Tell me about Chicago regional dialect! (Oak Lawn, Downers Grove: tax, live, suburbs)

[Lud Kissel]

I was talking to a guy today who had a Chicago accent big time. It is funny to me that when I listen for it I really do here it. About 20 years ago I was at the Watergate hotel and a worker picked up on my accent right away, I was surprised on how fast he callled me out as a Chicagoan...

[mr roboto]

My wife is from Chicago area and I lived there for 10 years. I hear it in the following o sounds (dog, fog, jog).

Our joke sentence was 'I was gonna take the dahg for a jahg but it's too fahggy.

The strongest accent come from the white blue collar city people though. Especially south side. I hear 2 distinct ways of pronouncing 'Chicago' in the Chicago accent. 1.Chicahgo. 2. Chicaughgo. (Almost the vowel like bought - drawn out).

[Enigma606x]

Originally Posted by mr roboto

My wife is from Chicago area and I lived there for 10 years. I hear it in the following o sounds (dog, fog, jog).

Our joke sentence was 'I was gonna take the dahg for a jahg but it's too fahggy.

The strongest accent come from the white blue collar city people though. Especially south side. I hear 2 distinct ways of pronouncing 'Chicago' in the Chicago accent. 1.Chicahgo. 2. Chicaughgo. (Almost the vowel like bought - drawn out).

That second way of your "Chicaughgo" example is a much better representation of what I was trying to say in my earlier post about how we pronouce the short "a" sound.

I don't know, I think the accent is pretty evenly spread out across race and socioeconomic backgrounds. What may be distracting some is the other accents certain groups have in addition to the Chicago one.

Again, I think it is something many of us Chicagoans don't notice until we are living or visting somewhere else for some time. At least, I did not notice mine until I went away for undergrad many years ago.

[mr roboto]

Well the Chicago accent is much more subtle than most. It's not nearly as identifiable as NE, Deep South, Upper Midwest (i.e. Northern WI/MN/ND).

[MayaLucy]

True, it is more subtle than rurual MN. The movie Fargo is not exaggerated. But a full-fledged Chicago accent is not particularly subtle. I heard it at the dentist office this morning and thought of this thread.

[GraniteStater]

I have a bit of the accent after living in the greater Chicago metro area for awhile and then Madison, WI- which is a more subtle hybrid of the MN influenced accent combined with the northern cities vowel shift.

[Avondalist]

Originally Posted by Lud Kissel

Never heard the term "bubbler"

It's from Boston. I'm surprised people use it elsewhere.

[JONOV]

Originally Posted by Avondalist

It's from Boston. I'm surprised people use it elsewhere.

Its kind of localized around Sheboygan Wisconsin.

I always joked that you hear the thickest Chicago accents in Cleveland, simply because its notably thicker there.

[DougStark]

Do the Chicago pronounced words, "Dis", "dat", "da" ring a bell?? There's clearly a Chicago accent. Fortunately, I didn't pick it up while I lived there.

[JustJulia]

Originally Posted by DougStark

Do the Chicago pronounced words, "Dis", "dat", "da" ring a bell?? There's clearly a Chicago accent. Fortunately, I didn't pick it up while I lived there.

I've only been here eight years and only go to Chicago a few times a year, so, granted, I'm not Chicago expert. But I have not heard that in real people, just Cliff Claven characters on TV. I know I've heard it, but only in commercials and stuff.