Washington DC Area Accents, the most unique in America? (employment, price)

[Spade]

Originally Posted by Chriz Brown

Why would you call soda "coke"? Coke is a type of soda. Its like calling all cars "Toyota". Makes absolutely no sense.

Calling the subway "metro" is not an accent. Its just different word use.

It's just what they do down south. Every soda is a coke. Even fruit sodas. Now in military towns, you will likely hear soda used a little bit more.

[DTL3000]

I never noticed a distinct accent in DC but I did hear an absurd amount of "likes" in use by the young professionals there. It became positively grating after a while.

[11KAP]

So you moved to DC from the Palm Beach, Broward and Dade county area of florida? I could not tell by your comment, but do you like the accent in the DC area?

I know what you mean by that valley girl sound. That's definitely Virginia but it is not entirely only in Northern Virginia. Some girls have that accent in Southeastern Virginia also.

Originally Posted by DCforever

The OP hasn't traveled much. I recommend visiting Maine to hear a unique regional accent. DC is flat midwestern to my ear.

Wow, I kind of feel like the DC area is Midwest lol, only because it is inland compared to the rest of the major cities on the east coast.

[tcave360]

Originally Posted by 11KAP

So you moved to DC from the Palm Beach, Broward and Dade county area of florida? I could not tell by your comment, but do you like the accent in the DC area?

I know what you mean by that valley girl sound. That's definitely Virginia but it is not entirely only in Northern Virginia. Some girls have that accent in Southeastern Virginia also.



Wow, I kind of feel like the DC area is Midwest lol, only because it is inland compared to the rest of the major cities on the east coast.

Philly is actually inland as well.

[11KAP]

That's true but DC is also west of Philly, and no one would ever mistake Philly's accent as being Midwestern, at least I don't think so; Pittsburgh, maybe.

[tcave360]

Originally Posted by 11KAP

That's true but DC is also west of Philly, and no one would ever mistake Philly's accent as being Midwestern, at least I don't think so; Pittsburgh, maybe.

I think most of the transplants in DC have a tendency to suppress their hometown accents and take on a more General American accent while on business and whatnot. I recall seeing a chart some time ago on here claiming that most transplants in the DC area are originally from the West (a region most view as "accent-less"), the South (particularly the Coastal South and Inland South, they have a tendency to veil their accent outside of their home region), and the Northeast (I have heard a decent amount of NYC and Pennsylvania accents around here). I think after the work shift is done or when the nightlife starts to pop, some transplants relax the restrictions on their accents somewhat, especially if they're invited at a house party like with my stepfather. Some of his friends who come here to party be from all over...Some have Caribbean accents, NYC accents, African accents, General American accents, Southern accents, DC/PG accents, Latin accents, etc.

The Philly accent was pretty interesting. Some of the white Philadelphians sounded almost like New Yorkers to me and some of the black Philadelphians that I've heard while up there sounded like they could've been from Baltimore and even the DMV to some extent.

The Pittsburgh accent is hella weird lol. It's real interesting too.

[FLASunnyHotHumid]

Originally Posted by 11KAP

So you moved to DC from the Palm Beach, Broward and Dade county area of florida? I could not tell by your comment, but do you like the accent in the DC area?

I know what you mean by that valley girl sound. That's definitely Virginia but it is not entirely only in Northern Virginia. Some girls have that accent in Southeastern Virginia also.



Wow, I kind of feel like the DC area is Midwest lol, only because it is inland compared to the rest of the major cities on the east coast.

I grew up in Monticello which is near Tallahassee but lived in Dade, Coral Gables to be exact while in grad school. The accent in the DC area is different, definitely not southern, but more-so mid-Atlantic and I don't know if I like it or hate it. I have mixed feelings. People here talk too fast and at times it was hard to understand but I have adjusted. I get along with all types of people and enjoy learning various cultures and accents spark my interest. I studied linguistics while in school.

I think the accent in this area is more akin, not exactly the same but many tones and words and sounding of words are more akin to Baltimore and Philly/South Jersey than to any other part of the country but then there are a few northern and southern undertones as well.

I love my southern accent but when I lived in New York, I could never adjust or truly understand the various accents of New York and other northeastern cities. I would put DC as a mid-Atlantic and the start of the northeastern transition area. Areas south of DC like in Fredericksburg and Richmond are southern in culture and sound but once you get into the DC area the entire culture and sound changes which is unique as the distance between DC and Fredericksburg is only about 50 to 60 miles. Drive 50 miles in Florida and you still hear the southern accent but here things get really unique even between DC and the eastern shore and between DC and Baltimore.

Southeastern Virginia has a coastal and southern flavor to it in my opinion. One of my coworkers is from Virginia Beach and she sounds like Julie Wright on WJLA 7, and when I looked up Julie's bio, I saw that she was too from that area. Interesting.

[11KAP]

That explains it. South Florida doesn't have much of a southern accent like northern and western Florida. There could be many exceptions, but they don't call soda "coke" between Palm Beach and the Keys. They just call it soda, as far as I know.

[Carlingtonian]

Originally Posted by FLASunnyHotHumid

... I heard people use ur instead of ir for example skurt instead of saying skirt, even words sounds like wurds by most locals

And how else would you say them? Surely you don't say "skeert" and war-dz," do you?

[tcave360]

Originally Posted by Carlingtonian

And how else would you say them? Surely you don't say "skeert" and war-dz," do you?

Some Baltimoreans have a tendency to pronounce street as "skreet". Up in Philly, some pronounce it as "straight".