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Ok...Having moved from Tennessee I realize I am one of the few here with A SOUTHERN ACCENT....told it is heavy.
But this state I now call home, is full of different accents, I spent my 1st 6 months here saying HUH? with a puzzled look and would get a What? back.
I still can't order at a drive thru without having to repeat it.
Along with the accent comes a blend of people that varies greatly and that is part of rhode island.
And Ya'll is not bad or stupid...just part of who we are...no worse then kar.(LOL)
I moved from RI almost 30 years ago, just across the border to CT. My accent comes out now, mostly when I'm tired or like my daughter says "when you're TIYAD!".
The amount of ignorance and classism in this thread is astounding.
To judge a person's intelligence based on their regional accent is a common, yet grievous error. One would have to live in the RI area at least two decades to distinguish the subtle differences that MAY designate socio-economic status, which has little to nothing to do with intellect. We have Brown University faculty, politicians, MDs and artists who all have similar accents.
Sophistication? If by that you to mean Newbury Street is more cosmopolitan, more chic than Thayer Street, you have no argument from me. Providence isn't comparable to Boston or New York, and to insist upon doing so will only result in frustration. Providence, by the way, isn't shorthand for the entire state of Rhode Island, nor is it "right next to Boston". Providence is about an hour away from Boston with no traffic (ha!), much further for anyone in Washington County- and few real Rhode Islanders would consider making the trip unless a family member is in the hospital. Or there's a Red Sox game. RI is ABSOLUTELY a Red Sox state. I don't know one Yankees fan, nor do I ever see their hats, bumper stickers, t-shirts- RS paraphernalia is everywhere. But to RI'ers, a look of horror crosses their face if you invite them to a party much further north than Seekonk. "Massachusetts??" they say, as if it's a foreign word.
And by the way, when you say Boston accent, do you mean Cambridge? Brighton? Southie? Can you tell the difference between Ted Kennedy's accent and one of the most perfect representations I've ever heard on film- the girl with blonde hair who sits in the stands near Jimmy Fallon in the movie Fever Pitch. Appreciate that unless you've been living here for decades, you really don't get it. Just like I don't get southern accents, and therefore don't make ignorant, hateful judgments about individuals who happen to have been born in a different state than I was.
Last summa , I had the great pleasure of imbibing adult refreshments while sitting in between my Atlanta, GA born Brotha -in - law and his pilot neighbor, a bloke who hailed from the U.K.
The similarities between the two accents are amazing. Try it sometime.
OMG ova tha pas' like yea' aw so, i noticed my Roh' dighlan accent maw and maw. 'speccially this yea'. lmao yea we drop our Rs a lot. like car = ca'. and a lota people say ma' not mom. i think thats an italian thing. and we make some of our o's like aw's. like cost= cawst. lost= lawst. but its wicked pronounced. when we go to MA or wher ever, they always ask us if where from new york. course we answer "naw! cawss not! we're from Roh Dighland!" i love my accent too. i love gettin commented on it "Bianca, you sound like your from Brooklyn!" haha proud of it too
Actually a lot of the Rhode Island accent and vocabulary comes from East Anglia, in the British Isles. "Wicked" is a total throw back to that, as is "No word of a lie".
Having summered in Newport, RI since I was born and lived there year round after graduating from college ----(notice I did not say "graduating college" like most Rhode Islanders say-- which is INCORRECT ENGLISH. Think about it, the college did not graduate YOU did.)-----I also think the Rhode Island accent is unfortunate. It makes them sound dumb. Also it is challenging if you have kids that don't have an accent and they try to take a spelling test given by a teacher with a Rhode Island accent who slaughters the phonetics of each word she is testing the kids on. As a parent, you almost have to learn the accent yourself so you can prepare your child for how the teacher will most likely INCORRECTLY pronounce it.
My father had a Boston accent (which is similar to a Rhode Island accent) when he entered college and his fraternity brothers at MIT made him stand up every night and recite something until he got rid of his accent. He was happy to have done that.
I think at least half upper middle class Rhode Islanders, unless they are Neuveaux Riche don't have Rhode Island accents. many more of the middle and lower classes will.
ok um.... so are you saying that new yorkers sound dumb? and... people from boston dont sound ANYTHING like rhode islanders. And... my family is upper class.... yet my whole moms side has the italian rhode island accent. Many new yorkers have a very similar accent. People say we sound like we're from brooklyn. my dad, being from lebanon, does not have a trace of the accent.
The amount of ignorance and classism in this thread is astounding.
To judge a person's intelligence based on their regional accent is a common, yet grievous error. One would have to live in the RI area at least two decades to distinguish the subtle differences that MAY designate socio-economic status, which has little to nothing to do with intellect. We have Brown University faculty, politicians, MDs and artists who all have similar accents.
Sophistication? If by that you to mean Newbury Street is more cosmopolitan, more chic than Thayer Street, you have no argument from me. Providence isn't comparable to Boston or New York, and to insist upon doing so will only result in frustration. Providence, by the way, isn't shorthand for the entire state of Rhode Island, nor is it "right next to Boston". Providence is about an hour away from Boston with no traffic (ha!), much further for anyone in Washington County- and few real Rhode Islanders would consider making the trip unless a family member is in the hospital. Or there's a Red Sox game. RI is ABSOLUTELY a Red Sox state. I don't know one Yankees fan, nor do I ever see their hats, bumper stickers, t-shirts- RS paraphernalia is everywhere. But to RI'ers, a look of horror crosses their face if you invite them to a party much further north than Seekonk. "Massachusetts??" they say, as if it's a foreign word.
And by the way, when you say Boston accent, do you mean Cambridge? Brighton? Southie? Can you tell the difference between Ted Kennedy's accent and one of the most perfect representations I've ever heard on film- the girl with blonde hair who sits in the stands near Jimmy Fallon in the movie Fever Pitch. Appreciate that unless you've been living here for decades, you really don't get it. Just like I don't get southern accents, and therefore don't make ignorant, hateful judgments about individuals who happen to have been born in a different state than I was.
Thank you! just cu we have an accent, doesnt make us "dumb". i agree with everything you said. GO RED SOX!!
Speaking of Rhode Island accents and colloquialisms, there's a new vendor in the Providence Place Food Court named... "J'EAT?" LOL. They sell "Gagga's", and other Rhode Island favorites.
J'eat! Too funny. The first time I heard that was from Patinkin's column years ago. "jeet" He used to write about our accents all of the time. (I think he's originally from the Chicago area). Anyway, what is "Gagga's"? I'm sure when somebody explains it will be a "duh" moment. But then again, I'm from Johnston
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, I had the great pleasure of imbibing adult refreshments while sitting in between my Atlanta, GA born Brotha -in - law 
