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OriginalGeek

(12,132 posts)

74. Right on

Tue Jul 8, 2014, 09:59 AM

Jul 2014

I love meeting people from somewhere else and hearing how they talk. I enjoy learning new phrases and expressions. Regional accents make life more fun. One of my favorite examples is the time I went to a former company's HQ in Maine and one of the old-timers there tells me "Ayeah, Ah knew you wuh the Flawda boy because you talk funny!" I was happy listening to that guy talk all day and we were just talking about warehouse management.

I dunno - I think it's pretty silly to be so annoyed by an accent (which is largely something a person can't help unless they go out of their way to drop it) that you can't communicate with another human being. IF a person actually gets annoyed by someone else's accent it's probably due to their own personal prejudices and maybe some self-reflection is in order.

And lest anyone accuse me of thinking I'm better than the annoyed ones, I am guilty of it too. When I was a kid in Texas we didn't like anyone from New York - that was mostly because we Cowboys fans hated the Giants (in the sports fan kind of way - not that we literally hated people) and so anyone with a NY accent was suspect.

As I got older I realized that was silly. I self reflected. Overcoming prejudice is as hard as overcoming your accent but even more worth the effort.

NOW I let people do or say something despicable before I hate them. Regardless of the accent.

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American accent you find most annoying? [View all] closeupready Jul 2014 OP

Proudly ignorant. It's found all around the country. NYC_SKP Jul 2014 #1

That's a good point. closeupready Jul 2014 #2

Hope it's OK if I'm ordering a sammitch. bluedigger Jul 2014 #4

or happy valenTIMES day orleans Jul 2014 #51

Teen Girl Squad speaks to this issue ... dawg Jul 2014 #75

Absolutely! greatauntoftriplets Jul 2014 #68

Whatever you call that accent? You know the one? Where everything is a question? Even statements? arcane1 Jul 2014 #3

I think it's Jewish you're talking about? bluedigger Jul 2014 #6

LOL I'm thinking more of that white, SoCal "Valley Girl" type of accent arcane1 Jul 2014 #9

No way! Barf me out! bluedigger Jul 2014 #11

It's called "uptalk" Populist_Prole Jul 2014 #31

I think? pipi_k Jul 2014 #42

Good point? arcane1 Jul 2014 #44

other - those that speak Faux News/unhinged far right-ese NRaleighLiberal Jul 2014 #5

That Yelly one. Wait Wut Jul 2014 #7

Valley. So much the CA valley accent. Chan790 Jul 2014 #8

Yeah, that's the one for me, too - if accents had metaphors, closeupready Jul 2014 #10

But isn't that more lingo than an accent? ailsagirl Jul 2014 #29

Go to Huntington Beach. Throd Jul 2014 #37

I think we're mixing up "accent" with "slang" ailsagirl Jul 2014 #39

It was both. They sounded weird and used odd words. Throd Jul 2014 #43

Yikes!! ailsagirl Jul 2014 #53

Joisey Throd Jul 2014 #12

What exit? KamaAina Jul 2014 #13

Nobody talks like that here. name not needed Jul 2014 #14

I used to encounter it up around Tuxedo when I lived in Yonkers. Chan790 Jul 2014 #16

'Fargo' Electric Monk Jul 2014 #15

People don't really talk like that here in MN geardaddy Jul 2014 #96

I guess not many here have ever been sweet talked by a Southern Belle NightWatcher Jul 2014 #17

That's what I was thinking as well. Xyzse Jul 2014 #76

I have. Iggo Jul 2014 #109

Can't stand the Boston Packerowner740 Jul 2014 #18

my English mum would have disagreed Skittles Jul 2014 #100

Not only is it "fevah" MissMillie Jul 2014 #117

More and more, I'm beginning to sound like Art_from_Ark Jul 2014 #19

I see DU's usual hatred and bigotry against all things southern is still a constant CBGLuthier Jul 2014 #20

A poll on accents is "hatred"? Really? Arugula Latte Jul 2014 #27

Before I even opened the thread OriginalGeek Jul 2014 #55

It is certainly a good method of showing DU's bias. kentauros Jul 2014 #64

Well for one Sherman A1 Jul 2014 #62

I like all accents too. It's what I find interesting about the US... Phentex Jul 2014 #69

I love Rachel Maddow but her accent drives me nuts aint_no_life_nowhere Jul 2014 #21

But she was born and raised in the SF Bay Area ailsagirl Jul 2014 #28

It might come from her parents aint_no_life_nowhere Jul 2014 #33

That could very well be true ailsagirl Jul 2014 #116

I know what you mean about the uber rhotic "rrrrrrrr" thing. Populist_Prole Jul 2014 #32

I think she's from Castro Valley which is about 13 miles from Oakland, CA mackerel Jul 2014 #59

I speak with a Southern accent. Solly Mack Jul 2014 #22

W.F. Buckley Jr. The Second Stone Jul 2014 #23

I don't know the region or name of it, but the faux high-class/measured tone one. Populist_Prole Jul 2014 #24

I'm glad I live in Wisconsin. mysuzuki2 Jul 2014 #25

WisCAHNsin Skittles Jul 2014 #61

Ya got it right dere hey! mysuzuki2 Jul 2014 #72

Columbus Skittles Jul 2014 #77

There is a certain type of Texas accent that is the worst, IMO. Arugula Latte Jul 2014 #26

Philadelphia DFW Jul 2014 #30

I was born in Philadelphia and moved to Miami when I was 6 years old. RebelOne Jul 2014 #104

I definitely never got used to it. DFW Jul 2014 #111

I think I like most accents. herding cats Jul 2014 #34

Me, too ailsagirl Jul 2014 #41

me too, it is more certain kinds of voices that irritate me than accents Kali Jul 2014 #56

NY tabbycat31 Jul 2014 #35

"Other" = Texas TWANG, "John WAYNE" crap n/t UTUSN Jul 2014 #36

That is the one that makes me cringe, also. Think w and Rick Perry. femmocrat Jul 2014 #70

California has an accent? NV Whino Jul 2014 #38

I know what you mean! ailsagirl Jul 2014 #40

lol - if you were unaware of that, you haven't been paying attention. closeupready Jul 2014 #50

Midwestern, as in "Hai, Aim Bahb, Am frahm Ahia, an' Aye wanna baht'l of pahp!" Glorfindel Jul 2014 #45

That sounds like LOL Catese Sanity Claws Jul 2014 #73

Noo Yawk! pipi_k Jul 2014 #46

Most annoying? Marie Marie Jul 2014 #47

Sometimes I wonder what a pirate from Boston would sound like. Boom Sound 416 Jul 2014 #48

Arrrrgh... pipi_k Jul 2014 #65

... Boom Sound 416 Jul 2014 #67

Full onslaught Cajun alphafemale Jul 2014 #49

For me, it depends on what they're saying... Rhiannon12866 Jul 2014 #52

I hate when people say either "like" in every other word or "hella". nt Jamaal510 Jul 2014 #54

That's a Northern California accent. Xithras Jul 2014 #84

I heard that "hella" Jamaal510 Jul 2014 #85

Hunters Point or Hayward. Xithras Jul 2014 #94

Hunters Point is a section of SF. KamaAina Jul 2014 #115

None. I love language and all of its dialects! kentauros Jul 2014 #57

Right on OriginalGeek Jul 2014 #74

You have a beautiful soul MissMillie Jul 2014 #118

Thank you! kentauros Jul 2014 #119

It's not the accents that I find annoying, PumpkinAle Jul 2014 #58

Moon accent fucking drives me nuts. Systematic Chaos Jul 2014 #60

I chose Alaskan because until this poll, JoeyT Jul 2014 #63

I thought the same thing until pipi_k Jul 2014 #66

Sorry, New Yorkers and New Jersians. Tommy_Carcetti Jul 2014 #71

Hate the Midwest/PA habit of dropping "to be" blueamy66 Jul 2014 #78

That's the first I've ever heard of that turn of phrase, closeupready Jul 2014 #79

I'm in Indiana and I hear it daily blueamy66 Jul 2014 #80

Well I'm familiar with "if ... needs changing, call Vinnie" or similar. closeupready Jul 2014 #81

Can't seem to find it..., blueamy66 Jul 2014 #82

Seriously? RobinA Jul 2014 #87

The last time that I Googled it, PA came up. blueamy66 Jul 2014 #89

It is common in western PA. femmocrat Jul 2014 #92

LOL blueamy66 Jul 2014 #98

I can't stand it... a la izquierda Jul 2014 #99

Could be.... blueamy66 Jul 2014 #110

That sounds British/Australian to me gollygee Jul 2014 #102

any accent where a hard O is pronounced the same as a hard OO Skittles Jul 2014 #83

Isn't That RobinA Jul 2014 #88

What about an accent where the word "wire" is pronounced "war"? aint_no_life_nowhere Jul 2014 #103

here in Texas when I hear OR pronounced as ARE Skittles Jul 2014 #105

Any accent when it is used to form hateful words. eShirl Jul 2014 #86

Well, yall can kiss mah foot! nt raccoon Jul 2014 #90

Fuhgeddaboutit! closeupready Jul 2014 #91

I really think this is an offensive topic.....JMHO a kennedy Jul 2014 #93

Upstate NY... Agschmid Jul 2014 #95

I don't really hate any accents geardaddy Jul 2014 #97

by "deep south" d_r Jul 2014 #101

You forgot the ultra twang of Dallas Texas... MrMickeysMom Jul 2014 #106

lol Ross Perot is a great example nt d_r Jul 2014 #107

I like 'em all...especially the Southern ones. (n/t) Iggo Jul 2014 #108

Which NY and Boston accents? MannyGoldstein Jul 2014 #112

The New England "Kennedy" thing. Bum did a baaaay bid a bum bum baaaayyy.nt clarice Jul 2014 #113

Here is a link of Jackie Mason doing Ted Kennedy and Kissinger. clarice Jul 2014 #114

I hate fake accents the most IronLionZion Jul 2014 #120