What does your accent sound like?

[Dr. Drum]

rockkid said:

I do not say aboot or any other such jargon.

I always wonder where that comes from... I mean, does anyone know anyone who actually pronounces it that way??

[kats]

maarten does sound very weird. so does liz. she's a mix of kiwi, aussie, british and something that you can't put your finger on.

maarten sounds unmistakenly european.

australian cities have different accents, but its a slight thing. not as drastic as....texas compared to boston.

sydneysiders sound like nicole kidman or cate blanchett. someone described it as a corss between british and canadian. not quite sure if thats an adequate description. everyone's voices are deeper, too. sydney women have deep voices- or at least modulated.

adelaide- where scott's from, has a german twist and a strong british sound, as the area was run over with germans and brits.

queensland- the sunshine state with beaches and conservative voters, is where you will find more people with steve irwin type accent/ thats the state where his wildlife park is, anyway. i work in a call centre that rings every different state, so i've gotten quite good at picking the differences.

perth, which is on the opposite side of the county to sydney (new york to los angeles sort of thing), sounds new zealandish, but they're the state furtherest from new zealand.



and, i have to ask- do people from boston really sound like that?

[kats]

the 'new' australian accent is full of round sounds, despite the fact that we pronounce car, caaa. we don't use r's unless they're at the start of a word.

[RocDoc]

I do not say aboot or any other such jargon.



I always wonder where that comes from... I mean, does anyone know anyone who actually pronounces it that way??

Peter Jennings.

Bobby Hull.

Brett Hull.
(...and on SNL just this past Staurday in fact. Tho I think it was a repeat...Scissor Sisters weren't bad tho...)

...for just acouple of very public examples...

_{...denydenydeny....}

[RocDoc]

Very cool primer on the regional Oz accentature, kats.

Yeah, I'd imagine maarts to be rather a bit of a mish-mosh....

_{...er, same as Phil. An 'American accent' y'say? Yah-huh, sher...}

[Dr. Drum]

Oh, it’s not a matter of 'deny, deny, deny', RocDoc – we’ve all got our own local colour and that’s cool and all but I just don’t think this 'aboot' tag is very accurate. You see it mentioned all the time in these types of discussions but I’ve rarely if ever actually come across it. Maybe there’s some corner of Ontario where they do say it that way and that gave rise to the notion but I’m dubious...

As for your examples, I have no idea how any of them pronounce the word but they’re almost more American than Canadian – Peter Jennings has lived in the US since the early 60s; Bobby Hull would have started living south of the border in the late 50s and spent most of his career in there, aside from a period with the Winnipeg Jets in the 70s (he now lives in Sarasota, Florida); and Brett, though he’s got dual citizenship, has lived practically his whole life stateside.

[RocDoc]

As for your examples, I have no idea how any of them pronounce the word but they’re almost more American than Canadian...

O geez, you think they picked up 'aboot' IN the U.S.?

Trust me, Jennings does do it...and it IS charactersitic of some doggone region in Canada...if it's not yours, fine...more power to your 'untypical extraordinariness'...

The Hulls, father and son, ditto their supreme Canadian 'aboot'-liness....I swear they do, OK?

[rockysigman]

There are quite a few NHL players that say 'aboot' actually. I think perhaps Canadian ears are desensitized to it sometimes. It's certainly not as universal as the stereotype would have one believe, but I've heard it on SportsCenter many times.

[Mary]

Just discovered this thread.... no Baw-ston accent here, cause I'm from the burbs. I don't really have much of a discernible accent at all, I don't think. However, contrary to just about everyone else, I think Boston accents are great and I'll defend them resolutely!

Still, not to be totally predictable and cliche, but you just can't beat an Italian accent. Soooooooo sexy.

NP: Diamanda Galas - Malediction and Prayer (song: keigome keigome)

Cheers,
M

[rockkid]

I always thought it came from Newife land. Doesn’t it?

[Dr. Drum]

N’est pas... I think it actually might have come from TV land.

[strat-0]

I don't really have much of a discernible accent at all, I don't think.

A lot of people think that, when they actually do have an accent, though. We do get desensitized to our own accents - we sound "just like everybody else" around us. But travel does diminish colloquial accents a lot. The rude awakening comes when you record your own speaking voice and listen back to it. "I don't sound like that!"

[Ayinger]

strat-0 said:

A lot of people think that, when they actually do have an accent, though. We do get desensitized to our own accents - we sound "just like everybody else" around us. But travel does diminish colloquial accents a lot. The rude awakening comes when you record your own speaking voice and listen back to it. "I don't sound like that!"

I hated my voice when I heard it played back from tapes of my early radio stints. Damn Hoosier Hick is all I could think of. Got better in time -- somewhat do to achieving a better comfort level and learning to project more.

One of the hardest accents I've come across is that from North Carolina. Struck me as an even harsher 'southern' tone than what I've heard from say, Mississippi or Alabama. Guess there's even a different tone with those who live in the coastal region of the state too...some of that outer bank stuff is REALLY deep!

[luke]

I have a relatively mild accent for being where I'm from, but it's still very Southern by "people who aren't Southern" standards. It's flattened out A LOT since I got down here into coon-ass country, and I do slip into the occasional bit of coon-ass accent, but I mostly have a really soft, Southern accent.

[luke]

As for "aboot," I hear MANY pro wrestlers, be they Edge, Chris Jericho, Chris Benoit, Bret Hart, whoever, saying it that way. Especially Benoit.