Do people in Minneapolis talk like the people in the movie Fargo? (Dakota: live, parks)

[laidbackhippie]

I moved to Mendota Heights from Queens NY in the seventies and I noticed a strong accent.

By the time I left after four years my NYC friends said that I sounded like Bob and Doug from The Great White North.

They also said that I had become too nice and that I should stop that.

[west336]

Originally Posted by laidbackhippie

I moved to Mendota Heights from Queens NY in the seventies and I noticed a strong accent.

By the time I left after four years my NYC friends said that I sounded like Bob and Doug from The Great White North.

They also said that I had become too nice and that I should stop that.

These guys sounds like great people!

[laidbackhippie]

Originally Posted by west336

These guys sounds like great people!

haha , no

I stayed nice. Thanks Minnesota !

[green_mariner]

Originally Posted by Tom55116

Having lived in New York I have a strong accent. The South have
theirs as well. So I was wondering if most people in Minneapolis
really talk like the actors in the movie Fargo or whether that was
just exaggerated for the movies..?? Just curious..?

Somehow, I don't think so. I have met some people from Minnesota. There is an accent, but it's more subtle than the movie Fargo portrays. Interesting thing is, I have a friend from around the St. Cloud area. He has an accent, but it isn't that strong. I have been told by him that I could pass for a Minnesotan or a Canadian with my accent. Interesting thing is, my father is from Wisconsin and I was born in the South(but started school in the Seattle area). I never picked up a southern accent according to alot of people. What is interesting is that my mother is from Louisiana, spent a few years in Minnesota, and lost any southern accent she had from living in Minneapolis. I think for that reason, I ended up with a Midwestern accent.

[Minnesota Spring]

Off topic, but it is strange. I have met many people from Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi etc. and i love the southern accent, but it seems like those that have alot of college education (either went up north to college or hold higher up degrees from down south) don't have a southern accent at all! I remember being supprised by some of these folks when they say where they are from. Maybe their ashamed to have a southern accent? All I know is no matter how hard I try, I still have a Missiouri accent, but some things I pick up sound more Minnesotan, but nothing like in the movie Fargo.

[green_mariner]

Originally Posted by Minnesota Spring

Off topic, but it is strange. I have met many people from Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi etc. and i love the southern accent, but it seems like those that have alot of college education (either went up north to college or hold higher up degrees from down south) don't have a southern accent at all! I remember being supprised by some of these folks when they say where they are from. Maybe their ashamed to have a southern accent? All I know is no matter how hard I try, I still have a Missiouri accent, but some things I pick up sound more Minnesotan, but nothing like in the movie Fargo.

With me, I never had a southern accent to begin with. According to my parents, some other friends, it was part of my socialization. I grew up on the outskirts of metropolitan Atlanta(about 45 minutes from the Alabama border). Let's just say culturally, I never fit in. I wasn't into southern culture. My father is a college graduate and grew up in Milwaukee(born and raised). I picked up some of his dialect. I grew up hearing the word "pop" instead of "coke" in my house. I grew up with oldies R&B(The Temptations, The O'Jays, Stevie Wonder,etc).
I watched the Travel Channel, The Weather Channel, PBS(sometimes there were British-made shows). I never assimilated to southern culture. I don't say "y'all". I never really assimilated to southern culture. I did my own thing my own way.
Being somewhat of a social "misfit" made it much easier. What is even more interesting is that how my whole family was socialized from the 1990s onward. My sister and brother were born out west. My sister has developed a slight southern accent. She assimilated easily, as she was in the first grade when we finally stayed in one place for more than 4 years. My brother doesn't have a southern accent, but he has a slight touch of "Black English Vernacular". All of us are African-American, but me and my sister never had the "Black English Vernacular". My sister mainly hung out with White kids. My brother could hang out with anyone, but as he got older, he hung out more with other Black kids. I was slightly anti-social. I did my own thing. I had my friends at school, and apart from sports teams, I didn't do much socializing outside of school and sports. I watched alot of TV, particularly The Travel Channel, The History channel, PBS, etc. I did my own thing. Perhaps that is how I developed the way I did.

Interesting note, I know a family with an Iowa born mother and a Georgia-born father. Neither parent has a southern accent, but the children, especially their daughter, have southern accents. The son didn't at first, but picked it up. Their daughter had it. She mainly associated with "southern country-boy" types.

Sometimes it's who you hang around with alot.

[jerbs]

I grew up in Fargo and lived in Minneapolis for 5 years.

People in Fargo and the small towns by Fargo definitely have the "Fargo Accent." It's also heavy in Northwest MN, Southeast MN and in North and South Dakota.

In Minneapolis some have a similar accent but nowhere near as heavy.

The Fargo Accent is actually from Norwegian/Swedish immigrants. People tend to have it if their family is descended from Scandinavians.

Minneapolis is actually not as Norwegian as the rest of the state or North and South Dakota. The city is almost 20% African-American, 10% Mexican, there are many white people who descended from Germans, Irish, etc. Those people tend not to have the Fargo Accent. Thus you can spend a lot of time in Minneapolis without really hearing it. I would say the main accent is really "neutral" compared to almost anywhere else.

My family is Norwegian so I have the accent but it faded out when I left. In California and New York I got asked if I was Canadian.

[ozzie679]

Originally Posted by knke0204

Well, I hate it when easterners say "No?" after questions.

For example "That movie was really boring, no?"

It's like are you a tard, don't end a sentence with a no, you sound like a moron

"Or no?" is very Minnesotan.

[west336]

In general, people with a higher education will shed strong accents (no matter the origin) because it's vernacularly incorrect. However, that doesn't mean a Southerner can pass for a newscaster, or a Northerner as a sportscaster. It depends largely on your parents upbringing as well, and whether they are provincial or traveled. My dad is a son of a navy man, so he has no accent but grew up most of his life in accent-full Wisconsin. My mom is from Chicago (the inner city) and grew up as a poor daughter of a Polish immigrant. EVERYONE in my family from Chicago has a STRONG Chicago accent, except her, who moved to MN and now lives in San Francisco. I think that has something to do with it.

[Dan The Man 666]

That movie was directed by the Cohen brothers, and they're from Saint Louis Park.
It is a satirical movie.

I haven't seen the movie in over 10 years.

I've had a couple of people from elsewhere tell me that I've got an accent over the past couple of years.