It’s a rainy day here in NYC with more rain in the forecast all weekend (good thing our DW picnic was last weekend!). Jackson and I spent the morning at our friends’ home for a rainy morning play date where there were lots of toys, two dogs, and homemade coffee cake, so not a bad way to spend a couple hours. Now he’s taking his afternoon nap and I have to figure out what we’re going to do from 3-7 to keep from going stir-crazy inside.
Anyhoo, I’m going to keep this short. I fell behind this week and want to spend the remaining nap time working on come columns for next week. I lost valuable work time this week hanging out with an out-of-town friend on Monday (fun) and dealing with the site being down yesterday (not fun) and now I need to catch up. While I’m doing that, you guys talk amongst yourselves. Oh, and speaking of “you guys,” check out this chart on (U.S) regional dialects and accents. What weird things do you say where you’re from??
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rachel June 7, 2013, 5:11 pm
Haha, I love how like everyone I know (including me) posted those maps on facebook. I’m SHOCKED that it’s apparently weird that I pronounce syrup as “see-rup”. And being from NEPA, I’m one of the few that knows what a hoagie is, which I expected.
I signed up to volunteer at pride fest tomorrow, which should be fun. They didn’t give me much info though, I assume I’ll be taking tickets or something.
Matcha June 7, 2013, 5:55 pm
I also pronounce it ‘see-rup’ and I’m from Texas. Honestly, I thought that was the norm.
absurdfiction June 7, 2013, 5:20 pm
I grew up in New York, but I learned to talk as a toddler in the Silicon Valley, so not sure if this is a remnant of that, but I automatically say “baggle” instead of “bagel.” I still remember my lunch lady making fun of me for saying it that way in second grade! With a lot of hard work, I’ve mostly retrained myself, but it is still a conscious effort each and every time I say it. Which unfortunately is not very often now that I live in the South and can’t eat the damn things.
And this is mostly because I am an idiot, and not a regional thing, but I can never remember whether it’s a hard or a soft “g” in “gesture.” I think it’s soft, right? Like, a jester gestures a lot? RIGHT? 🙁
rachel June 7, 2013, 5:29 pm
Yeah, gesture jester. I hate when I try to pronounce a word that I’ve read a lot but not heard, I’m always afraid I’ll sound like an idiot.
honeybeenicki June 7, 2013, 5:21 pm
People can always tell where I’m from. Most people can pinpoint it as upper Midwest, but there are some that can pinpoint it as Wisconsin (and I’ve even had 3 or 4 be able to pinpoint the region in WI!) so I must say some things weird. I must say, one thing I hate is when people mispronounce Wisconsin. I’ve heard Wis-CAN-sin and Wiscon-SUN and it drives me nuts.
I’m going to see one of my favoritest bands tonight and I’m super excited. Other than that, I have a long list of crap that needs to get done around the house that I may or may not ignore. I also want to put together a crash course in money management/bill paying for the kids and my husband. He’s never had to take care of the bills in a household and in discussing kids/teens money management issues, I realized we haven’t done nearly enough to help ours learn.
Anna June 7, 2013, 10:04 pm
How do you say it when you’re from WI? Wi-sconce-in?
honeybeenicki June 8, 2013, 12:32 pm
Pretty much. Just the way it is spelled 😛 We put the Sin in Wisconsin 🙂
mylaray June 7, 2013, 5:28 pm
I love maps that show the differences among accents. I grew up in the Northeast, in an area with a strong accent, but have always been told by surprised people that I don’t have an accent from there. I have to say I cringe when I hear people with an accent from the area I’m from. I don’t know why, it just always bothered me. I’ve spent the past 9 years all over the place, and say words from all types of accents now. I’ve lived in the south for 5 years and have definitely switched over with some things and it took me awhile to adjust.
Things that I tend to say now are icing (rather than frosting), buggy (cart at a grocery store), parking deck (parking garage) and those are the big ones I can think of right now. When I lived in another country, I started using some British terms since I lived in a once-British colony.
It’s a rainy day here too, and I can’t wait to go home and make myself a nice, big margarita and watch some movies indoor with friends.
LadyinPurpleNotRed June 7, 2013, 5:59 pm
I’m from the Boston area and people always express sadness that I don’t have an accent–I’m so glad!!
Lindsay June 7, 2013, 5:32 pm
I don’t have a Southern accent, which people find surprising (and they should because my parents’ are awful), but I do use some of the same word choices. Of course, then I lived in the Midwest and now in NYC, so I’ve picked up other stuff along the way.
rachel June 7, 2013, 5:33 pm
Here’s a funny one, where I grew up we would call a duplex a double-block. I haven’t met anyone from outside the area who would say that phrase.
Rangerchic June 7, 2013, 5:43 pm
Never ever heard it called double-block. That’s a weird one!
Rangerchic June 7, 2013, 5:42 pm
I’m from and lived in northwest arkansas most of my life (some in oklahoma). I grew up saying “pop” or “coke” interchangeably. And does anyone remember ice box? I used to call the refrigerator that. I don’t remember when I quite saying ice box but I think my grandmother still calls it that. I never really thought I had a heavy southern accent but it seems that when I speak to customers from the northeast on the phone they always seem to think I’ve got a really southern accent.
Lindsay June 7, 2013, 5:54 pm
My mom gets mad when I say she has a strong accent, but she says stuff like “heel” when she’s trying to say “hill” and other things that sometimes make it difficult for me to understand her. I think she’s gotten worse since she moved to a remote beach town.
On the reverse, my dad can’t understand me sometimes because he says I “talk like a Yankee” now.
Nadine June 7, 2013, 5:58 pm
what do people call a box that you carry on a picnic and keep ice and drinks in to keep cool? I call it a chilly bin, Australians say Esky, but what do Americans call it?
Lindsay June 7, 2013, 5:59 pm
I think I’ve mostly heard it called a “cooler.” Chilly bin is cuter, though.
honeybeenicki June 8, 2013, 12:32 pm
I’m gonna start calling it a chilly bin I think.
Nadine June 9, 2013, 1:30 pm
But, guys, no one will know where you’re from!!
Fabelle June 7, 2013, 6:25 pm
I sent that map to errrybody. My boyfriend is super, I don’t know, elitist? or something, & gets all ranty about different pronunciations, but I think it’s fascinating. My parents are both from Jersey City, so my dad says “erl” instead of “oil” (I dunno, is that a Jersey City thing? They always blame it on that!”) & “terlet” instead of “toilet.” My mom says “sireen” instead of “siren” (like Ice Cube does in the song Natural Born Killaz)
Fabelle June 7, 2013, 6:26 pm
And, & coupon. How do you guys it?
rachel June 7, 2013, 6:40 pm
coo-pon. I’ve heard it as cue-pon before
Amybelle June 7, 2013, 6:58 pm
I say cue-pon. I’m from western Pa near Pittsburgh and our accent is bizarre. It’s hard to describe, maybe like New York, Chicago, and West Virginia put into a blender. I don’t have a very strong one, but sometimes I’ll hear myself on a recording and cringe.
Christy June 7, 2013, 9:10 pm
I say cue-pon and ull (for oil). Oh, Baltimore.
rightasrain919 June 7, 2013, 7:15 pm
BF Rain and I grew up less than 40 miles apart outside Chicago (He’s south side, I’m west side), but we sound completely different.
BF Rain’s clearly a Chicago boy. Soda is always “Coke” and never “pop” while Portillos could mean either a hot dog (in my case) or a beef sandwich (his). Wrigley is a stadium, not gum. More entertaining is when he slips into the U.P. accent he learned during childhood summers there.
My background is almost the opposite. Thirteen years in Chicago, 14 in the south, lifelong immersion in Castillian and South American Spanish, lots of travel abroad, and lots of British TV result in pretty fluid accents and vocabulary.
Lyra June 7, 2013, 8:18 pm
They left out the all-important water vs. wudder distinction between South Jersey and everywhere else! Also the horrible (with the ‘o’ sounding the ‘o’ in door) vs. harrible accent. Those two words always instantly reveal where I’m from.
GatorGirl June 8, 2013, 10:45 am
Wudder is so not just South Jersey, it’s like the whole Philly suburbs too. It’s one of the most distinguishable words I say- people automatically say “you’re from Philly right?”
Liquid Luck June 8, 2013, 3:00 pm
I grew up in the Philly area and have never said “wudder”, even though almost everyone else there does. People have actually accused me of lying about where I’m from because of it!
Christy June 8, 2013, 11:18 am
Baltimore too! At least for the wudder.
Classic June 7, 2013, 8:29 pm
I have always lived in Southern California, and my distant clients have often mentioned that they can tell that (on the phone) from my “accent.” But duh, obviously I don’t have an accent.
Christy June 7, 2013, 9:10 pm
Unrelated to this topic, but related to the deleted thread: totally worth the wait. 100%.
Classic June 7, 2013, 9:14 pm
Yay, happy for you!
bittergaymark June 7, 2013, 9:23 pm
How I wish it would rain and rain and rain. It’s just so damn hot out already…
PRIDE weekend here, too, which actually just depresses me…
40 is the new 80 in LA. Ugh… Die young, kids. Die young.
Christy June 8, 2013, 8:04 am
I really dislike how the gay (male) community can be so so so image-focused. One of my close friends is convinced that no one will ever love him because he’s not tall and he’s has a solid but larger build that includes fat. Like, he’s an attractive guy. He’s convinced he’ll be alone forever, and no one will want a relationship with him.
Bittergaymark June 9, 2013, 5:31 pm
Hah. I am alone because I am too tall… Being 6’4 is highly overated. Short guys get asked out WAY more often… Everybody wants a dumb vapid little twink…
Christy June 9, 2013, 11:54 pm
That’s shocking! I’d say in the DC area, it’s the 6’1″ fit and muscled guy who’s the most desired. Twinks aren’t in here.
Le Pinch June 8, 2013, 1:21 am
I’m pretty much over the map when it comes to pronounciation (haha, get it?), and once I say “hella” im pinned for the bay area.
Tonight I’m just trying to keep cool on the third floor, luckily I made some sangria yesterday for the the first time and it turned out really good. It’s got a kick to it, but its perfect on a night like this.
MadMen June 8, 2013, 2:28 am
Well, my English is more “american” than it is “english” which I am sad about (sorry you guys but British sounds hotter!), because I guess we learn East Cost-ish English in school. But I cant pinpoint it any more than that.
But I was wondering, I remember AP saying she didnt know “the” was pronounced “thee” in front of vocals (like a/ an) in one of the threads. Do any of you do that? Because that was one BIGGGGGG chapter in English class and we’d always get told off if we did it wrong. Ahhh, my first English teacher was such a funny old lady. Anyway, is it important to get right or have my teachers been exaggerating?
Christy June 8, 2013, 8:06 am
I think that’s something that we’re not taught as a rule, but that we are supposed to pick up from just being around native speakers all the time. I don’t do it consciously, but I do do it.
Amybelle June 8, 2013, 1:07 pm
I’ve never heard that; I say ‘the’ regardless.
GatorGirl June 8, 2013, 10:52 am
Oh man my accent is weird. I grew up in the Philly area so hoagie, wudder, ull (oil), and a bunch of other weird things. But then I’ve spent 7 years in the south and married a South Carolinian so my draw is growing. And I say y’all, fixin, draaaahwer (drawer) and other silly thing. Oh and Tea always means sweet tea.
I don’t get “tennis shoes” though. Growing up that literally meant the shoes you played tennis in (the kind with skightly rounder sider rather than blunt to trip on) not any kind of athletic-ish shoe.
rachel June 8, 2013, 11:07 am
Haha, tennis shoes is weird to me too.
Lyra June 8, 2013, 12:04 pm
So I’m attending a wedding this weekend, the one where my ex will be at. I know that I’m overthinking things but this has been messing with my head a bit. He’s bringing a date which I wasn’t expecting. It’s not that I still have feelings for him, but this is the first time I’ve seen him since the breakup and he was my first serious boyfriend. Not to mention it’s a very small wedding and I’m here with people who are his friends too. I guarantee he’s going to want to catch up with them. They’re closer to me than they are to him but I don’t want it to be a thing where he and his date sit with the three of us for the reception. It’s a short reception but there won’t be any booze to distract me haha. And my boyfriend isn’t here either due to work. Ugh. Maybe I need to go buy a hip flask…
Christy June 8, 2013, 1:04 pm
That sucks. Good luck, dude.
d2 June 8, 2013, 1:55 pm
I had that happen once, but I was lucky that it was a big wedding and reception. Except for the obligatory, 10-second, “Nice to see you” conversation, we managed to avoid each other the whole time. Good luck!
Fabelle June 8, 2013, 2:36 pm
Good luck! It’s probably gonna be one of those things where you’re nervous & anxiously anticipating up until the very moment you see him/his date. Then it’ll wear off, with only moment of cringing at time (“oh god, is he gonna sit with us?? Oh, whew, of he goes…”) At least, I hope it’ll be like that 🙂
Fabelle June 8, 2013, 2:37 pm
momentS of cringing at timeS—apparently, I don’t like “s”s today.
Kate June 8, 2013, 4:14 pm
Honestly, it is probably going to suck. I had to see my ex at a wedding a few months after we broke up. A big wedding, with booze, and it still super sucked. I think the worst thing was, making casual chit chat with him just made me realize how bad our relationship had been. I don’t quite know how to explain it. Then, at the end, he slipped me a check for a few hundred bucks I had paid to his friend for a beach house share that I didn’t end up going to because we broke up. Ugh, that sent me on a crying jag afterward. Again, hard to explain. Point is, don’t be surprised if you do get emotional. Just keep your cool during the event at all costs.
Lyra June 8, 2013, 7:10 pm
Update: the wedding is done already and it was a bit awkward at first. We avoided each other for the first hour or so. I finally decided it was plain stupid how things were going down and went up to talk to him. We had a brief conversation and caught up a bit. The conversation solidified why we broke up. He had a great year teaching and I was miserable. The wedding was close to where I taught last year. He’s even thinking about staying here long term. I would have had to sacrifice a lot to make things work and it would have been waaay too much. In addition he still hasn’t grown up and that came out even in our brief conversation.
On the plus side his date looked incredibly bored the entire time so there’s that haha.
d2 June 8, 2013, 2:19 pm
When I read the “Oh, and speaking of ‘you guys’,” in the introduction, I immediately thought of HEY YOU GUYS! – Then spent the next two hours watching video clips on the internet from The Electric Company.
Liquid Luck June 8, 2013, 3:20 pm
Pretty much all but two of those are accurate for me based on my hometown. I’m completely shocked that most of the country thinks Mary, marry, and merry all sound the same. I also didn’t realize that hoagie is only used in PA. That’s crazy!
rachel June 8, 2013, 8:06 pm
I still don’t get how they can sound different.
Liquid Luck June 8, 2013, 9:55 pm
That’s so bizarre to me! I want to know which one they all sound like, but every time I try to have this discussion over the internet, it just gets more confusing because apparently all the pronunciation examples I can come up with all sound the same to them too. I will have to find someone to explain this in person I guess.
GatorGirl June 8, 2013, 8:54 pm
I didn’t know you where from the Philly area! Must be why we get along so well on the interwebs and almost always agree 🙂
Liquid Luck June 8, 2013, 9:53 pm
Yup, born and raised in Media! I lived there my whole life (aside from being away at college during the school year for a few years) until last spring. I only get to visit a couple times a year though, which kinda sucks because almost all of my family and a lot of my friends are still in the area 🙁
katie June 8, 2013, 6:56 pm
awwwwwww there were puppies born at the shelter today!! the doggy went into labor right when we opened and had 3 puppies by the time i left. the third puppy was breached and huge! she labored for like 2 hours to get that one out!
puppies. so cute.
Addie Pray June 9, 2013, 9:47 am
can i have one?
katie June 9, 2013, 8:17 pm
im sure once they are old enough you could adopt one!
SpaceySteph June 8, 2013, 6:48 pm
Um I say crayon as cran, which apparently makes me like nobody in the whole country. Whoops.
And apparently I’m from a yous guys place, but I definitely prefer y’all.
spark June 9, 2013, 2:07 pm
Me too! I was shocked that “cran” is so rare!
Lyra June 9, 2013, 7:21 pm
I say it as “crown,” which I’ve only ever heard from people in my town. Any other crown people out there?
GatorGirl June 9, 2013, 7:26 pm
I say crown or craan too. Depends on my mood.