Twin Cities accent? (home, to live in, land)

[west336]

[quote=Citykid3785;17996655]I'll second this. I feel those in the cities tend to have a slightly smaller Minnesotan accent than those in more rural areas.

Has anyone noticed that all the individuals who are interviewed for soundbites by the local news have extreme accents. It's as if the news wants to legitimize the story by have a more "true" Minnesotan or something? I could just be going crazy too.......[/quote]

OMG YES!!!! I thought I was the only one who noticed that! I think you are 100% correct as to why, as that was the only reason I could come up with as well. I know this does exist (e.g. Kazoo), but even black, Asian or Latino folks during interviews can have strong MN accents, and frankly, that's rare!

You made my day with that post!

[knke0204]

[quote=west336;17998277]

Originally Posted by Citykid3785

I'll second this. I feel those in the cities tend to have a slightly smaller Minnesotan accent than those in more rural areas.

Has anyone noticed that all the individuals who are interviewed for soundbites by the local news have extreme accents. It's as if the news wants to legitimize the story by have a more "true" Minnesotan or something? I could just be going crazy too.......[/quote]

OMG YES!!!! I thought I was the only one who noticed that! I think you are 100% correct as to why, as that was the only reason I could come up with as well. I know this does exist (e.g. Kazoo), but even black, Asian or Latino folks during interviews can have strong MN accents, and frankly, that's rare!

You made my day with that post!

Double make my day on that one! I was just going to say something about this!

It seems like everyone they interview has the worst accent! it's like

[Ben Around]

Originally Posted by knke0204

Minnesotans have an tendancy of throwing meaningless little garbage words at the end of sentences. "Do you want me to make you a lunch, real quick?"

Yeah, I know what you mean and stuff.

[Laggard]

It's the tacking on of the word "then" that is a real upper midwest thing. "So, you going out with him then?"

[west336]

Strange. One thing that people do here (and only here I think) is say something like this:

"Do you want me to borrow you some money", instead of: "Do you want me to lend you some money".

I got caught saying that a few times while in Columbus, OH and I never heard the end of it! It IS pretty bad grammer though!

[QuantumIguana]

Using borrow instead of lend is not a Minnesotanism, it's common all over the country. There will be some pockets where they don't confuse borrow and lend and some where they do.

[srsmn]

I think there is a Twin Cities accent, that is a lot like outstate Minnesota accent, except faster and less lurid. The tendency to merge words that others have pointed out is a good example. My friends from Stearns County and family from south of Rochester have the tendency to speak very slow, low, and quiet like a "typical" Minnesotan. While the actual (mis)pronunciations that are common in MN (bag, lake, roof, boat, etc.) are the same between me and outstaters, I speak a lot faster and almost slur most of my words.

The perfect case in point is the verb, "to rungrab", which is something I was definitely raised with by my Minnesota mom. As in: "You wanna go rungrab that door for me there?"

To say "run and grab" is bad enough grammar. To merge the two completely and say "rungrab" is downright weird, and something I only ever hear here, and I've travelled pretty extensively.

Also, do people here ever just say "You're welcome" when they're thanked? It seems like everybody here (myself included) will always say "Sure," "Sure bet," "No worries," or a simple "Yup" of acknowledgement to the thanker. Maybe it goes along with Jante law and shunning praise, because you're not supposed to ever think that you're anything special....

[srsmn]

Originally Posted by QuantumIguana

Using borrow instead of lend is not a Minnesotanism, it's common all over the country. There will be some pockets where they don't confuse borrow and lend and some where they do.

Yeah, but are any of those pockets as large as Minnesota?

Here is the only place where I've heard it consistently, from amost everybody, always....

[uptown_urbanist]

My mother-in-law complains about the "borrow" thing, although I admit that I can't remember ever hearing anyone actually say it. Maybe I've just tuned it out, although it's so grammatically grating that I think it would be hard to overlook. (although perhaps that's why I've managed to ignore it?) In any case, not everyone says it!

I do tack on words at the end of sentences at times.

[QuantumIguana]

Having only heard it hear doesn't mean that it is only here.