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NCTraveler

(30,481 posts)

108. I think the only time I had trouble with regional speech patterns...

Wed Jun 25, 2014, 02:32 PM

Jun 2014

is when I lived in Mobile, Alabama and Tuscaloosa, Alabama. While I am not familiar with it, many around those parts speak some kind of French Creole or something like that. I think what I was hearing was an Americanized version of it. I truly only understood about twenty five percent of the words coming from them. I think I was also the only person I knew who thought it sounded really neat. Many people I knew could fully understand it but couldn't speak it. I know it has nothing to do with the question you posed, just throwing in my little story. Hi MM.

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Regional speech patterns or just laziness? [View all] MineralMan Jun 2014 OP

Don't blame the South. dawg Jun 2014 #1

I didn't mention any region, and only gave MineralMan Jun 2014 #5

What I find interesting about those extra syllables: merrily Jun 2014 #9

Regional accents and colloquialisms fascinate me. There are lots of parallels between ... dawg Jun 2014 #24

You might want to wander into the Massachusetts forum for a minute. merrily Jun 2014 #43

I got pegged as a "yankee" madamesilverspurs Jun 2014 #52

I think "grits" might be two syllables in Maine as well. merrily Jun 2014 #55

OK, how does one get a second syllable in "grits"? ManiacJoe Jun 2014 #110

GREE-yuts madamesilverspurs Jun 2014 #111

What are you saying? Milk has only one syllable? Arkansas Granny Jun 2014 #11

LOL, bless your heart. MineralMan Jun 2014 #23

Hey, Granny--how is your little feral kitty doing? nt tblue37 Jun 2014 #71

lol!! Sissyk Jun 2014 #19

Except for words like "Y'all". randome Jun 2014 #54

That's not a dropped syllable. dawg Jun 2014 #59

"N'Awlins," and its slightly less drawled cousin, "N'Orlins" tblue37 Jun 2014 #72

Nyorlins. dawg Jun 2014 #86

We never had a "y" sound in our "N'Orlins." I did stretch my tblue37 Jun 2014 #112

Hey now, it does have two syllables with our drawl, which I happen to like. redqueen Jun 2014 #113

It's like spoken texting. The Velveteen Ocelot Jun 2014 #2

I guess it bothers me most when I hear it from news anchors MineralMan Jun 2014 #8

Where's Professor Higgins when you need him? betsuni Jun 2014 #77

One more complaint betsuni Jun 2014 #78

Another one more complaint betsuni Jun 2014 #84

You can thank Southern California and Valley Girls for that, it happened due to flamingdem Jun 2014 #79

It was the nannies! betsuni Jun 2014 #81

That, I agree with. redqueen Jun 2014 #114

Does it really matter? In certain parts of the country you wouldn't be understood either. nt kelliekat44 Jun 2014 #3

Actually, that's not true. I have never had any difficulty MineralMan Jun 2014 #12

Perhaps those erstwhile misunderstandings are washed away by your overwhelming humility Orrex Jun 2014 #34

Splutter! dixiegrrrrl Jun 2014 #47

There was a large amount of win Aerows Jun 2014 #107

ell-oh-ell! unblock Jun 2014 #4

I'm finta alert on this. Ron Green Jun 2014 #6

Well, when you get through fixing to do that, MineralMan Jun 2014 #25

I gree. nt clarice Jun 2014 #7

I've only heard the first. gollygee Jun 2014 #10

They are. Listen closely and you'll hear both of them. MineralMan Jun 2014 #17

Just heard Joe Biden say something very close to "Vice Presen'ited States of America" Chiyo-chichi Jun 2014 #90

Yup. Just about everyone does it. MineralMan Jun 2014 #91

I hadn't noticed that one... Chiyo-chichi Jun 2014 #96

dancin' Armstead Jun 2014 #13

The twittering down of America. Skidmore Jun 2014 #14

How bout the people who leave out the R's when it's actually IN the word.... clarice Jun 2014 #15

Those are purely regional accents and manners of speech. MineralMan Jun 2014 #18

The r's travel. missingthebigdog Jun 2014 #58

LOL....I hear yer. nt clarice Jun 2014 #62

But other countries don't have regional speech.... Dreamer Tatum Jun 2014 #16

Of course they do. MineralMan Jun 2014 #20

Or it could be that we don't truly have regions anymore. Dreamer Tatum Jun 2014 #26

Your example is in broader use than that. MineralMan Jun 2014 #28

Actually, that burnishes my point. Dreamer Tatum Jun 2014 #29

Dippy Eggs. That's a nice one. MineralMan Jun 2014 #35

But soft-boiled eggs are "eggy in a cuppy eggs." nt tblue37 Jun 2014 #74

Wuts dippy aigs? TexasProgresive Jun 2014 #39

That is a Germanic language trait. You'll find it in tblue37 Jun 2014 #73

Interesting. Thanks. MineralMan Jun 2014 #100

Absolutely; just look how Latin has changed since the time of Cicero. eShirl Jun 2014 #21

Language changes for precisely those reasons among others. nt Bonobo Jun 2014 #22

Of course. Language is never static. MineralMan Jun 2014 #27

I live in New Mexico abakan Jun 2014 #65

I grew up in a California farm town. MineralMan Jun 2014 #66

eye know huh ? NM_Birder Jun 2014 #97

I don't think so... abakan Jun 2014 #101

"inhabitants of Burqe" freakin hilarious NM_Birder Jun 2014 #106

Or "goodbye," from "God be with you." nt tblue37 Jun 2014 #75

Elision and reduction of consonant clusters is a normal feature of language Spider Jerusalem Jun 2014 #30

My favorite is the Boston neighborhood of Dorchester TexasProgresive Jun 2014 #40

Dot's wert's at! Eleanors38 Jun 2014 #83

"Ima," I think, is a bit of a joke of sorts . . . kickitup Jun 2014 #31

Kanye West didn't invent I'ma, though. MineralMan Jun 2014 #37

Yeah, Ima Hogg TexasProgresive Jun 2014 #41

I remember Ima Hogg. It was giggle worthy many years ago. MineralMan Jun 2014 #42

She was famous in Houston TexasProgresive Jun 2014 #44

Whenja Gimmee Jenoch Jun 2014 #32

I'ma object to your excessive use of elision/elided Orrex Jun 2014 #33

You have used several contractions throughout this thread, Tanuki Jun 2014 #36

Quite correct. MineralMan Jun 2014 #38

This is English evolving in the way spoken languages always do. KitSileya Jun 2014 #45

Absolutely. MineralMan Jun 2014 #46

Also "Slough", in Berkshire (rhymes with "bough") Spider Jerusalem Jun 2014 #50

Nice example. MineralMan Jun 2014 #51

Well, considering I teach EFL in Norway, KitSileya Jun 2014 #61

Vonnegut commented very well on this, as on so much else: Orrex Jun 2014 #49

People really say... 3catwoman3 Jun 2014 #57

Clarification:"He was sat" is a substitution of either the simple past tense or the past participle tblue37 Jun 2014 #76

That's not a trend. That's normal. knitter4democracy Jun 2014 #48

"Co'cola" madamesilverspurs Jun 2014 #53

In California, it was just Coke. MineralMan Jun 2014 #56

This message was self-deleted by its author flamingdem Jun 2014 #80

language changes and when it does every generation fights for the purity of the language that they La Lioness Priyanka Jun 2014 #60

We're re-watching The Story of English by Robert MacNeil and it retains its fascination Hekate Jun 2014 #63

I LOVED that series when I saw it in the 80's! pink-o Jun 2014 #67

I've noticed a general tendency on TV rock Jun 2014 #64

midwest urban youth-speak "fitn-na" salin Jun 2014 #68

I only notice Tree-Hugger Jun 2014 #69

Ever since I transferred Jamaal510 Jun 2014 #70

The "th" sound and the lazy theory flamingdem Jun 2014 #82

It's a living language...What do you want? Blue_Tires Jun 2014 #85

The DC terms POTUS and FLOTUS are either signs of rampant laziness LiberalEsto Jun 2014 #87

Acronyms. Everyone loves 'em. MineralMan Jun 2014 #88

BLOTUS plays a role too LiberalEsto Jun 2014 #102

First time I've seen that one. MineralMan Jun 2014 #103

I just made it up LiberalEsto Jun 2014 #105

Hey! You know how we can ALL tell that MineralMan is not a trained linguist? Romulox Jun 2014 #89

I'm not. Just a writer. MineralMan Jun 2014 #92

We're ALL writers, here. This is a political message board, not your own blog. nt Romulox Jun 2014 #93

Oh, OK. As you say. MineralMan Jun 2014 #94

Obviously, if people read your blogs, you wouldn't need so many off topic vanity posts here. Romulox Jun 2014 #95

Thanks for taking so much interest in my activities. MineralMan Jun 2014 #99

"baby mamma" It should be legal to throat punch anyone who uses that. NM_Birder Jun 2014 #98

I'm not really much into punching people in the throat. MineralMan Jun 2014 #104

I think the only time I had trouble with regional speech patterns... NCTraveler Jun 2014 #108

This word compression has been going on forever ... Arugula Latte Jun 2014 #109