[CLees]

I posted this on the general US forum on a thread which was talking about pronunciations and regional word usages.

Connecticutisms(I'm coining that one)-

Route(as in a numbered road)-root
Route(as in a football wide receivers running pattern)-rowt
Sneakers are always sneakers.. Never heard of tennis shoes.
Milk- melk
Carmel- Care-Mel
Carmel, NY- car-mul
Mozzarella-mutz-a-rell or mootz-a-dell(italian decent)
SODA
We have French Crullers at our Dunkin Donuts'. Do you?
I have a basement, grandma has a cellar.
I say ant for aunt but eastern new englanders use awnt(which is probably more proper)
Subs and Grinders are equally understood. EVERYONE living in CT knows what a grinder is.
New York accents are more common than Boston accents and we sorta have our own that's somewhere in between.
Tag Sale=yard sale/garage sale, etc.
My dresser has "draws"(drawers) with "drawers"(slang for pants) in them.
Sandal is still the preferred term for all open toed shoes
CRAYFISH
Loy-eh
Pee-CAN
Rotary=traffic circle
Almost any noun has an opportunity to get the abbreviation treatment around here.
I ALWAYS SAY "YOU GUYS" when addressing a group of people.
Volatile, futile, etc end in -tul not -tile.
Packy=liquor(package) store
Sear-up and sir-up are heard equally
A bike is a bicycle or a motorcycle
Coo-pon
new-HAVEN
We know what steamed cheeseburgers are and which restaurants serve the best ones.
Cakes have frosting on them. Icing is the stuff they use for the lettering.
Darien, CT- Dairy-Ann
Ledyard, CT- led-yerd
Worcestershire sauce- wuss-ter-sheer
We speak quickly, use "big" words, debate/discuss the same topics in a serious and analytical manner for hours, and are immensely sarcastic.

[pvande55]

Originally Posted by CLees

I posted this on the general US forum on a thread which was talking about pronunciations and regional word usages.

Connecticutisms(I'm coining that one)-

Route(as in a numbered road)-root in Chicago, rout
Route(as in a football wide receivers running pattern)-rowt
Sneakers are always sneakers.. Never heard of tennis shoes.
Milk- melk
Carmel- Care-Mel
Carmel, NY- car-mul
Mozzarella-mutz-a-rell or mootz-a-dell(italian decent)
SODA
We have French Crullers at our Dunkin Donuts'. Do you?
I have a basement, grandma has a cellar.
I say ant for aunt but eastern new englanders use awnt(which is probably more proper)otherwise it sounds like the insect
Subs and Grinders are equally understood. EVERYONE living in CT knows what a grinder is.
New York accents are more common than Boston accents and we sorta have our own that's somewhere in between.
My dresser has "draws"(drawers) with "drawers"(slang for pants) in them.in Chicago, only underpants
Sandal is still the preferred term for all open toed shoes
CRAYFISH
Loy-eh
Pee-CAN
Rotary=traffic circlewe call them roundabouts
Almost any noun has an opportunity to get the abbreviation treatment around here.
I ALWAYS SAY "YOU GUYS" when addressing a group of people.
Volatile, futile, etc end in -tul not -tile.
Packy=liquor(package) store
Sear-up and sir-up are heard equally
A bike is a bicycle or a motorcycle
Coo-ponnot Q-pon?
new-HAVEN
We know what steamed cheeseburgers are and which restaurants serve the best ones.you mean White Castle?
Cakes have frosting on them. Icing is the stuff they use for the lettering.
Darien, CT- Dairy-Ann
Ledyard, CT- led-yerd
Worcestershire sauce- wuss-ter-sheer
We speak quickly, use "big" words, debate/discuss the same topics in a serious and analytical manner for hours, and are immensely sarcastic.

My comments in bold.

[CLees]

Cellar and Rotary are new england exclusives according to the accent maps on the Gen US forum. Rout is common throughout the US except a few regions. I say "underwear", pants and "jeans" but if I say draws for pants(usually as a joke only) it comes out "drawers". Steamed cheeseburgers are highly regional cuisine.. Look up Ted's Steamed Cheeseburgers in Meriden. We tend to avoid "q-pon" though I have heard it occasionally.

[Stylo]

I've lived here all my life and don't pronounce half of those that way.

[CLees]

Originally Posted by Stylo

I've lived here all my life and don't pronounce half of those that way.

Perhaps CT has regional variations within the state due to its location between 2 areas of unique accents and word usages.

[CLees]

Another thing is that I'm not well versed in proper phonetic spelling(dictionary style) so many of my "examples" could be read in several different ways.

[Stylo]

Originally Posted by CLees

Perhaps CT has regional variations within the state due to its location between 2 areas of unique accents and word usages.

I grew up in northern Fairfield County and have barely any regional accent and minimal regional pronunciations. A drawer is prounced drawer. My NY-native girlfriend says draw.

[CLees]

Originally Posted by Stylo

I grew up in northern Fairfield County and have barely any regional accent and minimal regional pronunciations. A drawer is prounced drawer. My NY-native girlfriend says draw.

Is your family "old-stock" and white collar? I feel as though I picked up some of this from the NY Influence in my area.

[AnotherTouchOfWhimsy]

I say drawers and "ont" and milk... but otherwise, I think most of that applies. I will say that Connecticut natives don't tend to have an accent. You do hear Joisey and New Yawk and Bahston accents sometimes, but those are from people who are from New Jersey or New York or Massachusetts. I grew up in Meriden and then moved to Naugatuck when I got married. I live in Florida now and hear all sorts of accents. While most Floridians can pick out those from the northeast, I think that Connecticut is an exception. No one knows where I'm from just from hearing me speak. (Unless I say grinder or tag sale, which I occasionally do, LOL)

[Mike 75]

Typically subs are cold and grinders are hot, although I've heard it both ways. And it's a wedge if you're in lower FFC.

It's more like N'Haven for natives. And 'Staven for East Haven. And how one pronounces Wolcott is a dead giveaway.

Coffee regular = cream and sugar.