American accents?

rml_16

I was born in Canada to Euro parents, moved to AZ in 3rd grade, went to college in TX, lived in CA, spent 4 years in OK before coming to TN 17 years ago. I have a little bit of all of those mixed in.... nobody agrees on what I sound like, but everyone agrees I don't sound like I'm from "around here" LOL

I'm a sucker for any accent other than mine, except Boston, NY, or Joisy (sorry, ya'll), but high-British, Irish and Aussie make me melt every time!!

That "Joisy" accent is actually a Long Island or Brooklyn accent. People actually from New Jersey don't sound like that.

Lucia_Armstrong1973

Wow! From Michigan and didn't even realize we have any particular accent.

Everyone in the world has an accent...

Thanks.

Lucia_Armstrong1973

I was born in Canada to Euro parents, moved to AZ in 3rd grade, went to college in TX, lived in CA, spent 4 years in OK before coming to TN 17 years ago. I have a little bit of all of those mixed in.... nobody agrees on what I sound like, but everyone agrees I don't sound like I'm from "around here" LOL

I'm a sucker for any accent other than mine, except Boston, NY, or Joisy (sorry, ya'll), but high-British, Irish and Aussie make me melt every time!!

That "Joisy" accent is actually a Long Island or Brooklyn accent. People actually from New Jersey don't sound like that.

Jon Stewart's from New Jersey and doesn't sound anything like that....

laughingdani

I'm from the southern most part of Alabama. I say "y'all" and "fixing to". I was once told I sound like Daisy Duke. LOL I took it as a compliment. : )

For the most part I enjoy all accents. I think it's because I have friends from all over the world so each accent reminds me of someone. The southern accent is most comforting to me because it sounds like home. The Minnesota accent reminds me of my dad. There's not any accent I particularly dislike...just a few I find more difficult to understand.

I enjoy an English accent as well. Also, the Ukrainian accent is nice. I have friends from there and I spent a few weeks in Kiev when I was 19. So, I think a person's opinion on liking or disliking an accent is based on experiences.

I will say one thing I dislike is stereotypes. I'm from the south, but I'm not stupid.

TubbsMcGee

My dad's side of the family is all from the States, so I always find myself giggling at the way they pronounce certain words

"Wolf" -- the L is dropped and it comes out as Woof

"Roof" -- the oo sound is changed so that it sounds like Ruff

And a lot of New Yorkers exchange "ay" for "ah" words, like saying "it HAYppened yesterday" instead of "happened" , and occasionally omit the R's in words and choose to say "awh"

I'm Canadian, so usually whenever someone from the US finds that out, they feel the need to make me say "about" (apparently some Canucks say "aboot") :laugh:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GF1b1pf9DRY

I grew up in New York state and I have never heard anyone from there who sounded like that. It must be a very specific part of the state that you hear those pronunciations. I grew up in Chemung County and have family in Buffalo and Albany. I also know a lot of people from several other areas of the state and NONE of them say "HAYpenned." It would sound so weird to me, I'd notice for sure. I also don't know anyone who omits the Rs in words or says "woof" for "wolf" or "ruff" for "roof."

Definitely not a "New York" thing.

Actually, every time I'm in Buffalo, EVERYONE I come into contact with seems to have this accent. Strange.

rml_16

My dad's side of the family is all from the States, so I always find myself giggling at the way they pronounce certain words

"Wolf" -- the L is dropped and it comes out as Woof

"Roof" -- the oo sound is changed so that it sounds like Ruff

And a lot of New Yorkers exchange "ay" for "ah" words, like saying "it HAYppened yesterday" instead of "happened" , and occasionally omit the R's in words and choose to say "awh"

I'm Canadian, so usually whenever someone from the US finds that out, they feel the need to make me say "about" (apparently some Canucks say "aboot") :laugh:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GF1b1pf9DRY

I grew up in New York state and I have never heard anyone from there who sounded like that. It must be a very specific part of the state that you hear those pronunciations. I grew up in Chemung County and have family in Buffalo and Albany. I also know a lot of people from several other areas of the state and NONE of them say "HAYpenned." It would sound so weird to me, I'd notice for sure. I also don't know anyone who omits the Rs in words or says "woof" for "wolf" or "ruff" for "roof."

Definitely not a "New York" thing.

Actually, every time I'm in Buffalo, EVERYONE I come into contact with seems to have this accent. Strange.

Interesting. My mother was born and raised there, along with her sister and all my cousins, aunts and uncles on her side of the family (my dad's family moved there when he was 12). I lived there for five years. I never heard anyone speak that way.

The one part of Buffalo where they may sound like that is Cheektowaga, though. If you spent a lot of time in that 'burb, that might be why you hear that a lot. The majority of people in that 'burb are of Polish descent and have a strong accent. They say things like "yous guys." You don't hear that in other parts of Western New York quite so much.

slay0r

oh, you have a british accent? excuse me while i take my clothes off.

i dislike every american accent :grumble:

Woohoo I've pulled!

smitty328

SWAMP PEOPLE

YES!!!!

HazelElfwand

I'm from NZ and have not mastered the art of pinpointing where an American is from.
I frequently mistake Americans for Canadians, and vice versa. Sorry!!!

How can you tell the difference?

Oh no no no lol Americans sound very different from us Canadians. The maritimes (Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland) are the only provinces that have accents. The typical "Aboot" instead of "About". We don't say "Eh", but I do say things like "I saw that too, it was nice hey?!"

I find the mid-west accent to be typically American sounding - that and Boston, New Jersey and New York. "Baagel (Bagel)" "Melk (Milk)" "Ruf (Roof)" "Draw (Drawer)". Those from Washington state and Montana and some of Cali have no accent at all to me. (I'm from Western Canada).

I LOVE Southern accents - they are BY FAR my favorite - right up there with Australian mmmmmhmmm!

teagin2002

Southern accents and fun to listen to, but difficult to understand, Northern accents are a bit annoying and rough. West coast ascents are the easiest to understand and have a nice conversation with.

Sd0510

My dad's side of the family is all from the States, so I always find myself giggling at the way they pronounce certain words

"Wolf" -- the L is dropped and it comes out as Woof

"Roof" -- the oo sound is changed so that it sounds like Ruff

And a lot of New Yorkers exchange "ay" for "ah" words, like saying "it HAYppened yesterday" instead of "happened" , and occasionally omit the R's in words and choose to say "awh"

I'm Canadian, so usually whenever someone from the US finds that out, they feel the need to make me say "about" (apparently some Canucks say "aboot") :laugh:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GF1b1pf9DRY

I grew up in New York state and I have never heard anyone from there who sounded like that. It must be a very specific part of the state that you hear those pronunciations. I grew up in Chemung County and have family in Buffalo and Albany. I also know a lot of people from several other areas of the state and NONE of them say "HAYpenned." It would sound so weird to me, I'd notice for sure. I also don't know anyone who omits the Rs in words or says "woof" for "wolf" or "ruff" for "roof."

Definitely not a "New York" thing.

My great-uncle is from Buffalo and he says "ruff", but I have never heard him say wolf so I don't know about that. New York is a huge state and I'm sure you don't know everyone in the state. There is a possibility they do speak it there, just not around you.

Also, this language is common in very hick towns in Pennslyvannia (for example, Shickshinny). They also say "HAYch" for the letter "H".

ATT949

I'm an "American born abroad" and I lived most of my first 30 years in Bermuda or Canada (I went to college in New Brunswick) and I've lived in over a dozen places across North America.

America has great accents - here's a map, in fact:

http://www.aschmann.net/AmEng/

It's an interesting read, if you're interested in the topic, of course!

kb455

I'm from Pennsylvania so I think I have a neutral accent.... I think a *slight* southern accent is sexy. The accents I think are most unattractive... Boston, NY and a super thick Southern accent.

rml_16

My dad's side of the family is all from the States, so I always find myself giggling at the way they pronounce certain words

"Wolf" -- the L is dropped and it comes out as Woof

"Roof" -- the oo sound is changed so that it sounds like Ruff

And a lot of New Yorkers exchange "ay" for "ah" words, like saying "it HAYppened yesterday" instead of "happened" , and occasionally omit the R's in words and choose to say "awh"

I'm Canadian, so usually whenever someone from the US finds that out, they feel the need to make me say "about" (apparently some Canucks say "aboot") :laugh:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GF1b1pf9DRY

I grew up in New York state and I have never heard anyone from there who sounded like that. It must be a very specific part of the state that you hear those pronunciations. I grew up in Chemung County and have family in Buffalo and Albany. I also know a lot of people from several other areas of the state and NONE of them say "HAYpenned." It would sound so weird to me, I'd notice for sure. I also don't know anyone who omits the Rs in words or says "woof" for "wolf" or "ruff" for "roof."

Definitely not a "New York" thing.

My great-uncle is from Buffalo and he says "ruff", but I have never heard him say wolf so I don't know about that. New York is a huge state and I'm sure you don't know everyone in the state. There is a possibility they do speak it there, just not around you.

Also, this language is common in very hick towns in Pennslyvannia (for example, Shickshinny). They also say "HAYch" for the letter "H".

If you actually read my post, I acknowledged that it may be an accent spoken IN the state, but is not a "New York state" accent.

fiberartist219

I live in Indiana, and I can't tell when someone is Canadian unless they say "aboot" "hoose(house)" or "eh or if they mention hockey.

tunktunk5583

hottest is definitely UK or australia.
i find any sort of asian to be annoying...sorry. i may be biased tho because i was at work once and i couldn't understand this oriental lady very well. then she got mad, and said i was stupid and didn't know anything.

Oriental? What is she a rug? Asians can have annoying accents-I'm saying this as an Asian...but yea, we don't live in 1940's any more.

raindropwishes

You know, until I read this thread I didn't know people had issues with the word "Oriental" - it's used in the UK without anyone being offended. I find it so interesting how different places have different acceptable phrases.

ImKindOfABigDeal40

I'm from Pennsylvania so I think I have a neutral accent.... I think a *slight* southern accent is sexy. The accents I think are most unattractive... Boston, NY and a super thick Southern accent.

So what you're trying to say is you don't want to hear banjos playing? Like in in the movie Deliverance?

onefitdiva

I live in PA and as far as I can tell I have no distinct accent. I travel to NY a lot for work, I think SOME (not all) of the NY accents on some women and men go right through you, like nails on a chalk board... but they are usually paired with bad grammer and words like "fughattaboutit" ...seriously. It makes the women seem cheap, crass and stupid and them men well cheap crass and stupid.

onefitdiva

Everyone from Jersey Shore also.