WNY colloquialisms and accents (New York, Buffalo: association, location, counties)

[JayReev]

Ya i think that pirate and pie thing is normal? I dunno... but to answer someones response about my ethnicity I am Sicilian/italian(from another region i guess)/ and a quarter Jewish but I grew up in the city... The more I talk actually the more I realize it and its kind of funny... People "correct" me now that I'm at college and it's kind of funny

[COUNTRYFRIED]

I used to go up to what I consider Western New York to go camping..fishing.etc. Ive never heard a single accent or any strange lingo. I've never heard Yous Guys once when I was there. Actually people up there are as country as cornbread.

[JayReev]

Yah I have no idea where you were.. not where I live

[COUNTRYFRIED]

Originally Posted by JayReev

Yah I have no idea where you were.. not where I live

Near the Hamlin Beach area..Jay. I loved it out there didn't care much for Rochester though. I imagine a lot of people live in the small farm towns and just commute there for work.

[I'minformed2]

Well...most people around here actually live in the suburbs of Rochester as opposed to the city; although those small country towns (like Hamlin) are gaining quite a few people from the inner-ring suburbs these days.

[JAB27]

I NEVER hear anyone from Rochester put "the" in front of a route number. It's just 390, 490, 590, 104. "I have to take 590 to 390 to get down to Geneseo" for example.

Now what's interesting is that when I started going to school in Buffalo two years ago, I started using "the" in front, but only in Buffalo. I'll say "the 33" or "the 198" when in Buffalo, yet in Rochester I don't use "the". It's kind of strange.

[SamSmith1]

I grew up just south of Rochester (Or "Raahhchisterrrr"). Most of the people here wouldn't believe; I have talked to numerous people on-line over the years; from the south, mid-west, to Southern California.....Know what our accent gets mistaken for half of the time? BOSTON accent. Yes, that's right; the Boston accent - at least to people who are not trained or pay attention to a lot of different accents, or those who don't pay attention to certain vowel sounds. I think it's our hard A's i.e., "Rahchestrrrr." 9 times out of 10 I get asked if I'm originally from BOSTON.

Even though we have a similar accent to Detroit and Chicago, we indeed have a very unique accent to people not familiar with it.

[SamSmith1]

Originally Posted by JAB27

I NEVER hear anyone from Rochester put "the" in front of a route number. It's just 390, 490, 590, 104. "I have to take 590 to 390 to get down to Geneseo" for example.

Now what's interesting is that when I started going to school in Buffalo two years ago, I started using "the" in front, but only in Buffalo. I'll say "the 33" or "the 198" when in Buffalo, yet in Rochester I don't use "the". It's kind of strange.

Yep. SAME here. I live 10 miles south of Rochester and I NEVER here people put "the" before 490, 390 etc.

[Mörtician69]

An oft overlooked piece of Buffalo culture is Cannibal Corpse. One of the most brutal death metal bands is from right here in Buffalo! We have exceptionally violent "pits" at metal concerts as well.
Sory Rachaca, but Rochester pits are nothing like Buffalo pits.

[ABQConvict]

This thread makes me feel better about the upstate/downstate argument.

Personally, I have always thought of New York as being east/west.

Eastern NY is more rocky, hilly/mountainous and more like New England in terms of architecture and accents.

Western NY as the discussion here bears out, has a lot to do with the transition to upper-Midwest/Great Lakes (which incorporates Ontarian culture).

New York City, L.I. and the nearer suburbs are the obligatory conurbation that every region has which both typifies and is unique from its region (and in the NY case it is definitely part of the Northeast urban coastal scheme.)


ABQConvict