Accents @ MindSay 
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I would like to throw babkas at those who badly imitate British accents.
I don't know what brought this on. I created a whole online journal, I have one on livejournal but that place turned into something where I hold no comfort in posting anything. I had another mindsay account, but to be honest I forgot about it a week after creating it, therefore I do not remember the screenname or password. Anyway, here I am, typing up an entry while listening to Evolution of Dance and switching to Falling Slowly from Once.
Lack of Tab bothers me. I was having a conversation with Colonel, my nickname for him not an actual colonel he's a friend of mine at school. I was looking through Facebook and ran across a couple of friends who had some dramatics this year over boyfriend-stealing and whatnot and that got me thinking. How do we blame?
I'm uncomfortable actually putting out the whole boyfriend theiving deal of cards on the table, so I'm not going to go into it.
When we point the finger, do we point them at the guilty party, who we wish were the guilted one, or do we blame someone so your friend (or boyfriend) doesn't have blame on them?
Colonel seemed to conclude that when it comes to situations like the one above, one that involves sides, one will always tend to side with the friends. He says that situations that include sides rarely do not consist of bias. I agree, even jury members hold prejudice, even though they aren't supposed to. Stupid stereotyping schemas, which is a bit redundant, but I'm indifferent. Is blame ever fair? Is blame ever justly dealt out? Or is blame designated by a judge, a jury or an academic peer?
Oh right! The purpose of the blog title. I belong to drama club, and on more than one occasion I've heard my friends imitating British accents for a skit, and I wanted to die they're so bad. A friend of mine and I had a conversation about this before which resulted in her saying this
"They all suck at British accents. Nobody can do a British accent, not even the British."
A joke obviously, but badly imitated British accents bother me nonetheless. I know, I know who am I to say if an accent is badly imitated or not? If it sounds like Dick Van Dyke from Mary Poppins it makes me wonder. If it sounds so forced it's frightening, I take it with a grain of salt. Basically if it sounds like my friends I don't think of it as legitimately aped, because they sound forced and in the style of a certain chimney sweep. That's just me being vicious though.
--Amanda
Twenty-One Accents
Ya know, I wish I could do this. I so enjoy it when people do accents from other countries. What do you think about this young womans' ability?
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=432_1204271749
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=432_1204271749
[Californian] Accents/Dialect...
On a message board today I happend across someone asking about accents. They asked if you could lose one or gain one and what things contributed to the losing or gaining of an accent. They used a few examples, like people of different ages moving to different places and if their accent would change. Like a Californian moving to Texas (as is the case with people I know and myself, which is explained below), or an Ameican moving to London. I decided to give a response but the website screwed up and wouldn't let me post. So I'm posting it here, AND THEN SOME.
I think the older you are, the less your accent will change at all. My mom's best friend, a native Southern Californian, moved to Texas when she was in her early 30s. Living in SoCal, she talked like a styeriotypical valley girl. After living in Texas for almost 16 years, I recently spoke with her on the phone and she still sounds like a valley girl - exactly the same. Must make her really stick out in East Texas... But she hasn't picked up any of the Texas accent at all. Not even the dialect, as in saying "ya'll". She still says, "you guys".
There is also myself as an example. I was born in SoCal, too. My mom also moved us to Texas, but we moved back to SoCal the Summer before I began 4th grade. SoCal is where the bulk of my socialization happened, as I spent elementary school, middle school and my first year of high school there, before moving to Vegas (which is becoming ever more populated with Californians each day). I did pick up "ya'll" as a kid in Texas, but quickly lost it when I moved back to SoCal. This is more of a dialectical difference than accent, though... But another dialectical difference, which I just have to throw in here for the hell of it, is when I started hearing "come on" in California. I remember when we first moved back there, my sister's cousin would always tell me when she was aggravated, "Come onnn!!" I would be like, "What the hell are you talking about?! Come where?!" That sounds really stupid now, but I seriously was clueless. Soon I was using it too, though.
Anyway, I recently moved to Vegas and also spent some time in Chicago this past Summer. Several times I have had people point out my "accent". Some say it's cool sounding or whatever, and some are just curious, I guess. I've never thought of myself as having an accent, though, until I had people pointing mine out, and since then I've kind of become fascinated with them overall. A few people have actually asked me straight up, though, "Are you from California?" or, "You're from California, aren't you?" ... heh. I'm not sure if that's good or bad... Judging by the fact that one of these people said, "Oh, I spent some time in California. You couldn't get me back into that state with a gun to my head." Apparently he abhors California and Californians...
My point is, I picked up a BIT of accent and dialect from Texas as a child. I moved to California when I was young, and now have a, what I guess is obvious, "Californian" accent and dialect.
BUT! While living in Texas, I grew up with my previously mentioned mom's bestfriend and her sons, who were also born in California. I recently saw one of her sons I grew up with, who still lives in Texas (we were actually born in the same hospital in California). He has a VERY Texas accent, despite growing up with his Californian mom. I don't remember him having an accent when I lived there. He must have acquired it in the 8/9 years since my family left back to SoCal. His dad, who I believe is also from California, seems to have picked up some of the accent, though, unlike his wife. I'm not totally sure if she keeps it on purpose, or if maybe different people are more prone to picking up accents over a period of time or something. It could also be that her California accent is SO distinct. Her husband never had a very distinct accent, but hers always has been. I'm guessing that broader gap might make it less likely for her to make her way over to the Texan accent.
Another example is someone who I know who is an American and moved to Ireland/London in his mid 20s, I believe. He lived back and forth from both places, mostly in London, for 17 years. He never picked up a hint of the accent. In Ireland, he did pick up some of the dialect, as in "wee", etc. But that's it. Other than that, he has now moved back to the US (the South, in fact) and I don't think there's a hint to be gotten that he's been living outside the country for almost 20 years.
I just want to say some more about the California thing. I think since living here in Vegas for ... three years now, there have been subtle changes in my accent and dialect from California. There ARE a lot of other native Californians here in Vegas, which may mean either them losing some of theirs like I have, or Vegas picking up on it and gaining Californian speech.
Some things I do notice about myself, though: As far as dialect goes, I don't say "dude" anymore. I said it all the time in SoCal and even kept it for quite a while after moving to Vegas. Since no one really says it here, though, I seem to have lost that. I don't really say it anymore. My younger sister still does, though, so I'm kind of surprised I haven't kept latched onto it through her. I do say "sweet" sometimes still, and "awesome", which I think is kinda spread throughout quite a bit of the country at this point. When quoting people or conversation or whatever, a lot of times you hear people say "like" instead of "said" or something. I read in a few places that "like" is probably a Californian thing that spread further throughout the country over time. But actually, in California these days, you will often hear "all". As in: "She was all, 'what's going on here?' and I was all, 'I dunno, man, but shit's crazy.'" This is native to California and doesn't seem to have spread much across the country. I myself have lost it almost completely when I used to say it all the time and instead use the now more popular throughout the country, "like" almost exclusively. One thing that cracks me up is that when I DO use "all" these days, I usually couple it with "like", as in, "My mom was all like, '...'". From what I remember, that very popular where I lived in SoCal and where I got it from. I don't think I've really heard anyone else say it here in Vegas. My younger sister doesn't seem to use this, but my older sister does.
Something about the differences between SoCal and NorCal. The word "hella" is actually from NorCal. It seems to have spread quite a bit and quite a few people say it in SoCal now, as well as in Vegas. I personally find it extremely annoying and when I started hearing it in SoCal, I couldn't stand it. Little did I know that it is actually often a source of discrimination between people from SoCal and NorCal. Two nights ago I was on the phone with my friend, who is also a native of SoCal, who is going to school up in Sacramento. I noticed her saying, "hella" A LOT when none of us used to say it at all in high school. After a while I pointed it out (it was becoming irritating) and she was like, "OH MY GOD I KNOW! I can't help it. EVERYONE says it here I hate it! I don't know what's up with it dude but all the people here say it all the time ..." She went on and on and on about how it irritated her too but she couldn't help using it because it's used so often around her. I'm always extremely interested to hear about this stuff... so I let her go on and on. hahah. I notice people use in more here in Vegas than they ever did in SoCal, though. So either a lot of people from NorCal are here in Vegas or the song "Hella Good" has made it more popular in other parts of the West/Country(?) than it has in SoCal, where No Doubt is actually from. (Such blasphemy for them to use words from NorCal in their songs! heheh. Kidding, of course...)
Another clear dialectical difference is the use of "freeway" over "highway". I noticed this myself some time ago when I would travel outside of California. People would say "highway". They never say it here in Vegas. In California, though, we say "freeway". I'm not sure what's up with that difference, but it's there...
Another difference I only became aware of after it was pointed out was our use of "the" when referring to freeways and not often adding the "I".
Example:
Someone else: "Take I-105 to blah blah blah."
Myself, as a Southern Californian: "Take the 105 to blah blah blah."
Now, a serious point and question for anyone who has stayed with me long enough to make it this far:
I was reading about real accent differences in California, not just dialect like I was talking about above.
One thing that I've seen several places since I've been doing a bit of reading about this is this apparent "merger" of the words caught and cot, and how we pronounce Mary, marry, and merry the same.
I have question... How would you pronounce them differently??...
I also read where one guy expressed his frustration at us pronouncing "talk" as "tok". I never even noticed... Are you really even supposed to pronounce the L? It feels/sounds strange..
And a final note to non-Californians who might come for a visit or whatever, it's just OC ... not "The" OC. ;) I know, damn TV shows! (I mean but really, if ya just stop and think about it for a moment... Listen to yourself say, "Let's go to THE Orange County." lol...)
Anyway, so if it's not obvious, I love learning about this kinda stuff. About any region of the country/world, not just because I'm a self-centred Californian (I've also done quite a bit looking into Irish... I could possibly make a post about that, too..).
So if anyone else wants to make a long post about the dialect and accent of their region of the world, PLEASE DO!
I'll leave you with a video some random people shot while walking through the mall in the town/city where I'm from in California, Temecula. There are a lot of examples of what I explained here in action in the video. Also.. notice the girl who works in the store's response when he enters the store... heh. It's one of the things you gotta love about California.
-Liv-
I think the older you are, the less your accent will change at all. My mom's best friend, a native Southern Californian, moved to Texas when she was in her early 30s. Living in SoCal, she talked like a styeriotypical valley girl. After living in Texas for almost 16 years, I recently spoke with her on the phone and she still sounds like a valley girl - exactly the same. Must make her really stick out in East Texas... But she hasn't picked up any of the Texas accent at all. Not even the dialect, as in saying "ya'll". She still says, "you guys".
There is also myself as an example. I was born in SoCal, too. My mom also moved us to Texas, but we moved back to SoCal the Summer before I began 4th grade. SoCal is where the bulk of my socialization happened, as I spent elementary school, middle school and my first year of high school there, before moving to Vegas (which is becoming ever more populated with Californians each day). I did pick up "ya'll" as a kid in Texas, but quickly lost it when I moved back to SoCal. This is more of a dialectical difference than accent, though... But another dialectical difference, which I just have to throw in here for the hell of it, is when I started hearing "come on" in California. I remember when we first moved back there, my sister's cousin would always tell me when she was aggravated, "Come onnn!!" I would be like, "What the hell are you talking about?! Come where?!" That sounds really stupid now, but I seriously was clueless. Soon I was using it too, though.
Anyway, I recently moved to Vegas and also spent some time in Chicago this past Summer. Several times I have had people point out my "accent". Some say it's cool sounding or whatever, and some are just curious, I guess. I've never thought of myself as having an accent, though, until I had people pointing mine out, and since then I've kind of become fascinated with them overall. A few people have actually asked me straight up, though, "Are you from California?" or, "You're from California, aren't you?" ... heh. I'm not sure if that's good or bad... Judging by the fact that one of these people said, "Oh, I spent some time in California. You couldn't get me back into that state with a gun to my head." Apparently he abhors California and Californians...
My point is, I picked up a BIT of accent and dialect from Texas as a child. I moved to California when I was young, and now have a, what I guess is obvious, "Californian" accent and dialect.
BUT! While living in Texas, I grew up with my previously mentioned mom's bestfriend and her sons, who were also born in California. I recently saw one of her sons I grew up with, who still lives in Texas (we were actually born in the same hospital in California). He has a VERY Texas accent, despite growing up with his Californian mom. I don't remember him having an accent when I lived there. He must have acquired it in the 8/9 years since my family left back to SoCal. His dad, who I believe is also from California, seems to have picked up some of the accent, though, unlike his wife. I'm not totally sure if she keeps it on purpose, or if maybe different people are more prone to picking up accents over a period of time or something. It could also be that her California accent is SO distinct. Her husband never had a very distinct accent, but hers always has been. I'm guessing that broader gap might make it less likely for her to make her way over to the Texan accent.
Another example is someone who I know who is an American and moved to Ireland/London in his mid 20s, I believe. He lived back and forth from both places, mostly in London, for 17 years. He never picked up a hint of the accent. In Ireland, he did pick up some of the dialect, as in "wee", etc. But that's it. Other than that, he has now moved back to the US (the South, in fact) and I don't think there's a hint to be gotten that he's been living outside the country for almost 20 years.
I just want to say some more about the California thing. I think since living here in Vegas for ... three years now, there have been subtle changes in my accent and dialect from California. There ARE a lot of other native Californians here in Vegas, which may mean either them losing some of theirs like I have, or Vegas picking up on it and gaining Californian speech.
Some things I do notice about myself, though: As far as dialect goes, I don't say "dude" anymore. I said it all the time in SoCal and even kept it for quite a while after moving to Vegas. Since no one really says it here, though, I seem to have lost that. I don't really say it anymore. My younger sister still does, though, so I'm kind of surprised I haven't kept latched onto it through her. I do say "sweet" sometimes still, and "awesome", which I think is kinda spread throughout quite a bit of the country at this point. When quoting people or conversation or whatever, a lot of times you hear people say "like" instead of "said" or something. I read in a few places that "like" is probably a Californian thing that spread further throughout the country over time. But actually, in California these days, you will often hear "all". As in: "She was all, 'what's going on here?' and I was all, 'I dunno, man, but shit's crazy.'" This is native to California and doesn't seem to have spread much across the country. I myself have lost it almost completely when I used to say it all the time and instead use the now more popular throughout the country, "like" almost exclusively. One thing that cracks me up is that when I DO use "all" these days, I usually couple it with "like", as in, "My mom was all like, '...'". From what I remember, that very popular where I lived in SoCal and where I got it from. I don't think I've really heard anyone else say it here in Vegas. My younger sister doesn't seem to use this, but my older sister does.
Something about the differences between SoCal and NorCal. The word "hella" is actually from NorCal. It seems to have spread quite a bit and quite a few people say it in SoCal now, as well as in Vegas. I personally find it extremely annoying and when I started hearing it in SoCal, I couldn't stand it. Little did I know that it is actually often a source of discrimination between people from SoCal and NorCal. Two nights ago I was on the phone with my friend, who is also a native of SoCal, who is going to school up in Sacramento. I noticed her saying, "hella" A LOT when none of us used to say it at all in high school. After a while I pointed it out (it was becoming irritating) and she was like, "OH MY GOD I KNOW! I can't help it. EVERYONE says it here I hate it! I don't know what's up with it dude but all the people here say it all the time ..." She went on and on and on about how it irritated her too but she couldn't help using it because it's used so often around her. I'm always extremely interested to hear about this stuff... so I let her go on and on. hahah. I notice people use in more here in Vegas than they ever did in SoCal, though. So either a lot of people from NorCal are here in Vegas or the song "Hella Good" has made it more popular in other parts of the West/Country(?) than it has in SoCal, where No Doubt is actually from. (Such blasphemy for them to use words from NorCal in their songs! heheh. Kidding, of course...)
Another clear dialectical difference is the use of "freeway" over "highway". I noticed this myself some time ago when I would travel outside of California. People would say "highway". They never say it here in Vegas. In California, though, we say "freeway". I'm not sure what's up with that difference, but it's there...
Another difference I only became aware of after it was pointed out was our use of "the" when referring to freeways and not often adding the "I".
Example:
Someone else: "Take I-105 to blah blah blah."
Myself, as a Southern Californian: "Take the 105 to blah blah blah."
Now, a serious point and question for anyone who has stayed with me long enough to make it this far:
I was reading about real accent differences in California, not just dialect like I was talking about above.
One thing that I've seen several places since I've been doing a bit of reading about this is this apparent "merger" of the words caught and cot, and how we pronounce Mary, marry, and merry the same.
I have question... How would you pronounce them differently??...
I also read where one guy expressed his frustration at us pronouncing "talk" as "tok". I never even noticed... Are you really even supposed to pronounce the L? It feels/sounds strange..
And a final note to non-Californians who might come for a visit or whatever, it's just OC ... not "The" OC. ;) I know, damn TV shows! (I mean but really, if ya just stop and think about it for a moment... Listen to yourself say, "Let's go to THE Orange County." lol...)
Anyway, so if it's not obvious, I love learning about this kinda stuff. About any region of the country/world, not just because I'm a self-centred Californian (I've also done quite a bit looking into Irish... I could possibly make a post about that, too..).
So if anyone else wants to make a long post about the dialect and accent of their region of the world, PLEASE DO!
I'll leave you with a video some random people shot while walking through the mall in the town/city where I'm from in California, Temecula. There are a lot of examples of what I explained here in action in the video. Also.. notice the girl who works in the store's response when he enters the store... heh. It's one of the things you gotta love about California.
-Liv-
Lutran Viking Airline
Lutheran Airlines for all you Lutherans and Nordic folk
WE ARE PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE LUTHERAN VIKING AIR IS NOW OPERATING IN MINNYSOTA, AND ALSO SERVING VISCONSIN, NORT AND SOUT DAKOTA.
If you are travelin soon, consider Lutran (Lutheran) Viking Air, da no-frills airline. You're all in da same boat on Lutran Air, where flyin is a upliftin experience.
Dere is no First Class on any Lutran Viking Air flight. Meals are potluck. Rows 1-6, bring rolls; 7-15, bring a salad; 16-21, a main dish, and 22-30, a dessert. Basses and tenors please sit in da rear of da aircraft.
Everyone is responsible for his or her own baggage. All fares are by free will offering and da plane will not land 'til da budget is met. Pay attention to your flight attendant, who will acquaint you wit da safety system aboard dis Lutran Viking Air 599.
Okay den, listen up. I'm only gonna say dis vonce. In da event of a sudden loss of cabin pressure, I am frankly going to be real surprised and so vill Captain Olson, because we fly right around two tousand feet, so loss of cabin pressure would probably mean da Second Coming or someting of dat nature, and I wouldn't bodar wit doze liddle masks on da rubber tubes. You're gonna have bigger tings to worry about den dat. Just stuff doze back up in dair little holes. Probably da masks fell out because of turbulence which, to be honest wit you, we're going to have quite a bit of at two tousand feet, sorta like driving across a plowed field, but after a while you get used to it.
In da event of a water landing, I'd say forget it. Start saying da Lord's Prayer and just hope you get to da part about forgive us our sins as we forgive doze who sin against us, which some people say "trespass against us," which ain't right, but what can you do?
Da use of cell phones on da plane is strictly forbidden, not because day may confuse da plane's navigation system, which is seat of da pants all da way. No, it's because cell phones are a pain in da wazoo, and if God meant you to use a cell phone, He would have put your mout on da side of your head.
We start lunch right about noon and it's buffet style wit da coffee pot up front. Den we'll have da hymn sing; hymnals are in da seat pocket in front of you. Don't take yours wit you when you go or I am going to be real upset and I am not kiddin.
Right now I'll say Grace: "Come, Lord Jesus, be our guest, and let deze gifts to us be blessed. Fadar, Son, and Holy Ghost, may we land in Dulut or pretty close."
Happy Landin wit da Lutran Viking Airline!
----
My dad has pointed out that, if you're not from Minnesota or familiar with the typical satirical style of Garrison Keillor, this probably won't be as amusing. I think this was being posted for a particular Minnesotan who hasn't been home for awhile. Just in case you'd forgotten this aspect of our lives. :P
If you are travelin soon, consider Lutran (Lutheran) Viking Air, da no-frills airline. You're all in da same boat on Lutran Air, where flyin is a upliftin experience.
Dere is no First Class on any Lutran Viking Air flight. Meals are potluck. Rows 1-6, bring rolls; 7-15, bring a salad; 16-21, a main dish, and 22-30, a dessert. Basses and tenors please sit in da rear of da aircraft.
Everyone is responsible for his or her own baggage. All fares are by free will offering and da plane will not land 'til da budget is met. Pay attention to your flight attendant, who will acquaint you wit da safety system aboard dis Lutran Viking Air 599.
Okay den, listen up. I'm only gonna say dis vonce. In da event of a sudden loss of cabin pressure, I am frankly going to be real surprised and so vill Captain Olson, because we fly right around two tousand feet, so loss of cabin pressure would probably mean da Second Coming or someting of dat nature, and I wouldn't bodar wit doze liddle masks on da rubber tubes. You're gonna have bigger tings to worry about den dat. Just stuff doze back up in dair little holes. Probably da masks fell out because of turbulence which, to be honest wit you, we're going to have quite a bit of at two tousand feet, sorta like driving across a plowed field, but after a while you get used to it.
In da event of a water landing, I'd say forget it. Start saying da Lord's Prayer and just hope you get to da part about forgive us our sins as we forgive doze who sin against us, which some people say "trespass against us," which ain't right, but what can you do?
Da use of cell phones on da plane is strictly forbidden, not because day may confuse da plane's navigation system, which is seat of da pants all da way. No, it's because cell phones are a pain in da wazoo, and if God meant you to use a cell phone, He would have put your mout on da side of your head.
We start lunch right about noon and it's buffet style wit da coffee pot up front. Den we'll have da hymn sing; hymnals are in da seat pocket in front of you. Don't take yours wit you when you go or I am going to be real upset and I am not kiddin.
Right now I'll say Grace: "Come, Lord Jesus, be our guest, and let deze gifts to us be blessed. Fadar, Son, and Holy Ghost, may we land in Dulut or pretty close."
Happy Landin wit da Lutran Viking Airline!
----
My dad has pointed out that, if you're not from Minnesota or familiar with the typical satirical style of Garrison Keillor, this probably won't be as amusing. I think this was being posted for a particular Minnesotan who hasn't been home for awhile. Just in case you'd forgotten this aspect of our lives. :P
Right Up My Alley!
When I saw this on wendyinchicago 's blog, well ... it's right up my alley! I wonder if I can put this quiz into my paper??? EVERYONE speaks a dialect and does so with an accent! It's all in the ear of the be-hearer! lol
| What American accent do you have? Your Result: The Midland "You have a Midland accent" is just another way of saying "you don't have an accent." You probably are from the Midland (Pennsylvania, southern Ohio, southern Indiana, southern Illinois, and Missouri) but then for all we know you could be from Florida or Charleston or one of those big southern cities like Atlanta or Dallas. You have a good voice for TV and radio. | |
| The West | |
| Boston | |
| North Central | |
| The Inland North | |
| The South | |
| Philadelphia | |
| The Northeast | |
| What American accent do you have? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz | |
Details:
- born and bred in Pittsburgh
- college in Massachusetts, just north of Boston
- Trained for the Army in South Carolina
- Served in Germany, Maryland, and Alaska
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