If you want a place in the history books, then do something dumb before you die

[primroseburrows]

What American accent do you have? Your Result: Boston You definitely have a Boston accent, even if you think you don't. Of course, that doesn't mean you are from the Boston area, you may also be from New Hampshire or Maine.
The West
The Midland
North Central
The Northeast
Philadelphia
The Inland North
The South
What American accent do you have? Take More Quizzes

Well, I could have told you that. :) They didn't ask about dropped Rs, though. Maybe they didn't want to include Rhode Island in the survey. *shrugs*

Also? Just when I think my love for this band can't get any bigger, I find this:

Arrogant Worms - Gaelic Song

*dies*

Comments

[missapocalyptic.livejournal.com]

So, what does a Boston accent sound like? Or could you tell me about a famous person with that accent, so that I get the picture?

[primroseburrows.livejournal.com]

This is an example of a really strong Boston accent. Mine's not that strong, because I haven't lived up there in years. Pretty close, though, just a little less in-your-face. :)

[missapocalyptic.livejournal.com]

Ah, thanks! Just searched YouTube for some other American dialects. It's incredibly difficult for me as a non-native speaker to figure out which part of someone's pronounciation is due to his dialect, and which is just... you know, him. But, okay, I got the point with the Boston Guy ;)

[primroseburrows.livejournal.com]

We're the same here. When mr_t00by (*points to icon*) got back from Germany this April (München, aka Munich, to be exact), he was speaking German fluently (in fact, at one point while he was there, he had to prove he was American to get back into a club to pick up his coat. The club guys didn't believe him because he supposedly speaks German without an American accent. Long story).

I'm sure that people from other parts of Germany would recognise his accent as being from the region he was staying, but all I heard was German. So you really have to know something about how people talk to know what regional accent they have. I'm not Canadian, but I can tell a Maritime accent from a Vancouver one. That's about how far I take it, though, and that's only because I live closer to Canada than someone in Texas or something. That and I watch a lot of Canadian media (yes, I know, you're shocked). In the US, I can tell a lot more because I live here.

This comment has way too many parentheses (and I'm sorry about that).

See, now you've got me talking about linguistics and accents and now I'm all geeky again. Not that it takes much to do that. *g*

[primroseburrows.livejournal.com]

Also (don't I ever shut up?), the Boston Guy on YouTube is more of an example of an Italian-American Boston dialect. Yes, there are differences. Think of it this way: If Ray Vecchio were from Boston, he'd talk like Boston Guy. :)

[missapocalyptic.livejournal.com]

Okay... does Ray Vecchio have a genuine Chicago accent? And what about RayK? And does Fraser speak Canadian? And what words/sounds do I have to look for to get the differences?

[primroseburrows.livejournal.com]

The Canadian accents sound more like American than the British or Australia/New Zealand ones (at least IMO). Unless you're talking about the Maritime provinces (Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Labrador--in other words, Atlantic Canada). The Maritime accents (and there are more than one, I've been told by someone from Newfoundland) are different. They sound closer to Irish or Scots to me than they do American. Canada's a big country.

I don't know what people in the Northwest Territories sound like, so I don't know if Fraser's accent is in character. He sounds a heck of a lot like Paul Gross to me, only more formal. Paul was an Army brat, so he lived all over the place, including England, the US and Germany (and Alberta and Ontario, and yes, I had to look all that up to be sure. *g*). It doesn't seem to me he would have one regional accent. And, as Fraser is a character, um. *flails*
Probably the best person to answer this question would be a Canadian. I'm pretty good at East Coast US stuff, and Nova Scotia because I love it so and I've spent time there, but I couldn't tell an Ontario accent from an Alberta or British Columbia one. I can tell Rhode Island from Boston,though, and I bet even the Prime Minister of Canada couldn't do that. Or the President of the United States, for that matter, but he doesn't know much about much, anyway. :)

As for Ray Vecchio, I don't know what a Chicago accent sounds like. More Midwestern US than Ray does, I'd think. David Marciano's from New Jersey, which is an accent I sort of DO know because it's close to me geographically, and he sounds a lot like someone from New Jersey. Callum's another story. I think he's trying to do a Chicago accent, but the Canadian comes out randomly. Unless Chicagoans sound like Canadians, which I doubt.

[missapocalyptic.livejournal.com]

OMG linguistics and accents are the bestest thing ever!!! be as geeky as you like! (And brackets - \o/)

When I hear German dialects from where I'm from I can define the exact region where the talker's from, with English... we'll I can decide whether it's a Scot, an Australian, a Brit or an American. That's it. Canadian sounds too much like American to me.

And it annoys me like hell! When I met this American tourist in Vienna I played the translator for him, but had trouble myself, because Austrians... however. I complained how awful the Vienna dialect sounds (it's... ewwww) and he started to mimick a guy he knew who had a really funny accent (he thought). And I just didn't get what was so funny about it! He sounded... well, American to me! And I've been learning English for 11 years now! Goddammit! I think I really have to make a trip to the states some time soon.

[primroseburrows.livejournal.com]

You should meet mr_t00by, so you can tell me if everyone is right about him. He's been told he speaks German like a German. By a German, mind you. *g* More than once. *is proud* He only spent three months in Germany, but he's been studying since he was really young. This is him last year where the Berlin wall used to be: