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What is your Accent like?


T-Pac

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6 minutes ago, doner24 said:

As a lifetime Minnesotan, it’s definitely been said around me my entire 40 years. It’s more likely that you didn’t notice someone using it, as it’s not said in normal conversation, rather used as a replacement or addition to “excuse me” when walking around someone in a crowded situation. 

I would think that in high school I would have heard it - l know for certain that I never did though.  

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1 hour ago, twiztor said:

fully midwest "accent". quotation marks because, like @Tabongamentioned, it is very neutral.

100% guilty on the "ope" tho. use it all the time. didn't realize it was a thing until the meme showed up a few years back. now it bothers me every time i say it, but it's impossible to stop

No accent is neutral, it's a construct from prescription snobbists.

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41 minutes ago, fcgamer said:

No accent is neutral, it's a construct from prescription snobbists.

It was considered neutral because it was the one most easily understood by all of the others.  Back in the day when there were only 3 tv networks the national newspeople (and many national tv show casts) were trained to use that variant since all tv markets would be the most comfortable listening to them.  Today most of the accents have gotten much softer/blurred - a result of the several decades of dominance by those 3 tv networks.

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13 minutes ago, Tabonga said:

It was considered neutral because it was the one most easily understood by all of the others.  Back in the day when there were only 3 tv networks the national newspeople (and many national tv show casts) were trained to use that variant since all tv markets would be the most comfortable listening to them.  Today most of the accents have gotten much softer/blurred - a result of the several decades of dominance by those 3 tv networks.

I understand the situation and history behind it, but it doesn't make it factually correct.

It's similar to the situation that the New England accents are much more similar to how English was historically spoken, than the queen's English is. Though to hire yankees to do a historical documentary about England, impossible! 😉

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25 minutes ago, ThePhleo said:

@Deadeye Same here.

Also, I think I got a strong Hoboken accent since I can NOT say the "th" sound. Instead it comes out "ch" or "d" depending on the word.

"There" is "Dare"

and "Three" is "Chree" in casual settings or when I have to be formal it comes out with a rolling r as "Tdri"

I definitely do that some, but it's similar to the glottal stop in words, I've begun invoking it as my colleagues do as well, in their normal dialects. So for me it's taking advantage of being lazy, hahaha.

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Moderator · Posted
1 hour ago, The Count said:

Minnesota accent, but not as strong as those from rural or northern areas. I get called out from time to time for rolling my os and out-of-state friends comment on my use of "pop" for soda and "baaag" for bag, amongst others.

It’s impossible for Minnesotans to say BOAT without an sounding like we’re from Moose Jaw, myself included. 

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Back when I was working for a local grocery store in the mid-to-late 2000s, I've had many customers asking me if I'm from up north!!  My wife did happen to be from Malden, MA (greater Boston) so I wonder if it rubbed off on me! 😄  Hopefully not to THIS extent though... 😄 

Homer Simpson: Hee hee...he's talking funny talk! 😄 

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18 hours ago, fcgamer said:

I'm like @Tanooki in the sense that I subconsciously will start mimicking the accents and word choices/patterns of those around me. It's gotten me in trouble a few times, as some people think you're trying to take the piss, even if you're not.

Bingo you get it.  I've been accused of much the same or told to knock it off and stop doing that from family, such as that trip.  The crew probably either figured I just was dialect local(a brit, etc) or mocking them given my luck.  If I were to leave the county here and go live like 30mi+ south of here in the rural area and was out daily among people I'd start going off in a natural southern drawl with no obvious tick to it which would make people think I'm faking it to fit in.  When I was doing Japanese 20 years ago, the retired NHK reporter that came over and taught the class thought I had a natural sound to it too once I got comfortable verbalizing things as well, probably why aside from book work I nailed an A in both courses.

Funny story, I had a long distance girlfriend in Melbourne over 20 years ago for a couple years I met online, despite the CA to down there time difference, we were on the phone enough digitally speaking so it wasn't costly.  She thought I was mocking her too as I started to pick up on it and start rolling with that as well. 😉  I had to consciously attempt to (succeeded) stop myself, couldn't blame her, she knew better.

As to your last part, totally agree.  I'd rather someone see me as dialect local than a poser, or worse knowing I'm an American too given the stupid disposition some people have to thinking we're all the vapid twits that inhabit youtube and all that.

Edited by Tanooki
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On 6/27/2021 at 12:34 PM, fcgamer said:

I understand the situation and history behind it, but it doesn't make it factually correct.

It's similar to the situation that the New England accents are much more similar to how English was historically spoken, than the queen's English is. Though to hire yankees to do a historical documentary about England, impossible! 😉

Oh don't you dare call someone from New England or especially Boston a "Yankee"! 😄   This right here is exactly what will result if you do...

 

Edited by Estil
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On 6/26/2021 at 11:55 PM, Strange said:

I have no clue. I’ve lived in Nashville my whole life, recently moved to Auburn, AL but I don’t have a southern accent. It kind of comes out if I’m shooting the shit with someone who does have one, but I get told all the time I don’t “sound like” I’m from the south.

Wow!  It's nice to meet a fellow Southerner who doesn't sound Southern! I was born and raised in Columbia, SC but I also grew up on the side of town where Fort Jackson is located and there were many transplants that lived in my neighborhood.  The neighborhood was also quite... ethnic so that even though I'm a white guy, there are still quite a few words I pronounce differently than most other people of my demographic.  Words like strawberry (straw-burry) or library (LI-burry).  I'm not trying to imitate anyone.  It's just when you grow up hearing something pronounced a certain way again and again, especially when you are young, that's how you learn communicate and old habits die hard.

But as I mentioned, that area was also permeated with military and since most of my friends were transplants, we all had a sound that was rather "typical" American English.  I grew up close to my mother's side of the family.  For us, her father was from North Carolina, however, he never had much of any Southern accent and my Grand Mother was a share cropper when she was young and they moved all up and down the East Coast looking for work.  Mamaw had her own accent, but it's very hard to place.  It doesn't sound like it's from anywhere.

So I went to college having lived in the South my whole life and my friends from the North had no clue I was Southern from the way I spoke.  We were all attending a small college in rural North-East Georgia and after four years, even the Bostonians and New Yorkers had a slight draw.  I lost mine quickly after I moved away but my wife and her family are heavily Southern.  After being married to her for almost 16 years, and now moving back to her home down for about 5 years, a Southern accent has become inevitable.  When I'm in the house, I'm Southern, but when I'm in public it's very rare that a Southern accent slips out but from time to time, it does.

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19 hours ago, fcgamer said:

I understand the situation and history behind it, but it doesn't make it factually correct.

It's similar to the situation that the New England accents are much more similar to how English was historically spoken, than the queen's English is. Though to hire yankees to do a historical documentary about England, impossible! 😉

Interesting you just mentioned the Queen's English because I was going to ask what "accent" is the one used on the BBC.  I've noticed in the past while listening to BBC News on occasion, that on their daily news, their "neutral" accent doesn't sound that much different than ours.  I mean, yes, there certainly is a difference.  But what I mean is, if you put a BBC news anchor by a Headline News anchor, the difference is about as subtle as any of our top 3-5 American accents compared to one another.

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That's an interesting question.  I'm not sure what my accent sounds like nowadays.  I'm from Puerto Rico and I learned English on the island.  My grandmother had me reading English and Spanish since the age of 4.  Once I finished High School, I went to Oklahoma for college and then back to PR for postgraduate schooling.  Then I moved to Miami and I've been in Miami for 29 years now.  So, I'm fully bilingual and my accent is a mix of places.

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6 hours ago, fcgamer said:

You should never hate your accent, it's something you should embrace and be proud of.

A NY accent?  No.  I understand cultural accents and thats one thing (Irish, French, etc).  But in NY theres a good correlation between how stupid someone is and how thick their accent is.  Also Long Island accents are incredibly obnoxious.

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