WNY colloquialisms and accents (New York, Buffalo: apartments, crime, how much)

[smalltownusa]

wow, if ever there was a reason to lock a thread, this argument would be it.....you say tomahtoe and I say tomaytoe, let's call the whole thing off LOL

[faithfulFrank]

No need to lock the thread......it is interesting.

I never even thought we had an accent.....how naive of me.
Yes, i'm over 40 and when I was young was told many times by my Mom that I would be sent to Father Baker's

This Rochester/Buffalo thing has me wondering, where does that leave Batavia, the birthplace of western NY....we Batavians are 30 miles from both Rochester and Buffalo. At one time, Batavia was bigger then either of those big cities.....I have relatives and kids who live in both cities now.

How about unique foods also.......like white hots, Beef on wicks, etc. I recently bought a house down in Florida, and plan on moving there in a few years....I will miss the pizza, tim hortons, and some of the other things unique about this area.

Frank D.

[I'minformed2]

Can't you be a "snowbird" and stay here for the nicer half of the year (i.e. hurricane season in FL) and then just live in FL for the winter? My mother inlaw does that.

[faithfulFrank]

I'd like to, but I cannot yet.
I have three more years until I can retire....then I'll be down there for good.
for now, i have to be content to go down there a few times a year, and rent it out when I am not there.......

Frank D.

[CoupleTwoTree]

They say youse in Scranton, PA too. The one thing I noticed about people from Rochester is they say "ya know" a lot and it sounds so funny to me. That's definitely midwest. The way they talk reminds me of the mom from Bobby's World.

o and bagel. they have the weirdest pronounciation of bagel I have ever heard in my life. instead of saying the correct way of saying it "baygel" they say the word bag then el. It sounds ridiculous.

[Muggy]

Originally Posted by CoupleTwoTree

It sounds ridiculous.

I think that's Rochesterians being playful with language. All of my friends do this and I find it fun. It's linguistically/intellectually engaging.

If I did this in Florida, I'd get a response straight out of Idiocracy: "Why are you so gay?" or "Why are you so retarded?" I love the regional colloquialisms.

Yet another reason I miss Rochester.

[I'minformed2]

I've always said "baygil". Don't think I've ever heard anyone say "Bag el" in Rochester or anywhere else.

[CoupleTwoTree]

Originally Posted by Muggy

If I did this in Florida, I'd get a response straight out of Idiocracy: "Why are you so gay?" or "Why are you so retarded?" I love the regional colloquialisms.

That's because it does sound wickid gay.

[garmin239]

Ha, wickid. Thats definitely a north country/ma thing.

[Muggy]

Originally Posted by CoupleTwoTree

That's because it does sound wickid gay.

Over the years I've noticed a correlation between the appreciation of language/context and intelligence. Maybe you haven't.