Where are you?

[crayauchtin]

I've worked quite hard to get rid of my Rhode Island accent for the Official Non-Accent of the World -- which is called the Mid-Atlantic Accent because some group of linguists once decided that there's a spot in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean (where there is no land, coincidentally, so this will never proven ) where no accent would exist.
...which is also funny because it is, in fact, an accent.

[Haids1987]

Must be on the Lost City of Atlantis somewhere.

[B'rrr]

I'd like to put Cray, Cat, and me all in a row and listen to the differences in our speech saying the same sentence.  How interesting that would be...

not at all! 

[Oldbushie]

I just got back from FanExpo in Toronto!

[B'rrr]

Heya bushie, what was is about?

[Damar]

I'd like to put Cray, Cat, and me all in a row and listen to the differences in our speech saying the same sentence.  How interesting that would be...

It can sort of be done.  Since I inadvertently started the talk about accents, I guess I'll go first!

"I'd like ta put Cray, Cayht, an me all in a row an lissen ta the diffrences in ahr speech sayin' the same sen'ence.  How inarestin' that'd be.  It'd be wicked ahsome!"

And yes, I tell people to "pahk the cah" instead of "park the car."  The accent isn't as hardcore as, say, Boston (Bahstan), but the more stressed, self-conscious, or rehearsed I get, the stronger the accent becomes.  So that's my New England accent, created thanks to seven years living in Connecticut as a child.  I did not, however, take on the part of the accent that demanded I add an er to the end of words ending in a vowel (making words like pizza and soda become pizzer and soder.)  That was just too weird.  I took the rest of the accent and left that one part behind.

[koko_99_2001]

You know, we could all record the same sentence, then upload it and post on the forum...

[Haids1987]

Interesting idea, Cat-a-licious!  It would have to be a sentence that has a lot of words that get changed accent by accent.  Like, how Damar said, "pahk the cah." 

[crayauchtin]

The New England accent that Damar is referring to is really more of an umbrella term because it's an accent that has accented variations on it. Boston ("Bahstin") and Cranston ("Craiinstin") are probably two of the worst sounding places for that accent. Then you have some of the New Hampshire/Vermont mountain versions which almost sound like if you mixed the New England accent with a southern accent (which, yes, is pretty atrocious).

Now, if I were to say that sentence in the Rhode Island accent I used to have...
"I'd like ta put me, Cat and Dahmah all side by each an lissnin ta tha diffreinces in owuh speech sayen tha same senence. How inressing that'd be. Nawt fuh nuttin', it'd be uh wickit awuhsome idear."
You have to take out the spaces too because in Rhode Island wetendtotalkamileaminuteandnevereverbreath but I thought, with the accent, that might make it totally illegible. But that is also why there's a couple of syllables just out-and-out missing -- you don't have the time to say all of them when your speaking at the speed of light. My dad loves to tell this story about his college roomie, who was from the deeeeeeep South (deeper than Cat!) and had the slowest Southern drawl ever. They had to write notes to each other -- dad couldn't wait for him to finish a sentence, and his roomie couldn't understand how fast my father spoke.

And, yeah, that should look similar to Damar's in some spots. I'm just the next state over from CT. We could never use "pahk the cah" though, because it'd sound the same as when Damar would say it except I'd probably say it ten times faster.

(PS, side by each is a true Rhode Island-ism that means "next to each other" as is not for nothing -- which means, basically, that there's a reason for whatever you're saying. Double negative and all. Those and several other words and phrases would make our accent arguably more of a dialect if we didn't also pronounce things so damn weirdly.)
(PPS Even though I no longer speak in the accent, I do still speak in the same incredible speed.)

[GoneTooLong]

Where are you?

Here.

[kindofdoon]

[Haids1987]

(PS, side by each is a true Rhode Island-ism that means "next to each other" as is not for nothing -- which means, basically, that there's a reason for whatever you're saying. Double negative and all. Those and several other words and phrases would make our accent arguably more of a dialect if we didn't also pronounce things so darn weirdly.)

I have never heard the first.  I've actually heard "not for nothing," but I didn't realize that you guys coined it.  Huh.

You have to take out the spaces too because in Rhode Island wetendtotalkamileaminuteandnevereverbreath but I thought, with the accent, that might make it totally illegible. But that is also why there's a couple of syllables just out-and-out missing -- you don't have the time to say all of them when your speaking at the speed of light...
(PPS Even though I no longer speak in the accent, I do still speak in the same incredible speed.)

LOL! I never really thought that guys speak fast, but now that you point it out...  It makes sense, though.   If you're trying to spit out 2,953 words a minute, you WOULD tend to leave out at least some syllables.

[crayauchtin]

2,953 words a minute

Slowpoke.

[Haids1987]

Seattlite, remember?  We're chill mountaineers.

[Fierce Deity]

I've always wanted to see Seattle. I like the weather that you guys get. We don't get weather like that in SoCal. 

[Haids1987]

I hate the weather here!  I was born in SoCal, and my extended family still lives there.  I so prefer the sunshine.

[Fierce Deity]

I'll trade ya. 

[Haids1987]

Done!

[Damar]

I'd make that trade in a heartbeat too, if I lived somewhere that was warm all the time.  I've never understood the appeal in living somewhere that had seasons that ranged from light summer, to summer, to HOLY CRAP IT'S SO HOT I'D BURST INTO FLAMES IF THE HUMIDITY WASN'T SO UNGODLY HIGH!  I have family that lives in Florida, and I just don't get it.  Then again, I have a freakish tolerance to the cold, so the need for warm weather is kind of alien to me anyway...

Then again, part of my love for the seasons can be ascribed to the New England Autumns I went through.  I swear, the northeast is the only place that has autumn the way it's meant to be, in full color.  Everywhere else just has leaves turning brown, or subdued colors, and falling down.  I lived in an urban area of Connecticut, and even there we had more colorful autumns then anywhere else I've lived.  That's something I do miss.

[Fierce Deity]

I'd make that trade in a heartbeat too, if I lived somewhere that was warm all the time.  I've never understood the appeal in living somewhere that had seasons that ranged from light summer, to summer, to HOLY CRAP IT'S SO HOT I'D BURST INTO FLAMES IF THE HUMIDITY WASN'T SO UNGODLY HIGH!  I have family that lives in Florida, and I just don't get it.  Then again, I have a freakish tolerance to the cold, so the need for warm weather is kind of alien to me anyway...

Then again, part of my love for the seasons can be ascribed to the New England Autumns I went through.  I swear, the northeast is the only place that has autumn the way it's meant to be, in full color.  Everywhere else just has leaves turning brown, or subdued colors, and falling down.  I lived in an urban area of Connecticut, and even there we had more colorful autumns then anywhere else I've lived.  That's something I do miss.

I was born in Florida, and later moved to California. So I have only dealt with hot weather for as long as I can remember. But whenever it gets cold in California, I like it. It doesn't get cold often though.

I always wanted to experience a real autumn. I always get this weird mix of hot to cold weather where I'm from, but never a real autumn (like the northeast autumns).