What Accent?
 

If You

Don't all the unused Rs just enter the atmosphere, drift to the southwest and rain down in Texas, where they find their way into words like "wash?" :D

and as a side note . . . this is a little gem.

http://www.movoto.com/blog/opinions/il-funny/

I think it's kinda sad that we're losing regional accents. Even in central and northern Maine (A-yuh country), accents are pretty much limited to the old timers. Although there's no doubt that incorrect assumption are often made based on them.

There used to be a difference even within a small state such as CT. SW CT was NY-ish without being a NY accent and SE CT was RI-ish without being a RI accent. My wife is from the Housatonic River Valley in CT, and let's just say you can always tell when someone is from the valley. Central CT was the only part of the state without an accent! :D

My mom, who grew up in Stamford, threw R's into some words. Not real sure where they came from. :)

I suppose it's a combination of us getting more mixed and accentless voices on the radio, tv and internet.

We always used to say warsh at home. i have broken myself of now. I cannot seem to shake the habit of saying acrost for across and a few other things....plus probably a whole lot more that I am completely unaware of.;)

I knew a guy from West Virginia who used to get ideals instead of ideas. I had a professor in college from Boston. He'd do impressions of different presidents but they all sounded like Kennedy.

I've heard that one of the signs you might be an army brat is that you can imitate accents easily and that your own is impossible to place. I just might be an army brat.

Mrs B and I are both military brats. She absorbs accents (not mimic). It takes her a couple of weeks or a few months and she sounds like a local. I don't mimic and I don't absorb accents. But I used to be damned good at detecting regional and often local accents. I suspect that the reasons I'm not as good at it as I once was is that people move so much, TV & radio normalize pronunciation, and my hearing is naturally aging where one loses high pitch. I hear lower frequencies just fine. But little girls are beginning to be hard to understand.

But you could understand them at one point? I can't understand them now! :confused:;)

My late uncle, who was a Navy pilot, never did pick up any local accents with all of his moves. He was very proud of the fact that he was able to maintain his central CT accent/lack of one despite living in Maine for 35+ years.

The valley accent is something special. But then the valley is something special.
Been to Heavenly Donuts in Derby? They have a car show every Sunday.

"Technically we're all half centaur". Perfect!

I've always been an accent fan. I tend to automatically switch out depending on circumstances. I get my spanglish on when family's around and without thinking about it will switch to AZ-NM bubba - which is sort of midwest influenced west texas- at the feed store. I betcha Bot you don't sound the same at some work meeting as you do at a Zydeco beer joint.

And BTW, even after two of my own, when were little girls ever easy to understand???

When I first saw this video I could not believe this is the pure unadulterated Maine accent. I thought the guy was putting it on.

Maine State Trooper - YouTube

And yeah, my accent moves around like yours does, ElChiv. It even changes depending on if I've had something to drink and don't like a person; I sound more English then. Most of the time, it's a soft mid-atlantic accent.

p.s. Raise daughters to be shin kickers. You will always know what they think of someone.

I raised mine to be shlt kickers. :D

Absolutely! Stopped there many a time after visiting the in-laws.

Hah Minnesota accents are quite unique. Northern Minnesota accents even more, and then there are the Yoopers from Michigan's Upper Peninsula. THOSE are funny.

What is this "AZ-NM bubba" more exactly? I have lived out here four years I.I.R.C., and for us gringos, I don't notice any accent. But from somewhere according to some family back home I have a slight Texas accent, especially if tired and almost guaranteed if I am talking or been to my Brother or his wife, who have a Southern drawl (I am not that bad!).

I grew up in the Sandy Eggo area, and there wasn't an accent per say, as a lot of folks were not natives of the area. But, for the natives there was a slight difference between the coast and the east.

Accents are strange creatures. Sometimes understandable and sometimes not. Sometimes can be absorbed and/or removed, or they never change.

Something funny. After living with Arab room mates a few months, I was speaking decent Queen's English! :laugh4: Not sure how come I can't get it back though...

Actually, around here the dropped "R"s just end up in other words, like Marthar and ideer (idea).