. Some funny things I've noticed. First I heard of the warsh my car thing was in Maryland. Seems folks in Pa and around there used it. They also used "boss" to refer to a 2-liter and "ornery" to refer to being horny. That last one got me in trouble as I told a girl I had just gotten up from a nap and was feeling a bit ornery. After she englightened me on the local meaning I mentioned it to some coworkers the next day (from the same area) and they agreed with her. Even after I pointed out the definition in the dictionary (of an irritable nature), they refused to believe me!

When I lived in California I loved to point out their common grammar mistakes. The most common is the incessant use of I in the object of a sentence (The boss wants you and I to come into his office). Nothing irritates a Californian like a Southerner correcting their grammar!

I also get sick of the hollywood southern accents. It's like they all watched Gone with the Wind to practice.

SkinnyG wrote: Was chatting with someone whilst me and my sweetie were waiting for the fireworks at Disneyland. They asked "Are yew frum Canuduh?" I said (in my best maritime accent) "I doon't knoo what you're talkin aboot, eh."

I definitely have the hoser accent, even I can hear it. On vacation last year, we were hanging out with a group of women from Boston. They couldn't figure out where we were from because they said we had no accent. I thought that it must be that there's was so strong, we sounded to them like we didn't have any.

The Minnesota/Wisconsin accent sounds funny to me..

zomby woof wrote:

SkinnyG wrote: Was chatting with someone whilst me and my sweetie were waiting for the fireworks at Disneyland. They asked "Are yew frum Canuduh?" I said (in my best maritime accent) "I doon't knoo what you're talkin aboot, eh."

I definitely have the hoser accent, even I can hear it. On vacation last year, we were hanging out with a group of women from Boston. They couldn't figure out where we were from because they said we had no accent. I thought that it must be that there's was so strong, we sounded to them like we didn't have any. The Minnesota/Wisconsin accent sounds funny to me..

Wisconsin is hilarious to me.

That said, even though i've NEVER set foot in that state, everyone tells me i have a Wisconsin accent. WTF?

Clay wrote: When I lived in California I loved to point out their common grammar mistakes. The most common is the incessant use of I in the object of a sentence (The boss wants you and I to come into his office). Nothing irritates a Californian like a Southerner correcting their grammar!

Hrmmm... though last i heard, "The boss wants you and i to come into his office" would actually be correct grammar.

In reply to 93celicaGT2:

Drop the "you" and it'll sound weird. Substitute "he" or "she" and it'll sound goofy, as well. So it's "me", "him", or "her."

16vCorey wrote: Oh, and my dad totally does the extra R thing, and my sister and I would always make fun of him as kids. The newest addition to his words with an extra R? Prostrate. I've heard a lot of older guys around here say "prostrate" instead of "prostate".

Dave Berry's advice to an inquiry to "Mr. Language Person" from a (fictional) medical student who needed to remember the difference between "prostate" and "prostrate":

Use this simple rhyme: "If two r's are found, it is down on the ground, but if one is at hand, then it is a gland."

This is also true to eastern and western nc.

Ls3 wrote: In reply to 93celicaGT2: Drop the "you" and it'll sound weird. Substitute "he" or "she" and it'll sound goofy, as well. So it's "me", "him", or "her."

Hrmmm.... i'm seeing confliction information on various grammar nazi sites online, too.

I'll go with either i guess.

Its always funny here in the NW you can tell who just moved to the area or is just visiting because they have no idea how to pronounce half the places in Oregon and Washington. Heck half the time locals have a hard time understanding where someone is talking about because the pronunciation is just so wrong. Oh if you didn't know many places here are named for the local tribes and their names for places and the like.

Some on the other hand are just flat out goofy.

93celicaGT2 wrote:

Ls3 wrote: In reply to 93celicaGT2: Drop the "you" and it'll sound weird. Substitute "he" or "she" and it'll sound goofy, as well. So it's "me", "him", or "her."

Hrmmm.... i'm seeing confliction information on various grammar nazi sites online, too. I'll go with either i guess.

I'd get far, far away from any site that advises you to use anything but the objective form ("me," "him" or "her") in that sentence.

Not that you'd believe me if I told you this aloud, since my accent still has the remains of my native Kentucky in it and people tend not to want to take grammar lessons from someone who says "far" instead of "fire" when they're tired.

Margie

I told Tim to shower down on it ..........now it makes sense, Kentucky.

93celicaGT2 said: Hrmmm... though last i heard, "The boss wants you and i to come into his office" would actually be correct grammar

Well, Ls3 covered it, but all you have to do is remove "you" from the sentence and it becomes clear that you should say "you and me". I had a friend in California actually try to convince me the object of the sentence changes from me to I when you add "you" in there. He wouldn't believe me unless he saw it in writing. Another guy said it has to be correct because if you say it the other way (correctly) it sounds stupid. Of course nowadays grammar rules are changed to accept both ways when more and more people say something a certain way (even if it's incorrect). I blame the internet! ;-)

I'm a bit of stickler for the most correct grammar though. I blame my english teacher mom.

In California I used that example just to ruffle people's feathers. Of course Southerners like to incorrectly use "me" in the subject (Mama and me went to the store). I just like to prove everyone says certain things incorrectly no matter where they are from. For some reason Californians really didn't like hearing that though. Correct grammar often sounds weird. Good examples: My brothers are taller than I. She is taller than he. They are taller than we.

There's an implied ending to the sentence (am tall, is tall, are tall). Just to head you off, I don't doubt you'll find a site that says the other way is acceptable.

I disagree that correct grammar sounds weird. "My brothers are taller than me..." just sounds wrong. Because it is. My brothers are taller than I...am.

Marjorie Suddard wrote: Not that you'd believe me if I told you this aloud, since my accent still has the remains of my native Kentucky in it and people tend not to want to take grammar lessons from someone who says "far" instead of "fire" when they're tired. Margie

I hear that everyday. I work with an older guy that has a pretty thick rural Indiana/Kentucky accent. One day we were talking about past jobs and I asked him what he did before he started working here. He said "farmin'". Being so used to the accent, I replied "Oh really? My dad was a fireman! He retired from station 7, etc, etc." He pretty much looked at me like I was nuts. He really was a farmer.

Yall Yankees are shore gonna be sooprised when yall gets to the Pearly Gates and St. Peter says "Yall jump in the back of the truck, We goin up to the big house". You see, Gawd talks like we do.