Where Did the Accent Come From? (Milwaukee, Appleton: daycare, live in, versus)

[Drover]

Originally Posted by Chelito23

Drover,

Where, in your personal experience, would you say the "chicago accent" ends, going south?

What about the Madison accent? To me, and I generalized since I am not sooo familair with all the areas and dialects...but I always thought of the thick thick accent being the fartherst north and rural. So, is Madison just slighlty less of a northwoods accent? and would it be fair to say Chicago and Milwaukee have the same accent to a lesser degree?

I know most people in Madison think that Chicagoans speak differently(slightly), and they do to an extent, but to someone who has moved away, when I hear someone from Chicago speak, it reminds me of Wisconsin...

One thing I remeber thinking when I lived in Wisconsin was that Mid Illinois, Indiana etc had southern accents haha. Just a typical rural midwest accent I suppose now...and the southern accent isn't until you get way to the bottom of Illinois, Indiana right near the Kentucky border (my opinion after not living in Wisconsin anymore), yet my family thinks people in say Peoria have a southern twang. Oh well, would be interested in hearing your thoughts.

The Chicago accent ends pretty quickly as you head south; no further south than, say, Kankakee. After that, it's "standard lower midwest" from there to about I-70, after which it starts to sound flat-out Southern. That said, if you plucked someone out of Effingham IL and dropped 'em off in Alabama, the natives would quickly notice their accent and ask, "whutcha doon down heeuh, Yankee-boy?"

Madison is something of an accent "mutt" since it attracts people from all over the upper midwest, including plenty who used to live in the Chicago or Milwaukee area who brought their Chicago accent with them. But you don't have to get too far out of the city -- no further than, say, Baraboo -- before you hear the standard "ya hey der, how's she goin' " Wisconsin-type accent.

Remember the "whazzup" commercials Budweiser made? Then they made a parody of their own commercial, set in Brooklyn with a bunch of guys sayin "how ya doin'" at each other instead of "whazzup"? Well, they also made a version for Wisconsin television markets that is absolutely hysterical. You can watch it
here. ("Brooklyn" version
here.)

[mel55880]

Those commercials are a riot! I know after being away for awhile from my North western Wisconsinite family that I can hear their accent loud and clear on the phone and when I visit. I was shocked, after studying in Milwaukee to come home and hear my uncle and dad speaking with the Yah ya betchas, yups and ehs! I guess I didn't notice it when I lived there because I was probably speaking it myself. My mother, who is originally from South Dakota has still hung onto a few accented words like warsh (for wash) and Purty (for pretty) which still make me smile when I hear her say them on the phone.

For the person who claimed the mid-western accent is all the same throughout Wisconsin, the Dakotas, etc. I completely disagree, it's different all over the area, there are just pockets in different regions with different accents.... I mean look at Wisconsin alone. In the southern Wisconsin areas soft drinks are called "soda" and drinking fountains are called "bubblers" and in the North soft drinks are called "pop" and drinking fountains are called "drinking or water fountains."

I have also been told I have a very distinguished accent in different parts of Wisconsin. Anyway, I enjoyed the Bud commercials, reminded me of home a little bit!

[43north87west]

I was always interested by this as well. There are "hot spots" of very distinctive accents in Wisconsin and even just in the Milwaukee area. Mostly in the more established (i.e. less transient) areas where families grow up and remain for a few generations. Also small towns, at least that is my impression.

Originally much of Wisconsin was settled by Germanic people so you have that factor. I do know that there is a very strong Scandinavian population (descent) in upper Michigan.

On the whole there are "similar" accents in Wisconsin, Minnesota, and even Canada to some extent. Chicago has its own variety of pronunciations, but a lot of them are very similar. However, if you drive downstate in Illinois, you suddenly get into what sounds like the south.

I'm anything but an expert on these things--more curious than anything. What I have observed is simply that--an observation.

[escapetacoma]

Originally Posted by aussiegal

So where did it come from? And how is it perpetuated?

Good question. I'm new to Wisconsin - having come from Western Washington - and I've noticed a couple of different accents. The one that seems most common here in Waupun, though, has me waiting for the inevitible "Eh" at the end of a sentence. It sounds so much like the language that I remember from time spent in Victoria, British Columbia that it's a bit spooky. All in all I find it very pleasant to listen to.

[Drover]

Originally Posted by mel55880

Those commercials are a riot!

I love the dead deer thrown across the roof of the car. I almost can't believe they put that in, with so many delicate sensibilities out there these days.

[mel55880]

Originally Posted by Drover

I love the dead deer thrown across the roof of the car. I almost can't believe they put that in, with so many delicate sensibilities out there these days.

Well, that is a part of Wisconsin culture, so people are used to seeing it.

I had a big laugh when my fiance (who has never been to the states, and lives in the Caribbean) was reading about Wisconsin road laws and discovered that if you hit a deer with your vehicle you can tag it and keep it for yourself.

He asked me how they would get the deer home and what they would do with the deer after they got it home and I had to explain people strapping the deer to the roof!

Poor guy, he's going to be coming to Wisconsin right around hunting time, talk about culture shock!

[115db]

We bought a small excavator and had it shipped out here from some area, if I remember correctly, it was up near Milwaukee. But the guy/company we talked to a few times regarding this digger spoke with what appeared to be an Irish accent. The company, if Im correct, is Brugginks. At least, thats a name on the sticker. ( ? )
I thought it was pretty cool to talk to someone with what appears to be an Irish accent.

[EnjoyEP]

Originally Posted by mel55880

I had a big laugh when my fiance (who has never been to the states, and lives in the Caribbean) was reading about Wisconsin road laws and discovered that if you hit a deer with your vehicle you can tag it and keep it for yourself.

Poor guy, he's going to be coming to Wisconsin right around hunting time, talk about culture shock!

Good Lord, tell me that poor fella has at least lived in places that are not the Caribbean...if he is used to that tropical-type climate only, yeesh, he is in for a MASSIVE culture shock in Wisconsin!

I love WI, was born raised, and married there and am moving back in a month. However...even I can admit...if you are from a warm climate, much less a warm non-US place, wow, moving to WI can be a big culture shock!!

(My wife is American, however, grew up overseas in Taiwan - a tropical clime - due to her father's job. She first moved to Milwaukee her first year in college. She came without sweaters, winter clothes / jackets, etc. She often tells the tough time adjusting her first year there!)...

[galfromwi]

I agree with the previous poster that the accent sounds kind of Irish (and I think a little Scottish), although I do not believe that is where the accent orginated. I think it is the flow of the words-where the accents are placed-that is really distinctive about the WI accent.

[sterlingrio]

The WI accent has something to do with the Great Lakes area, as I've noticed reading linguistic data, that the Great Lakes Dialect is a unique dialect/regionalism. I have no idea how it came to be though-- Canadian mix with heritage language mix such as German, Polish, Norwegian, etc.