Accents and Lingo
STOP!!!! Go and read the post right before this then come back.
Go.
Ok, did you read it?
NO? Go read it.
If you are still reading this without reading the last post I know who you are and well I can't really do anything to you but if I had special powers I would cause you to have the hiccups for six straight hours for not reading the last post. So there.
Now to what I wanted to say.
As I was thinking about accents and that they are specific to a geographical area, I realized that so is lingo or slang. (Thanks Deals for the extra long comment that spurred this line of thought). Take for instance, Texas with it's ya'll and "coke" for all things in the soft drink family. We also say "fixin" as in "I'm fixin to do that", and then there is "usetacould" as in "I usetacould do a cartwheel but after the bullriding accident my get-a-long just doesn't bend like it usetacould" (bonus points to me for using that phrase TWICE in a sentence). So now I'm wondering what are the geographical specific lingos of you my readers?
posted by Katie @ 4:11 PM
20 Comments:
We don't have goofy saying up here... we are normal.
Texans are weird.
sayings.
Not saying...
I'll correct it before everyone else does.
YES! Alright already! I don't need to hear: "At least Texans can Spell."
Ustacould? Sounds sooooo backwoods.
But the funny thing about that is: even though it IS backwards, it still seemed normal in my head. Scary. Maybe I'm destined to be a Texan someday. Hmmm.
Okay. Well, I have to disagree with Ben (although I'm with him on the "we are normal" part) and say that we have a few "isms" up here that are wierd. I've also heard that they're native only to Milwaukee and surrounding areas too. Which makes it even wierder. So maybe we are just as wierd as Texans. Milwaukeeans I mean. Not Minnesooooooootians. (Minn-e-so-shans for those of you who didn't catch that.)
Anyway. Soda = all carbonated beverages. Except Fresca. That's in a catergory of it's own.
Bubbler = water fountain (although I prefer water fountain).
You want to come with? = You want to finish that sentence?
And I'm sure I could think of a million other examples, but that should do for now...
And apparently I read "backwoods" as "backward" and spelled it "backwards".
Nice Stephanie.
I love the Jeff Foxworthy thang about all the southern words.
Sensuous - Sensuous up, get me a beer!
We use "coke" as a generic for all colas up in these parts, too.
MsThang
Euchre and Haas . . . . oh memories of playing those card games all through high school, my bf was from up north.
Over here in SC we take the "i'm fixin' to" and add a little eubonics to it: "I'm a-fittin-a go."
we also say "Foe Sho" "True dat" and "Foe shizzle?"
"My cat" is used for my dawg, or home-boy.
"up in my grill" is used for being all up in my business.
"Two Fangas" is said when giving the peace sign.
Okay... so maybe this isn't ALL of South Cackalacky, but it is definitely the ghetto part.
I could go on and on... but I think y'all've (like that word?) had enough culture shock for one day!
Funny... I was pretty sure that I had read your entry yesterday, but you made me feel so guilty about continuing to read without making sure that I had read the last post, that I went to check.
Anyways, I actually wrote a post back in March about Texas lingo..
http://aimclaim.blogspot.com/2006/03/texas-dictionary.html
The two girls from Massachusetts that I use to live with had a ton of these. One of my favorites was “tree belt”. They were always “taking the garbage out to the tree belt” so it could be picked up. I don’t know about everyone else, but I’ve always referred to the “tree belt” as “the curb”.
I also lived with a girl from Pennsylvania (it was a big apartment). She would go and “get” a shower. Never once did she “take” a shower like the rest of us.
Then, there are all of the different ways of pronouncing things. For example:
- CEMENT: Most people say “suh-ment”. I pronounce it “see-mint” (yes, I know it sounds dirty)
- LAWYER: People from the south have “Law-yers”. I say “Loy-er”.
- INSURANCE: My mom has “insur-ence”. My dad has “IN-surance”.
- HERB: I’m talking about the plant AND the person. I pronounce both “her-b” (yes, even the plant). I do this because saying “erb” when you mean “herb” is silly. There is an “h” in it, people! The British don’t have “erbs”, so why do we? (That said, I will never call a “zee-bra” a “zed-bra”, and I have to follow a “schedule”, not a “schz-u-ale”. I’m with them on the “herb” thing, though).
The one thing that gives me away as a Texan, by the way, is my innate inability to adequately distinguish between “e” and “i”. For example:
- “Penny” will always come out “pinny”
- “Ben” will come out “bin” (sorry, Ben. You are a Bin...)
- “Pen” will come out “pin”
If I want to say “pen” than I have to really focus on it and drag out the “peeeeeen”.
A Texan (born and raised in Texas) does not pick up on this. But people who were either, A) born in Texas but moved out of Texas before the age 8, or, B) moved to Texas as adults DO notice the difference (and will ask you to clarify). So will people in states north and east of here.
What I don’t know is if this is true for all Texans (as Katie said in her last post, different parts of the state have different accents), or if this is unique to Texans born and raised in north, north central and/or central parts of the state.
Deals - I too say "See-ment" and have only recently been misunderstood as to have said something VERY different (that actually in the context of what I was saying makes no sense at all so I can't fault my accent but the fact that people who are listening to me obvioulsy aren't listening to the context of what I am saying and only focus in on "how" i say "what" I say). But in an effort to not confuse or shock other people I will now try very hard to say sah-MENT.
I totally understand what you are saying. Although, I have been trying FOR YEARS to not say see-mint, I'm still not successful 100% of the time.
At least we aren't in the Navy! Then the spelling would be different, but the pronunciation would be the same. Those poor Seamen!
hiccups for six straight hours
THAT is cruel and unusual.
We say POP when we mean soda. What kind of pop do you want with your Value Meal? (ok MsThang said it first)
Katie, is it only in the south or in Texas too that they say "big ol" as in, I'm gonna get me a big ol truck and drive until the gas runs out.
btw I have several blog-pals in Canada, eh? They say that they DO NOT say Aboot, but they do. It's hilarious!
Also, I prefer Michiganians, MsThang. Because I am neither a goose, nor a gander. And my hubby makes fun of me and says "Wal-Martses" and "Meijerses".
Does any locale in USA pronounce "aluminium" properly? I have an American father who used to say "al-OOM-inim foil?" until we teased it out of him.
There are a few words that you probably know you shouldn't use if visiting Australia; eg don't say "I'm 'rooting' for team X". And your travellers checks are kept in a "bum-bag", okay?
Deals - please know that I had to say all those words out loud just to see if I was pronouncing them "correctly". I'm not sure about Lawyer - it's kinda a hybrid of the two. I say cement correctly. I'm with your dad on the insurance. But evidently I'm not British enough, because they are Erbs.
How could you say Ben/Bin any other way???? Impossible.
Hiccup.
like ben we are normal too
Yah, shure youbetcha
I went hiking ystrday and took pictures - come see, please
My nephew is originally from California and is now in Texas, and when they came for a visit in December, he had a field day listening to us talk. Of course we teased the heck out of him. Kept making him say flagpole over and over again. He says flag like lag, we say flag like flaag. I think we hold our vowels much longer in the midwest then other areas.
I love accents - any kind - they sound so cool!
Hey Ben, don't they use the phrase "Ya der hey" in Minnesota? I can so hear you using that phrase! Dontcha know?
Post a Comment
<< Home