HUZZAH! Banned from Rentech.com!
reggikko:
Quote from: Hook on 2005 August 18, 08:39:10
The English you hear on TV is "midwestern" and is considered unaccented. I have no idea how people in the midwest actually talk. :) For those who think midwestern is an "accent," do network newscasters have such a thick accent you can't understand them? :D At least they don't have to have subtitles like some of the people in the stories they report on.
I've never heard Tom Brokaw say "warsh" or drop the 'to be' as in 'do you need spanked?', but I've heard it from my midwestern in-laws. Anchorpeople learn to speak free of any accent, and in standard English.
Don't make me haf' ta sic my dawg on y'all. ;)
reggikko:
Quote from: ZephyrZodiac on 2005 August 18, 07:09:31
Actually, we say, "next Tuesday week" here in the UK, so it wouldn't sound odd to us! What I find interesting is that a lot of expressions in current use in parts of the US were current in 18thC english but have died out here. One that comes to mind is "I have been here these three weeks", which I believe is still used in some US regions.
Very good point, Zephyr. I just recently learned that Cajun French differs so much from standard French because the Cajuns still speak a 17th century version. It's natural, if you think about it, that the language would evolve differently. A lot of the unique expressions/dialects in southern Louisiana have their roots in archaic French.
Down here, if someone says 'next Tuesday', they mean next Tuesday week, not necessarily the literal next Tuesday. That would be this Tuesday. :)
Brynne:
I don't know what part of the south you guys are from, but where I'm from it's "bald peanuts". They're an acquired taste, and I have acquired. ;)
I moved to Atlanta back in 1980 at age 10, with a heavy New Jersey accent. I don't really have much of an accent at all now, but if I do, it's more southern in flavor. Atlanta doesn't really have a thick accent, anyway, because for the most part it's a melting pot. My dad's family is "quite" southern, and my mom's family is all from Chicago. And I can say that, yes, midwesterners have an accent. I can spot it right away.
I feel your frustration, Reg, of people equating southern-ness with stupidity. Every area of the world has its own form of redneck. Why pick on ours?
ZephyrZodiac:
My sister once visited friends in Ohio, back in the 70's, and she found it full of rednecks! My niece now lives in New York (Brooklyn) and loves it! I think a lot of what you find in a place depends on what you expect to find!
breyerii:
Quote from: reggikko on 2005 August 18, 17:26:23
Very good point, Zephyr. I just recently learned that Cajun French differs so much from standard French because the Cajuns still speak a 17th century version. It's natural, if you think about it, that the language would evolve differently. A lot of the unique expressions/dialects in southern Louisiana have their roots in archaic French.
Down here, if someone says 'next Tuesday', they mean next Tuesday week, not necessarily the literal next Tuesday. That would be this Tuesday. :)
This phenomenon works also with immigrants.
Years ago, when Italian-Americans returned to visit relatives, they discovered that they not only had learned their parents' dialect instead of the proper Italian they had thought - their dialect was also conservative, often difficult to understand at first.
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
[*] Previous page