My late friend Keith Knight told me decades ago that I have a rather unique accent, a blend of Northeastern Ontario and upstate New York.  This comes from my parents' mixed marriage.  We used to tease my cousin from Dunkirk NY about her flattened vowels:  "Look out for the blaack blaack of raack." (black block of rock)

To us, a soda is a confection of pop (or flavoured soda water) and ice cream.  Pop is the generic term for a sweet carbonated beverage.

We tend to pronounce "roof" and "hoof" with a longer vowel sound, like "poor" rather than like "book."  I grew up with both and still use both.

Some aspects of accent never leave us.  My Vienna-born paternal grandfather always mixed his V's and W's, and generally had an accent like the Governator.   My father never lost his tendency to turn some th's into t's as in the name of the town of Thessalon.  My maternal grandmother always had her Aberdonian burr, which sounded nothing like James Doohan.

I have read that regional American accents tend to fall into two broad streams based on the derivation of the settlers.  New Englanders mostly came from the southeast of England, near Oxford and Cambridge, whereas Southerners came more from the southwest with a larger dose of Scots and Irish.  The latter stream had a greater impact on the American West as those displaced by your Civil War had more reason to relocate.  Watching Fargo shows the impact of Scandinavian immigrants on the accent of Minnesota, while Canadians from Newfoundland used to show a strong Irish and Scottish influence.  The Southwest is similarly seasoned with a Spanish flavour.

There is a very simple reason why accents are being homogenized:  those in power insist on assimilation in a way that makes the Borg look clumsy.  The BBC adopted an Oxbridge accent as their standard because it sounded cultured to those in a position to make that call, just as Scots in the military are made to adopt the military Scots English accent to fit in with their comrades.  Dan Rather abandoned his Texas twang for a broadcaster's neutral voice.  Michael Caine rarely shows his Cockney roots, usually sounding somewhere between Oxford and Surrey.  Accents are for the rustic, the uneducated, the outsider, and we rarely get the diverse voices of Tony Curtis, Sean Connery and Gary Cooper.

A video clip from just over a year ago:

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/9wZRJUjTbnE" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/9wZRJUjTbnE</a>

The man on the left is a Scouser. The man on the right has just joined the team from Spain, and visibly becomes more and more bewildered as the interview goes on. Perhaps it should be made part of the Spanish school-leavers' English exam: listening to a tape of Jamie Carragher in full flow and trying to write down what the hell he's on about.

I couldn't watch Snatch because I couldn't understand a fricking word of it.

I've been told I have a distinct midwestern accent, but I don't hear it in my voice. Of course, it's *my* voice, so I guess I can't be very objective about it.

Mr. Hippie has worked very hard for many years to ensure that he enunciates everything very well and speaks as clearly as possible. He grew up in New York, and spending time with his family is like being in an episode of The Sopranos (Perhaps with slightly less curse words and less talk of killing people. Slightly). But when he's upset or excited his New York accent comes out, and I happily tease him about it. I actually find that particular accent quite sexy.

My ex had an odd accent. He was born and raised in the Philippines and moved to New Zealand as a young man, where he learned English.

I stole this off Livejournal, so it might be a tad bit weird.

ETA: Voice post. Voice post. Voice post =/= what only which terminology you use (which is still interesting), but how you move your anatomy to make it (see the title of the thread).


Don't mind some of the stupid thoughts I added in there. (For example... it's obviously not shingles.)
Roof roof roof.

Woodlouse, to me.

1. A body of water, smaller than a river, contained within relatively narrow banks.
Stream

2. What is the thing you push around the grocery store is called.
Shopping cart

3. A metal container to carry a meal in.
... a bowl? Or a lunchbox?

4. The thing that you cook bacon and eggs in.
Pan or skillet

5. The piece of furniture that seats three people.
Couch or sofa

6. The device on the outside of the house that carries rain off the roof.
Gutter or drain

7. The covered area outside a house where people sit in the evening.
Porch

8. Carbonated, sweetened, non-alcoholic beverages.
Soda pop, or soda

9. A flat, round breakfast food served with syrup.
Pancakes!

10. A long sandwich designed to be a whole meal in itself.
Hoagie or sub

11. The piece of clothing worn by men at the beach.
Loin clo- oh, reality. Swim shorts.

12. Shoes worn for sports.
Tennis shoes (pronounced 'tennishoes')

13. Putting a room in order.
Cleaning

14. A flying insect that glows in the dark.
Lightning bug

15. The little insect that curls up into a ball.
Roly-poly bug

16. The childrens' playground equipment where one kid sits on one side and goes up while the other sits on the other side and goes down.
Teeter totter

17. How do you eat your pizza?
... I can't eat pizza. Sod off.

18. What's it called when private citizens put up signs and sell their used stuff?
Yard sale or garage sale.

19. What's the evening meal?
Dinner

20. The thing under a house where the furnace and perhaps a rec room are?
Indian cemet- errr, basement.

21. What do you call the thing that you can get water out of to drink in public places?
Water fountain

1. A body of water, smaller than a river, contained within relatively narrow banks.
Creek (pr. "crick")

2. What is the thing you push around the grocery store is called.
Cart

3. A metal container to carry a meal in.
Lunch-box

4. The thing that you cook bacon and eggs in.
Frypan

5. The piece of furniture that seats three people.
Sofa

6. The device on the outside of the house that carries rain off the roof.
Eavestrough

7. The covered area outside a house where people sit in the evening.
Porch

8. Carbonated, sweetened, non-alcoholic beverages.
Soda

9. A flat, round breakfast food served with syrup.
Pancakes

10. A long sandwich designed to be a whole meal in itself.
Sub

11. The piece of clothing worn by men at the beach.
Trunks

12. Shoes worn for sports.
Sneakers

13. Putting a room in order.
Cleaning

14. A flying insect that glows in the dark.
Firefly

15. The little insect that curls up into a ball.
Roly-poly

16. The childrens' playground equipment where one kid sits on one side and goes up while the other sits on the other side and goes down.
Seesaw

17. How do you eat your pizza?
...by the slice?

18. What's it called when private citizens put up signs and sell their used stuff?
Garage/Yard sale.

19. What's the evening meal?
Dinner

20. The thing under a house where the furnace and perhaps a rec room are?
Basement

21. What do you call the thing that you can get water out of to drink in public places?
Drinking fountain