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I love my WNY accent. I currently live in SoCal and people are always asking me where I am from, what accent is that. Some people think it is a Chicago accent. Never knew I had an accent until I moved away. When we go back to WNY I can hear it now.
Rochester and Chicago - exact same accent. I read an article on Wikipedia. The accent starts somewhere east of Syracuse (Capital Region does not have it) and goes west past Chicago. But there are areas inbetween where the accent is not as pronounced. I recall that it is strongest in Syracuse, Rochester, Buffalo and Chicago.
I agree....we Upstaters are always accused of not being "real New Yorkers" by the long island/NYC region people; yet we are the only ones who pronounce the state's name right. Its New Y-OR-k....not New Yoak, or New Yawk. Sorry, but I think that gives us the right to kick them out of the state if they can't pronounce it right!
I wouldn't go to extremes on kicking anyone out of the state but at least to have "New York" mean more to American than just down state (aka "the big apple"), that's why I really wish there was a WNY/CNY/UPSTATE NY sub forum here.
Rochester and Buffalo are in a wierd position. They are technically part of the "northeast", but have a culture more similar to the northern areas of the midwest. I think you could put them into a category along with Northern Ohio, Michigan, Northern Indiana, Northern Illinios, and Eastern Wisconsin as "Great Lakes". Rochester feels a little more "northeastern" than Buffalo does though IMO...eventhough they are only about 60 miles apart.
Rochester and Buffalo are in a wierd position. They are technically part of the "northeast", but have a culture more similar to the northern areas of the midwest. I think you could put them into a category along with Northern Ohio, Michigan, Northern Indiana, Northern Illinios, and Eastern Wisconsin as "Great Lakes".
Yup let's face it - WNY is part of the Midwest - linguistically, culturally, and in how we like our pizza
Some of my favorite Buffalo colloquialisms:
Making business names into possessives: For instance: "La Nova Pizzeria" becomes "LaNova's"
The southern and northern parts of Buffalo are always called "South Buffalo" and "North Buffalo", as if they are separate cities, but the Eastern and Western parts are are called "West Side" and "East Side"
And for the over-40 crowd - who wasn't threatened with a trip to "Father Baker's" when you misbehaved as a kid?
Could be. I live in Watertown which is way different than most areas of UNY. Most of the people who live here are associated with the military since Fort Drum is five minutes north. You will find people from all over the world/US here. I know this is way off topic but did anyone see the giants play yesterday? Tear.
The southern and northern parts of Buffalo are always called "South Buffalo" and "North Buffalo", as if they are separate cities, but the Eastern and Western parts are are called "West Side" and "East Side"
Don't forget about Keisertown, Lovejoy, The Valley, The (old first) Ward, Black Rock, Riverside, etc. We're all one city but have so many unique communities.
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Not that there's anything wrong with a spawt of tea. 
but at least to have "New York" mean more to American than just down state (aka "the big apple"), that's why I really wish there was a WNY/CNY/UPSTATE NY sub forum here.
