I grew up in Massachusetts and my college friends in upstate NY would tease me about my accent -- Carler, you wanna get pizzer? After living in the DC area for twenty or so years, I don't think I have much of an accent. But my sister, in Massachusetts cracks me up when she tells me she's going to take a bahth.

It may be my California ears, but I have conversations with an employee of Bank of Toyko Mitsubishi in Toronto whom I hear saying "aboot" for "about." She is also bilingual - English and French - so maybe this influences her pronunciation.

For the record, I never fail to be impressed by Canadian courtesy in business dealings, especially (but not limited to) with CRA. And I don't hear any accent when I speak with the Vancouver offices. Maybe we share the same "West Coast" accent?

Born and raised in Alabama, so yes I have a slight accent. It's not 'country southern' as a lot have but it's definitely there. Neither of my parents had a strong southern accent either, very soft. When I used to speak a lot on the phone with people in Boston, I would occasionally have one guy who would stop talking for an extended time. I had to ask a few times if he was still there. Once he told me 'yes, I just like listening to you talk with your southern voice'.

DH is from Ohio but has lived here a long time and I think he is accent-neutral. As others have pointed out, there are ways we refer to things differently depending on what part of the country we are from. Dinner/Supper is one.

Beautiful - I often slur it a bit when speaking so it comes out more like byoo-tuh-ful. When singing it, however, where enunciation is important it is most often sung as byoo-ti-ful.

I have been told I have a slight southern accent. I don't hear it all the time. Sometimes when I'm talking certain words will occasionally come out very southern and I will just stop what I'm saying and say "woah that was really country." just because I surprise myslef.

Missy -- aren't Montgomery and Bucks Philly burbs too?

I don't know how I say it that it stands out, but I was at a party and said the word about and someone asked if I was so&so's sister. I said yes, why? He said you say about just like him.

Paternal grandparents were Canadian, I learned to speak in Boston so it's my native tongue, and I have always lived on the East Coast, above the Mason-Dixon Line. I'm sure my speech patterns are a mix of a few regions and influences.

nancy, that's so interesting, and I'd give anything to know the background of that banker you speak to in Toronto, who pronounces 'about' like 'aboot.' Perhaps she grew up in Quebec and you could be right that 'about' with a French accent comes out like 'aboot.'

My daughter lives in New Brunswick, which is even more bilingual than Quebec. Staff in stores, restaurants etc. often greet me in French, but when I ask a question, they easily convert to English. Some have no French accent when speaking English, but others do. So I'll pay attention next time I'm speaking with someone with a French accent, to see if I hear them say 'aboot' instead of 'about.' That would finally explain that the pronunciation is simply heard from people with French as their first language, and why I've never heard it here. The Toronto area doesn't have much of a French demographic, but rather a very diverse population of many European and Asian cultures.

Once I saw an episode of New Yankee Workshop (I think that's the show) with Norm Abrams as the host. He was in the south (Alabama or Mississippi) interviewing a guy who fishes old trees out of rivers and reclaims the wood.

Well, Norm has a decidedly Northeast accent, and the interviewee had a very southern accent. The show actually had subtitles when the southern guy spoke! It was really very funny.

Donna

I think that I say "byoo-duh-ful"...it's weird when you have to think about it though.

I'm from Boston proper and, yes, I do say bath and path and mahvalous but I strongly pronounce my Rs as my Mom was from Canada and Dad from Scotland and both pronounced their Rs. Consequently I've been asked if I'm English. A perfect example is my co worker wanted to go out to eat in Plymouth so we set a date. While on the way I asked where she would like to go to which she replied " the cottage" WHAT? what cottage? which resulted in an Abbott Costello routine until I said "spell it" ---------- CORDAGE. Yep, she said cottage.

I think the aboot about thing came about because some Canadians say about as...almost aboat.

http://www.yorku.ca/twainweb/troberts/raising.html

"To American ears, the Canadian pronunciation of about often sounds like aboot, but this is only an illusion. Because the more familiar pronunciation of /aw/ is articulated with the tongue in a low position, and because it raises to a mid position in Canadian English when the vowel precedes the voiceless obstruents listed above, speakers of other varieties of English will immediately detect the vowel raising, but will sometimes think that the vowel has raised farther than it actually does, all the way to /u/, which is a high vowel--hence the mishearing (and not-quite-right imitation) of this pronunciation as aboot."

I do pronounce the i in writer much differently than that in rider. Rider takes on much more of an "eye" sound. Writer is about halfway between "it" and "ite"

As to the Philadelphia burbs, I don't think of Bucks County and outer Montgomery County as particularly connected with the city. I grew up in Montgomery County (Lower Merion Township), but closer to the city and less rural than, say, Pottstown, Boyertown, Soudertown, Spring City, Quakertown, Collegeville, Perkiomen, etc. I have a friend who moved to the country, but has a Pottstown address. I would live there in a second-beautiful area, but growing quickly unfortunately (says the woman who wants to get away from her busy area).

Oh, and we all said byoo'-tif-ul except for one uncle who always said byoo-tee-ful. As a teen, it made me nuts, but then as I got older, I found it endearing. :)

i guess it depends on which towns in each county, but they are of course contiguous so I thought it rather odd to say Montgo and Bucks are not Philly burbs...

I'm from Michigan but have spent the last thirty six years in PBC Fl. Before moving here permanently I had traveled to south Florida by car for vacation. I learned the difference between how we ask for a soft drink the hard way. While in Georgia in route we stopped at a little diner where I asked the waitress what pop's they had. The waitress responded with, apple, lemon meringue, peach and pecan. Puzzled, I said pecan pop? She laughed and said, oh, you mean soda. Well where I came from soda was just clear carbonated water so I said, no, pop. The waitress thought I still meant pie so again went through her list of apple, lemon meringue, peach and pecan. At that point I just thought Georgia had more interesting pop flavors than Michigan so I ordered lemon meringue. The waitress brought the pie. I said, this isn't pop. The waitress was getting pretty frustrated at that point and repeated the pie list. I again tried to ask for a drink but the waitress said I talked too fast and she could not understand me (have been told that often). At that point I was getting very thirsty so just said bring me a coke or Pepsi please.

It was then that I was informed that I had a very fast northern accent. Apparently I spoke so fast it was impossible to decipher. I was also told that most of the United States of America said soda when referring to a soft drink. The waitress was right about my fast speech as I did get a few complaints along those lines when I moved here permanently. In my particular area of MI people do seem to talk fast.

I have a lot of relatives in the vancouver area, but they have always lived outside the city...they definitely have an accent, although I can't describe it. And there's the words, touks (autocorrect didn't like that one!) ... and they do say "eh".

So, terrilynn, saying "pop" sounded like "pie" to a Georgian? Wow.

Anyone care to discuss "pecan"? LOL

puh-cahn'

Msmeow, Ha, yes, I guess I was just hard to understand (by this one person in Georgia) because I was a fast talker and the fact that we don't move our lips much when speaking. I could have just asked what soft drinks they had but I had never in my life heard pop or anything referred to as a soft drink.

Everyone knows it's puhCAAN, not PEEcan (g)

I don't hear my own VERY southern accent unless I'm listening for it. I try hard not to sound like the people that surround me. I certainly hope I have a better grasp on the English language, diction, etc. My poor grandbabies are doomed. I try to correct them (gently) but I think I'm fighting a losing battle (sigh). I don't have a problem with a sweet southern drawl. It's come in handy numerous times while on the phone with male phone reps ;) They love it. I was in a hotel lobby in Mexico City when I was maybe 15. I struck up a conversation with a man and after a few minutes, he said, "you're from Texas aren't you?" lol I was born in Georgia but have been in Texas most of my life.

My mother's family is from West Virginia. They refer to soda etc as "pop". Here in Texas, you ask if someone wants a coke. If they do, you ask "what kind?". And not what flavor of "Coke" but what soda...Coke, Pepsi, Dr Pepper, Sprite or my personal favorite Diet Mountain Dew

Mary, merry, marry are all pronounced exactly the same to me. I'm from Chicago.

Here in MN they say Aunt like ahnt. I grew up saying ant.

Kids here also play Duck, Duck, Grey Duck. We played Duck, Duck, Goose.

I say "ant" for aunt as well. My DH insists it's pronounced "ahnt" and now I'm starting to imagine myself as a multi-legged tiny insect.

H B, yes, many Canadians really do say 'Eh' at the end of certain sentences! It's very similar to instances that many Americans would add 'huh' to the end of a sentence. I recently visited a friend in the States and we went to a concert together. Afterwards I said "That was an amazing concert, eh?" to which she replied "You liked it, huh?" which got us laughing and led to discussing the 'eh' and 'huh' habit.

The use of 'huh' in America and 'eh' in Canada are pretty much interchangeable and used in the same instances. Yet somehow our habit of saying 'eh' is parodied much more, especially on American t.v. shows that feature a Canadian character. Regardless, I'm never offended by hearing us teased about it as it's just a recognizable custom of speech here, lol!

robo your link was interesting. I'm hearing him say 'about the house' and not 'aboot the house, so if anyone hears it as 'aboot' then my ears just don't perceive it that way.

Jojoco....we both say Carrie and Syracuse the same way! I never realized that I had an accent until visiting South Florida as a teenager. I had asked if we were going for a wwaalk, and someone asked where are you from? Apparently, they pronounced it more of a "wok". Growing up in CT, I wasn't aware of any accent until I went outside of CT. South Florida also gave me a reality check when I walked into a deli and asked for a sausage and pepper grinder. The lady had no idea what I was talking about. I had to explain it to her. "Oh, you mean a sub sandwich".

I'm not aware of how I say certain words until someone points it out to me. I think my sisters and I also have faint accents as English was not our first language.

Oh, and I say....byoodaful.

Today, while I was watching a TV show, they said the word "poem" which made me do some checking because of they way they pronounced it. My whole life, I have said "poym" like it would rhyme with the word "boy" with an M on the end, one syllable. So I asked my husband how he pronounces it and he says "poe-um", the correct way. I have no idea where "poym" came from, but that's how everyone in my family said it, that's how I'd learned it in school. I'm from Texas, so it must be some country hick way to say it...HAHA! Then my husband also pointed out that I say acorn differently than he does and I said, oh you mean "ake-ern"...HA! He says "a-corn".

"ake-ern" OMW, yes, that's a Texas pronunciation! At least here in east Texas. I say "a-corn" but I hear "ake-ern" ALL the time. I also say "poe-um".

I say ahnt and pe can, as taught by parents, but no one else does. Soda for soft drink and sofa for chesterfield.

I know we have an accent, but for some reason I don't hear mine even on a recording. Others from elsewhere definitely do have accents. ;) :)

As I said here in Vancouver we teased one another mercilessly about our 'eh' use so it stopped and the younger generation didn't pick it back up. They say ah and um when hesitating in speech. Sis in Hope BC and sis in law et al in Kamloops BC definitely still use 'eh'.

My DH whole family - east coast- says Aunht (aunt). My more midwestern and western family says "ant" or "antie"

That's a funny story, Never. I hope you ducked!

My family always said ahnt, but when my parents moved to Philadelphia they began saying ant and I still do. I never hear ahnt around here unless it is someone with the now-rare Philadelphia Lockjaw accent -- the old Philadelphia society way of speaking. You can hear it in The Philadelphia Story, particularly Katherine Hepburn. They also say to-mah-to. Another is vahz rather than vace (vase), although I hear that from time to time and is regional, I believe.

I sat next to a Canadian at an Elton John concert at Caesars Palace years ago. Its a smaller venue and this was when EJ was doing The Red Piano, which was really flamboyant and fun. It was like a huge party but my new Canadian friend didn't seem to be enjoying himself, even though he told me he was a huge fan. I bought him a glass of champagne. After Daniel, which reminds me of my late brother, we were both crying. He said, "He plays the piano rather well, eh"? I said, "I know, right"? We clunked plastic champagne cups and hugged. We are still FB friends.

pickyshopper

H
B, yes, many Canadians really do say 'Eh' at the end of certain
sentences! It's very similar to instances that many Americans would add
'huh' to the end of a sentence. I recently visited a friend in the
States and we went to a concert together. Afterwards I said "That was an
amazing concert, eh?" to which she replied "You liked it, huh?" which
got us laughing and led to discussing the 'eh' and 'huh' habit.

The use of 'huh' in America and 'eh' in Canada are pretty much
interchangeable and used in the same instances. Yet somehow our habit of
saying 'eh' is parodied much more, especially on American t.v. shows
that feature a Canadian character. Regardless, I'm never offended by
hearing us teased about it as it's just a recognizable custom of speech
here, lol!

robo your link was interesting. I'm hearing him say 'about the house' and not 'aboot the house, so if anyone hears it as 'aboot' then my ears just don't perceive it that way.

*********************************************

I disagree with the comparison of Eh & Huh as being comparable in usage

I mainly hear 'Eh' used by Mike Holmes/cast on Holmes on Homes.

My take is, the use of Eh at the end of a sentence is more like an American saying 'right' . Yrs back, 'see' was used in a similar way--you'll hear that in old timey movies.

Americans also add 'you know' for emphasis in a similar way.

Huh is the response used/said when one doesn't understand a question. Huh makes you sound dumb, Eh doesn't.

Another Canadianism is University - "He's going to university" I don't think I've ever heard an American say university in a similar way. Americans do say" He's going to/off to college" though

If they go to a univ, they'll use the school's name...say Harvard, Northwestern, or specifically say Univ of Chicago.

Another that's similar, the British go to 'hospital', Americans go to 'the hospital' Not sure what they say in CA.

I have yet to hear a Canadian say eh?. I'm on the west coast and it just isn't something we say.

We have universities and colleges so you use the word that pertains to you.

Canadians go to "the" hospital.

Blfenton, I know plenty of folks from BC that say eh. Hmm. Certainly it is heavily used here in Ottawa.

blfenton

I have yet to hear a Canadian say eh?. I'm on the west coast and it just isn't something we say.

We have universities and colleges so you use the word that pertains to you.

Canadians go to "the" hospital.

______________________________________

Just watch Holmes on Homes to catch an Eh uttered ;-)

We have univ & colleges in the US too - we just tend not to say univ

In a similar vein, I heard Oi! Oi! being shouted by Minnie Driver on ABC's Speechless. Initially I thought her character was Jewish because it sounded like Oy.

While watching the Canadian Series The Artful Detective(Murdoch) which is set in early 1900 Toronto, I heard a constabulary shout Oi!

Well...

Oi /ɔɪ/ is an interjection used in various varieties of the English language, particularly British English, Australian English, New Zealand English, Canadian English, Hindi, Singaporean English and Southern African English, to get the attention of another person or to express surprise or disapproval.[1][2][3]

"Oi" has been particularly associated with working class and Cockney speech.[4] It is effectively a local pronunciation of "hoy"[5] (see H-dropping), an older expression.[6]
A study of the Cockney dialect in the 1950s found that whether it was
being used to call attention or as a challenge depended on its tone and
abruptness. The study's author noted that the expression is "jaunty and
self-assertive" as well as "intensely cockney".[7]

A poll of non-English speakers by the British Council in 2004 found
that "oi" was considered the 61st most beautiful word in the English
language. A spokesman commented that "Oi is not a word that I would've
thought turned up in English manuals all that often."[8] "Oi" was added to the list of acceptable words in US Scrabble in 2006.[9]

At our local MLS soccer games there is a chant, The Ogie Ogie Ogie chant and the response to the Ogie Ogie Ogie line is OY OY OY. Perhaps it is reminiscent of English soccer chants.

As a child and a young adult I lived in many different states. My parents were from NC and had the residue of southern accents that they had tried to lose. i easily picked up local characteristics. I still have some of the rhythm of a well-educated southern voice many decades later. Shortly after moving to MN, my father said in one phone conversation that I sounded like a "g*dam Yankee" so I'm sure that I now have some characteristics from the Twin Cities, too. A call to the parents pretty much guaranteed that I'd say something very southern within a day or two.

I thought I was pretty good at determining where people were from based on their voices until I met a woman who was able to identify every state I had lived in. She made one error. She said that I had lived in TX and NM. I had lived outside of Dallas and in El Paso, where people sounded more like NM than TX!

My mother spent my entire childhood trying to get me to say "Flahrida" instead of "Floorida" (which is they way everyone says it around here). She was born in central FL but she must have had an English teacher along the way who taught the "Flahrida" pronunciation. It also drove her nuts that many people don't pronounce the "h" in words like whale and when. "Wale" as opposed to "Hwale." And my dad always pronounced her name "Doorthy" - she finally gave up trying to get him to say "Dorothy". :)

Donna

"One thing I've noticed here in Oregon is that in rural areas, people
tend to have a different accent/pronunciation than those in the urban
areas. I'm always amazed at how southern they sound, and pronounce
creek as crick,"

Hmmm. I grew up in rural southern Oregon, and I remember thinking that about an occasional "old timer" but not as a generality. Some of the extra rural, older residents said "warsh" (wash) and "crick" (creek.) That was seldom enough that we thought it was hysterical as children.

"say 'down to' -as in I'm going down to the market, or
down to the bank.""

Now, I guess we/they do say that. I never had it pointed out. What do other people say? Omit the "down?"

RE: Californians --- I always thought, generally, west coasters and/or surrounding mountain states spoke similarly. (Something close to "broadcast American" or no accent.) There is a surfer accent in Cali among that subculture, but, I don't hear an accent from my extended family members or friends born and raised there.

msmeow, my mom was also a Dorothy, aka Dot, Dottie, Dotsie.

Having lived in IL for 45 years, CA 20 years, and almost 9 in TX, maybe i've acquired an accent and then 'lost' it?? I don't recall anyone in IL ever asking if I were a from another state, but in CA was asked several times if I were from NY or the east coast, which for the life of me would ever identify with. I did have an odd thing happen in Target while shopping with my husband when first moving to TX. I think we were looking at towels when a 'voice' from the other side asked, 'are you a news reporter'? The lady commented that my voice sounded 'very professional' , whatever that meant. I am a stickler on pronunciation and diction, but do love to hear the accent of people from 'Nahawlins'(LA) or Sahvahnaaa(Savannah). I *dream* of having lived a life as a southern belle!

Years ago living in Canada, we volunteered the use of our phone number and outgoing voice message as a contact for the local Art Deco Society. Later, a friend from Toronto expressed interest in our budding sticker collection. After some confusion, we realized he thought we were members of the Art Decal Society!

As an aside, imo, not all southern accents 'are created equal.' I find 'softer' versions in various states. Ex;SC being much 'softer' than NC. Anyone else notice? Words ending in 'a' might be drawn out and sound like 'ah'.

Re: southern accents

Yes, there are definite differences! NC doesn't sound at all like AL and neither sound like GA or MS. There are difference within states, too. I'm out of practice, but I used to be able to distinguish between Birmingham and Montgomery. New Orleans is completely different than the rest of LA. Even within neighborhoods there were differences (Irish Channel vs, Garden District).

Same is true of other places. When I moved to Minneapolis, I could always tell whether the person was a native of St. Paul or of Minneapolis. Unfortunately, my ears adjusted before I could figure out what it was.

Reminds me of these 2 fellows on a business trip through Missouri. One kept saying it was Saint Loo-is, the other Saint Loo-ee. Back and forth they argued until finally one said, "Let's get off the highway at the next exit, stop at the first place we see and we'll ask them." Agreed, they stopped, went up to the gal at the counter and said, "How do you pronounce the name of this place?" She replied very slowly, "Bur-ger-king."

Having grown up in southern Michigan and also lived in Pittsburgh area, Philadelphia and also spent a good deal of time in NY and NJ, I love all those accents and hope they stay alive forever. I love language and I love hearing all the creative ways humans use it! I was very aware of my accent when I lived out east whenever I said "walk, talk, water, shop," and let's not forget "pop" which out east is your dad. I trained myself to say "soda pop" so that I would be able to order a soft drink whichever place I was. My Jersey boy SO teases me when I say "spatula." I tease him whenever we go somewhere in the car.

Interesting Lolauren, about "creek" vs "crick." I was born and raised and now live in one of the few places in the country where people say "crick." I don't even know why I say "crick" because in formal speech I would say "creek" but if I was in a hurry or stressed or else very relaxed I might say, "He fell in the crick" or "There's a big ol' log over the crick." It is apparently not a Michigan thing in general, just relegated to the southern counties in MI. A friend who lived here for a while always reminisces about going to "Battle Crick" which is funny because the town north of us is Battle Creek! You know you're with a real local when they go with you to Battle Crick. I think they pronounce it that way just to piss off city folk, dontcha know.

A "Jewish" accent is a little peculiar though, but since a lot of Jews live in urban areas, and use certain expressions, it might lead someone to believe that, I guess. Reminds me when I was a kid and we were in the Atlanta airport and the ticket agent asked my northerner dad if his last name was Jewish (in a very thick southern drawl) and dad replied, "Why are you asking, it's not an unusual name where I come from." and the guy replied, "It's a common name down here too believe it or not, we have Jews here and I'm one of them and have the same last name." While I love accents because I love language, that encounter taught me to never stereotype someone because of their accent.

Pink mountain how do you say spatula? Or is it the term itself he finds funny?

I've lived in South/Central Texas since I was six. I don't think I have an accent at all. Texans don't think I have an accent. The second I step one foot outside of the state, strangers ask me, "What part of Texas are you from."

"Spaaatula." At least according to SO's impersonation. I use that term a lot around him because we differ in our opinion of the importance of that kitchen tool.

My late husband used to think I said "idea" funny. It does sort of come out as "i-dih" (short i for the second syllable) although I think "i-dee-ah" in my head. I hear other people say it the same way I do and nobody mocks them. He and I were both from the same small town, so no regional differences at play.