Can someone with a western accent survive in Maine? (land, health)

[Neutre]

Originally Posted by Tucson Gringo

I have a western accent, which is almost identical to a neutral accent. The only noticeable difference is illustrated by the combinations stock/stalk, ****/caulk, and collar/caller. When I pronounce the two words in each combination they sound exactly alike (or at least extremely alike); stock, ****, and collar.

I thought in the so called "neutral" accent, those pairs are supposed to sound alike.

Btw, no need to censor ****. It has other meanings than just the vulgar one.

[elston]

My accent is a bit of Maine, Massachussets, Rhode Island, Ohio, Indiana, Alabama, New Hampshire and I lived in California but can't see it did me any harm one way or t'other. If I stay too long in a Chinese resturant, I start picking up an accent.....and after traveling to Japan....I have a habit of bowing........I have never had anyone hold it against me, occassionally someone will ask out of curiosity.....what sort of an accent I have. Tucson, I think you will fit in just fine.....its more about what you say and how you say it than how you accent it.

[Bydand]

I have traveled all over and have picked up bits of lingering accent from every place I have been I think, plus I couple all that with a naturally lazy "R" sound. Therefore, EVERYPLACE this ol' boy goes to, I sound different. Other than a few questions of where I am from, or on the construction sites I work, an occasional "WTF did you say?" there is no problem at all being accepted. Like elston said, it is more how and what you say, than how you sound when you say it that counts.

[Nor'Eastah]

That was all back in the olden days! Today with TV, radio, videos (DVDs), country music and rap music, everyone - including Mainers - are bombarded with all types of accents. No way to escape it.

Why do I feel so guilty about saying this? (Too much PC indoctrination?): If you speak *English* halfway well, you will be understood anywhere in Maine. Except maybe in the few parts where they speak mostly French!

[Northern Maine Land Man]

Women think western accents are cool.

I was having a conversation with a linguist who studies accents and their origins. He was having a hard time with Maine's accent. I told him I had a theory. I figure that Maine's early settlers had colds all the time. Children learned to speak from people who had colds and they thought that was how they were supposed to speak. It was just passed down from generation to generation.

Think about it next time you are speaking with somebody with a strong Maine accent. The linguist was quite taken with my theory and he wrote about it.

[Coaster]

The genuine Down East accent pays a large debt to our early English settlers. It survived because of our relative isolation from outside influences before the age of television and mass media. I've been told by English relatives that it bears a strong resemblance to certain regional English accents.

[7th generation]

I have traveled throughout the intermountain west and really didn't notice an accent. They pronounce some words differently but nothing compared to the western Maine accent.

[Coaster]

Western Maine has an accent?

[maine4.us]

The only mention from downeasters in Maine about my southern appalachian accent was, "ya not from aroun' heah are ya?" To which I replied, "ah nope". Thus the conversation began, and a new friend was made.

[mensaguy]

Yes you can survive. A sense of humor helps. My West Virginia accent is much more southern than most. Someone at the IGA in Eastport asked me where I was from, and I said "two streets over, why do you ask?" After she started laughing, I told her she talked funny; and, as a matter of fact, most of the people in town talk funny.

(We get along just fine in Eastport. It helps to laugh at yourself sometimes.)