Do I have a Minnesotan accent?
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My blogging buddy Cat from 3 Kids and Us can’t understand a lot of what I say. Apparently I sound like I’m from Canada. So when I saw her and several other bloggers taking part in a dialect/accent vlog link up, I decided to take part.
I have found that even within the same state there can be vast differences. In college my husband and I became great friends with a couple from the western part of the state who said several things differently. For example, they invited us over for “barbecues” which I assumed was either BBQ pork or something grilled. Um, no. They were sloppy joes! They also referred to the meal the night before a wedding as the Groom’s Supper. Now, I use the term supper all the time but I’ve only ever referred to that as a groom’s dinner or rehearsal dinner.
So what do YOU think? Do I sound like I’m from Canada? Do I follow the stereotypical Minnesotan accent that you hear in all the movies? (And for the record, I DO NOT say “you betcha”.)
Aunt, Route, Wash, Oil, Theater, Iron, Salmon, Caramel, Fire, Water, Sure, Data, Ruin, Crayon, Toilet, New Orleans, Pecan, Both, Again, Probably, Spitting image, Alabama, Lawyer, Coupon, Mayonnaise, Syrup, Pajamas, Caught
What is it called when you throw toilet paper on a house?
What is the bug that when you touch it, it curls into a ball?
What is the bubbly carbonated drink called?
What do you call gym shoes?
What do you say to address a group of people?
What do you call the kind of spider that has an oval-shaped
body and extremely long legs?
What do you call your grandparents?
What do you call the wheeled contraption in which you carry
groceries at the supermarket?
What do you call it when rain falls while the sun is shining?
What is the thing you change the TV channel with?
And now it is your turn to share! Link up so I can hear you!
Linked mine up!
You say “about” like a midwesterner/canadian. 🙂
“I suppose” is also accented!
It’s the U’s!
I’ve heard how I say “about” is funny MANY times. I was surprised it wasn’t on the list of words to say but then maybe only we say it different?
I guess there is much to be said for our differences! I had to laugh because my daughter called me from vacation to ask me if I ever called Sloppy Joes, “barbeque”. YES…I grew up calling them that, but then decided this was wrong (shhh…dont tell my mom) because BBQ to me means either grilling out OR adding BBQ sauce to something? And I dont do that to “sloppy Joes”.
I first learned about these differences not really in accent much but in wordage, when my sister dated a guy from the BIG city of Milwaukee. He asked us if we wanted SODA as a treat once…and were were like WHAT? you mean POP? We had always called it POP. After that we thought it was COOL to call it soda and our kids have never known, therefore, what POP is.
We have a division in our family on the whole dinner thing. I call the noonish meal lunch and 6 pm ish meal dinner. But we grew up calling it supper on the farm. Out of 9 kids and a mom who get together for meals, we realized LONG ago how the double talk goes on this by phone and many times have had mix ups with family get togethers because of this. So. differences in states and countries and the world are not even always a problem. We cant even keep it all straight in our family!
My husband DOES say you betcha…and even though he doesnt talk like that at home, whenever he is around his side of family with his parents, they travel down “that road”. So funny!
YES! Barbeques to me says there is barbecue sauce in it or it is grilled, nothing else. I’ll admit I was a bit disappointed to find out we were just eating sloppy joes. I was all in the mood for something else!
I say dinner and supper almost interchangeably but the only time I would use dinner for lunchtime is if it were a big Sunday dinner or a Thanksgiving dinner, etc. Supper is always in the evening though.
Thanks for taking the time to share. Loved your comment!
You have a slight accent but I’ve heard worse.
Emilie, you sound perfect to me! LOL of course, I am your mother-in-law! Living in Texas now, it drives me nuts when someone says, “I’m a fixin to.” Your brother-in-law has been down here long enough, that does come out of his mouth. If you looked at my Facebook status, you would see that I was recently called, “sweetie” by a professional who is younger than my youngest son, your Joe. I find that condescending and offensive, but no one here seems to think the same way I do. The only accents I have a lot of trouble with are the New England. This was a fun post.
How fun, I really need to participate in this! I don’t think you sound Canadian at all. And that little bug we call potato bugs here, definitely pop, hubby calls a remote the clicker(I hate this) and a BBQ is cooking out!
Your hair is getting SO long! Love the Qpon!
Oh, I know! I so need to get it cut. My hair is very heavy and it is hard to keep a style when it isn’t thinned out. I’m definitely going to have to do that before April.
It is so funny you mention that because I never really thought of it before. But yes, I do pronounce it with a “q” sound. I found it interesting that Cat’s husband did too but she doesn’t. (Joe says Qpon too.)
Oh Emily, you’re hilarious. Jon and I watched together and both did a double take when you pronounced “caught” as “cot” …… AHHHHH you said POP, no, no no no no it’s SODA!
Girl, you sooooo sound foreign to me, like Chicago accentish times 10! At least I know I’m not crazy because Jon hears it too, especially when you pronounce Minnesota.
I still love ya,
Aw, but can you understand me? That is key. 🙂
I love that Jon wanted to do it too and that he took the time to watch it with you. I was finding it fun to share differences with Joe too. I thought it was interested that Jon pronounces coupon differently than you do but it is how Joe and I would pronounce it.
We are definitely not the same with the salmon though. tehehehe
Cat! Emilie! Believe it or not, TO ME, you guys sound VERY similar. Cat, you sound almost exactly like I do, “no accent” (haha, EVERYONE has an accent, it’s all relative), except for a few of the words which I commented on your blog. Emilie, you Minnesota accent is very minimal. We have friends here in Washington state that moved here over 30 years ago from your area and they have more of an “accent” than you.
It’s freaking SODA!!!
Another word to add to this list is “drawer”. Those on the east coast BUTCHER it! HAHAHAHA!!!
And another “question” to add is, “What do you call the meal you eat in the evening?” Supper or dinner? DINNER!!!
This was FUN!!!
Oops, I meant POP!!! Geez, I’m tired. Sorry!
Okay, you TOTALLY have an accent. Definitely in the “o” and “u” sounds. Such a fun vlog.
I would love to see you do this too! 🙂
You have a slight accent. Nothing dramatic. Maybe because I am used to my uncle from Minnesota coming out every year. You sound very normal to me.
Very slight… I have heard more of an accent from Minnesota. Be sure to check mine out from Idaho/Indiana!
That makes sense you thought it was very slight since I thought the same about yours! 🙂
Here you guys say things like, “Can you BORROW me some sidewalk salt?” instead of saying, “Can ‘I’ borrow some sidewalk salt?” or “Can you LEND me some sidewalk salt?” I mentioned on one of my blog posts that here you call snowmobiling “sledding” and when you’re sledding you call it “sliding”. Instead of Or-u-gun you say Or-u-gone for Oregon. Then there’s the whole “rOOt” and “rUUt” for root. My boys say, “bayg” instead of “baaaag” for bag.
Having been here almost 13 yrs I have to say my “O’s” are the worst now. I think mine have become heavy when I say them so it makes me stand out, dOntcha nO? LOL It makes me crazy when people FROM MN give me grief for it!!
BTW to me you definitely sound like you’re from here. =)
Snowmobiling is definitely snowmobiling and sledding, is well, sledding! I don’t say can you borrow me (I would say may I borrow) but I know plenty of people who do!
I love that blue scarf, it is so pretty! I didn’t know you were from Minnesota. I have family from Wisconsin, so I know all “abote” that accent 😉
You didn’t play with rolly pollies as a kid? That was my main form of entertainment….playing with them, flicking them down the sidewalk…..LOL!!
At least you call it Pop and not soda! No one calls it soda here. What is funny is when you go into grocery stores and see what it is called on their aisles……they call it Pop here in Kansas!
And I am enjoying all that discussion above about BBQs cause down here in KS if they say BBQ then there is going to be a grill involved. In fact, there is hardly ever a time when we get together as a family and DON”T use the grill.
I want to do another one in a couple weeks and include some different questions like “what do you call the meal at noon and the meal at 6pm” cause that is so different around here too!
See ya round!
Thanks! I have a thing for scarves. I actually have a ton of them, they’ve become my favorite accessory!
I looked up rolly polly on wikipedia and the first things listed are what I know them as but then I found this: A bug, referred to in Ohio and some other states in the US as a “Potato Bug”, or “Colorado Potato Beetle”
I looked up the bug, NEVER seen that bug before. They do live in MN but not around here which would be why I’ve never heard of them either.
So interesting! So yes, please do it again in a couple of weeks. I’ll be sure to participate.
You have a slight Minnesota accent (noticeable on a few words). I thought you had more of an accent when you were more conversational – when you were pronouncing the words, you seemed to enunciate and your accent was less noticeable.
This was fun… And, sorry dear, but I do hear an accent. But living in Texas everyone has an accent to me, lol.
CJR @ The Mommy Blog
Oh I’m sure that I do have a bit of an accent but I was surprised that Cat can’t understand me. To her I sound foreign. 🙂 I was curious if I it was hard for other people in the country as well.
Thanks so much for stopping by and commenting!
I love your accent and YES, you do have an accent. I’m going to try to do a video later if the kiddos cooperate.
You sound like me…and I am Canadian! Your answers would be the same as mine as well. The only word I would of said different is pecan. I think it is so fun to hear how others talk.
Yup. You say ‘sounds’, ‘route’ and ‘Minnesota’ with emphasis on the o.
And the way you say ‘sure’ is definitely MN.
C(u)pon is also MN. Most other areas say c-oo-pon.
Pop.
Guys. (group of people)
Daddy Long Legs.
Grandma & Grandma.
Cart. & Grocery Store.
Remote.
I do the same thing. Born and raised in the Twin Cities suburbs.
And for the love of all things holy.. it’s duck duck gray duck!
I don’t think you have an accent. You are too cute 🙂
I don’t think you have an accent LOL.
The only thing I noticed that you say different than me is coupon. I say coo-pon rather than cue-pon.
http://annettefunnyjello.com/2011/03/im-from-yew-tah-and-this-is-how-i-talk-vlog/