[Sherylcatmom]

Originally Posted by Lonnie

I've heard it in upstate New York, even decades ago. Curious as to how an affirmative became a negative but still means an affirmative.

It's also funny how some negative-affirmatives sound okay to me, but this one sounds confusing. For example, I wouldn't bat an eye at:

Won't you join us?
Didn't you just know that would happen?
Isn't it a beautiful day?

[arel]

Originally Posted by Sherylcatmom

LOLOL!!! Just don't try ordering one here with "a schmear."

You can order "a schmear" in Brattleboro, at The Works Cafe. I did it today.

They even have the word on the menu board behind the counter.

But remember that Brattleboro is, to a fairly large extent, an exurb of NYC.

[Sherylcatmom]

Originally Posted by arel

But remember that Brattleboro is, to a fairly large extent, an exurb of NYC.

Indeed. Try ordering "a schmear" in Rutland! You never know, though. We have transplants, too. Um, like me.

[quickdraw]

Originally Posted by OhBeeHave

In French, isn't the T in Mont Blanc and the Ts at the ends of Mont Tremblant essentially silent?

Would Ver-mot be an extension of the original French pronunciation?

a lot of the people i notice talking like this are from Franklin County, close to Quebec.

the comedian "The Logger" also talks like this. not sure if the southern part of the state is the same.

they also say the word box funny. it just pops out.

I'm having a hard time mastering the Vermont accent. my wife is from Wisconsin and I have that accent down stone cold.

[cwaggy]

Yupper (accent 2nd syl) is a Champlain Valley thing, since my Adirondak pals use it, unless it was originally an infection from Vermont. the 'so didn't I' phrase is wicked annoying, fo' sho...as are the somewhat uninstructive phraseologies which are often similar to 'why don't you remove that shrink wrap from that photovoltaic inverter?' Why? because, frankly, the electrician will do it when he's finished working on it, buttwad. And in the praise-laden 'I never had pancakes like these' one really means 'awesome pancakes, dude'. But we love our Vermonters just the way they are: obtuse and slightly freakazoidal, with generally great taste in music and more telemark skiers per square mile than any state east of the Mississippi. Vermonters make great pets.

[aslbow]

Hi ya'll, i just moved to Vermont from South Carolina a few weeks ago. Ya, I know, it's the middle of winter, i'm just stubborn that way. Any way, I was in the Library in Essex Center when I was obliged to answer a question. The southern drawl that exited my mouth was met with stares and smiles. One lady said," Say that again." She was fascinated by it. Inevitabally someone said," Ahh.....you DO know it,s the middle of the winter......In VERMONT don't you?" I replied that yes i knew because i had been riding my Harley, in a tee shirt just days ago, and that gas was 2.95 a gallon. The stark difference between SC and VT had occurred to me. I love it here and will never leave.

[jamesia]

I also don't hear the last T of many words. "Vermon" is the name of the state I live in!

Sometimes, instead of "it doesn't work," I'll hear "don work." As in "don't work" without the T. I like that one the most!

[quickdraw]

Originally Posted by jamesia

I also don't hear the last T of many words. "Vermon" is the name of the state I live in!

Sometimes, instead of "it doesn't work," I'll hear "don work." As in "don't work" without the T. I like that one the most!

a lot of last letters in words are barely started and then quickly stopped with a click of the throat. Not only is the n in vermont
skipped, the t is barely heard. It almost sounds like "Verm-ah"

[pauldorell]

Originally Posted by jamesia

I also don't hear the last T of many words. "Vermon" is the name of the state I live in!

They don't always drop the "t" though. The one word I've found bizarre so far is "Charlotte." It's pronounced "shallot." People from North Carolina would think they're talking about onions.

[Sherylcatmom]

Originally Posted by pauldorell

They don't always drop the "t" though. The one word I've found bizarre so far is "Charlotte." It's pronounced "shallot." People from North Carolina would think they're talking about onions.

Oh, yeah! When I hear that, I always have to think a minute to remember what it means. Another one like that, which heard several native Vermonters say, is "kuh-FAY" for café.

I'm wondering about the more recent influence of transplants. Recently I've worked with two Rutland County natives who are at least 3rd generation here. They're in their 20s, and have no accents or colloquial speech patterns that I can discern. Of course, some of my family in Florida now tells me that, at times, I do.