Public apology

[Skykid]

Taco's are for gays.

[professor ganson]

American accents are terrible. Except in Ohio.

[Specineff]

Taco's are for gays.

Nuh-huh.

Tacos>>>>>>>>>>>>j00.

[Twiddle]

Taco's are for gays.

Nuh-huh.

Tacos>>>>>>>>>>>>j00.

Hurry up and post something funny so pigs can fly

British people are alright when you don't have to hear them speak or listen to their music.

that sounds like my take on women.

That sealed game collection totally brings in da chix

[trivial]

American accents are terrible. Except in Ohio.

this has me feeling all spiritualised deep in the heart of the home of the brave

[Limbrooke]

American accents are terrible. Except in Ohio.

You mean Omaha... Nebraska. The most neutral accent in the continental United States... apparently.

[trivial]

Only neutral compared to other American accents, so no.

[it290]

American accents are terrible. Except in Ohio.

Brooklyn represent, yo.

(I'm not from there, but I do think it's the best American accent.. Boston ain't bad either... I generally can't stand Southern drawls though)

[Ed Oscuro]

hey all the other losers are posting in this thread so I gotta do it too

[iatneH]

Some people have Southern accents and those are hot. Trisha is a severe hottie.

[Bloodreign]

I'm from the south, but have no drawl, where's my apology?

[Neon]

Let's eat some tacos, you all.

Dude, no.

You were doing so well.

[trivial]

eh bien as the Quebecois say

[professor ganson]

American accents are terrible. Except in Ohio.

You mean Omaha... Nebraska. The most neutral accent in the continental United States... apparently.

Interesting, I'd heard that Ohio has the no-accent American accent. I read that there was a conscious effort on the part of Ohioans to distinguish themselves from people immediately south, who had a very different attitude towards slavery. I live here now and I'll tell you: I've never been to a place with a more neutral accent. Sounds like the evening news.

[CIT]

The so-called "General American accent" which is spoken by newscasters, etc, is used in a thin stretch from Nebraska to Ohio (not including the Chicago area).

[doodude]

American accents are terrible. Except in Ohio.

We-uns from Texas think yall is full of sheet, yankee boy!

[Specineff]

Troll troll trolll trolly troll troll troll troll troll.

My response wasn't offensive nor directed to you. You want to keep it up? Your choice. I'm not going to play that game.

[FIL]

British people are alright when you don't have to hear them speak or listen to their music.

I'm British and I cringe at most youtube videos featuring British people, I also hate my own voice.

[EOJ]

American accents are terrible. Except in Ohio.

You mean Omaha... Nebraska. The most neutral accent in the continental United States... apparently.

Interesting, I'd heard that Ohio has the no-accent American accent. I read that there was a conscious effort on the part of Ohioans to distinguish themselves from people immediately south, who had a very different attitude towards slavery. I live here now and I'll tell you: I've never been to a place with a more neutral accent. Sounds like the evening news.

I hope you're kidding. A "neutral accent" does not exist, and it's a silly concept anyway, as all accents (we're really talking about "dialects" here) are relative. Watch the video "American Tongues" if you need to be set straight on this.

[professor ganson]

Of course it is a silly notion, but it is not meaningless. It is not a linguistic category, but a social one. Just like the notion of high german (hochdeutsch).

[EOJ]

People from Ohio will think they have a "neutral accent", and people from Boston will think Ohioans speak weird, and that Bostonians have a neutral accent, and so on. There are over 30 dialects in the mainland USA, 3 different dialects run through Ohio BTW, all quite different from one another (which one is the "neutral" one?). So it is indeed a meaningless concept, since a "neutral accent" does not exist, even socially.

It sounds like you're really talking about SAE (Standard American English), which is an artificial form (like any standard form of a language) and is based on features from midwest dialects.

[professor ganson]

The social category may be terribly vague and so, again, worthless from the perspective of linguistics, but it is not meaningless. Socially there is something we identify as a Boston accent. By contrast, there is nothing, socially, that we call a northern-Ohio accent. Sure, there is such an accent, but it is not distinguished in our society from just a plain-old american accent.

[bay]

People from Ohio will think they have a "neutral accent

i've heard of mid-westerners referred to as having "no accent", and also referred to as it is common to select radio personalities (well past tense) based on their "lack" of accent, thus many famous personalities were allegedly from the mid-west.

British people are alright when you don't have to hear them speak or listen to their music.

that sounds like my take on women.

That sealed game collection totally brings in da chix

is that what i'm missing? i don't think i have one sealed game, i like buying sealed games to avoid scratches when i promptly remove the wrapping to devirginize (..and then put into a console)

[EOJ]

The social category may be terribly vague and so, again, worthless from the perspective of linguistics, but it is not meaningless. Socially there is something we identify as a Boston accent. By contrast, there is nothing, socially, that we call a northern-Ohio accent. Sure, there is such an accent, but it is not distinguished in our society from an american accent.

See, that's the problem. NE Ohio is distinguished socially, as people perceive it as different. I was born and raised in Northern Ohio. If I go to California, Seattle, or other places on the West coast they can tell right away that I speak differently, and when I tell them I'm from Ohio, they respond with "oh, yeah, okay. Ohio". They can't pigeon-hole me into SAE, because NE Ohio has different features from SAE (SAE is a congolomeration of features from a variety of dialects). I can even go down into Columbus Ohio - a different dialect altogether - and they perceive me as "talking different", just as they sound different to my ears. So obviously there is a social component here that is undeniable, even if there is no widespread label for it like "Boston English".

I do agree that some dialects have been stereotyped as being "more" different from SAE than others, such as Boston, New York, Wisconsin, and practically all Southern US dialects. But that does not mean other dialects are not socially perceived as different from SAE as well.

Dialects are also defined by the words used, not just the ways words are pronounced. For example, whether you say "bucket" or "pail", "soda" or "pop" (or "soda pop"!). Other features, such as those in syntax, also define dialects.

People from Ohio will think they have a "neutral accent

i've heard of mid-westerners referred to as having "no accent", and also referred to as it is common to select radio personalities (well past tense) based on their "lack" of accent, thus many famous personalities were allegedly from the mid-west.

Yes, because SAE is based on midwest features, and people generally don't know what they're talking about when it comes to accents and dialects. It does not mean there is "no accent" - every dialect has an accent! That's what makes it different from others.

If you want to get some of the most archaic, and in an historical sense "pure" American English you need to go to the Appalachian mountains. They speak far differently from any other American dialect, and it's radically different from SAE, as it retains many features of the early British settlers of America.

Seriously, watch American Tongues. I use that vid in the introductory Linguistics courses I teach, and it does wonders to enlighten my students on this topic.

[professor ganson]

I was born and raised in Northern Ohio.

Cool.

[professor ganson]

What I would like to know is what local dialects sound like in Alaska and Florida. I've never been to either place, but I'd like to go to both.

[EOJ]

There is actually a recent dictionary of the Alaskan English dialects! If interested, here is the info:

Tabbert, R., 1991: Dictionary of Alaskan English, Denali Press,
Juneau, AK, 294 pp.

It gives pronunciation info on the words, so you can see how it differs from other American English dialects.

[Ed Oscuro]

See, that's the problem. NE Ohio is distinguished socially, as people perceive it as different. I was born and raised in Northern Ohio.

One of my professors is originally from (near?) - southern Ohio, and while his voice seems pretty accent-neutral to me (a Yankee born in West Virginia) he says that he occasionally got reactions from people all throughout Ohio.

[The Coop]

British teeth are terrible.

IT'S AMERICA VS. THE UK!

TWO COUNTRY ENTER! ONE COUNTRY LEAVE!

HEAVEN OR HELL!

FIGHT!

[crithit5000]

OH HAI IZ THIS HERE THE OHIO THREAD? YINZ WANNA GO GET SOME POP AND CHIP CHOPPED HAM?