Migration data for the City of Pittsburgh

[BrianTH]

I think a lot of it is also simple population shift--a little bit migrants, but mostly just more and more people coming of age who didn't directly experience the steel bust trauma and have mostly grown up with Pittsburgh doing well.

[alastad]

As far as the cosmopolitan. Hillbillies. Thing and the rural city thing I heard Nashville north Carolina. Was. Basically the same thing

[Bettafish]

Pittsburgh is not mid-western at all!
I lived in Michigan and Kansas, and visited Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, Kansas City etc., Pittsburgh is not like any of those. Pittsburgh looks very east-coast, and often reminds me of Europe.


It is a pity that American cities do not have distinct dialects any more. In Asia and Europe, you can pretty much tell where a person is from just by listening to him (if you know the language well, of course.)

In the US however, from Seattle to Washington DC, from Chicago to Houston, (educated, young) people pretty much speak in the same accent.

[ForYourLungsOnly]

Originally Posted by Bettafish

In the US however, from Seattle to Washington DC, from Chicago to Houston, (educated, young) people pretty much speak in the same accent.

this is entirely untrue....

[Bettafish]

Originally Posted by ForYourLungsOnly

this is entirely untrue....

It is relatively true, compared to the situation in Asia and Europe.

A person from London and a person from Edinburgh sound VERY different. Even some southern England dialects are half intelligible to me.
Berlin German and Zurich German are not mutually intelligible. Not to mention Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong.

[ForYourLungsOnly]

Originally Posted by Bettafish

It is relatively true, compared to the situation in Asia and Europe.

A person from London and a person from Edinburgh sound VERY different. Even some southern England dialects are half intelligible to me.
Berlin German and Zurich German are not mutually intelligible. Not to mention Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong.

yes...but his/her statement is still entirely untrue...there are MANY regional and even City accents in this country. Someone in Pittsburgh can sound ENTIRELY different than someone in Cleveland or Morgantown, WV 2 hours away

[BrianTH]

I think a lot of this depends on context. Even with my well-educated professional-class friends, it has always been a whole different ballgame when they are chatting with their childhood friends or family. That has been true not just of the native Pittsburghers, but people from the New York Metro, the South, California, Chicago, and so on.

And I suspect the same is true of me--if you know what a Michigan accent sounds like, I'll bet anything mine is a lot more detectable when I am talking with my family.

[Bettafish]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

I think a lot of this depends on context. Even with my well-educated professional-class friends, it has always been a whole different ballgame when they are chatting with their childhood friends or family. That has been true not just of the native Pittsburghers, but people from the New York Metro, the South, California, Chicago, and so on.

And I suspect the same is true of me--if you know what a Michigan accent sounds like, I'll bet anything mine is a lot more detectable when I am talking with my family.

In Michigan, the major problem is that they pronounce "bag" as "biag". When I say "ten", they also think it is "tan'.
Other than that, it is pretty much easy to understand for those who are used to American English in news.

[ar2948]

I have to disagree with the writer that said people from Pittsburgh think any other place would be better off someplace else. So not true. I would also say that a lot of people who move would love to move back. The city has changed from the reputation as a dirty steel town to a town of techology and medical excellence. To bad people who degrade our great town don't bother to come and visit.