the Kentucky accent & dialect

[drmgncolor]

[QUOTE=SmartAlex;8087235]
Since we Americans speak “English” and don’t sound English at.all. I’d say, yep, we all have a heavy accent :)[/QUOTE]

When I was in Sweden, I asked a couple of mounted police offers if they spoke English because I wanted to talk to them about their absolutely stunning horses. The officers said they were X breed and I responded something like: “In the States, we call them Y… Blah Blah Blah.” One officer winked and said, “Ah, If you’re from the States, you don’t speak English, you speak American.”

He had a point.

[scheherazadetbmare]

It’s “balled peanuts” and “all” (oil) for South Carolinians and Georgian natives. And “IN-surance.”

But then I have a friend from “da bronx” and a friend from “Lange Island” so it’s all a matter of relativity. My friend who grew up in “da bronx” also says “saw her” which is Bronx for “saw.”

The accents I don’t like are like Jonny Carson’s midwest accent. While I liked him as a comedian, he sounded like he was trying to imitate a duck.

[roseymare]

Peidmont SC was more boult peanuts as in nuts and bolts

[californianinkansas]

[QUOTE=vineyridge;8087693]
I think “Katie, bar the door” means that’s the absolute end.[/QUOTE]

Thank you! That makes sense.

[californianinkansas]

[QUOTE=mp;8087715]
It means get ready because all hell is about to break loose.[/QUOTE]

Thank you! That make sense now in the context of the sentence.

[Dewey]

Here’s a dialect quiz you may enjoy taking. My students liked this one.

It placed me to within 50 miles of where I grew up, mostly based on the answer to one question.

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/12/20/sunday-review/dialect-quiz-map.html?_r=0

[roseymare]

Not enough folks from my neck of the woods have taken the original survey. It can’t decide where to put me LOL.

[HungarianHippo]

That one placed me 12 miles from hometown.

[rustbreeches]

That map has me from Jackson, MS. I was born and raised in NOVA by a dad born in AL and raised in NOVA and a mom born in KY and raised in MI.

[californianinkansas]

[QUOTE=Dewey;8087832]
Here’s a dialect quiz you may enjoy taking. My students liked this one.

It placed me to within 50 miles of where I grew up, mostly based on the answer to one question.

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/12/20/sunday-review/dialect-quiz-map.html?_r=0[/QUOTE]

Thank you! That was the one I was trying to link to.

[luv2ride113]

The dialect quiz was pretty accurate. Birmingham was one of the towns listed for me. I’m from Talladega, so not bad.

[vineyridge]

Where I live, we say “boyul” and “oyul”.

The Brits say that Americans use so many schwas (sp?) for vowels that we sound like pigs grunting. Which leads to the topic of grunt language. It’s perfectly possible to, and we do, express many things with grunts and lilts of the grunts.

[roseymare]

I am much more adept at deciphering my mares grunts then peoples for the most part. LOL

[californianinkansas]

[QUOTE=vineyridge;8089224]
Where I live, we say “boyul” and “oyul”.

The Brits say that Americans use so many schwas (sp?) for vowels that we sound like pigs grunting. Which leads to the topic of grunt language. It’s perfectly possible to, and we do, express many things with grunts and lilts of the grunts.[/QUOTE]

This is absolutely true. For instance, in the US Army, the vocalization “Hooah,” pronounced more like “Huuh,” can mean just about anything depending on context and relative social status of the persons involved in the conversation. The word “Roger” or “Roger that.” can also have a multitude of meanings.

Re: “Bless your heart.”
My experience is that in the US Army, “Duly noted.” is used in a similar fashion, especially when a lower-status person is speaking with or emailing a higher status person. My experience is that “Duly Noted.” is mostly used by higher-ranking NCOs, officers, and civilian employees. I use this phrase all the time at work (I’m a former NCO and am now a civilian employee).

[californianinkansas]

[QUOTE=luv2ride113;8089200]
The dialect quiz was pretty accurate. Birmingham was one of the towns listed for me. I’m from Talladega, so not bad.[/QUOTE]

It was very accurate for me, too. It gave me Santa Anna or Irvine for my hometown. I grew up in Anaheim and Chino, which are on either end of the Santa Anna canyon corridor.

My husband is from the Boston area. He uses the word “jimmies” to mean the candy sprinkles that you put on cake or ice cream. It cracks me up each time I hear him, because where I grew up, “jimmie” means “condom.”

Flip-flop (sandal) versus thong (sandal) is another interesting one with potential for embarrassment. Where I grew up, flip-flop and thong meant the same thing. Here in Kansas, it turns out that “thong” only refers to thong-style underwear. So no one out here in Kansas wants to hear about the really cute thongs you bought over the weekend. embarrassed face

The linguistic and cultural differences between (chicano) Southern California and central rural Kansas are very real, y’all.

begin rant And don’t get me started on the deep and treacherous cultural differences between chicano Southern California and rural northern Vermont (where my husband’s family is from and where they all live). Unless you have ancestors buried in a local graveyard, you will always be an outsider, even if you have been happily married to a “good” local boy for twenty years. I’m chicana, veteran, educated, progressive/unitarian Muslim, often have non-standard hair color, and have visible tattoos. And to add insult to my M-I-L’s injury, my grandfather and g-grandparents came to the US without papers in the wake of the Mexican Revolution. My M-I-L does not like to be seen in public with me in their itty-bitty hometown. Sorry about the thread-jack.end rant

[lesson_junkie]

You know what, californianinkansas?

Bless your MIL’s heart.

[roseymare]

I think the thing flip-flops is more of an age thing.

[fooler]

[QUOTE=Dewey;8087832]
Here’s a dialect quiz you may enjoy taking. My students liked this one.

It placed me to within 50 miles of where I grew up, mostly based on the answer to one question.

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/12/20/sunday-review/dialect-quiz-map.html?_r=0[/QUOTE]

Has three locations for me. :lol:
Birmingham, AL - just a few miles from where I was born and lived the first 10 years of my life - Anniston and Talladega
Jackson, MS - only visited there a few times
Baton Rouge, LA - again only visited there a few times.

For what it is worth, I have lived in the SE for most of my 60 years. Many in the South ask my origin because they don’t “hear” a Southern accent from me.
Then my exDH, New Englander from the MASS coast thought I talked funny. Even when he wanted to go have a pizzar and beera. And yes his family was horrified to have a heathen Southerner in the family.
Current DH, another MASS boy, has lived in the South longer than his time in the NE. He is an interesting mix of urban/rural and is very well educated. He has traveled all over the world so he is not so hung up on accents. However he will go into his “NJ accent” as needed when in business meetings there.

I spent 6 months in England - there you will find a variety of accents just from England - not to mention those from Wales, Scotland and Ireland! Then add in the different “English” pronunciations by people from other countries.

[mp]

[QUOTE=californianinkansas;8089926]

Flip-flop (sandal) versus thong (sandal) is another interesting one with potential for embarrassment. Where I grew up, flip-flop and thong meant the same thing. Here in Kansas, it turns out that “thong” only refers to thong-style underwear. [/QUOTE]

That’s an age thing. I’m 60+ from Kansas and when I was growing up, “thong” meant sandals. People my age still refer to them as such. “Thong” as used by younger folks means butt floss underwear.

[californianinkansas]

Bwhahahahahahahahah! :winkgrin: