tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-683382864156505640.post4533438460200698395..comments2023-08-14T11:44:27.299-04:00Comments on Jeremiah's<br> Vanishing New York: New York AccentJeremiah Mosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11791516443125872364noreply@blogger.comBlogger30125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-683382864156505640.post-91415435160979340982013-06-02T15:44:27.901-04:002013-06-02T15:44:27.901-04:00I also want to chime in on that annoying valley gi...I also want to chime in on that annoying valley girl affectation that seems to be a national problem these days. It is epidemic with girls and women under 30. The two things that grate on my nerves the most are the way every sentence ends sounding like a question. Many young males do this as well. It comes across as very meek and lacks any kind of conviction. The other is what is known as "Vocal Fry". Therer is a female newscaster on FOX news that does it all the time. It is this little rasp that goes hand in hand with valley girl speak. Google it for an audio sample and you see what I am talking about. It too is used towards the end of a sentence and is actually not very good for the vocal chords long term.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-683382864156505640.post-84984741472046906322013-06-02T15:30:09.636-04:002013-06-02T15:30:09.636-04:00I never really had a New York accent even though I...I never really had a New York accent even though I was born and raised in NYC. Most people whom I have met through the years (of which many, many were transplants) always commented on my lack of a New York accent. Yet that all vanishes as soon as I get a few in me. Then I seem to resort to pure Queens and Brooklyn. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-683382864156505640.post-38047141064926932652010-12-03T17:43:25.877-05:002010-12-03T17:43:25.877-05:00And ditto on the Valley Girl accent, although I do...And ditto on the Valley Girl accent, although I don't think that's the right term for it. It's a certain affectation that lots of young American women have, where they direct the voice through their nose and throat, making it gravelly. <br /><br />I worked with a young woman who constantly said, "egg - ZACT - leh (middle-up-down)" to express agreement, where the "leh" was a drawn out croak. Drove me nuts.Glennishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03681336164718681936noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-683382864156505640.post-18570789522931116862010-12-03T17:37:30.816-05:002010-12-03T17:37:30.816-05:00When I lived in Greenwich Village in the '70s,...When I lived in Greenwich Village in the '70s, you could tell the neighborhood Italian kids who lived down on Morton Street or Bedford Street by their accents.Glennishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03681336164718681936noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-683382864156505640.post-65888451677570244422010-12-01T20:39:03.246-05:002010-12-01T20:39:03.246-05:00Having had a Bronx accent growing up, I do not mis...Having had a Bronx accent growing up, I do not miss having it now. I do remember an odd incident of meeting a couple of kids from Boston, both with Boston accents, making fun of my Bronx accent. I thought it was odd, since their accents were much heavier.<br /><br />I did and do love the Dutch-isms that existed in our Bronx lingo though.fifilarunoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-683382864156505640.post-7859541417271668972010-12-01T13:11:01.758-05:002010-12-01T13:11:01.758-05:00Its an honor and privilege to be a native NEW YORK...Its an honor and privilege to be a native NEW YORKER!!!!!!!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-683382864156505640.post-7396318028751045162010-12-01T11:12:24.677-05:002010-12-01T11:12:24.677-05:00To City of Strangers
You can still hear the wonde...To City of Strangers<br /><br />You can still hear the wonderful East London accent! I love it! I live (am American) in southeast London, and it is a polyglot of accents. Of course people from all over the world live here. Maybe you are visiting the touristy areas when you go to London, and not the great colorful neighborhoods? Plus of course, in London there are the wonderful accents of Liverpool, Manchester and Birmingham for example.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-683382864156505640.post-11100541815639428222010-12-01T11:08:08.916-05:002010-12-01T11:08:08.916-05:00I am a native New Yorker living in London. The Bri...I am a native New Yorker living in London. The Brits LOVE our accent! While I have lived outside of Longisland (said of course like it's one word) for approx 35 years, I still have my accent, though not as heavy. Both my parents grew up in Brooklyn. My accent gets thicker when I am emotional, or tired, or if it is brought to my attention. When I lived in the midwest in my early twenties, I was at first self-conscious of what I sounded like and wanted to change it. Am I glad I decided not to! It's part of who I am.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-683382864156505640.post-8326217595224839162010-12-01T11:04:14.144-05:002010-12-01T11:04:14.144-05:00Accents are an endangered species. My 87-year-old...Accents are an endangered species. My 87-year-old father and his friends have a lovely accent, tinged with the rhythms and sounds of the Yiddish that was their parents' first language. I will miss that sound when it is gone. <br /><br />The advent of radio and tv began the process of homogenization long ago. Keep New Yawkese aloive! Can't wait to see the film.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-683382864156505640.post-40237783353587068482010-12-01T10:40:18.363-05:002010-12-01T10:40:18.363-05:00You can still hear the New York accent spoken, und...You can still hear the New York accent spoken, undiluted, on Long Island public transportation. The crew members on the LIRR and the bartenders aboard the Long Island Ferry speak genuine New Yorkese.Mariahttp://citygirlwrites.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-683382864156505640.post-70376502988900738462010-11-30T23:34:46.684-05:002010-11-30T23:34:46.684-05:00100% surefire way to know a NYer, how they say the...100% surefire way to know a NYer, how they say the word "Street"<br /><br />NY: "Shtreet" <br />Rest of country: "Streat"Shawnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15395915435209482109noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-683382864156505640.post-23099271325370866872010-11-30T23:32:49.286-05:002010-11-30T23:32:49.286-05:00@City of: Brummies. (Yet another boyfriend.) Dead ...@City of: Brummies. (Yet another boyfriend.) Dead sexy--yet unintelligible for the first two years--accent.BaHanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-683382864156505640.post-17396907746678318742010-11-30T23:22:29.490-05:002010-11-30T23:22:29.490-05:00BaHa: perhaps the overlap comes from Dublin's ...BaHa: perhaps the overlap comes from Dublin's having originally been settled by Vikings.Claude Scaleshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13183579833702456213noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-683382864156505640.post-29567244945162683442010-11-30T22:44:40.861-05:002010-11-30T22:44:40.861-05:00@Claude: Toy-quoise was from the Irish side of my...@Claude: Toy-quoise was from the Irish side of my family, earl from the Norwegians. Brooklyn on both sides, though. Perhaps there was some overlap.<br />@Melanie: Hey, what up? Not Brooklyn, except in bad, bad movies.<br />@Calgary: I had a boyfriend from BC, not on the coast but from the Rockies, closer to Calgary than Vancouver (played for the NY Rangers) and he did say "eh?" pretty constantly. And aboot, as well. (God, he was adorable.)BaHanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-683382864156505640.post-59340812080102797752010-11-30T21:16:22.999-05:002010-11-30T21:16:22.999-05:00The confusion of "oi" with "er"...The confusion of "oi" with "er" or "ir" sounds, going in both directions, has been traced to Dublin in the early 19th century. The only other place in the U.S. that I know of where you find this is New Orleans, particularly in a section of that city called the Irish Channel. When FDR visited New Orleans in the 1930s, the only thing the Mayor was heard to say to him was, "How d'ya like dem ersters?"<br /><br />Jeremiah: I'm all for starting a campaign to stamp out the valley girl accent. Earlier this evening I attended a panel discussion in which the moderator, a woman who looked to be about thirty, had a bad case of it. Every time she spoke, I felt like I was listening to someone drag fingernails across a chalkboard.Claude Scaleshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13183579833702456213noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-683382864156505640.post-26095311150817745902010-11-30T20:32:12.002-05:002010-11-30T20:32:12.002-05:00My New York accent comes out strong and loud when ...My New York accent comes out strong and loud when I am talking with other New Yorkers, most especially with my childhood friends and my relatives. My midwestern husband often comments on it.<br /><br />Good New York accents can actually be found deep in Long Island, Suffolk County, from the people who work out there more than the ones that come into the city to work.<br /><br />I was noticing just today that the guy's voice on the new electric buses that says something garbled like "attention bus riders, be aware and watch your belongings," has a pretty intense New York accent.Jillhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04362859175287085919noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-683382864156505640.post-29235323474230694222010-11-30T17:17:46.513-05:002010-11-30T17:17:46.513-05:00I've still got my Brooklyn accent, although I ...I've still got my Brooklyn accent, although I can turn it off with effort. There's also rather a metallic (NOT nasal!) tone to a true NY accent, I've found. <br /> Doe anyone besides me still say cai (rhymes with tie)? As in, "Cai I have bite of your pizza?"<br /> My aunts said toy-quoise (the color) and my grandmother said earl (as in what you put in your car). All Brooklyn back many generations.BaHanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-683382864156505640.post-85730641502303124802010-11-30T16:34:02.046-05:002010-11-30T16:34:02.046-05:00you guys are reading my mind about the nasally, an...you guys are reading my mind about the nasally, annoying accent we hear everywhere now. been trying to put together maybe a Grumbler post about it...now i'm inspired.Jeremiah Mosshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11791516443125872364noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-683382864156505640.post-88142406410577963282010-11-30T16:11:57.297-05:002010-11-30T16:11:57.297-05:00"I've noticed among New Yorkers that ther..."I've noticed among New Yorkers that there's a kind of bogeyman idea about Midwesterners"<br /><br />I have too. I moved here from Peoria, Illinois (cue the laugh track) over 17 years ago, because I visited New York and fell in love with it and I don't like to see "Peoria-like" things popping up here, because I moved here to get away from such things. I don't think I'm the only former Midwesterner who feels this way.<br /><br />I think this is a brilliant idea for a documentary and can't wait to watch it.Marty Wombacherhttp://www.aguywalksinto365bars.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-683382864156505640.post-46421771828337925852010-11-30T14:19:22.822-05:002010-11-30T14:19:22.822-05:00Jeremiah,
I was thinking the other day how yo...Jeremiah, <br /><br /> I was thinking the other day how you rarely hear NY accents anymore. Even the black NY accent has lost its distinctiveness and creativity and become sort of generic. <br /><br />Interestingly, the London accent has gone the same way, flattened into a generic Londonese, distinguished somewhat by area, but essentially flat. No more of that great Cockney rhyming slang, or not much of it anyway. A lot of the same reasons as New York. Both were cities that prided themselves on verbal dexterity, proudly working class. <br /><br />I wonder where you hear really distinctive accents in the English speaking world now? <br /><br />T.City Of Strangershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12158677428956744517noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-683382864156505640.post-71080970761404285712010-11-30T14:12:25.774-05:002010-11-30T14:12:25.774-05:00I am from Western Canada and I worked in NYC for f...I am from Western Canada and I worked in NYC for five years. Maybe my interest in languages has something to do with it but I was aware and loved the different ways the different Burroughs spoke, including Manhattan where I was. It took me quite a while to lose what I gained after I had to leave due to the dot.com crash. <br /><br />I found it very interesting that the people I worked with, who came from all the Burroughs, did not think that I had an accent. As a westerner I do not speak like an Eastern Canadian with the broad "a" as in "aboot" or using the "eh?" thing. This is no surprise as I am over 2000 miles from the east. I finally figured out what was going on. I speak, as too many do now, like a news anchor. They all sound like they came from the American Midwest. It is a very generic and boring "accent." Actually, there is little accent to it. It is bland and cannot be pinned to any place or people.CalgarySandyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06302848267740292190noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-683382864156505640.post-4518887220439427862010-11-30T13:30:23.168-05:002010-11-30T13:30:23.168-05:00I find an accent comes out of me when I'm rant...I find an accent comes out of me when I'm ranting or cursing...and I'm not a native. It's interesting how the accent sticks with a lot of natives who move away, but has vanished from the younger generation born here.Laura Goggin Photographyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15517481509431547970noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-683382864156505640.post-18256085852022286642010-11-30T12:58:28.632-05:002010-11-30T12:58:28.632-05:00I was going to mention what the third "Anonym...I was going to mention what the third "Anonymous" commenter above did: the "valley girl" speech that, unfortunately, seems to be spreading, not only over New York City (I've heard it used by African American women in Brooklyn and Asian women in Queens) but throughout the country (I've also heard it spoken in Atlanta). It may have its roots in what I used to call "stew-speak", going back to the days when flight attendants were almost all women. Their speech seemed to have a uniform sing-song quality, with deliberately inappropriate stresses, e.g. "THE captain HAS turned on THE 'fasten seat belt' sign." A friend who was flying with me said the airlines taught trainees to speak this way because it sounded "sexy". It didn't work for me, but then, my epitome of sexy woman speech has long been Lauren Bacall.Claude Scaleshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13183579833702456213noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-683382864156505640.post-43068113812043764842010-11-30T10:22:41.455-05:002010-11-30T10:22:41.455-05:00I am not a native NYer but I have an accent.
I&#...I am not a native NYer but I have an accent. <br /><br />I've discovered that by having learned an accent, which is accompanied by a lot of hand gestures, shoulder shrugs, and general assertiveness in conversation, helps me in most social circumstances - restaurants, the train, in public, at bars, in cabs, and in dealings with the NYPD. <br /><br />It commands respect, knowledge, and a "Oh, this guy is not a tourist." I never ever get the run around or the shaft from anyone, because they assume I'm from here, due to the accent. <br /><br />As I work with Ultra-Orthodox Hasidic Jews all day, my Yiddish is not bad, or as we say "nisht gefarlich." Dropping occasional words from that language (schmuck, vous, kishen tookes, plotz, gesheft) in everyday parlance allows me to borrow that culture's brilliant ability to communicate an entire feeling with just a word or two. <br /><br />But I think there IS a Manhattan accent. And you're right it's barely there. <br /><br />Several of my buddies, born and raised on the UWS/UES, have it. I know you've heard it. They sound "midwestern" for the most part - without the nasaly bit. But certain words are 100% NYC:<br /><br />Ha-LARRY-ous<br />His-STARE-ical<br /><br />Saying, "Right?" all the time in agreement. Right? <br /><br />Of course my name, Shawn, is never pronounced with ONE syllable by any native New Yorker. It's "Show-awn" by any interpretation. <br /><br />Keep the accent alive. It's one of the few real NY things left!Shawnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15395915435209482109noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-683382864156505640.post-40352282768848038232010-11-30T10:16:09.418-05:002010-11-30T10:16:09.418-05:00For years, I have heard young people, born and rai...For years, I have heard young people, born and raised in NYC, speaking with a pronounced "Valley Girl" accent. These whiny, nasally voices are copied and practiced from TV shows such as the Hills, 90210, and stars like Heidi Montag and Miley Cyrus. Young girls especially want to sound Californian, and this phenomenon is even apparent in texting ("OMG", etc.) You should hear my friends' teens, born and raised in Brooklyn, talk...you'd swear they were from Santa Monica.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com