As I was just reminded by my friend Veggiegrrl, I too have an accent. Having spent most of my growing up years in Michigan (with regular sojourns elsewhere across the country) my accent is pretty distinctive to anyone who knows what to listen for.
Here's a guide to the Michigan accent (at least the parts of it I'm guilty of):
"Aent": Aunt. When you hear Will Smith talk about his "awntie", doesn't that just sound wrong?
"Ciddy": City. Which ciddy in Michigin are ya from? Baddle Creek, er AnNarbor?
"COMF-terbul": Comfortable. The caabz in those F150's are damned comfterbul.
"Frigerraider": Refrigerator. Hey, why waste energy on that first syllable? They know whut yer tockin' about. Maahm sez you left the melk outta the frigerraider again!
"GROSHries": Groceries. Wouldjamind goin' to the groshry store?
"Kiddycorner": Kitty-corner. Elsewhere in the US: "catty-corner". Local variation of "cater-corner," the actual original English word. "When I was a kid, we lived kiddycorner from the Brznickiwiczskiszaks."
"Michiganderr": Michigan native. Who knows where the hell this came from. All I know is, I am not a duck.
"Pah-neeack": Pontiac. Ya might live in Pahniac, er ya might drive one. An' ya might be embarrassed.
"Pahp": Pop. "Soda", in other parts of the world. Hey, do they call it a Sodasicle? I think not. "Let's stahp by SevenuhLeven and gedduh pahp."
"Vanella": Vanilla. "Didja hear? GM's got a new color for the Z34 body style: vanella."
"Wuds": Woods. Be careful in the wuds... it's deer season, an' ya got 30,000 unemployed auto workers, drunk off their ass, armed ta the teeth with high-powered weapons. I love Michigan!
"Yuh": You. How the hell arrrrya? How ya doin'? What thuh helleryuh thinkin' about? Where ya goin'? Ya goin' bowlin' tonight? Er snowmobilin'? Ice fishin' might be kiina fun.
And here are some other crazy things we Michiganders say:
Geez-o-pete!": Related: "Geez-Louise!" A Michigan expletive for polite company, having something to do with Jesus and St. Peter. The funny thing about this one is that in Cincinnati, they say "GEE-zle." In Ireland: "JAYsus."
"Glovebox": US equivalent: glove compartment. Do you suppose that, at one time, people actually kept gloves in it, instead of napkins, Altoids, tire pressure checkers and a Glock Nine?
"How'zit goin'?" In other parts of the world, the equivalent of "what's up?" or "how are you?"
"Michigan Left": A right turn onto a boulevard followed by an immediate u-turn at the next available crossover. This keeps traffic from backing up at intersections with boulevards... only other place I've seen this is in Maryland.
"The U.P.": Michigan's Upper Peninsula. If you say you're goin' to The U-P, everyone knows what you're talking about. I've heard some non-natives trying to fit in leave off the word "The"... saying they "went to U.P." Are they smoking crack or what! Folks who live in the U.P. have an accent all their own that sounds very Canadian, and are called "Yoopers". Even the streets are funky, with their Finnish and Welch roots... "make a left at Lehtonen until you cross Hakktui Avenue." Unh-hunh. Say Yah to da hand, dude...
"You guys": No, not "youse guys", and yes, it refers to women as well. Michiganians use it without even thinking. No true native would be caught dead saying "y'all"... that's just not right. (California Accent Pronunciation Guide equivalent: "duuuuuuuudes!")
Thanks Veggiegrrl for this hilarious blast from the past.
Nimitz' Lady
4 comments:
I protest! Michiganders (which is linguistically related to geese, not ducks) have always said "glove compartment." It's those others guys out there who say "glove box." I never heard of such a thing until I started reading it in novels and then hearing it on TV. So DON'T BLAME MICHIGAN!
Ma
What the hey is a "boulevard"? Michiganders don't say "boulevard." Sounds like something you'd find in France.
As for the so-called "Michigan left," I've seen it all over the country, including Oklahoma. In fact, we have to do it every week to get to church.
And Michiganian! There ain't no such animal! Yes, some years back the legislature (no doubt punch-drunk from staying up so late because of Daylight Savings Time) passed a law saying that Michiganders are Michiganians, but they were dead wrong. You can call a skunk a rose, but it's not gonna smell any different.
As far as "Geeze-o-Pete," the only people I ever heard say that were my Indiana cousins, who also said "youse guys."
As for some of the other things which are supposedly so strange, the writer (who cannot be from Michigan) has merely rendered common speech in a psudo-linguistic alphabet form. "Stahp" for "stop"? Of course. Tell me how else it would be pronounced? "Stoop"? "Stoap"?
I swear this was written by a Californian who pronounces "tour" like the past-tense of "tear" (as in "She told me to tear up those sheets of paper, so I tour them
Now IO got that off my chest, I feel better.
Ma
I think you missed the point. The ones I've listed are the ones I'm guilty of (or have been at some point in my life).
You can find the full list at the other end of the highlighted link near the top of the post.
The guy who came up with the list is a native Michigander who's since lived in California and now lives in Ohio.
And don't forget, this was supposed to be humorous! Not scientific.
So were my comments. Although they WERE scientific, too. Some of 'em.
Ma
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