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I can't think of a specific accent that grates on me EXCEPT a vowel issue that seems to be both southern and midwestern, wherein people pronounce words like "Pin" and "Pen" the same. In other words, they use the short "i" sound in both words and no "eh" sound appears in words like pen.
Too funny but I noticed this first when I moved to Portland OR back in the 70's. I couldn't tell the difference between the pronounciation between "pin" and "pen." But I never ran into that when I lived in Chicago. Also people here seemed to put a "t" in the word "across" as in "accrosst." The people who had lived here all their lives seemed to speak with a sort of twang to their voices. A Western sort of twang. Like cowboy.
Now many of them thought I had an Eastern accent. But I think I had a distinctive Chicago accent. As in parrrk rather than prk not pahk. Or "hammahch" rather than "hammick". My "a's" were all "ahhhhhh's" theirs were short "ah's'". But I didn't do the Chicago "Dee's," "dem's" and "doe's" for these, thems and those as my nephew does.
I find that people here in the PNW and West Coast in general tell me that they do not have accents while the rest of the country does. H'mm. I would disagree.
I live in Ohio, but there's a world of difference between the accent of Northern Ohioans and Southern Ohioans. The accent of those Northern Ohioans just drive me nuts, lol. Especially people from around the Cleveland area. As you can tell, I'm a Southern Ohioan. Southwest Ohio, in particular. Of course, the Northern Ohioans would probably say that we Southern Ohioans have a "twangy" accent, lol. It has always amazed me how the accent of people in the same state can be so different from one area to the next. I've always wondered why this is. Any linguists in the house, lol?
Jersey/Philly is the worst I have heard. I once heard someone with a Jersey/Philly accent trying to speak Italian to a Venetian man. It was very funny. And scary.
Strong Southern Accents - A gentle subtle one is quite sexy but the strongs ones are awful - and impossible to understand
New Jersey/ New York - very hard on the ears, quite a harsh whiny sound
I spent a summer in Northern New England and learned to speak "Yankee". When I went back to Connecticut it drove people nuts. I am partial to the "Downeast" Maine accent and phraseology.
Southern accents and New Jersey accents are the worst!
What? We don't have accents in New Jersey. We tawk normally.
I know we throw that "aw" into words that aren't supposed to have it, such as "coffee" (cawfee). But other places take OUT the "aw" when it's supposed to be there. I knew a woman from New Hampshire who pronounced "Law" as "Lah". I didn't know what she was talking about for a minute.
Last edited by Mightyqueen801; 07-20-2012 at 06:30 AM..
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