[jmlowman]

Originally Posted by SoCal Midwest Noobie

Its always annoying to me whenever I tell a server I want a "coke" and they ask if pepsi is ok, lol. Its not about brand loyalty lmao. But yeah thats one of the markers that Im truly in the Midwest now, when people call it pop, hehe. My paternal grandmother, from Nebraska who spent her early married years in Chicago called it "pop" that I remember. She also said "waRsh", not sure what Michiganders say on that one, well thats all for now.

I live in southern California, and I always get asked if Pepsi is okay when I order a Coke. Usually restaurants serve one brand or another. I can't tell the difference and don't care, but I guess some people do.

The "waRsh" this is common in Michigan, too. There was a tremendous influx of people from the southern states to find work after WWII, so you hear this and also other pronunciations common in the South.

[viktor77]

The Lower Peninsula Michigan Accent ie. the Inland North accent coincidentally has more basic cardinal vowels than other American English accents making it easier for us to learn Romance Languages. Our /a/ is especially unique, it being much more fronted than other accents which have a predominate mid /a/ or even a backed /A/ (we have this too but not as our predominate <a>). The fronted /a/ is used in most dialects of metropolitan French and Spanish, so you will sound more native in these languages if you were born in the expanses of the Inland North.

Equally, we have pretty easy access to /e/, just watch the diphthong that prevails in American English, ie. the /eI/ or even /ei/ sound. The diphthong must be eliminated in Romance Languages. I do caution everyone that our /E/ is more further backed, mid almost to an /3/, and that is thus a cardinal vowel we do not share with standard dialects of Romance Languages.

[alle]

Although I've lived most of my adult life in Wisconsin, I still drink water from a drinking fountain, not a bubbler. And when I spill my Wisconsin "melk" I clean up with "paper toweling". My Michigan "pop" however has now become "soda".

[magellan]

Lately I've been picking up something here in Grand Rapids (not a native but been here 18 years): clerks at stores and gas stations and older restaurant servers speak with a nasal-ly accent that almost sounds like the cast of Fargo, or Wisconsin-esque. "What can I git ya?" And guys who look like they work outside a lot (landscapers, construction workers) almost have what I'd call a hybrid Southern accent, more Texas or Southwest than Carolina-ish. Totally weird and I hadn't noticed it until recently.

[MichiganPackers]

I've lived pretty much my whole life in Fort Wayne, IN and outside of the vowel changes/NCVS that have been mentioned already, I don't really find much difference between how people talk here and how they talk up in Michigan- at least in Metro Detroit where my dad lives.

[Noble Savage]

Some of it never seems to go away. I was born and lived in Michigan until I was 18. Joined the Army, eventually ended up in Maryland, where I have lived for the last 30+ years. A few months ago, I had a stranger come up to me and say " You're from Michigan aren't you?" It wasn't the "Pop" thing either. Never used that term once I was out of grade school. Maybe it was the dd instead of t thing, cause I'm guilty of wadder, warsh, and ciddy.

[MichiganPackers]

I think most people say wadded and ciddy, I haven't heard people really enunciate the "t" sound unless they were trying to sound proper. Also, the intrusive r in "warsh" exists all over the Midwest and even beyond.

[mjlo]

I really haven't heard people in Michigan say warsh, I feel that's pretty rare and happens other places.

[Nedibes]

Michigan is a big state, with a lot of different accents, both by geography and by class. Some of these are closer to the "American newscaster neutral" than others. A U-M professor's kids are not going to sound like an Alpena fisherman's kids, who are not going to sound like a Detroit auto-worker's kids.

[michigan83]

Originally Posted by Nedibes

Michigan is a big state, with a lot of different accents, both by geography and by class. Some of these are closer to the "American newscaster neutral" than others. A U-M professor's kids are not going to sound like an Alpena fisherman's kids, who are not going to sound like a Detroit auto-worker's kids.

And then you have the "mid Michigan farmer's kid" accent, which is a whole different animal.