Spawned from the Palin accent discussion in the Debate forum.



I was shocked to discover I had an accent the first time I went to Arkansas. Much to my amazement not only was a pegged as being from further north...but was pegged as WESTERN PENNSYLVANIAN. I was dumbfounded. Pittsburghers have a distinct accent which I abhor....so I have always consciously tried to annuciate words that people around me do not...but I apparently still use words that aren't used commonly elsewhere.

Words typical of Western Pennsylvanians:
Burm - I use "shoulder", word for the side of the road.
Spicket - I use faucet for indoor fixtures. Many people I know use this word for all water fixtures.
Gumband - rubberband. I'm guilty of this one.
Pop - I HATE this word. I use soda. People look at me funny for it.
Yinz - Also said as Yunz or You'ns. Best guess is that it's a blend of you and ones...it means you all. I don't use this. I am however occasionally guilt of ya'll. Especially after having been in Arkansas for any length of time.
n'at - Really lazy way of saying "and that". I don't use this.
redd up - the clean up or tidy. I'm guilty of this one.
jagger - thorns
buggy - shopping cart

A long time ago we used to have a thread with voices so people could post what they sounded like. I'm too tired tonight to find it, but should I remember tomorrow I may add a voice clip pronouncing some of this.

So what words, dialects, etc are common to your area? When you travel, do people know where you are from?

I normally speak with an affected "General American", which is perceived by most North Americans as not having any accent at all. My actual accent is the rural Californian drawl (cot and caught pronounced the same, "y" sound before "u" as in "dude", "ah" instead of "i" as in "mine", etc.), which, for some reason, has gotten stronger since I moved to Ontario.

I don't consistently pronounce aunt the same. It depends on my mood...some days it's "ant" and others "aunt"...and I don't think I realised that until I read your post Lady M. Haha. I actually had to say it out loud in a sentence to realise I say it both ways.

It's funny to see your list, Lorelei!  I've lived in Pittsburgh for the last couple years... and I'd visited over the course of my life and, yes, the accents here are pretty atrocious at times.  The one thing I'd add that I always notice is Pittsburghers will say "warsh" instead of "wash."

Myself, I have an accent all my own... my dad is in the military so I was constantly moving all over the world every three years.  I was born in Missouri, then went to Germany, Italy, Georgia (US), back to Germany, South Carolina and now Pennsylvania (and I am trying to move to Australia in January).  As a result, there are lots of geographical influences on how I might speak... and that doesn't even include my own innate weirdness!

So I am considered a foreigner no matter where I go.  

Spigot, don't you mean?

I have mid-Maine-colored US Standard. It's been creeping more Maineward in the past few years, but it is strongly malleable. I have intentionally trained myself to adopt accent and dialect choices that sound best to me. "Aunt" is a good example. I pronounce it for maximum clarity. Ont may sound funny, but no one's ever confused. (and it's not really Ont, the vowel is a smidgen different, but apparently Maine ears can distinguish a couple vowels others cannot, at least according to my linguistics prof in San Diego).

I don't -think- I have an accent... I was partially raised in Vermont, and then Oregon. When at work, I speak particularly clearly, and enunciate very carefully. I know I speak quite well for people whose native language is not English- we had exchange students a lot while I was growing up, and that taught me how to simplify my speech and speak clearly, without talking like the listener was stupid. That, by the way, is a very valuable skill.

My coworker was raised in South Africa, but her mother was British; she sounds mostly 'normal', except particularly clear, other than when she introduces herself. The way she says, "My name is Britt" is somehow strangely accented to my ears.

Kind of wish I had some sort of accent. But ah well. I do -terrible- accent mimicry.

Oh, one I just remembered!

I call a patio (screened in room, usually in the back of the house) the 'Florida Room'.  This does not really work anywhere outside of Florida, but I have to consciously make myself say 'patio' or 'screen room' instead.  Probably because the first time I ever saw such a room, it was referred to as a Florida Room.

We'll do it tomorrow. 


I don't think I have too much of an accent geographically centered on a part of the US. I just slap together random words for silly slang.


ETA the italics. Sup Pixie.

I was shocked one day, overseas, when an old man I was sitting near at the chowhall approached me and said that I talk like I'm from Eastern Washington State.  I have no idea what type of accent this means I have.  I don't do what many do and put an extra R in words (I do have an aunt who says she's from Warshington).
If anything, I figured I'd have a slight southern accent from the years in South Carolina.

It just seems a little ethnocentric to believe that Americans have "the one true accent".