Accents

MuppetFan · March 2013

I seriously have never thought that I have much of an accent at all with few exceptions:

I grew up watching a lot of SCTV and other Canadian programs so that probably is the cause for some things that I do...

1) I say "ou" sounds like the more Canadian "ow" ... so "owt and abowt"
2) I used to say "pupcorn" and "hutdog" but I worked to make them normal.
3) I have a problem with "measure" because I want to say "maysure" like Canadians but I know it's wrong so half the time, I say it somewhere in between and it sounds really wrong.
4) I also say "wicked" constantly.
6) I say "close the lights" ....French Canadian family rubbin off.

Aside from that, I've always thought I had a very generic accent.... so I'm dumbfounded at these results of this dumb internet test putting me at 88% Boston because I certainly pronounce my Rs. However, all the other people taking it from my FB page seems to have it aligning mostly with where they are regionally...so maybe it's accurate. Who knows? But it might be amusing for folks which is why I post.

Take the Test! http://www.gotoquiz.com/what_american_accent_do_you_have

staar987 · March 2013

That was pretty interesting. I took it and it says, correctly, that my accent is from the west. I got a little hung up on pronouncing words and trying to figure out how other people would say them!

MuppetFan · March 2013

Most of them I still can't envision a different way of pronouncing them....like Don and Dawn...

Do people saw Daahhhhn? or Daw-en?

[Deleted User] · March 2013

Apparently I "don't have an accent". Or, rather, it's "The Midland" accent, which means I apparently have a good voice for radio or TV? Oookay then.

staar987 · March 2013

And then came fill and feel. I was like how to you saw those the same way?!

I have heard people say daahhhhn.

True story: I was in WI visiting friends and we went for ice cream. They guy behind the counter said "Would you like a spown with that con?" I was like WTF? I think I stared at him for a minute before someone translated for me and said "He wants to know if you want a spoon with your ice cream cone."

MrsGandthebeag · March 2013

I got the inland north. Kind of odd. No one has ever asked me if I'm from WI. lol. I guess I should be happy I didn't get Boston. Every time I hear "Boston" accents in movies and on tv I cringe. We don't all sound that dumb.

Peaseblossom55 · March 2013

I have the midland accent. I studied voice and theater we spent a ton of time in school learning to deregionalize our accent. It was really cool quiz.

unchatenfrance · March 2013

Well I grew up in Ontario and am not a native Anglophone (though I speak English well enough to fool people) but I apparently have the "Inland North" accent. I don't even know what that means. Also I've never heard a Canadian say "maysure."

Also, for Don and Dawn I would say that "ordinarily" there should be a difference in the vowel length.

Also also, the neurotic typographic nazi in me got excited because I thought this thread was going to be about diacritics.

MuppetFan · March 2013

No, Boston accents are awful. Everyone thinks everyone in MA all sound like JFK...or they do a weird NY accent.

My grandmother has a wicked MA accent. The letter "R" just doesn't exist in her vocabulary. You know, "Pahk the Cah in Havahd Yad" My mom used to be like that, but since living in NH, she lost a lot/most of it.....until she's in the same room with my grandmother and it comes back times 10.

I was in TN at a supermarket and this guy shouted at me, "Watch out for the pop!!" I was startled the way he was so concerned and then distressed that I kept walking. I was trying to figure out if I should cover my ears and then I slipped (slightly) on a giant puddle of orange soda that was all over the floor. I had no idea that soda = pop. I still think it's weird....when I lived in Chicago it was listed as "pop" on the aisle markers... My grandmother calls it "Tonic".

I also remember being disturbed when I realized that Necco products were not common outside of New England except on Valentine's day when conversation hearts come out, that Fluff was a novelty elsewhere, and that Moxie is nonexistent (not that I like it).

Viczaesar · March 2013

I'm a California girl but I got the Midland.

itzMS · March 2013

Yay Wisconsin! Cool quiz. I always get razzed for how I say bag. Too funny. Does bag really not rhyme with vague? News to me!! ;

lilphillips14 · March 2013

Midland all the way. Pretty much what I expected. I've been told I sound very Midwest, which is to say I sound vanilla. But I still have a bit of a lingering from when I lived in TN last year. Interesting indeed!

daria24 · March 2013

I got Philadelphia, which would be completely correct since I grew up about 60 miles from there. H is from about 15 miles from Philly and I make fun of him for pronouncing things differently, I can't wait to see what he gets.

jaenella · March 2013

I took the quiz for fun! Mine tells me "Northeast" which I guess is the closest you can get to my Canadian accent.

Muppet, I approve of your Canadian prounounciation

the funny thing is, I know everyone says Canadians say some words funny... I just can't hear the difference! I Although I do admit to saying 'eh' occasionally. Also, sometimes when I call American call centres, they really struggle to understand me when I spell my name with a "z" ("zed" instead of American "zee").

happyfor25 · March 2013

wow, that's pretty cool. I, of course, got Philly!

libby2483 · March 2013

Wow, that was pretty accurate! It said I must be from Wisconsin, which is true.

Salsera29 · March 2013

I got Philly too, which I thought was funny. It's accurate for where I grew up, but I thought the north Jersey accent had rubbed off more. I love this stuff! I'm still trying to figure out which words put me in the Philly category...I think it's that I pronounce "Mary" and "merry" the same, which my FI makes fun of me for all the time.

arendiva · March 2013

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_accents?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:a24d74e7-5abb-42ff-afde-206d0533aa06Post:c5d8b8ea-020a-4ebc-9d56-839f8b4f1028">Accents</a>:
[QUOTE]I seriously have never thought that I have much of an accent at all with few exceptions: I grew up watching a lot of SCTV and other Canadian programs so that probably is the cause for some things that I do... 1) I say "ou" sounds like the more Canadian "ow" ... so "owt and abowt" 2) I used to say "pupcorn" and "hutdog" but I worked to make them normal. 3) I have a problem with "measure" because I want to say "maysure" like Canadians but I know it's wrong so half the time, I say it somewhere in between and it sounds really wrong. 4)<strong> I also say "wicked" constantly</strong>. 6) I say "close the lights" ....French Canadian family rubbin off. Aside from that, I've always thought I had a very generic accent.... so I'm dumbfounded at these results of this dumb internet test putting me at 88% Boston because I certainly pronounce my Rs. However, all the other people taking it from my FB page seems to have it aligning mostly with where they are regionally...so maybe it's accurate. Who knows? But it might be amusing for folks which is why I post. Take the Test! <a href="http://www.gotoquiz.com/what_american_accent_do_you_have" rel="nofollow">http://www.gotoquiz.com/what_american_accent_do_you_have</a>
Posted by MuppetFan[/QUOTE]

I grew up in western MA but now I live in New Hampshire with my FI. I tease him everytime we eat popcorn because he pronouces it pupcorn. i didn't realize that was a new hampshire thing I always figured it was just him.

arendiva · March 2013

I got North Central. Interesting, I have never even been to Minnosota, much less lived there.

MuppetFan · March 2013

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_accents?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:a24d74e7-5abb-42ff-afde-206d0533aa06Post:ff606faf-4497-47ed-ad40-4faeab3551d9">Re: Accents</a>:
[QUOTE]In Response to Re: Accents : My Boston accent is a novelty here in AZ. People think it makes me sound "tough" or something. I've noticed people in Rhode Island have the weirdest accents among New Englanders. I did a linguistics paper in college on the Boston accent. Oddly enough, people in northern NH have stronger Boston accents than southern NH. The hypothesis is that southern NH folks try to turn down the annoying vowels to differentiate themselves from their neighbors to the south.
Posted by KindaSparkly[/QUOTE]

Interesting! I have always found the accents to be distinctly different myself. I feel like a Maine and MA accents are distinctive (each with strong regional variations within the states), I consider a "true" NH accent to be from the central/farming area and it's kind of a cross between Maine and MA with longer vowel sounds. And then S. NH, over the last 20 years I think has become a long stronger with MA accents because people migrate north from MA. However, I've always thought natives didn't have much of an accent. I really think you're hypothesis is accurate there because I made sure not to say things the weird way my mother said them....and really, natives often have a "thing" about NOT living in MA even though we're right on the border. I dated a guy who worked in Burlington and lived on the northern part of Nashua because it was the closest he could get to where he worked having to live in MA. My co-worker makes fun of me because I've never in my life remotely considered living in MA even though I worked there for 5 years and already paid the taxes.

zitiqueen · March 2013

It deduced that I live in the Great Lakes region, which is correct (I've never even been to Boston!)

[Deleted User] · March 2013

I got inland north. I'm born and raised in NJ, have spent time in NC and in CA, and now live in NY.

It's just interesting because I've definitely been told I sound Jersey (especially with a few drinks in me) so I wonder how I came out more Inland North than North East

StPaul0102 · March 2013

Okay. This is driving me insane. How can Mary, merry, and marry be pronounced differently? My fiance and I just spent the past 5 minutes trying to figure it out (I'm from Iowa, he's from Wisconsin). Help us!

eta: grammar slip

JoanE2012 · March 2013

I don't think I have an accent. But people say they hear it in certain words.....like coughee (coffee) or dawg (dog) or wauder (water). I dunno.

unchatenfrance · March 2013

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_accents?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:a24d74e7-5abb-42ff-afde-206d0533aa06Post:38147a04-aeba-4d05-b04c-be1d75eb79f9">Re: Accents</a>:
[QUOTE]Okay. This is driving me insane. How can Mary, merry, and marry be pronounced differently? My fiance and I just spent the past 5 minutes trying to figure it out (I'm from Iowa, he's from Wisconsin). Help us! eta: grammar slip
Posted by StPaul0102[/QUOTE]

<div>Slightly shorter vowel in "merry" than in the other two, in my head anyway :-)</div>

JoanE2012 · March 2013

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_accents?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:a24d74e7-5abb-42ff-afde-206d0533aa06Post:38147a04-aeba-4d05-b04c-be1d75eb79f9">Re: Accents</a>:
[QUOTE]Okay. This is driving me insane. How can Mary, merry, and marry be pronounced differently? My fiance and I just spent the past 5 minutes trying to figure it out (I'm from Iowa, he's from Wisconsin). Help us! eta: grammar slip
Posted by StPaul0102[/QUOTE]<div>
</div><div>hahaha, and I took the quiz and thought, "how could anyone think they're pronounced the same!"

</div>

happyfor25 · March 2013

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_accents?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:9Discussion:a24d74e7-5abb-42ff-afde-206d0533aa06Post:38147a04-aeba-4d05-b04c-be1d75eb79f9">Re: Accents</a>:
[QUOTE]Okay. This is driving me insane. How can Mary, merry, and marry be pronounced differently? My fiance and I just spent the past 5 minutes trying to figure it out (I'm from Iowa, he's from Wisconsin). Help us! eta: grammar slip
Posted by StPaul0102[/QUOTE]

Mary rhymes with hairy
merry rhymes with berry
marry pronounced mah-ry

SlothGoals · March 2013

I got the Midland. I live in Ontario and I don't think that people around here say the OU in 'about' like the OU in 'loud'. Maybe I just don't hear it?

MuppetFan · March 2013

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_accents?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:a24d74e7-5abb-42ff-afde-206d0533aa06Post:19b54990-b7a2-4a40-a77b-648e0ceb499f">Re: Accents</a>:
[QUOTE]I took the quiz for fun! Mine tells me "Northeast" which I guess is the closest you can get to my Canadian accent. Muppet, I approve of your Canadian prounounciation :) the funny thing is, I know everyone says Canadians say some words funny... I just can't hear the difference! I Although I do admit to saying 'eh' occasionally. Also, sometimes when I call American call centres, they really struggle to understand me when I spell my name with a "z" ("zed" instead of American "zee").
Posted by jaenella[/QUOTE]

I only know "Zed" because I watched a lot of Canadian and British television. This works for me because I work in international sales and I actually only notice it when people say "zee" at this point. I always ask too... "Was that for my benefit?" and it always is.

I actually say things like "expiry" instead of "expiration date" and "postal code" instead of "zip code" as the norm for me now because of my job.

WinstonsGirl · March 2013

Midland for me, even though I'm in Canada. I found it hard to do cos the words sound the same but the spelling make me think they sounded different. Maybe I'm too visual

Anastasia517 · March 2013

I got the west. I'm from Ontario. Apparently, this means that nobody thinks I have an accent.

I was confused about the Mary/merry/marry thing because they didn't have the option I wanted. I think Mary & marry are sliiiightly different than merry. I think. It may all be in my head.

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