[Ummagumma]

Originally Posted by PeaceChild

Canadians are known for the "eh?" also. I live right across the river from Canada and find myself saying that too sometimes.

There's an old joke about the way Canada got it's name - they couldn't agree on how to name the country so they asked a child to pull some random letters out of the box, and stood there commenting aloud: "C, eh ? N, eh ? D, eh ?"

[BayAreaHillbilly]

Thuh Mishigahyan ayacsent?

Ah, tuh hell witcha!

[BayAreaHillbilly]

Originally Posted by kimba01

LOL. So funny. I just moved to NV and the people here have, well not really accents, but differences in the way they enunciate. Funny. They do say that we have an accent and most can tell we are from MI.

Speaking of Western accents (real ones, like mine, not the transplant influenced stew that is becoming dominant in the megacities), here are some dead give aways:

Or-raynge
Ad-vert-EYES-ment
Soda (never pop)
Ape-ricot (never Ayapricot)
Sayahmun (never pronounce the "l")
ChiL-Leh(somewhat exagerated pronunciation of the "l" and changing the single "l" into nearly a double "l")
San-TUH Ma-REE-uh

[BayAreaHillbilly]

Originally Posted by Rapunzll

Sure we have an accent, but it is not much of one. Think about it, most of the newsreaders on national news programs sound like us!

News readers are more likely to sound like people from Iowa or Nebraska.

[dkf747]

Originally Posted by Bydand

Accent? I don't have a stinking accent! Everybody else in the Country does .

Actually, having moved around a bit and living in different areas of the Country, I can truthfully say that no matter where I go, nobody knows WTF I am saying. A bit of Michigan, a bit of Northern Maine, a touch of Down East, a touch of Texas, Some Mississippi, a hint of PNW; all rolled into one.

As I said before, nobody has an accent at home and everybody has an accent when they travel outside of their home area.

WTF are you saying???

Sorry, just messing with you.

[daddythreepointoh]

Originally Posted by GoGators1

This is just a little something funny I was curious about.

Just to give you a little accent background before I ask: My boyfriend was born and raised near Grand Radips, MI. I am a Southwest Florida native, went to school in Gainesville, FL, and now live with him in Asheville, NC.

We visit Michigan pretty often and something I have been surprised by is how many of his friends think they DON'T have an accent. If I ever comment on their accent the most common response I get seems to be confusion...as if they think of themselves as sounding mild and generally accentless. They seem to think you only have an accent if you're from the U.P. From what I can hear this is absolutlely laughable! I don't mean that in a rude way, and I don't mind the accent at all, but I've been really confused by the perception among them that their accent is mild, or even non-exisistant. To me it is just SO clear, probably one of the most pronounced of any accent I've heard (other than Boston, Jersey, NY types).

Do most Michiganders think they have a strong accent, or are his friends pretty representative of how you all feel?

I just read about this on Wikipedia in the article about the "Norhern Cities Vowel Shift" taking place throughout the Great Lakes States. The article specifically mentions Michigan and how most Michiganders, particlularly those in the lower peninsula, seem to think that they have no accent whatsoever when in fact they are a large part of this accent shift in mid-north American English.

I am a nerd who finds such things fascinating! I myself am from California and hear the "Michigan Accent" all around me all the time...it varies from person to person but sometimes it is very pronounced. But of course as I am the person from another state, I am the one with the accent to those around me.

Just watched the movie "Fargo" today to. Those northern accents were a hoot, yah!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norther...es_vowel_shift

[JGatti]

I was across the border in Windsor at a gentlemans club for a bachelor party. Truth be told I'm cheap when it comes to those places but a buddy bought me a dance. I was asked where I was from I told her Michigan, she asked if all of us talked with that accent. I was like what accent? She laughed and said I had an accent and thought it was funny I did not know. LOL So here is this girl from Montreal ( so she claimed) with a thick strong french Canadian accent telling me I have an accent. Thought it was a bit weird as I could hardly understand her. LOL

[krock1dk]

My parents and sister live in MI, but fortunately were not born or raised there. the MI accent resembles a dialect heard in WI or MN. Here are some things U may notice about the MI accent:

1. They pronounce the word bike as BOYK, hike as HOYK and like as LOIK.

2. Short i's as in "milk" is pronounced as a short "e" sound to make it "melk." When I used to work as a FA for a major airline, on a flight to detroit I heard a woman say "melk." I asked here if she was from MI and she said yes and asked me how I knew. I said her accent gave ger away by how she said "melk." She laughed and said she didnt have an accent! I said Oh, yes you do!

2. They pronounce words as they literally look. The town northern MI town of Gaylord is pronounced GAY LORD and the town of Charlotte in southern MI is pronounced CHAR LOTTE (with emphasis on the O), and Macomb County is pronounced MAH COMB, and the town of Binghampton, NY would be pronounced Bing HAM ton.

3. Grammatically, their twang is also funny and very incorrect. Instead of saying the more appropriate "I have some", they would say "I GOT some." They always always substitiute the word HAVE for GOT. horrible grammar! And they end sentances with prepositions: Can I come with?, instead of May I come with YOU?

[JGatti]

Originally Posted by krock1dk

My parents and sister live in MI, but fortunately were not born or raised there. the MI accent resembles a dialect heard in WI or MN. Here are some things U may notice about the MI accent:

1. They pronounce the word bike as BOYK, hike as HOYK and like as LOIK.

2. Short i's as in "milk" is pronounced as a short "e" sound to make it "melk." When I used to work as a FA for a major airline, on a flight to detroit I heard a woman say "melk." I asked here if she was from MI and she said yes and asked me how I knew. I said her accent gave ger away by how she said "melk." She laughed and said she didnt have an accent! I said Oh, yes you do!

2. They pronounce words as they literally look. The town northern MI town of Gaylord is pronounced GAY LORD and the town of Charlotte in southern MI is pronounced CHAR LOTTE (with emphasis on the O), and Macomb County is pronounced MAH COMB, and the town of Binghampton, NY would be pronounced Bing HAM ton.

3. Grammatically, their twang is also funny and very incorrect. Instead of saying the more appropriate "I have some", they would say "I GOT some." They always always substitiute the word HAVE for GOT. horrible grammar! And they end sentances with prepositions: Can I come with?, instead of May I come with YOU?

I've lived in Michigan all my life and I know for a FACT I do not say anything the way you posted. LOL

[flyingwriter]

Originally Posted by krock1dk

My parents and sister live in MI, but fortunately were not born or raised there. the MI accent resembles a dialect heard in WI or MN. Here are some things U may notice about the MI accent:

1. They pronounce the word bike as BOYK, hike as HOYK and like as LOIK.

That's tidewater Virginia, not Michigan!

2. Short i's as in "milk" is pronounced as a short "e" sound to make it "melk." When I used to work as a FA for a major airline, on a flight to detroit I heard a woman say "melk." I asked here if she was from MI and she said yes and asked me how I knew. I said her accent gave ger away by how she said "melk." She laughed and said she didnt have an accent! I said Oh, yes you do!

Yes, many of us do say "melk," and there's nothing wrong with it. Certainly not an "accent." I say "melk" as well as many other people from MI.

2. They pronounce words as they literally look. The town northern MI town of Gaylord is pronounced GAY LORD and the town of Charlotte in southern MI is pronounced CHAR LOTTE (with emphasis on the O), and Macomb County is pronounced MAH COMB, and the town of Binghampton, NY would be pronounced Bing HAM ton.

3. Grammatically, their twang is also funny and very incorrect. Instead of saying the more appropriate "I have some", they would say "I GOT some." They always always substitiute the word HAVE for GOT. horrible grammar! And they end sentances with prepositions: Can I come with?, instead of May I come with YOU?

What does any of this have to do with an accent?