quote:

Originally posted by D in St Pete:
Denise...check out what my uncle does. That's who I worked for when I worked from home

OH! the flashbacks reading the exerpts from the book!

I would just sit and make my 110 phone calls a day... and play the numbers game.

I work a telethon for after school band every year. We basically call 1,000 band parents over two/three nights. I was in a cubicle at a phone bank with a guy who was just paralyzed and couldn't pick up the phone to make a call. Reread the script about 482 times. I didn't say, "Dude! Just make that first call... it will be ok... some of these people are going to say yes and give us money. It isn't like we are calling from the phone book."

Finally, I hit a family that only spoke Chinese and handed him the phone. He broke the ice and did fine.

I never made much $$ in sales. But I do fine dialing for dollars and asking for donations for after school band. The guy I was with said, "OMG. You are good." Yeah, I spent more than a year on the phone asking strangers to spend money. I've got practice.

There is a city in Virginia that often creates a ruckus when discussions of how to pronounce it come up. It is spelled N-o-r-f-o-l-k and you would think that it would be pronounced just like it looks--NOR-folk. But to people in the region it is NO-fuck. No kiddin'.

Oh and then there's Baltimore, which is often pronounced BAL-mer.

quote:

Originally posted by D in St Pete:
I know there's a "g" in it, but I don't think I ever pronounce the "g" at the end of -ing, so I'm just being (bein')consistent.

Leavin' the g's off of words is a habit I picked up from chatting online for years (my grammar and pronunciation have gone so far south from chatting online LOL). Even though I was a faster typist than most folks I was chattin' with, I got in the habit of shortenin' or abbreviatin' words cuz they did. YKWIM?

So now when I slip and say "cuz" or "nuttin'" or "prolly" at work, people are like "What did you say?" There is just no sense of humor in the Gummint.

Denise...check out what my uncle does. That's who I worked for when I worked from home

Another one I was reminded of:

So we're in the car on my first visit up to see the boyfriend's family in southern Illinois and we're going to (what I hear) "Rule King." "Why's it called that?" I wonder aloud. Oh, because they sell stuff for farms, and animals, and most of them are in the country. Right..but what's the "rule" about? Because it's country stuff. I still don't get it. This was the first time he looked at me like I was a total and complete idiot.

Rule. The opposite of urban, he says.

RURal! No, that sounds stupid, like I'm choking on the Rs. Rule.

I now purchase garden/home repair shirts from there every time we go up, because I laugh about it and like having RURal King shirts to wear.


A co-worker who lived her first 60 years in western Tennessee says, "sahd." Like, "Ah sahd ah would be thar." And she has a very school-marmish inflection to her words, where she always sounds like she's talking down to you, so it's very weird.

For WARSHington...my mom grew up in middle Tennessee, and says that. I get teased at work for "wash'ntun," which my Wisconsin boss says is "Wash-eng-tohn." I know there's a "g" in it, but I don't think I ever pronounce the "g" at the end of -ing, so I'm just being (bein')consistent.

OFTEN!

It is pronounced Off-INN, NOT off-TEN. Only Canadians are allowed to say off-TEN, because they don't know no better, eh.

Any time anyone tries to argue with me aboput the true pronounciation, I just tell them "Please, just Lis-TEN to the way I pronounce it!"

quote:

Originally posted by D in St Pete:
I grew up (Texas) with puhKAHN. But it's quick...like barely two syllables.

That is true. p'KAHN might be a better spelling.

This really isn't the same thing...

But when I was selling ad specialties, I did a LOT of cold calling out of the yellow pages. I spent a year talking to people in Alice, Texas… which is in south Texas.

This was about 1983... During an oil boom. When cold calling, we’d hit “oil” first, and then move on to the rest of the Yellow Pages. If a company had a logo in the yellow pages… that was a really good sign because they might want to buy pens or ball caps with that logo on it.

Also, one of the strategies to get past a receptionist was to act like you know the owner of the company and to act like it is very important and you HAVE to talk to them right away or act like you have personal business with the owner. Also, if you are calling Jack’s Pump Jacks… ask for Jack. Or Smith electric… ask for Mr. Smith.

I was about 22, and I call up this company… has a big logo and ad in the phone book… and get a receptionist who is younger than I… and sounds like it is her first day of work after graduation from high school. I say, “I’m calling for John Deere. Thank you.”. The receptionist, in her best receptionist voice, says, “Please hold and I’ll put you thru”. And I think, way cool! I’m getting thru! She comes back on the line and says, “Ma’am… I’ve looked thru the entire company directory and I can’t find the name John Deere. Can you hold again?” “OK”. She comes back on and says, “Ma’am… I’m sorry to tell you this… but Mr. John Deere has died.” I’m still thinking that he is the owner of the company and died recently… and say, “Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry to hear that”. She puts me back on hold again and comes back on and says, “Oh… it is ok… they say he’s been dead about a hundred years”.

This is sort of on topic… my best customer in Alice was a guy named Tiny who had some kind of oil business… who ordered 250 jackets all in sizes L, XL, and 2X. He gave me sooooo many referrals. I could call him up and say… “Man, I just called the John Deere retailer in town… and like a dumb a$$… I asked for “Mr. John Deere, Please.” Who should I talk to over there?” And he’s laugh and say, “Girl!! that is dumb! Ask for my friend… his name is Tiny, too. Tell him I said to buy something”.

quote:

Originally posted by SheriaVa:

quote:

Originally posted by GoingSkiing:
I say... "you mean pecans???" And he says, "No. A pee can is somethin' you keep in your truck for bathroom emergencies. I give puh-KAHNs for Xmas."

See, now I'm surprised to hear this because I thought "pee can" WAS the Southern pronunciation of that word.

I say "peh-KAHN."

Me too,"pe-KAHN". A lot of people around here say it like Peekin', which always cracks me up.

As far as "might could", I worked for a dentist who was from the South and always said "might would". I always loved to work with her, she had some of the BEST sayings ever, that from what I could tell, are straight out of the south.

Jill

I grew up (Texas) with puhKAHN. But it's quick...like barely two syllables.

I'm also a "fixin to" and "might could" when I'm not paying attention.

True story: I moved to Montana right after college and growing up in Texas. I went to a Taco Bell drive-thru and ordered a bean burrito. "What?" the loudspeaker asked. "BEAN BURRITO." "I'm sorry, I can't understand you," "BEEEAN BURRIIITO." "Ma'am, I'm sorry, I really can't..." so I drove, parked, and went inside. Bean burrito. Point at menu. "OH! A bean burrito!"

I tell that to an acquaintance in Montana. Apparently, what they were hearing was "bueeeenburreeehtuh". Like....Ben Vereen, or something. Ever since then, I've worked REALLY hard to rein in my accent. I was mortified that people would perceive me as a moron or not even UNDERSTAND me because of my accent.

I do say my letters and numbers like a Texan, though. Wun, tu, threah, fore, fahv, sihx, sehvehn, ayte, nahn, teyn. Learned 'em early, can't shake the accent.

"What're" (pronounced whut-ur) is one that always sets the boyfriend to laughing. I giggle as his frequent, midwestern "over der" and "right der." So cute.

And I'm still a "y'all" girl. Never had any desire to lose that.

A linguist at work thinks I'm fascinating with my hypercorrective speech patterns. She said she can see my mind working to pronounce things the way I think they should sound, rather than just saying them.

quote:

Originally posted by GoingSkiing:
I say... "you mean pecans???" And he says, "No. A pee can is somethin' you keep in your truck for bathroom emergencies. I give puh-KAHNs for Xmas."

See, now I'm surprised to hear this because I thought "pee can" WAS the Southern pronunciation of that word. Then again, I realize that Texas Southern may be a WHOLE 'nother animal from, say, Georgia Southern. I believe Paula Deen says "pee can" so maybe that's where I got the idea that it was the Southern pronunciation.

I say "peh-KAHN." I'm from the Midwest; then again, I lived in Virginia for over 35 years, so maybe I picked up that pronunciation there. Hard to say.

My way of speaking has changed quite a lot since I lived in Ohio. I worked hard to get rid of the regional slang (like "pop") and pronunciation (like "WARSHington") when I moved from Ohio to DC because I got made fun of for it. After 35+ years in Virginia (which granted isn't the DEEP South, but is south of Ohio), I probably sound more like a Southerner than an Northerner. And of course my family thinks it is hilarious that I say "y'all."

LOL!

When I moved to TX... I was selling ad specialties... ball caps, jackets, pens, etc with company logos... over the phone.

I'm talking to some guy out in West TX... and ask him what he does for holiday gifts for his customers or employees. He says that he gives them "turkeys and puh-KAHNS". I know what a turkey is... but have never heard the word "puh-KAHN". He says it to me 3 more times... only louder... and then, totally exasperated, says, "You from the land of fruits and nuts and don't know what a puh-KAHN is?!?!?! It's a nut... grows on trees!!!!"

I say... "you mean pecans???" And he says, "No. A pee can is somethin' you keep in your truck for bathroom emergencies. I give puh-KAHNs for Xmas."

I don't know why, but I switch back and forth now and say "puh-kahns" sometimes and "pee cans" other times.

there is definitely a "southern" thing. people here say "he might could consider that." instead of "he may consider that"

what is a "might could"? HUH?

When people say re-la-tor instead of re-al-tor. Even "relators" do it.

I just thought of another one my Mom uses--"Hawaya" instead of "Hawa-ee" for Hawaii. If she had never been there, it wouldn't bother me so much, but since she has, I know she's heard the correct pronunciation.

Before I had been to Hawaii and had done research on the culture and the language in preparation for my trip, I called it "Hawayee." In my research, I learned that, in the Hawaiian language, the ' symbol indicates a stop in the word. So since Hawaii is technically spelled Hawai'i, it is pronounced Hawa-ee.

quote:

Originally posted by Tayhudson:
My dad says mush-a-rooms, he calls green peppers mangoes, he warshes things...

My mother always called green peppers mangoes when I was a kid (and still does). My older brother teases her about it. Even though she knows now that a mango and a green pepper aren't the same thing, she still calls a green pepper a mango. Old habits die hard--esp. when you're about to turn 75.

Ironically, I have never cared for green peppers (though I adore the red, yellow and orange ones) and I don't like mangoes either. Maybe it's all that programming from my mother calling green peppers mangoes when I was a child? hehehe

And here I thought "warshington" was an Indiana thing...

Being in Indiana next to Illinois it drives me nuts when people pronounce it Illi -noise. There's no noise in Illinois.

One if my friends says Valentimes instead of Valentines. I know that can be trick for some young children, but she's in her 50s.

My mom says samwidge instead of sandwich.

My dad says mush-a-rooms, he calls green peppers mangoes, he warshes things...

My grandma used to never use the plural of mile. It was one mile or 10 mile up the road.

This isn't a misprounciation so much as incorrect grammar, but I rarely hear it said correctly and that is using the word "snuck". There is no such word. The past tense of to sneak is actually "sneaked".

Dawn

When I was a child, my grandfather used to tell me he put earl in his car.

More recently...my daughter approached me one day back in the middle of soccer season with a soccer question (I was coaching her team, so I was THE authority for at least a while!). She asked me what was "true" about soccer. I asked her what the heck she meant, because that didn't make any sense. "What true about soccer, Mom? Molly's Dad keep shouting 'Follow True! Follow True!'and I don't know what I'm supposed to be following!" Molly's Dad is Irish, so yeah, he pretty much does shout Follow True!

alli

Warsh instead of wash is the first that comes to mind. This seems to be a regional thing, I've heard it mostly in Central/North Central PA. I think there are some things, sayings or terms or pronunciations, that are specific to which part of the country you are from. My nephew grew up in the south and pronounces Aunt so that it would rhyme with gaunt, I say it like ant. Or, here in the northeast, at least in PA, you eat hoagies, not submarines, poboy's, grinders, etc.

I do think however that often times it is not a regional pronunciation but flat out pronouncing the word incorrectly. Like your examples of "marionate" and "prostrate" I would think are just improper pronunciations.

Sometimes I could care less about things like that but there is one that sends me over the edge because it is a mispronounced word by my bf and his mom and I've tried to subtly say it correctly but it hasn't changed. They pronounce chamomile(as in the tea) camile. And I've heard it quite a bit because it is bf's favorite type of tea and he'll ask me to get him camille tea and I'll say chamomile? And he'll say yes, camille. AAHHH!! Makes me crazy! I don't know why, it really is just that one word that really irritates me!

Jill