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D'vorahDavida
Yetzirah

Jargon
Wed Apr 16 2008

Having recently returned from the frozen... well, let me be less exaggerated, chilled mid-west, I am trying to get my normal accent back in order.

 I am like a chameleon in the language department. Within 15 minutes of hanging out with my relatives, I find myself slipping into their way of speaking. It's kinda embarrassing to tell you the truth. One likes to think that one's way of speaking is ingrained. A little more permanently affixed. But mine seems to have very loose hinges.

There is a particular dialect that is localized to central Ohio that I don't hear anywhere else. It's not a southern drawl, nor a northern one either. Let me see if I can give you a taste...

Here's a short list of words I made while listening to conversations during my visit..

 Ohio = O high uh

 Wash = worsh

 Push = poosh

 Well = (This is a hard one to phonetisize) weh ou (That's as close as I can get. There is only the barest *hint* of an 'l', that's all I can tell you. Think Tom Brokaw... )

 Choir = Quahr

Aunt = Aint

 In my next life, I want to be a linguist. And the one after that, a graphologist, and the one after that I would like to master sign language. Hmmmm.... all those things have to do with communication don't they?

I saw a series of programs several years back about the different dialects in the United States... it was riveting. I wonder if it is still available somewhere. I'm pretty good at following and understanding all kinds of accents, but the one that stumped me in that program was the really thick New England one.

 My goodness, that's barely English in my book. Whooo.

I wonder if I sounded funny to my cousins. Or if I just have the run of the mill Pacific Southwest accent.... with the jargon that goes with it.... you know, NORMAL English. Which is epitomized in my mind by a one word jargon spoken with a valley girl drawl....

 "Dude."

As in: "Dude. So you like, went to Ohio and couldn't understand a word they said? That's like, so. . . medieval."
12 Comments
  • From:
    Dustbunny3 (Legacy)
    On:
    Wed Apr 16 2008
    Adjust I say!!You did well and proper english is not really set in stone. I miss the slow southern drawl while in Arkansas. The only time I have a problem is with Hip Hop and to be frank I really don't care to learn.
  • From:
    Mamallama (Legacy)
    On:
    Wed Apr 16 2008
    Ah....
    Professor Higgins in drag.
    I would love to see that show on US dialects myself.
    TTFN (That's Tiggerese for, 'later dude')
  • From:
    Richardsworld (Legacy)
    On:
    Wed Apr 16 2008
    I am going to tell one on myself lol. I have this thing that if I am talking to someone with a speech impediment or a very strong acccent I end up mimicking them. I don't do it on purpose at all and it can be really embarrasing LMAO. Accents are one thing, but I hate it when I orally reproduce a bad speech impediment lol. And for some reason while the rest of the world refers to their Aunt in a proper way that I can't even try to spell here, I always say ant lol.
    Have a great day, Richard
  • From:
    Salted (Legacy)
    On:
    Wed Apr 16 2008
    LOL! I know exactly what you are talking about!!! I'm the same way around an accent I start to emulate it right away. When i was hangin with my southern friend everyone though i was from the south lol! The Brits are the ones I have to listen to closely. have a great one ((HUGS))
  • From:
    Pragmatist (Legacy)
    On:
    Wed Apr 16 2008
    When we lived in Texas, our friends called us Yankees. When we moved back to California, our friends called us Rebels.

    #1 son was given speech therapy in first grade. He was mad at me because not only did he lose his lithp, but also his Tayxus accent.

    I tend to mimic accents, too. Have a terrible time with accents on the phone because I can't read lips.


    Bless
  • From:
    Welshamethyst (Legacy)
    On:
    Wed Apr 16 2008
    My husband, being a born and bred Texan, doesn't speak the same language I do. When we go to the grocery store we don't get a cart, we get a 'buggy'. We don't have light bulbs in our lamps, we have 'bubs'. There's no North, South, East, nor West but there is a 'yonder'. I've learned to interpret but I'll never be able to speak to him in his native tongue *sigh*
  • From:
    Welshamethyst (Legacy)
    On:
    Wed Apr 16 2008
    P.S. Actually it's said (by whom I'm not entirely sure) that those who pick up accents easily have a musical ear.
  • From:
    DancingStar (Legacy)
    On:
    Wed Apr 16 2008
    Nice to know I'm not alone, I too tend to pick up the accent of the person I’m talking to. They often think you are making fun but I honestly can’t help help it. Often once I've 'picked up' an accent it takes me a while to put it down again! I love to travel and hear not just the languages and accents but the phrases people use in different places. Some of the differences are hilarious. I find a heavy welsh accent the hardest to decipher.
  • From:
    404Error (Legacy)
    On:
    Thu Apr 17 2008
    I, too, pickup accents. I, too, find it embarrassing.

    And, once again, I, too, have a hard time with north-eastern accents. Once, years ago, a man from Boston complimented me on my hat, only I wasn't wearing a hat. I was, however, wearing a heart necklace!
  • From:
    InStitches (Legacy)
    On:
    Fri Apr 18 2008
    I've noted a few too many ya'lls slipping back into my lexicon lately. I seem to have aquired them originaly when my daughter returned from N' Awlins speakin' southern.

    I thought I was rid of them, but evidently, once aquired, they become as permamnent as a country cousin come to call.

    Ya'll have a good un.
  • From:
    Welshamethyst (Legacy)
    On:
    Fri Apr 18 2008
    RYC: Yes, we get quite a bit of quake activity but it's usually not felt. I wasn't really sure how much so I looked it up and posted it as a link on my diary if you're interested
  • From:
    ImNotLisa (Legacy)
    On:
    Fri Apr 18 2008
    I still can hear Rick's California accent though not so much as before. That is probably more that I'm used to it though he has picked up some dialect from good 'ol Georgia.