US regional dialects

Walden · Post by **Walden** » Tue Jun 20, 2006 9:44 pm

Moonlight wrote: My grandmother always used the word 'warsh' as in warshing the clothes. Anyone ever heard the word "wash" pronounced this way?

More often than not, it seems.

Wanderer · Post by **Wanderer** » Tue Jun 20, 2006 9:52 pm

Moonlight wrote:My Score:
28% Dixie. You are a Yankee Doodle Dandy.

I was interested to see what my score might be as a Canadian from southern Ontario. Many of my ancestors were American from the northern and eastern states.
My grandmother always used the word 'warsh' as in warshing the clothes. Anyone ever heard the word "wash" pronounced this way?

My grandmother (from Oklahoma) says it this way..she also says "crick" for "creek", "minner" for "minnow" and "winder" for "window". "Pond" is pronounced "Fishin' Hole"

Walden · Post by **Walden** » Tue Jun 20, 2006 9:58 pm

Wanderer wrote:My grandmother (from Oklahoma) says it this way..she also says "crick" for "creek", "minner" for "minnow" and "winder" for "window". "Pond" is pronounced "Fishin' Hole"

I've never heard crick for creek except on television.

Charlene · Post by **Charlene** » Tue Jun 20, 2006 10:25 pm

I don't remember what my score was on the last test like this, but this time it came out 31% Dixie.

I think I said this before, but I knew I had lived in the Pacific Northwest too long when I carried in some groceries and the container split as I put in on the table, and I said "the sack ripped" instead of saying "the bag tore."

My husband's best friend married a Canadian, and one of the things he says that drives her crazy is "crick" for creek.

Lambchop · Post by **Lambchop** » Wed Jun 21, 2006 1:12 am

I'm sooo glad I use creek correctly.

The body of water itself is a "crick" . . . "Ah bleeve y'all'll find you a crick o'r yonder."

But, as a proper noun, it is pronounced "creek" . . . "O'r yonder, y'all'll fahnd Muddy Branch Creek."

"Branch" and "Creek" are 2-syllable words, by the way. Bray-anch and cr-reek.

Walden · Post by **Walden** » Wed Jun 21, 2006 1:41 am

Lambchop wrote:"Branch" and "Creek" are 2-syllable words, by the way. Bray-anch and cr-reek.

true

Flyingcursor · Post by **Flyingcursor** » Wed Jun 21, 2006 5:00 am

emmline wrote:
Nanohedron wrote:
Congratulations wrote:As a side note, I hate it when people say "care-uh-mel." The word is "car-mul," and all other pronunciations are silly and wrong. I once had a guy explain to me that he uses each pronunciation for separate things. He said that a caramel candy is called a "car-mul," but things are made of "care-uh-mel," and they have "care-uh-mel" on top.
Dude. That is so not right. Caramel is "care-uh-mel". Or it oughta be. By law. People will sell caramel with dodgy pronunciation and in adding insult to injury spell it "carmel" on their signage. Carmel is a Biblical mountain, and a Californian place to be. And it's pronounced "car-Mel". That's right up there with "expresso" for me for the I-swear-my-head's-gonna-explode factor.
I'm so with you on this Nano.

I'm getting my ginger ale and barrell ready.

Three that really bug me are "expresso", "exspecially" and "excape".

Also I know someone who pronounces Chicago as CHA-kago instead of SHA-kago.

When I lived in Norfolk VA I heard the most outlandish pronunciations.
Naw-fawk, Nawfuk, Northfork, Norfork.

moonlight wrote: My grandmother always used the word 'warsh' as in warshing the clothes. Anyone ever heard the word "wash" pronounced this way

My grandmother on my mom's side said 'warsh'. She was from central Ohio.

Wanderer · Post by **Wanderer** » Wed Jun 21, 2006 5:03 am

Walden wrote:
Wanderer wrote:My grandmother (from Oklahoma) says it this way..she also says "crick" for "creek", "minner" for "minnow" and "winder" for "window". "Pond" is pronounced "Fishin' Hole"
I've never heard crick for creek except on television.

You should visit my grandmother sometime

chas · Post by **chas** » Wed Jun 21, 2006 6:21 am

Walden wrote:
Lambchop wrote:"Branch" and "Creek" are 2-syllable words, by the way. Bray-anch and cr-reek.
true

I had a friend from South Carolina named Ann. She hated it if someone said her name as one syllable. No it's Ann, "AY-yun." There's also the Maine pronunciation of good: GOO-ud, and the Northern New England assent, Ay-yuh.

I scored 39% Dixie, which I think is about right. I think my accent froze when I was around 30, at which point I'd spent 2/3 of my life in New England and 1/3 in Virginia. So I have been known to say things like "Did y'all see the Red Sox last night? That was a wicked good game."

bradhurley · Post by **bradhurley** » Wed Jun 21, 2006 6:35 am

Some people from Texas (and maybe other southern states) pronounce the word "mischevous" as "mis-CHEEV-ee-us."

When I was growing up about 40 miles north of New York City, the local expression to describe when it was pouring rain outside was "it's teeming."

I met an old farmer in western New York State (near Jamestown) who had a lot of colorful old regional expressions, such as:

"He was so dumb, he couldn't piss a hole in the snow if a dog started it for him."

"Her mouth was moving faster than a whipoorwill's ass in berry season"

"He was shiverin' and shakin' worse than a hound dog sh*tting razor blades on an electric fence"

Flyingcursor · Post by **Flyingcursor** » Wed Jun 21, 2006 6:38 am

bradhurley wrote:Some people from Texas (and maybe other souther states) pronounce the word "mischevous" as "mis-CHEEV-ee-us."

When I was growing up about 40 miles north of New York City, the local expression to describe when it was pouring rain outside was "it's teeming."

I met an old farmer in western New York State (near Jamestown) who had a lot of colorful old regional expressions, such as:

"He was so dumb, he coulnd't piss a hole in the snow if a dog started it for him."

"Her mouth was moving faster than a whipoorwill's ass in berry season"

"He was shiverin' and shakin' worse than a hound dog sh*tting razor blades on an electric fence"

My favorite I heard in the movie "Gettysburg"

"Couldn't pour piss out of a boot if the instructions were written on the heel."

fearfaoin · Post by **fearfaoin** » Wed Jun 21, 2006 6:40 am

cowtime wrote:I find this kinda strange since I am not in the deep south. I've lived my whole life in southwest VA and West Virginia. I have what would be identified as a "hillbilly" accent, not deep south.

A lot of people can't seem to separate Appalachian from Southern.

cowtime wrote:96% Dixie. Is General Lee your grandfather?!

Oh well, Lee was a Virginia boy....... and my husband's geneology traces back to Lee's sister. Maybe it's not too off the mark after all.

They were probably talking about the car.

<img src=http://images.google.com/images?q=tbn:E ... al_lee.jpg>

Wormdiet · Post by **Wormdiet** » Wed Jun 21, 2006 6:44 am

18%. Duke of Yankeedom. Which is awesome, because I grew up in Connecticut until I was 13 or so and then moved South. Good to know I have not yet succumbed to barbarism.

My girlfriend says the word "across" as "acrossed" or "acrosst." Anybody able to figure that one out? She's from Maine, so that might have something to do with it.

fearfaoin · Post by **fearfaoin** » Wed Jun 21, 2006 7:02 am

Wormdiet wrote:18%. Duke of Yankeedom. Which is awesome, because I grew up in Connecticut until I was 13 or so and then moved South. Good to know I have not yet succumbed to barbarism.

You will be assimilated. Repeat after me: "That thar's a good
session, y'all."

Wormdiet wrote:My girlfriend says the word "across" as "acrossed" or "acrosst." Anybody able to figure that one out? She's from Maine, so that might have something to do with it.

I have a friend from Asheville who can't seem to end a word in a
fricative. He says "guitar rifft" and "21 acrosst" and "a caraft of OJ"
It drives me insane. I assumed it was a mountain thing.

Congratulations · Post by **Congratulations** » Wed Jun 21, 2006 7:27 am

bradhurley wrote:Some people from Texas (and maybe other southern states) pronounce the word "mischevous" as "mis-CHEEV-ee-us."

Guilty. I grew up saying "mis-CHEEV-ee-us," because it was the only way I'd heard it pronounced. In high school, one of my teachers said "MIS-chiv-us" a few times, and I had no idea what she was talking about. I had to ask her what that word was (in private), at which point my backasswardness turned my cheeks a bright red.