San Francisco Accent... (Oakland: upper-class, suburban, affluent)

[rah]

Originally Posted by hgnmx

As an east coaster I didn't notice any such "east coast accent". Don't flatter yourselves

Who said anything about flattering? Don't go tooting your own horn now

Plus, it's not like we forced those people to think we sounded like we were from "the east coast" (never a specific locale, just "east coast"). For the record though, the people who thought i was from the east coast were from Oregon and California themselves. If we're to believe actual research that's been done on this, us SFers with any sort of an accent probably sound more like people from somewhere in the midwest than anywhere on the east coast.

But i stand by my claim that we mostly just sound like anyone else from northern California.

[hgnmx]

Originally Posted by rah

Who said anything about flattering?

I did

[rah]

Originally Posted by hgnmx

I did

yes, i know. Allow me to be more clear: who said anything about an east coast accent being something to be flattered about?

[hgnmx]

Originally Posted by rah

yes, i know. Allow me to be more clear: who said anything about an east coast accent being something to be flattered about?

Me, and I'll toot whatever horn I please. anything else?

[Taboo2]

Originally Posted by mayorhaggar

I saw a Charlie Rose interview of Richard Serra, the sculptor, who was born in 1939 and raised in San Francisco. He kept saying "drawring" over and over, as well as saying "fer sure" a lot. Jerry Brown has that kind of accent too where you drop r's sometimes or put them in places they don't belong like "drawring."

I know Serras brother. My family came here from Boston when they were just 1 Yr old but the parents accents affected their speech. Warshington.

[rah]

Originally Posted by hgnmx

Me, and I'll toot whatever horn I please. anything else?

Ok, have fun. Leave it to a self-absorbed east-coaster to take offense at a comment that's obviously poking harmless fun at them. Yes get upset that not everyone considers an "east coast" accent something to be envious of

And how many times have east coast people claimed that west coast people don't "get" sarcasm? Yet it constantly goes over their own heads, lol

[hgnmx]

hahahaha seems to me you're the one taking offense. i couldn't care less

[11KAP]

Some of the actors from those old police shows from the 60's and 70's filmed in San Francisco sound like Brooklyn, New Yorkers to me.

[BayAreaHillbilly]

Originally Posted by 11KAP

Some of the actors from those old police shows from the 60's and 70's filmed in San Francisco sound like Brooklyn, New Yorkers to me.

Because they are / were NYers.

[commonparlance]

I think there probably used to be a real SF accent, back when the majority of the city's residents were from the Midwest (or Europe by way of the Midwest), but I personally don't hear anything like a discernible accent today. Somewhat ironically, many people born and raised in San Francisco nowadays are actually the children of immigrants (from Asia and Mexico/Central America mostly), and as such, they may speak differently from those of other ethnic/national backgrounds, further diluting any real standard accent.

I'd say people born and raised in SF probably talk a bit faster than their counterparts across the Bay or elsewhere on the West Coast, as San Francisco is a denser city that in certain ways feels more like an East Coast city than anywhere else in California. For this reason the accent could be perceived by other Westerners as sounding a bit Eastern, but I imagine an Easterner would say San Franciscans sound like other Californians--that is, slow and with sort of a drawl.