When you travel do people laugh at your boston accent ? (sale, schools)

[DirtBikeRider]

They said in the 80s cable TV was going to give us all the same accent but it didn't happen.

[brightdoglover]

I lived around Boston for 45 years and never picked up that accent. It's not required.

I once had a Nigerian coworker translate our coworker's heavy Boston accent into manageable English form me.

[in_newengland]

Originally Posted by brightdoglover

I lived around Boston for 45 years and never picked up that accent. It's not required.

I once had a Nigerian coworker translate our coworker's heavy Boston accent into manageable English form me.

That's interesting about the translating, lol.

I'm from WMass so I speak normally. Had some trouble understanding it when I lived out there though. When they kept telling me to put it on the top. What TOP? THE TOP! And they were trying to say, "tarp." It has an "R" in it, but you'd never know it.

And now I can say TAG sale again, not yaaahd sale. And eat grinders, not whatever they are called out there. (forgot already...subs?)

[RocketDawg]

Originally Posted by DirtBikeRider

They said in the 80s cable TV was going to give us all the same accent but it didn't happen.

Widespread television has played a big part in homogenizing regional accents, I think. In the case of the Boston accent, you never hear anyone nowadays that has a heavy accent like the Kennedys did, for instance.

In my part of the country, it certainly has made the Southern accent almost vanish, especially among young people. Most of the residents here come from somewhere else, and that may have also have had an effect. Nobody here sounds like Kay Ivey, our esteemed governor (thankfully).

[RocketDawg]

Originally Posted by in_newengland

That's interesting about the translating, lol.

I'm from WMass so I speak normally. Had some trouble understanding it when I lived out there though. When they kept telling me to put it on the top. What TOP? THE TOP! And they were trying to say, "tarp." It has an "R" in it, but you'd never know it.

And now I can say TAG sale again, not yaaahd sale. And eat grinders, not whatever they are called out there. (forgot already...subs?)

Wait a minute. What's a TAG sale, and what is a grinder?

We have garage sales, and eat subs.

Remember when John Kennedy talked about "Cuber"?

[Dm84]

Originally Posted by RocketDawg

Widespread television has played a big part in homogenizing regional accents, I think. In the case of the Boston accent, you never hear anyone nowadays that has a heavy accent like the Kennedys did, for instance.

Not true at all. You won't see it much in the tourist areas of Boston or most of the elite wealthy suburbs. Head into Dorchester or some of the towns with "bad" schools and you'll hear the accent pretty strongly.

[tysmith95]

Originally Posted by DirtBikeRider

They said in the 80s cable TV was going to give us all the same accent but it didn't happen.

It definitively has subdued accents among young people. The heaviest accents I hear are all from older people. I actually think the Boston accent is dying, slowly.

[CaseyB]

Originally Posted by RocketDawg

Wait a minute. What's a TAG sale, and what is a grinder?

We have garage sales, and eat subs.

Remember when John Kennedy talked about "Cuber"?

That's not an accent, that's a regional preference, except for "Cuber".

I'd use "Yard Sale", that's usually what I see.

[in_newengland]

Originally Posted by CaseyB

That's not an accent, that's a regional preference, except for "Cuber".

I'd use "Yard Sale", that's usually what I see.

Yeh, tag sale/yard sale and grinder/sub are regional variations. Another one is drinking fountain/bubblah.

Did people really talk like JFK back then or was that just that family? I have never heard anything quite like that accent ever except for them.

[ColdAilment]

Originally Posted by RocketDawg

Widespread television has played a big part in homogenizing regional accents, I think. In the case of the Boston accent, you never hear anyone nowadays that has a heavy accent like the Kennedys did, for instance.

In my part of the country, it certainly has made the Southern accent almost vanish, especially among young people. Most of the residents here come from somewhere else, and that may have also have had an effect. Nobody here sounds like Kay Ivey, our esteemed governor (thankfully).

It hasn't had much of an effect on most of Mississippi's residents. Lived there for 4 years. Many state natives had only ever traveled to Alabama or Louisiana and rarely farther than that.

With the exception of the gulf coast towns, pretty much all of state carried a thick drawl.