Accents?
 

I was just wondering...do you think people from the West Coast have accents? Some people (from other places) say Californians do have accents, but I don't think we do. I think that the West Coast is the only region that does not have accents? I've always wanted one, though http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/wink.gif.

Also--do you have an accent? I don't think I do.

[This message has been edited by newbie (edited June 15, 2001).]

I'm curious too. I don't think we (Californians) have an accent-- maybe a minor inflection (surfer talk comes to mind)--but I'd loveto hear what people--from the South especially think.

I am from the South (Alabama) and I think everybody has an accent except me!! http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/wink.gif

[This message has been edited by Wine&Blue (edited June 15, 2001).]

Yes, i was just talking to TigerGIrl on AIM and she said she thought some of her friends from San Jose did, and also I was talking to someone else and he said he thinks we do!

I guess it's all individual?

Wineand Blue, I've always thought Southern accents are the most charming! they are cute http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/smile.gif!

I must admit, I have taken advantage of my accent in places outside the south. It's funny what you can get away with if you put a good "Y'all" in a sentence.

[This message has been edited by Wine&Blue (edited June 15, 2001).]

Hey Newbie!!! Like you said...I thought my parents' friends from San Jose had accents. I'm sure they thought the same of me and my little redneck self. LOL http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/smile.gif I think every region has their own unique accent. Take the Louisiana for example...we've got tons of different accents here. From cajun to redneck to valley girl (that's what I've been told I sound like...hehehe) to our version of the Boston accent...We have it all.

Wine and blue...I have to agree. Y'all used in a sentence can get you just about anything or get you anywhere you want to go!!! I love being from the south and having the accent to prove it.

Allison

hehe, hey allison!

That's so interesting!!! I never knew that there were a whole bunch of accents in one given area! I just thought there was a basic Southern accent http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/frown.gif!

GC is awesome...I'm learning something new everyday!!!

What do you think Britney Spears has? I just thought it was the typical Southern accent! See, I haven't met anyone from the South personally...so I only know about accents from TV!!

Hmm, I guess, from reading this thread--that in CA, there is probably a "surfer" and then a "valley girl" accent?! I used to talk valley girl style http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/tongue.gif, but then I stopped a few years ago, I think!

Wien&Blue---- im from alabama too and i know exactly what you're talking about what you can get away w/ outside the south. Even people i know from huntsville think i have a much more southern accent. Ive met a lot of guys from the north who love to hear a "Ya'll" come out of a true southern girls mouth. I think its hilarious.

oh yeah Newbie and Amycat, ive never met a Californian in person, so i cant personally comment on ya'lls (lol) accent or not. But i think it does sound probable that californian's accents aren't noticable or not even there. http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/smile.gif

Thanks for the info CRMSNTiDEGRL717! And here's another thing...I've never met anyone from Canada! I don't know what their accents sound like, either http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/smile.gif!

I know what you mean. I think they find it sexy. That's why I love being from the south. You always have the accent going for you!!!!!!

Allison

I'm not Canadian but I met a bunch of Canucks overseas. The primary thing we made fun of was the tendency to say ehhh after every sentence. The only person I know who really did it was this guy from Vancouver who also talked like the stereotypical Californian smoker/surfer boy. He'd draw out the ehhh all laid back. It was great! I also once met an Australian girl who said she could usually tell where in North America someone was from. Apparently I "sound" very middle America. Whatever http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/rolleyes.gif

My BF is from South Bay, and I don't think it's an accent...but you can tell just by listening to him that he's from California. It's like he has a distinctive sound to him! http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/biggrin.gif

Us Hawaii locals also have our own unique way of speaking, and depending on who I'm with, you'll catch me "talking pidgin".

Hey all,
well being from the south, you know we all have an accent, but when I moved to MD, I picked up I guess the MD vibe , so I have a jumbled southern/Maryland accent.
Either way it's stuck with me, so I gotta love it http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/smile.gif
DGPhoney~

I find that west coast canadians and west coast american accents are fairly similar. As for that Vancouverite saying eh! a lot that is not very typical for a west coast canadian. Eh! is very popular back east. Oh and to clarify a couple of things we don't pronounce it A-BOOT. Out west we tend to talk more quickly, while easterns and east coasters tend to talk with a slower accent. http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/smile.gif

i am from md and people that are not from this area often tell me that i have an accent, even my b.f. who is from cheery hill in south jersey and has no accent himself says i do. i mean you never hear people say that marylanders have an accent...southerners and new yorkers and stuff....but not lil ol' me!!! http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/wink.gif

Apparently I pick up other peoples accents very quickly. I can talk to someone for 20 minutes, next thing I know I sound just like them.

As a Navy brat I've lived in Virginia and Maryland as well as my home town (SD Baby!). You can just imagine what I sound like. http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/redface.gif

I have the full Valley accent w/ ya'lls thrown in here and there. Plus I had a bunch of roommates from North Cali. So "hella" drops into my vocab just as often. http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/biggrin.gif

I'm a Marine Brat http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/smile.gif My moms side is from Maryland/Virginia and my Dads side is from Northern Calif. I definitely notice the bay area accents when I go out to visit my family. My grandfather is from Sac but my uncle/aunt are from Monterey. Theres definitely an inflection there and its kind of cool. I dont think I have an accent. I've heard my voice is a bit mellow. If I do its pretty slight but I have lived in Virginia for the past 19 years. 7 years in Okinawa, Japan before that. When I was an active most of my bros considered my home town here hickville but then I think people down by Virginia Tech/Blacksburg have more of a drawl. Even more so when you head into the dixie states. I have to admit I have a week spot for the southern belles that have that drawl. At school I noticed more of an accent from those in the Maryland area around Baltimore or up in New England. Like Bahston.

This is a great topic.

I'm from just outside of New Orleans, and I don't have the typical "N'awlin's" accent, that sounds Brooklyn-ish. But I don't have the typical southern drawl either. Although, I do say ya'll a lot. Its just built-in http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/tongue.gif

Its funny, because when I'm up in Baton Rouge, it seems like so many people have country-sounding drawls (Baton Rouge is pretty much a country town, despite it being our capital).

I had to laugh at this because it's so true! My cousin who grew up in South Carolina was visiting and when we went out for dinner she ordered a slice of pe-CAN pa (pecan pie to us Marylanders) and the waiter thought she was so adorable that he had the restaurant comp our desserts!

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@~Tracy~@

By the light of the lamp, by the light of the lamp, by the bright shiny light, by the light of the lamp...if you are a DeeZee, you're the best that you can be, by the bright shiny light of the lamp!

When I lived in Virginia the opposite happened!

I ordered a slice of pecan pie. The waitress looked at me like I was a martian until I pronounced it p-can! Then her eyes lit up like "Well, why didn't you say so!"

• Okay, as a northerner, I have to mention the flip-side of yall: "you guys". It doesn't matter if I'm talking to men, women or children, I say "you guys". In Jr High I had a friend from Atlanta who made fun of me all the time for saying "you guys"
• On to more local lingo- Cincinnatians say "please?" rather than "excuse me?" or "what did you say?". Lore says that that stems from our German heritage, and the Germans use the word "bitte" literaly "please".
• If you wanted a coke or pepsi to drink would you ask for a _________?
  (A) soda pop
  (B) cola
  (C) pop
  (D) soda
  If you answered (C) pop, you must live near me! People not from the area think I'm a loon when I ask for a pop. http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/smile.gif

Fun topic!
Heidi

[This message has been edited by HeidiHo (edited June 16, 2001).]

[This message has been edited by HeidiHo (edited June 16, 2001).]

I'm laughing because my boyfriend, who just recently moved from Cali, has an accent. It's a slight one though, but very cute.
He seems to think that I have an accent though. He especially makes fun of me when I ask him if he wants a pop. First he says it's not pop, it's soda. Second, he seems to think that I say pap instead of pop. Now I KNOW that I don't say pap, because that's kinda like a Brooklin accent and I'm from Nebraska...LOL.
Oh well.

HeidiHo...

Pop, what else would you call it? Actually, even though I am from outside of Pittsburgh, I say soda, because I lived in Ocean City, MD for a summer and I got so harassed for saying pop that I started to say soda.

Here are some more. I say "younz" which is just terrible English, but I think it sounds so much better than "you guys" My little often says "yous guys" which just sounds so hickish, I can't help but laugh at him.

Another Pittsburgh word, and the lingo and accent of Pittsburgh are actually called Pittsburghese, is slippy. Most people say it is slippery, but we all say "slippy". We have tons of words that no one else says, and we destroy all words in the English language when we say them, but like everyone else we don't think we have an accent.

While I can't speak for all 30 million of us, Canadians tend to ask for pop not soda.

quote:

Originally posted by HeidiHo:


Okay, as a northerner, I have to mention the flip-side of yall: "you guys". It
doesn't matter if I'm talking to men, women or children, I say "you guys". In Jr
High I had a friend from Atlanta who made fun of me all the time for saying "you
guys"
On to more local lingo- Cincinnatians say "please?" rather than "excuse me?" or
"what did you say?". Lore says that that stems from our German heritage, and the
Germans use the word "bitte" literaly "please".
If you wanted a coke or pepsi to drink would you ask for a _________?
(A) soda pop
(B) cola
(C) pop
(D) soda
If you answered (C) pop, you must live near me! People not from the area think
I'm a loon when I ask for a pop.


Fun topic!
Heidi
Actually, I call it none of the above. We (I) and most around me, simply call it a "coke".

Hey Jake! Younze guys goin dahntahn to watch the Stillers game? http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/wink.gif More examples of Pittsburgeese include "gumband" instead of rubber band and "worsh" as in "I have to worsh the clothes"

I, too, have been weaned from saying "pop", mostly because of the abuse I've had to endure when trying to order pop when I lived in NYC. It feels good, though, to order pop when I'm back in Pittsburgh visiting my folks and the waitress knows what I'm talking about. Kinda like being in a secret club or something! haha


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@~Tracy~@

By the light of the lamp, by the light of the lamp, by the bright shiny light, by the light of the lamp...if you are a DeeZee, you're the best that you can be, by the bright shiny light of the lamp!

I grew up in the Philippines--I don't have the typical Asian accent because we spoke English in school over there, but I say certain words in a "funny" way--I never even realized it until my ex told me!for example i would say "cookie" "cooooky" or "frosty" "frowstee"... My accent sounds like a combination british and spanish (real weird).

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"To supress our feelings only makes them stronger"--from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

I used to ask for a "co-cola" when I was little. Then it became just "coke."

Wine&Blue------I seriously doubt it happens anywhere else other than the south. But it is so funny. Everyone I know calls everything a coke.
KillarneyRose---- I dunno if it's only a Texan thing. My stepdad calls it a co-cola. It gets on my nerves so bad, im like either say coke, or coca-cola, none of that Co-cola stuff. lol
Tigergirl---- ive met people from LA when i go to PC, and for the most part its really hard to understand them. I remember one guy being from Pine Prarie i think???? anyways it was that Nawlins accent, or atleast thats what i think it was, ive never been to LA. oh well http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/smile.gif

CRMSNTiDEGRL717--

PINE PRARIE!!!!!!!!!!! OH MY LORD. Pine Prarie is one of the littlest town in LA. From what I hear...the accent there is more of a rednecky sort of accent. That's weird considering that Pine Prarie is smack dab in the middle of cajun country.

Allison

I can imagine. Our Leadership Advisor is also from Alabama (Troy State) and I love her accent. We gave her a copy of "Pidgin to da Max" during Christmas break and it's a trip to hear her speak pidgin with her 'twang!

Thanks you guys for the comments...very interesting, today me and my bf went to a restaurant, and the waiter had a southern accent! we started chatting, and then we learned that he came here from the south for summer school. he was just telling us that we speak very diferent here than the South...lol. He said that we have a very "distinct West Coast accent." <-- http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/confused.gif He said he encountered a bunch of new terms here! He also said that he would say a certain term here, and ppl looked at him funny http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/biggrin.gif lol.

Heidi, I think I would mention that San Franciscans, I think, tend to fit in the "none of the above" category. We'll usually ask for a coke.

Also, that's funny...I've NEVER heard of the long "ehhhhh" thing...that is purely stereotypical...I don't think we Californians speak like that at all! There might be a short "eh" (for when we don't understand what a person just said to us), but it's almost nonexistent here in NorCal, and in Los Angeles, where I've lived for a month almost every summer (except this one http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/frown.gif), I rarely hear it either.

OTW, where in the South Bay (do you mean the South Bay from the Bay ARea?) is your BF from??

[This message has been edited by newbie (edited June 17, 2001).]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by HeidiHo:
[B]

• If you wanted a coke or pepsi to drink would you ask for a _________?
  (A) soda pop
  (B) cola
  (C) pop
  (D) soda
  If you answered (C) pop, you must live near me! People not from the area think I'm a loon when I ask for a pop. http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/smile.gif

Hey! I know here in Baton Rouge (if not the rest of the South)...It's none of the above. Everybody I know always ask for coke. The drink could be a dr. pepper but we'll still ask for coke.

OH...and juniorgrrl--I gotta agree. The accents around Baton Rouge are very typically southern. You can definitely hear the twang when you talk to people around here. I guess that includes me since I was born and raised here!!! http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/smile.gif

Allison

Amen, Tigergirl! In texas, Alabama, and Georgia, we always ask for coke, no matter the drink!

OTW--need I mention that many people in the islands had a good time with my Southern accent? They would even call in their friends to listen to me!

Wine&Blue--are you an Alabama Beta? I'm Alabama Gamma and need info on Alabama Alpha!

Hey Texan GreekChatters! One of my sisters hailed from Texas and she always ordered a "Co-Cola" when she asked for a soft drink. Is this a Texas thing in general or is it just her?

Likea Dude! Cal-iforn-ins hav accents. It depends on which side of state you surf on... But if you like live in the nooks and crannies--except for maybe Mammoth or Tahoe--you have this other accent. I can't describe the sensation, dude, but it's like... whoaaaa.

In SoCal, there is more spanish language integration to describe things--especially since ALL OUR STREETS are in Espanol--es. Ce hables Espanol ce un piquito... That's Gringostyle. Like, I totally live on a Camino De La up in my cool Casa... Where I live, and I've heard LA doesn't have this, is it's not a meal without hot sauce or salsa. Everything is muy caliente!!!

Which makes it the Cali, the greatest place in the Sand and The Sun. Eh, SoCalGirl--did you check out the waves today? They were great!!! How was the water?

CRMSNTiDEGRL717, I know what you mean about different accents within the state. I was watching Loveline once back when I was in school, and this guy called in when this really strong accent. I looked at my friends and said, "He's got to be from south Alabama." Sure enough, a couple of seconds later his name popped up and next to it was "Dothan, Alabama." Cracked me up.

But I think my favorite southern thing is this:

Waitress: "What would you like to drink?"
Customer: "A coke."
Waitress: "OK, what flavor?"

Does that happen anywhere but the south?