Pronunciation

Scott Hardie | February 27, 2004
Dave passed along the Yankee or Dixie Quiz (thanks Dave), which purports to guess your region of the country based on the way you pronounce words. I was raised in Illinois by parents who had lived most of their lives in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia, and still I came off as 56% Dixie. At first I didn't get why it was so high; my only specifically Southern pronunciation is "puh-jah-mahs," according to the results. But then I got it: I'm not specifically Northern (0%) or Southern (100%), I'm lurking near 50% like most of the country. Duh.

For some reason this reminds me of one of my linguistic pet peeves, when people mispronounce words so badly as to omit entire syllables. I get a little twinge of irritation every time I hear "prob-ly," "vech-ta-bles," and the worst of all, "comf-tor-ble." I was watching Star Trek the other night and I actually heard Data, Mr. Perfect Speaker who can't even form a contraction, pronounce it "comf-tor-ble." Urgh.

Erik Bates | February 27, 2004
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Jackie Mason | February 27, 2004
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Jackie Mason | February 27, 2004
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Lori Lancaster | February 27, 2004
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Dave Stoppenhagen | February 27, 2004
I know they have drive through liqour stores in California.

Denise Sawicki | February 27, 2004
I'm 44% Yankee. Raised in North Dakota by parents who grew up in New York, Florida, and Ohio.

I don't think I've ever heard anyone saying "vegetables" with four syllables except in that Beach Boys song called "Vegetables" with Paul McCartney playing the celery. I'm not making this up. Sample here.

Lori Lancaster | February 27, 2004
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Jackie Mason | February 27, 2004
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Anna Gregoline | February 27, 2004
Stairs = Stay-ahs. I love the New England accent!

Denise Sawicki | February 27, 2004
I know it's messed up but it's an amusing piece of trivia :)

They should have had a question on that quiz about whether or not you use "dinner" to refer to the midday meal. (I don't, Jeff the native North Dakotan does)

Lori Lancaster | February 27, 2004
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Dave Stoppenhagen | February 27, 2004
You would be surprised at how common it is. my grandmother always referred to lunch as dinner and the evening meal was supper

Scott Hardie | February 27, 2004
I like the way that Southern drawl extends the central vowel in a one-syllable word... A store becomes a "stow-ore."

Erik Bates | February 27, 2004
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Erik Bates | February 27, 2004
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Anna Gregoline | February 27, 2004
Drive through liquour stores are one of those things I marvel at, for obvious reasons. What a weird country we live in.

Jackie Mason | February 28, 2004
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Erik Bates | February 28, 2004
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Scott Hardie | February 28, 2004
More pronunciation: How come people accent the word "Caribbean" differently? You can take a cruise to the "ca-RIB-be-an" Sea, but Johnny Depp might win an Oscar for Pirates of the "ca-rib-BE-an." (Myself, I try to pronounce it only the first way.)

Anna Gregoline | February 28, 2004
My Chicagoness betrays me when I say phrases like, "Maaaath Claaaass." Da Bears.

Scott Hardie | April 10, 2004
Erik Bates mentioned being bothered by the nasal pronunciation of "salsa" (saying it like the name Sal instead of "sawl-sah"), and it reminded me how much it bugs me when people call it "Porter Rico." It's Puerto, damn it!

Nadine Russell | April 11, 2004
I had an instructor in college who used to get me with his pronunciation of idea and taco. He was the guy who instructed us on how to write business plans. I remember one day in his lecture he said "I have an ID-er. Let's all write a business plan on opening a tacko shop." It urks me to even think about it.

Melissa Erin | April 11, 2004
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Scott Hardie | April 11, 2004
It's odd you should mention "jew-ler-y," Melissa, since I mentioned this subject to friends last night and one of them said "jew-ler-y" was a pet peeve of his. It is of mine, as well. But it's doubly odd because when I Iooked it up, I learned that "jewellery" was the original word -- it became "jewelry" over time because of corruption of the language. Now we're annoyed when people mispronounce the mispronunciation and inadvertently say the word correctly. :-)

Melissa Erin | April 12, 2004
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Jackie Mason | April 12, 2004
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Jackie Mason | April 12, 2004
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Steve Dunn | April 12, 2004
My grandparents in Texas always confused me with the lunch/dinner thing.

Since moving to NC, I've had to get used to some strange speech patterns. Few of them bother me, but these stand out as minor annoyances...

1) "Can I borrow fifty cent?" CENTS, dammit! Cents!! (Also note the local pronunciation of fifty - "fiddy." Can I borrow fiddy cent?

2) "To start the movie, mash play." Here, the speaker uses the word "mash" where I would use "press" or "push" in regard to a button. You can also mash on the gas and brakes of a car. Hear me now and believe me later - as long as I live I shall never use the word mash this way.

3) "My room needs cleaned." In this gem, the speaker omits the verb "to be." That dog needs washed. This pattern of speech needs discouraged.

Melissa Erin | April 12, 2004
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Scott Hardie | April 12, 2004
My father and grandmother were from Pittsburgh, so I grew up hearing about "Warshington D.C." and how I needed to "warsh" my hands before dinner.

Jackie Mason | April 13, 2004
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Erik Bates | April 13, 2004
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