<p>These past 6 years in the south haven’t caused me to develop a southern accent, but I have also picked up on the usage of “y’all.” </p>
<p>This talk reminded me of my elementary school bus driver, I had the same one for several years (it was a small town) and she referred to us as “youse” or “youse guys.” I have no idea where she was from originally. Jersey, maybe?</p>
<p>According to Wikipedia (which confirms my recollection), the “General American accent” is most closely related to the Midwestern accent, which is why the old-fashioned TV personalities used to hail from the Midwest (e.g., Walter Cronkite, Johnny Carson, et al.).</p>
<p>There’s a wonderful documentary called “American Tongues” that looks at different regional accents and the way we use language. It’s a little old (1990ish) but well worth it if you can find it on netflix or at your video store. (Does anyone else still have a video store? The only one left here is an independent one that’s outlasted all of the chains.)</p>
<p>I don’t if this has been said yet, but please stop putting ketchup on hot dogs.</p>
<p>What’s wrong with ketchup on hot dogs?</p>
<p>Oh, thumper1, if you thought Mary/marry/merry pronunciations brought out the fight in people, brace yourself for the onslaught after your innocent comment about ketchup on hot dogs. 'Tis an abomination! That’s what’s wrong! Mustard is the condiment of choice. Except that I’ve had mayo on them at Flo’s Hot Dogs in Maine. (Another regionalism? Or is that just Flo’s thing?)</p>
<p>To Pizzagirl: got a kid going to college in the fall and will be looking for diversions. However you say it, I like coffee!</p>
<p>I freaking HATE mustard. No! Never! Ketchup for life!</p>
<p>Ketchup or catsup?</p>
<p>[running away]</p>
<p>Asw a born-and-bred Bostonian, I realize that we sound quite different from most Americans. However, I’d say we sound closer to British English, which, of course, is where the language originated, no? </p>
<p>Let the onslaught begin… (lol)</p>
<p>Oh hot dogs of the region. That is a good one! I grew up in Indiana where ketchup, mustard and sweet relish rule. Occasionally a bit of chili. Chicago dogs are completely different (whole dill pickle, celery salt, tomato, poppyseed bun and sport peppers) and ketchup is not even offered in most places around here. </p>
<p>DH spent his childhood near Columbia in NY so his ideal is a Sabrett’s dog with red onion, or his Berkeley Top Dog Kielbasa with chopped onions and hot mustard. We both hate saurkraut, so our marriage is intact. </p>
<p>What do Southerners eat on hot dogs? Is there a signature dog?</p>
<p>“American Tongues” is available for free on line. Just google it.</p>
<p>I eat ketchup on hot dogs. It’s delicious. And never is it “catsup.”</p>
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<p>Only marginally. To my non-American ears, Bostonians still sound much more like other Americans than they do to the British.</p>
<p>I know I have an “American” accent when I’m at school, whatever an “American” accent is (rhotic, intervocalic “t” or “tt” sounds like “d” or the Spanish single “r”, vowels more forward, different stress on words - at least those are the ones I’m very aware of). One time, I remember ushering at church in NYC and finding out that the person I was talking to had gone to school in my hometown for three years. I listened to myself with some horror and some astonishment as the accent melted - yes, melted - away: first the vowels, then the rhotic R, then the T, and then the stress, and within 30 seconds I was speaking like I do at home. I wonder what the person I was talking to thought!</p>
<p>familyof3boys, I have an accent that makes some words sound almost British but I’m not from Boston. I’m from northeastern NC between Tidewater VA and the Outer Banks of NC. about sounds like aboat,down sounds like doan, around sounds like aroan.</p>
<p>Brits don’t pronounce “er” sounds at end of words, like New Englanders.</p>
<p>
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Ketchup or catsup?
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</p>
<p>Ugh, what’s next? Pronouncing caramel like CARE-a-MELL</p>
<p>Something I noticed today that I wondered if anyone else struggles with because of their particular accent: all the Michiganders I was with had a really hard time distinguishing “bowl” from “bull”. We were watching a rodeo while bowling today (I have no idea, it’s what they had on the tv) and we found that we had to overly enunciate the words in order to get people to understand. Anyone else have the “bowl” “bull” problem or are we just weird?</p>
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<p>As best I can tell, they only eat barbeque at their BBQs :D</p>
<p>PackMom, is it hoigh toide on the saound soide? I’m from your neck of the woods.</p>
<p>I am currently living in Australia, though, and I noticed something last night at church. They sing “grahnt us peace” but when the word “sand” appeared in a hymn, they sang “sand” like Americans say it (rhymes with “and”). It’s fascinating listening to the accents here. They also do a lot of uptalking - where everything sounds like a question. </p>
<p>I guess this is far afield of the topic at hand, though. When I met my roommate from New Jersey my first year of college in Virginia, I couldn’t understand a word she said. I’m sure I looked like a complete idiot but I really wasn’t catching anything she said! We used to beg her to say “All the slaw is gone” or “walk the dog”.</p>
<p>ihs – We eat barbecue at barbecues. We eat hot dogs and hamburgers at cookouts. Toppings for hot dogs always include chili (not bean chili but a finely ground meat chili) and slaw (the cabbage and mayonnaise variety). Southern hot dogs are VERY messy.</p>
<p>Tiredofsnow – People in England constantly mistook me for Australian. They seldom hear real Southerners talk (the Hollywood version is terrible), and we say our vowels, particularly a, e, and o, very much like Australians.</p>
<p>The one accent that British people typically call “the American accent” is the one that broadcasters have used for years because it is thought to be more neutral. My British friends used to imitate it all the time, and they would certainly find it amusing that anyone would think it’s neutral.</p>
<p>PackMom is correct. The dialect from the islands of the Outer Banks of NC is supposed to be the closest to (Elizabethan) English, and is still studied by linguists.</p>