Do you have an accent?

[SuzySunshine]

Re: Do you have an accent?

I don't think I have an accect being from middle america but I do say some words differently. DH and I have both picked up some Minnesota-isms, he more then I.

Re: Do you have an accent?

I am an accent chameleon. It is so bad that if I am not careful when speaking to someone with an impediment or stutter, I will start to copy that too. I read something the other day that children pick up the accent of their peers, not their parents--we moved around alot, maybe that's why. Anyway, when I get pissed I tend to get really "Yankee." Any other time I am just talking with whatever accent the region uses. Which is why right now I sound sort of like Beth from Dog the Bounty Hunter when she talks to the Hawaiian captures.

"Yoo gotta get off de ice, bra."

Re: Do you have an accent?

"Yoo gotta get off de ice, bra."

Just make sure you don't go to her hairdresser.

[mommax3]

Re: Do you have an accent?

I am sure I sound like a midwesterner. I don't sound like I am from "da region" but my mother grew up just south of there and I hear echoes of it in the way she speaks. My sister went to grad school at the University of Michigan and picked up some accent there, in my opinion.

By the time I left TX, I said ya'll regularly (happened when I got a teaching job there.....kids looked at me funny if I said "you guys"!) and "fixin' to" had crept in as well, mostly because it takes less time to say than "getting ready to", (I'm all about efficiency in speech ) but I am back to my Indiana self now. My boys all have a way of saying "right there" that sounds very Texan to me (raht there) but that is really the only vestige of the time they spent there.

Sally

Re: Do you have an accent?

Fixin' is in Alabama too. Never picked that up though.

[alison]

Re: Do you have an accent?

I am sure I sound like a midwesterner. I don't sound like I am from "da region" but my mother grew up just south of there and I hear echoes of it in the way she speaks.

Where da Bears playing at?

Re: Do you have an accent?

From the midwest, had no accent IMO. Came back to visit the family and my aunt said I was picking up a southern accent - ssayyyy iiitttt issnn'tttt ssssoooooo!!!!!!

Re: Do you have an accent?

My southern accent is on my mind a lot because I'm regularly reminded of it when I speak here. I see the double-take or the closer inspection just about every time I speak here. I wouldn't say I have a backwoods/redneck accent, but I do have a slight drawl. These Clevelanders have a strong accent to me, though! I long to hear "Mhahm" (mom) not said through the nose!

Y'all and fixin are staples. We don't say soda or pop, everything is Coke... as in
"Do you want a Coke?"
"Sure."
"What kind?"
"__________." (Sprite, Root Beer, Ginger Ale, or even Coke, pretty much covers anything carbonated and non-alcoholic)

One of the other mothers at DS's school is from Memphis (and she happens to be another doctor's wife, BTW) and we gravitate toward each other at school functions to hear each other talk.

ALL THAT being said, when I talk to family in Alabama now I think they sound so country!!!

It's funny, I just posted about accents in my blogspot blog with links to various accents (profile, if you're interested).

Sandy - I think you have an accent!

[poky]

Re: Do you have an accent?

I wouldn't say I have a backwoods/redneck accent, but I do have a slight drawl.

I agree. It doesn't seem all that strong, or maybe that's just because you speak softly. It's definitely not hick/redneck, though.

Sandy - I think you have an accent!

Hmm. I believe you; without knowing where I'm from, could you have placed it, though?

Re: Do you have an accent?

without knowing where I'm from, could you have placed it, though?

No, I don't think I could have. Definitely not southern, not NY, not Boston, DEFINITELY not Cleveland, not CA, ...no, I would have been stumped. I've never been to the PNW, though. I don't think your accent is strong, either, but you're definitely not from he-uh.

Re: Do you have an accent?

Sometimes I say things in a Cleveland accent.

What is a Cleveland accent?

Re: Do you have an accent?

I still have a So Cal beach accent.....duuuuuude.... Despite our best efforts, DS is picking up a bit of a southern drawl. I've been trying to teach him to say "pudding" instead of "puddin", "daddy" instead of "diddy".....but I think it's a lost cause.

Re: Do you have an accent?

I too say have the southern cali thing. I'm in my thirties and I still say "dude" and "stoked" and my valley girl comes out with "like" in almost every sentence. Oh and I also picked up "hella" from going to school in Northern California.

[madeintaiwan]

Re: Do you have an accent?

I too say have the southern cali thing. I'm in my thirties and I still say "dude" and "stoked" and my valley girl comes out with "like" in almost every sentence. Oh and I also picked up "hella" from going to school in Northern California.

Ahhh, my husband HATES the word hella. A true southern Californer, despite living in Davis for 8 years he has never slipped and used that word except to express his dislike for it. DS has definitely picked up some words from us, although many of those Cali phrases are becoming more mainstream. He says sweet and awesome all the time. There was a period in high school where my stepdad charged me money whenever I said the word like. Whatever dude.

ETA: There definitely is a middle America midwestern accent. I always thought DH's cousin's wife who grew up in Kansas sounded different (nothing heavy like a southern draw but definitely not like anything I heard growing up in CA) as did all of her family and friends when we came out for the wedding. And when were in STL I had to correct DS when his teacher kept calling a quarter, a qua-ter.

Re: Do you have an accent?

JennP - I'm not sure if this is what Cassie is talking about, but here's a Cleveland accent...

http://web.ku.edu/idea/northamerica/usa/ohio/ohio2.mp3

This man is from the WEST side of Cleveland, IMO the east-siders are even more pronounced. Notice the way he says happy, daily, face, and palm.