Barack Obamer ???

[CapeCodTenor]

I will probably get royally flamed for this, but I disagree with your statement that people should not do anything about their accents. Especially those who do public speaking. And this is a non-partisan statement. I see it on both sides.

Oh no! Here come the flames!!

I completely agree with you, so no flames here. I had a severe stuttering problem as a child and I got over it because my mom worked hard and made me work hard to correct it, so basically people are being lazy.

 

[Muushka]

I completely agree with you, so no flames here. I had a severe stuttering problem as a child and I got over it because my mom worked hard and made me work hard to correct it, so basically people are being lazy.

Thanks CCT! I saw your screen name and shuddered at what was going to be said in response to my post! (You know, the Cape Cod thing!)

 

[TheGoofster]

Actually, I like accents, it helps to let you know where somebody is from. I lived in Ma. for 20 years, then in the South for 10 years, and now in Mexico for almost 10 years, believe me, I've heard my share of accents.

I think one of the best Presidential names that played havoc with some accents was Jimmy Carter.

Boston - Jimmy Cahta
NY - Jimmy Corter
South - Jimmy kaata

I also think that a speech impediment and an accent are two different things. A speech impediment is something that is normally limited to an individual (thus a strong desire to overcome it), whereas an accent is something that everybody around you has.

 

[CapeCodTenor]

Thanks CCT! I saw your screen name and shuddered at what was going to be said in response to my post! (You know, the Cape Cod thing!)

No worries. I'm not a Cape Codder, just a wash-a-shore (transplant from New Mexico), so I have no loyalty to the Kennedy's.

 

[Muushka]

Actually, I like accents, it helps to let you know where somebody is from. I lived in Ma. for 20 years, then in the South for 10 years, and now in Mexico for almost 10 years, believe me, I've heard my share of accents.

I think one of the best Presidential names that played havoc with some accents was Jimmy Carter.

Boston - Jimmy Cahta
NY - Jimmy Corter
South - Jimmy kaata

I also think that a speech impediment and an accent are two different things. A speech impediment is something that is normally limited to an individual (thus a strong desire to overcome it), whereas an accent is something that everybody around you has.

Yes, speech impediment and accent are 2 different things. But the point is that either one is correctable.

 

[CapeCodTenor]

Actually, I like accents, it helps to let you know where somebody is from. I lived in Ma. for 20 years, then in the South for 10 years, and now in Mexico for almost 10 years, believe me, I've heard my share of accents.

I think one of the best Presidential names that played havoc with some accents was Jimmy Carter.

Boston - Jimmy Cahta
NY - Jimmy Corter
South - Jimmy kaata

I also think that a speech impediment and an accent are two different things. A speech impediment is something that is normally limited to an individual (thus a strong desire to overcome it), whereas an accent is something that everybody around you has.

This is true, however, I know people who have worked to get rid of their Boston accent, so it is possible. And no, I don't have any link to prove this for those who are going to ask. This last part wasn't directed at you Goofster.

 

[TheGoofster]

This is true, however, I know people who have worked to get rid of their Boston accent, so it is possible. And no, I don't have any link to prove this for those who are going to ask. This last part wasn't directed at you Goofster.

Actually, I'm one of those people. I've lost most of my accent (occasionally it will creep back in, and I'll drop / add an "r", but most people can't tell that I'm originally from Boston). I did have to work on it to lose it, but not really as hard as I thought I would. My wife has also lost a lot of her Southern accent. Maybe we kind of canceled each other out. Although my kids are in trouble. They've been told, at different times, that they have a Boston accent, a Southern accent, and a Spanish accent. How's that for messing with your mind.
So I do agree with you that you definitely can lose your accent, but it does help if you no longer live in the area where that accent is being spoken. I don't think I would have ever lost my accent if I had stayed in Ma.

 

[Muushka]

This is true, however, I know people who have worked to get rid of their Boston accent, so it is possible. And no, I don't have any link to prove this for those who are going to ask. This last part wasn't directed at you Goofster.

I have a link! This anchor was in my class in HS. Born and raised RI'der.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vp72u92pOk

And then there is Alan Bestwick.

 

[Crankyshank]

This is true, however, I know people who have worked to get rid of their Boston accent, so it is possible. And no, I don't have any link to prove this for those who are going to ask. This last part wasn't directed at you Goofster.

While I never had a Boston accent (I'm from Se MA - different accent) I worked to get rid of it while living in MA. It absolutely can be done. It sure slips a lot when I'm excited, angry, or around those with heavy accents but for the most part I really don't have much of an accent.
There's actually classes around here on how to overcome the MA and the "Ro-dylin" accents.

 

[Northstar]

I will probably get royally flamed for this, but I disagree with your statement that people should not do anything about their accents. Especially those who do public speaking. And this is a non-partisan statement. I see it on both sides.

Oh no! Here come the flames!!

No flames, but... EVERYBODY has an accent. No kidding. You just don't notice the features of pronunciation that are typical of your own accent.

Which accent do you identify as the "correct" one? And why does that particular accent get its special status as the "correct" accent?

 

[Hoodie]

Well, he had called him Osama before, so Obamer is a step up.

 

[cmonroe]

While I never had a Boston accent (I'm from Se MA - different accent) I worked to get rid of it while living in MA. It absolutely can be done. It sure slips a lot when I'm excited, angry, or around those with heavy accents but for the most part I really don't have much of an accent.
There's actually classes around here on how to overcome the MA and the "Ro-dylin" accents.

This is entirely true. I'm from the north shore (North of Boston). Lived here my whole life. I have a small list of points:

1. Mark Wahlberg and the like from "The perfect Storm" had terrible accents. Mark's was the closest, and he is from here! We do not sound like that.
2. This phenomenon is entirely true. We actually make fun of ourselves and Mass natives when we hear it. Jerry Remy, who calls the Redsox uses "Dice K Matsuzker, Hideki Okajeemer". The list goes on.
3. My family gets together every 2 weeks for a family dinner. When we get pizza, my mom says,"What do you want to order for peetzer". My mother is educated.

The point is, people have a hard time doing the accents because it is hard to mimic. I don't know why we talk the way we do, we just do. I work with people across the country and people have told me they can't pinpoint my accent. I assume that is because for business, I have tried not to lose my accent as much as pronounce things properly. You can definitely get rid of your Massachusetts accent, but it will manifest itself when you least expect it, and you will get a strange look when it happens.

We do say "pahk", use the word "wicked" a lot, etc. This are just things that come with our region, like saying "you want to come with?" if you are from the west coast, "eyhh" if you are from Canada, or "Baked padada" if you are from Alabama.

As others have stated, this is not ignorance. This is accent. Highly educated people from this region are known to speak this way as well. Not all, but a lot.

Just my two cents (all right, maybe 4 cents),

Craig

 

[John Smith1]

I saw a clip of Ted Kennedy talking about working with Barack Obamer.
Couldn't Teddy work on the proper pronunciation of Obama's name.

I cannot believe I'm reading this after 8 years of "nu-ku-lar"....

 

[EpcotBeauty]

"WeallknowI'mguilty"???? The "p" is silent.

OMG!!

 

[blu3d3vil]

shouldn't that be "maker funner ofer"?

Good catch, thanks

 

[daisax]

While dropping/adding the Rs are typical of the Massachusetts accent, "the Kennedy accent" as such is more of a Connecticut boarding school accent than anything else. My cousins from the Hartford area sound more like Kennedys than anybody I've ever known here in Massachusetts.

Every language has a token "standard" accent, at least since the advent of radio and television. In the U.S. this is usually mid-western. It was cultivated so as to annoy/confuse the fewest numbers of listeners Even outside of broadcasting, it's usually the default accent to acquire when one is trying to drop a distinct regional accent. This was more important decades ago when regional accents were at times almost incomprehensible to outsiders. With mass media, however, most of us now regularly hear accents from other places (including foreign places) so they're less jarring than they would have been to our grandparents.

I drop Rs but don't add them. But we're not the only people to randomly insert Rs -- there are regions where they say "Warshington," etc.

 

[designermv]

...You can definitely get rid of your Massachusetts accent, but it will manifest itself when you least expect it, and you will get a strange look when it happens.

We do say "pahk", use the word "wicked" a lot, etc. This are just things that come with our region, like saying "you want to come with?" if you are from the west coast, "eyhh" if you are from Canada, or "Baked padada" if you are from Alabama.

As others have stated, this is not ignorance. This is accent. Highly educated people from this region are known to speak this way as well. Not all, but a lot.

Just my two cents (all right, maybe 4 cents),

Craig

I agree. My family is from Boston, and when my mother and I moved to MD, her accent became much less detectable. Get her in a room at Christmas with a few bottles of wine and my still-living-in-Boston relatives, and it sounds like a Kennedy convention.

And it's definitely accent, not ignorance. My grandparents, mom, aunts and uncle are all ivy league grads.

 

[John Smith1]

While dropping/adding the Rs are typical of the Massachusetts accent, "the Kennedy accent" as such is more of a Connecticut boarding school accent than anything else. My cousins from the Hartford area sound more like Kennedys than anybody I've ever known here in Massachusetts.

Every language has a token "standard" accent, at least since the advent of radio and television. In the U.S. this is usually mid-western. It was cultivated so as to annoy/confuse the fewest numbers of listeners Even outside of broadcasting, it's usually the default accent to acquire when one is trying to drop a distinct regional accent. This was more important decades ago when regional accents were at times almost incomprehensible to outsiders. With mass media, however, most of us now regularly hear accents from other places (including foreign places) so they're less jarring than they would have been to our grandparents.

I drop Rs but don't add them. But we're not the only people to randomly insert Rs -- there are regions where they say "Warshington," etc.

I wanted to note that my niece told me once that the Massachusetts accent is the ONLY one that gets more pronounced in the UPPER class. Most get worse in the lower class! I did not know that!

 

[WL Fan]

I might just be odd, but I like to hear different accents! I'd rather have the variety than having everyone sound like a network news anchor!

Viva la difference!

 

[blu3d3vil]

I forget who did the documentary, but it was on PBS. Anyway it was about different accents in the US. Very entertaining.