Maine talk in 2022 (Portland, Bangor, Washington: movies, living in, move)

[kimsalvagni]

What I would like to know is how common it is in 2022 to meet people that talk very typically with a Maine accent and dialect.

I know it changes from place to place, but I mean in general. The reason I ask is that kids growing up with unlimited access to the internet these days tend to hear all kinds of different people talking (podcasts, youtube, streaming shows, etc.), whereas back in the day people were more used to talking only with people from the area, and therefore picking up more the way they talk.

So, the questions really are:

1 - how often do you hear people in Maine talking with thick accents, and does it differ too much from place to place (say from a small rural town and a big city like Bangor)?

2 - have you noticed a decrease in the number of people that have the accent and Maine dialect? Is it mostly with country people and older people?

For instance, if you go on youtube and search Maine talk, you will see a lot of heavy accents and Maine dialect, one example being a fella that said Mainers don't say dinner, only supper.

Here are some of the videos I mentioned:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3L5czFvyCc


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqd3PR-EJIM

[svband76]

Of course, many Mainers with accents still alive and well. A local accent is a beautiful thing. My favorite slang is "bug dope" as in bug spray. That may not be a Maine thing but I chuckle when I hear it used. I have a few books on Maine slang.

[kimsalvagni]

Originally Posted by svband76

Of course, many Mainers with accents still alive and well. A local accent is a beautiful thing. My favorite slang is "bug dope" as in bug spray. That may not be a Maine thing but I chuckle when I hear it used. I have a few books on Maine slang.

Thank you!
But how common it is, is what I'm trying to know. Does it depend on the region? Is it more of a small-town thing?

[River Runner]

I was born in Maine in the early 1970s and grew up here. My father was from Maine and my mother was from Kentucky. When I was a kid the thicker Maine accent was something you would hear frequently. Although the presence of it did vary depending on which part of the state you were in as to how prominent it was. For example, in central Maine it was not as prominent as it was along the coast.

My family was from the mid coast islands area. And my father and his side of my family all had a very noticeable Maine accents, but it did seem that generationally it got slightly less thick as it went along. So my father's accent was a bit less thick than the generation before him, etc. When my parents got married and my mother (from Kentucky) first moved to Maine in the late 1960s she would confess to my father after they had talked to whomever (family, people at stores, etc. in certain areas of the state) that "I am pretty they were speaking English, but I have no idea what they said." and my Dad would "translate" for her. I doubt she would have had as much trouble if that move had occurred in more recent decades. Luckily, she learned shortly to translate on her own so she could participate in the conversation more.

I have lived other places and people noticed my accent sometimes, but said that it was slight and they usually picked up on it when I would say particular words. Words where I would follow the aspect of the Maine accent where we add the letter R to words that don't have any Rs and turn the ER in words into AH. So the word calm sounds like "Carm" and the word Mainer sounds like "Mainah". So my accent is less than generations of my family that came before me. I can't really include my nieces and nephews in this in terms of their accents because they all spent their early years out of state although they later moved to Maine.

I moved in and out of state multiple times during my 20s and 30s and it seems each time I came back I heard the thick Maine accent a little less each time I returned. This was particularly true in the areas where it had been most prominent when I was growing up. And the time period where I moved in and out of state during my 20s and 30s fell during the 1990s and early 2000s which was the time period where communication technology took off with things such as cell phones and the internet coming into play for the average person. So areas that were fairly isolated gradually became less disconnected with the arrival of that technology. And, I suppose, that could have affected whether or not the heavier Maine accent remained preserved. That, however, is just based on my observations.

But if you come to Maine and travel around you'll hear some level of Maine accent but for the heavier Maine accent it is likely you would have to go to certain areas to get that nowadays. Again just my observations.

As to your inquiry about "supper". Yes you will still hear that word and if it's in a Maine accent it'll sound like "suppah". But it's not as common as it used to be. I recall hearing it more often used when I was a kid than I do now. And you'll hear other words/phases like "dooryard", "from away", "upta", and "wicked" still used.

I don't know if that helps at all, but thought I would chime in.

I hope you have a wicked good day.

[kimsalvagni]

Originally Posted by River Runner

I don't know if that helps at all, but thought I would chime in.

I hope you have a wicked good day.

You absolutely did! Thank you very much for your post, it hits exactly where I think the situation is and why accents are gradually becoming less and less common to hear.

[Gerania]

[quote=kimsalvagni;63868453]What I would like to know is how common it is in 2022 to meet people that talk very typically with a Maine accent and dialect. ...

People in Maine don't have an accent. You do.

[dubthang]

My wife is from the midcoast area, and has lived all of her life here. We were out the other day, and somebody called her out as being from away. It must be from living in Portland for too long.

I have a more general New England accent. I'm not from Maine, but grew up in NH and have roots in MA. Many people know I'm from somewhere, but they can't pin point it.

[Mark S.]

Originally Posted by kimsalvagni

Thank you!
But how common it is, is what I'm trying to know. Does it depend on the region? Is it more of a small-town thing?

It's more of an age thing. Yeah, it is more common in rural areas, but in general the Baby Boomers were the last generation to have the widespread "Maine accent."

Gen X, Millennials, and subsequent generations grew up learning how to talk by listening to Tom Brokaw, the Fonz, Tom Cruise, John Hughes movies, and Miami Vice just as much as mom and dad, so the Maine accent is much rarer in younger generations. Not extinct, mind you, but definitely rare.

We have been in Maine almost 15 years, traveled all over the state, and I have never met anyone younger than 50 that has a heavy Maine accent. Over 50? More common.

[Jellybean50]

I moved to Downeast Maine (Washington County) from out of state and I hear a lot of the thick Maine accent.

Some heavier than others, but of course it all sounds like an accent to me