Don't Get Me Started on "Down"
There is absolutely nothing on this earth more adorable than a little kid with a Southern accent, but we don't live in the South. THAT is why I am very THOU SHALT NOT HAVE AN ACCENT when it comes to Alexis.
Full disclosure: it's possible that there is a shrink's couch somewhere with my name on it because HOOBOY do I carry around all of the paranoia about my own accent around with me. Although, I don't have an accent. SHUT UP. I DO NOT. There might be a word or two that I still pronounce the way a North Dakotan would, but that is only when I'm mad. You'll hear it if ever you anger me to the point of smoke coming out of my ears. If that happens, RUN.
Anyway, about ten minutes after I moved into the dorm my freshman year of college, a small crowd was gathered around me asking me to pronounce a certain word because apparently I had a funny accent. It was SO funny that everyone kept asking me to say that word again and again and no I am not telling you what word it was. Don't bother asking.
I worked very hard to lose my accent.
And I have.
SHUT UP I HAVE SO.
So, it is with much pride that I'm able to report that Alexis is mostly devoid of a Yinzer accent. She says "Picksburgh," but other than that, the girl has got that proper English pronunciation thing going on. She pronounces aunt, caught, caramel, creek, pecan, poem, jaguar, and crayon THE RIGHT WAY. Don't ask me what the right way is. Just know that she's got it.
Which, considering the husband has a very Hoosier accent, is no small feat. Between the Yinzers everywhere in her life, my little dose of NoDak, and the very prevalent Hoosier influence, it's really a miracle the kid gets most things right.
It's soda by the way. You pop a balloon. You drink soda. Alexis agrees, so it must be true.
Thursday, September 5, 2013
Reader Comments (6)
I greatly applaud correct pronunciations. I, too, worked to drop the accent when at college, then again when I came home from there. (A Yinzer in school in the South, with a Maine roomie. It was, um, interesting.)
And while I agree that it's soda, Micah drinks pop. The sign for soda is something that could easily be misread as vulgar.
For what it's worth, you do not tweet with an accent AT ALL.
I had a similar experience in college that made me very aware of how I say certain words, or rather how I SAID certain words! My problem with accents is that I pick them up by osmosis! If I'm talking to someone with a southern accent, I suddenly have a southern accent. And I'm always afraid the person I'm talking to is going to think I'm making fun of them!
That's OK. Every once in awhile, someone will ask me if I'm originally from England or Australia. Nope. I was born and raised in America. My parents were born and raised here. Their parents were. And their parents, and their parents, and pretty much what I'm saying is that we can trace our first immigrant ancestor back pretty far. So, I have no idea what I'm saying or how I'm saying it that gives people that impression.
My dad was adamant that I not have a Yinzer accent. So I mostly don't. It's most definitely OhiO, not OhiYA.
But dude, it's pop. It's always gonna be pop. Unless you're BB who likes to be freaking contrary and says soda. Alexis + BB = MFEO.
Try being from Australia and going to college in Kansas. Every now and then I still have people ask me to say certain words. I find it very annoying.