I'm moving to S. NH, from CO, will I pick up an accent?

[Valerie C]

My response to this post from 12/2006(!!) is "If you're lucky, yes, you will!"
(wonder if morockiesmoproblems ever came to NH...)

Originally Posted by morockiesmoproblems

I'm a native of Colorado, and my wife and I will be moving to the southern part of NH in about a year or so, not sure which town, because I'm hearing so many different opinions on which towns are safe or not! I was wondering if we would start Pahkin the Cah in the Yahd, or if we would "Park the Car in the Yard"? What do you guys think?

[fishnfool]

Such and old thread I think the question is now moot, but since we're talking about it....

I've only been here a year, and usually pick up accents pretty easily, but I haven't picked up anything so far....at least that I can tell. I still have to stop myself and remember to ask for a "soda" instead a pop. My fiance has started using "wicked" without thinking about it, which I tease her for often.

Like someone said, southern NH is a mix of people from everywhere, and while I hear the accent a lot, it's not everywhere, and therefore difficult to really become immersed in it. Most of my co-workers are "from away" too and speak with a neutral accent so I don't ever see myself picking it up.

I do have fun impersonating it though. It was super hard to nail it when I first moved but now my friends crack up when they are out here and I start spouting off colloquialisms.

[Valerie C]

If you really wanna be taken for a native son, ask for a tonic instead of a soda

New England Definitions:

Frappes have ice cream; milk shakes don't.
If it's fizzy and flavored, it's tonic. Soda is club soda. Pop is Dad. When me mean tonic WATER, we say tonic WATER.
Scrod is whatever they tell you it is, usually fish
It's not a water fountain; it's a bubblah.
It's not a trash can; it's a barrel.
It's not a shopping cart; it's a carriage.
It's not a purse, it's a pocketbook (pockabook)
It's not a basement, it's a celler. Not a wine cellar, just a celler...
Brown Bread comes in a can. You open both ends, push it out, heat it and eat it with baked beans and Essem hot dogs.
(not recommended for tourists)
They're not franks, they're hot dogs. Franks are money in France
They're not suckers, they're lollypops.
They're not tennis shoes, they're sneakers.

From BOSTON

Originally Posted by fishnfool

I still have to stop myself and remember to ask for a "soda" instead a pop. My fiance has started using "wicked" without thinking about it, which I tease her for often.

[mrdude]

i moved from alabama and have lived in new hampshire for a year. i still talk with the same accent as always. i also do not use the work 'wicked'

[clairz]

Originally Posted by Valerie C

If you really wanna be taken for a native son, ask for a tonic instead of a soda

New England Definitions:

Frappes have ice cream; milk shakes don't.
If it's fizzy and flavored, it's tonic. Soda is club soda. Pop is Dad. When me mean tonic WATER, we say tonic WATER.
Scrod is whatever they tell you it is, usually fish
It's not a water fountain; it's a bubblah.
It's not a trash can; it's a barrel.
It's not a shopping cart; it's a carriage.
It's not a purse, it's a pocketbook (pockabook)
It's not a basement, it's a celler. Not a wine cellar, just a celler...
Brown Bread comes in a can. You open both ends, push it out, heat it and eat it with baked beans and Essem hot dogs.
(not recommended for tourists)
They're not franks, they're hot dogs. Franks are money in France
They're not suckers, they're lollypops.
They're not tennis shoes, they're sneakers.

From BOSTON

Fantastic post, Valerie! When I first moved to NH from Washington state I really had trouble understanding what some people were saying. Someone was telling me about "Kearsarge" (the place) on the phone--it sounded like "keeaahsahj" to me and since I had never heard of the place I couldn't figure out what they meant. Asking them to spell it didn't help at all...K-E-A-Ahhh-S-A-Ahhh-G-E just didn't make any sense at all either.

An odd question I got when working at a library sounded like "wayah's a bubblah" which I asked the kid to repeat a great many times until he gave up in disgust and went away. I couldn't begin to translate what he was saying and besides, had no idea what a bubbler was anyway.

My then 9-year old son earnestly got us all to agree that we would never get accents like "these people" in New Hampshire. Of course he considered himself accentless, as we all do. Within a week or two he came home from school enthusiastically asking for something called ottahpups, which he had eaten as a treat over at a friend's house. We had no idea what he was talking about until we discovered "Otter Pops" in the frozen food case at the grocery store. Still a weird name, if you ask me. Poor child, he was getting an accent faster than any of us.

When we left NH after 25 years and moved to New Mexico I had a whole new set of accent/language problems. I worked in a school and while on lunch duty had a little boy ask to go to the bathroom (in Spanish) which I somehow translated to "May I have some more pizza?" and that led to all kinds of trouble when I told him to go over to the lunch lady and she would help him!

~clairz