Question about the St. Louis accent (Washington: educational, cities, highway)

[ACalifornian]

I've been reading up on American accents. It's fascinating how many of them there are and, as I found out recently, St. Louis has its own distinctive dialect. I hardly heard anyone who speaks with such an accent. I'm curious, how common is it, particularly among young people? I know a person on YouTube from St. Louis, and while he speaks with an odd accent I don't think it really sounds like the STL accent.


Blue Point Security - Deny The Unknown? - YouTube

At the beginning of the video, the way he says "antivirus" and "dash" kind of reminds me of the stereotypical Wisconsin accent. Either way, it sounds nothing like the Southern offshoot I was reading about. Is the accent evolving? Has it changed entirely?

[BoomBoxing]

It's very slight and only really common among people my parents age (50's) and older. The only major characteristic is the the R in words with "sh" in it such as WARSHINGTON" for Washington and the R sound in words that should have more of a O sound. For example highway FARDY FAR instead of Forty Four, but it's not as blatant as that, it's usually more subtle and said quickly.

Most young people speak with a neutral "news anchor" accent.

[Dawn10am]

I've never actually heard anybody say "warsh" but I do hear the "farty far" thing fairly often. It's mostly from older people. Young people don't really have much of an accent.

[aragx6]

I think it's more about educational attainment and socioeconomic status a bit too -- I have some family and step family that aren't much, if any, older than me and they still have that distinctive accent. Oh warsh ...

[lovekcmo]

that farty far thing St Louie people say always sounds like they are saying fart. They don't use correct pronunciation.

[BoomBoxing]

^Saying "St. Louie" is something people from elsewhere do. You will never ever hear a native St. Louisan say "St. Louie." But I have heard it regularly from outsiders.

[lovekcmo]

I thought St Louie rhymed with the farty far way of speaking.

[Smtchll]

The new accent is more Northern Cities Vowel Shift. "Mom" becomes "maaam" (nasally) and "trash" becomes something like "tray-ash" I think "bed" becomes more like "bad" but that might not be present in St. Louis. I think those are the only vowels that shift. The guy in the video says these but it's slight.

[glamatomic]

Originally Posted by BoomBoxing

^Saying "St. Louie" is something people from elsewhere do. You will never ever hear a native St. Louisan say "St. Louie." But I have heard it regularly from outsiders.

So true! A British Sitcom I've always been in love with, Goodnight Sweetheart, has brief mention of "St. Louie, Missouri" in one of the episodes and it always makes me cringe!

My mother tried insisting it was St. Louie before I moved there. I had to set the record straight on that one

As for a St. Louis accent- I've never really noticed it. I don't think it's distinct at all. It's fairly neutralized for the most part.

[aragx6]

Originally Posted by lovekcmo

I thought St Louie rhymed with the farty far way of speaking.

Not even a little bit.