I just spent the last 2 days with people from Califorina?

Hi Chai, I am a native Bostonian and I am between the ages of 35 and 55 yet I have not noticed any regionalisms here. Boston, yes.

Really?

Actually, there were 4 californians (L.A.) and 2 people from Indiana, and 1 each from Chicago and Baltimore.

I could pick out all the accents, but that californian question mark trait really stuck out for me.

Oh, not every sentence or anything, but often enough to come to my attention.

Here we go....


California English

wicked pissah...

does anyone have any noxemer?

I'm sensing my old home town of Boston! That's pissa!

You poor things. The valley girl stuff happened when? - in any case, as a splotch on a region of millions of people. So cute to be mocking it decades later.

California? Hey, I was just there?! I went in April? First time I've ever been there? I took all kinds of pictures and those motherf*ckers at Duane Reade lost my goddammed film? Now all I have is my memories? Never take your film to be developed at a Duane Reade? They suck?

I'm not making fun of anything osso.

I'm serious when I say I recognized that as a definite inflection of a group of californians having business and casual conversation with each other.

Didn't you read my link?

Just like midwest, northeast, southern accents/inflections, the southern california question mark is definitely there.

I found it interesting how our speech patterns change over time/distance.

There's not just the question mark, but also an elongating of some vowels, that just make the california accent different sounding.

Unfortunately Zappa Plays Zappa didn't do this one when I saw them recently (my cousin is the keyboardist).

Valley girl
Shes a valley girl
Valley girl
Shes a valley girl
Okay, fine...
Fer sure, fer sure
Shes a valley girl
In a clothing store
Okay, fine...
Fer sure, fer sure
Shes a

Like, oh my god! (valley girl)
Like - totally (valley girl)
Encino is like so bitchen (valley girl)
Theres like the galleria (valley girl)
And like all these like really great shoe stores
I love going into like clothing stores and stuff
I like buy the neatest mini-skirts and stuff
Its like so bitchen cuz like everybodys like
Super-super nice...
Its like so bitchen...

On ventura, there she goes
She just bought some bitchen clothes
Tosses her head n flips her hair
She got a whole bunch of nothin in there

Anyway, he goes are you into s and m?
I go, oh right...
Could you like just picture me in like a leather teddy
Yeah right, hurt me, hurt me...
Im sure! no way!
He was like freaking me out...
He called me a beastie...
Thats cuz like he was totally blitzed
He goes like bag your face!
Im sure!

Valley girl
Shes a valley girl
Valley girl
Shes a valley girl
Okay, fine...
Fer sure, fer sure
Shes a valley girl
So sweet n pure
Okay, fine...
Fer sure, fer sure
Shes a
Its really sad (valley girl)
Like my english teacher
Hes like... (valley girl)
Hes like mr. bu-fu (valley girl)
Were talking lord God king bu-fu (valley girl)
I am so sure
Hes like so gross
He like sits there and like plays with all his rings
And he like flirts with all the guys in the class
Its like totally disgusting
Im like so sure
Its like barf me out...
Gag me with a spoon!

Last idea to cross her mind
Had something to do with where to find
A pair of jeans to fit her butt
And where to get her toenails cut

So like I go into this like salon place, yknow
And I wanted like to get my toenails done
And the lady like goes, oh my god, your toenails
Are like so grody
It was like really embarrassing
Shes like oh my god, like bag those toenails
Im like sure...
She goes, uh, I dont know if I can handle this, yknow...
I was like really embarrassed...

Valley girl
Shes a valley girl
Valley girl
Shes a valley girl
Okay, fine
Fer sure, fer sure
Shes a valley girl
And there is no cure
Okay, fine
Fer sure, fer sure
Shes a valley girl
And there is no cure

Like my mother is like a total space cadet (valley girl)
She like makes me do the dishes and (valley girl)
Clean the cat box (valley girl)
I am sure
Thats like gross (valley girl)
Barf out! (valley girl)
Oh my God (valley girl)

Hi!
Uh-huh... (valley girl)
My name?
My name is ondrya wolfson (valley girl)
Uh-huh
Thats right, ondrya (valley girl)
Uh-huh...
I know
Its like... (valley girl)
I do not talk funny...
Im sure (valley girl)
Whatsa matter with the way I talk? (valley girl)
I am a val, I know (valley girl)
But I live like in a really good part of encino so its okay
(valley girl)
Uh-huh... (valley girl)
So like, I dont know (valley girl)
Im like freaking out totally (valley girl)
Oh my god! (valley girl)

Hi - I have to go to the orthodontist (valley girl)
Im getting my braces off, yknow (valley girl)
But I have to wear a retainer
Thats going to be really like a total bummer
Im freaking out
Im sure
Its like those things that like stick in your mouth
Theyre so gross...
You like get saliva all over them
But like, I dont know, its going to be cool, yknow
So you can see my smile
Itll be like really cool
Except my like my teeth are like too small
But no biggie...
Its so awesome
Its like tubular, yknow
Well, Im not like really ugly or anything
Its just like
I dont know
You know me, Im like into like the clean stuff
Like pac-man and like, I dont know
Like my mother like makes me do the dishes
Its like so gross...
Like all the stuff like sticks to the plates
And its like, its like somebody elses food, yknow
Its like grody...
Grody to the max
Im sure
Its like really nauseating
Like barf out
Gag me with a spoon
Gross
I am sure
Totally...

This is interesting.

Driving to work I was listening to the news on the radio, some local, some national.

I heard 3 distinct instances of a question sounding statement....

The first, they were talking about the upcoming change in the method of recycling in Austin, and were interviewing a woman separating her stuff, which she won't have to do anymore in a couple of months.

She was describing what she was separating, saying "Here I have my newspapers, cans, bottles....and these yogurt containers?

The 2nd time, they were talking to someone at the Tx Dept of Transportation, about interstate truckers. She was saying how in Texas it's easy to check to see if their CDL license is valid, but, if they are from out of state, we "just have to take their word for it?"

3rd....um...I can't remember now, it'll come back to me later. But in the middle of giving all this factual information, there was this little question?

Something I picked up was that all these people were women.

I don't know if any of these people were from California...the first person sounded californian in other ways, the 2nd didn't, and the third had a slight Mexican accent, really more of an inflection. Maybe a Chicana.

Anyway, I'm wondering if this hesitancy is related to socialization. Making a statement, but at the same time not wanting to appear "too smart". It's maybe like saying...I know what I'm talking about, but I'll throw a question mark in there in case I'm wrong, or because the listener may not like it that I'm educated.

Out of the probably 8 or 10 voices I heard in 20 minutes, 3 of them, all female did this. None were teenagers.

Thoughts?

We are watching too much T.V.?

I can remember doing the question thing a little bit as a teenager, back in the 70's.

The common response from adults (parents and teachers) was "Are you asking me or telling me?" That tended to break you of that habit.

Now, I'm wondering if it's always a habit, or a product of the way you were taught to speak (by parents who do it?).





mismi, how do you think this is related to TV?

I may not have thought this through thoroughly - which I know is dangerous - but, I hear people use the ? in their sentences all the time on television. I was just thinking that maybe they inadvertently pick up the phrasing by osmosis.

ok, but where did that come from on TV?

I guess I'm just being a Henry Higgins.


I find accents so interesting. From them we assume people's intelligence level, social skills, income and so much more.

Yeah, I love this stuff. There was a PBS special a while back, called "Do you Speak American" I think. Fascinating.

Here you go: http://www.pbs.org/speak/about/



Lots of other stuff there besides California. I saw only one of the broadcasts and couldn't take my eyes (or ears) off of it.

I never knew dew and do sounded different.

Dew you you, feel like I do?

you know, that's a good point, about "do" being pronounced differently.

sorry, but I suck at knowing the diff between long and short vowels as far as naming which is which, but I can definitely hear the difference.

When I pronounce "do"....the o sounds the the o you make when watching fireworks...oooooo.....pretty....

Others pronouce the o like they're saying "ewwww, that stinks"

I never really thought of it this way, but when someone says it that way, it sounds like the person is, like, slightly peeved or something. I associate it with a young person, one going through their appointed angst.

Now, those teenagers are now adults.


Off the subject kinda, but I have a really hard time with some people telling the diff if they are saying "pen" or "pin".