Many years ago BTV (Before Television), there was a radio show featuring a man who would give audience members a short speech to speak. Based on their pronunciation of the words, he could pretty well nail down both where they lived and where they had come from originally. I don't think he could do that stunt easily today since many accents are less pronounced than they were when I was youngerl, due to the influence of mass communication (supposedly).
Around here you can spot the folks from Kentucky, since they have a very distinctive Southern accent and different speech patterns than the Northerners.
It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society. -J. Krishnamurti
I forget where you live, Geoff? I lived in Michigan for a few yrs in the '70's. The Michigander accent was similar to Chicago's (with a few distinctive locutions-- which I get now from this dialect map-- North Midland!). There were lots of Ky people who'd been there more than a generation, having come up for auto work. Their accent really made for a contrast. Unlike mine, tho I'd come from further away. This article/map clarifies all that. Thanks, cw!
Posts: 2605 | Location: As they say at 101.5FM: Not New York... Not Philadelphia... PROUD TO BE NEW JERSEY!
Personally,I think we in the US dont really speak true English anymore.We speak American.We dont say 'boot' or 'bonnet',..nor do we say 'lorre'. We dont say'she had to go to Hospital". We say 'trunk','hood',truck,and that she had to go to the Hospital. There are many other differences between the English and the American languages.Lol. It's fun to pick out the differences too. Just for fun though. Hey,..know what I just found out(that makes me feel like a genuine idiot)? That our numerical characters arent Latin in original,but Arabic.Floored me.I had no clue.
The English had hit upon a splendid joke. They intended to catch me or to bring me down. (Manfred von Richthofen-The Red Baron)
Canadian French, which began diverging from continental French in the 17th or 18th century, similarly has different words for parts of an automobile. They are the American names pronounced with a French accent.
I once worked with a guy (a native American) who persisted in using UK terms for his car (bnnet, boot, spannr). Of course he also rebuilt his engine in his living room and once shot out a glass sliding door trying to kill a yowling cat outside, but I don't know if there's any connection.
