it's not the way my mother talks, it's not the people that she mocks

[causeways]

So a hugely disproportionate number of my friends out here are from Southern California. Only a third of the kids at my school are native Californians, but within my group of friends it's like, basically all of them. And for whatever reason, the past few days have had the common theme of, "Let's tell me everything I am doing strangely (i.e. WRONG

Comments

[nutkin]

I'm trying to imagine pen and pin not being pronounced the same way and... FAILING HORRIBLY.

[causeways]

I can pronounce them differently if I really, really think about it, but in casual speech they are always the same. I have to think of the e like in 'meh', and then I can produce pen so it doesn't sound the same as pin, but it takes EFFORT.

People keep trying to tell me that this is just a Southern thing, but it is SO NOT. Oregon is so not equal to the South. It's in various different little pockets all over the country!

[memphis86]

I always think it's interesting to hear those whacky regional dialects, I'm told I have none but I tend to start imitating the accent of whoever I'm around. There's a guy in my school from Kentucky and I can drawl around him, I put on a Madonna-accent whenever I talk to my Dad, etc. When I was younger I used to get teased for using the British slang I grew up with. Apparently, there's no such slogan as "slow as toast" in this hemisphere. It's all about molasses...

And I have no idea about driving or anything because I'm one of those citykids who doesn't even have a learner's permit.

[causeways]

Dude, I do that too! My personal weirdest was picking up Midwestern vowels around my friend Alison, who's from Minneapolis but doesn't pronounce her vowels that way.

Oh you citykids. <3

[setissma]

I watched like half of SPN while in VA and between Sam and the check out people at the grocery store, I managed to pick up a serious drawl. Good job, self. Good job.

[causeways]

Drawls must be CONTAGIOUS or something. \o/

[redbrickrose]

I pronounce pen and pin differently. And I call it a carpool lane. BUT in both southern New Mexico (where I grew up) and New Orleans (where I live now) the interstate is definitely I-10. *g*

[causeways]

For sure! Here, though, it is the 10 Freeway. These Californians, man. They're pushy. ;)

[annella]

Do 'beer' and 'bear' rhyme when you say them?

[causeways]

Nope, not even close! Do they for you? If so, which one do they both sound like? (I'm kind of a born-again linguistics nerd. Or something. *g*)

[annella]

Not to me, but I was doing a linguistics course a few years back and several people insisted that they sounded exactly the same. Same with 'ear' and 'air'. It was very strange. *L* I figured that it was probably a result of a very strong New Zealand accent, which tends to dull down vowel sounds. My mother is English so I don't do it quite as much as some people!

[oxoniensis]

I can only make pen and pin sound the same if I put on a fake Australian accent! *g*

[causeways]

Fine, be that way. *sticks tongue out*

Omg, your icon. Amazing.

[oxoniensis]

I can't work out why it comes out sounding Australian though!

That's my favourite bit of graffiti - if god wrote graffiti! *g*

BTW, I have to admit to completely forgetting your banner this last weekend in a frenzy of writing. But you will get your Rodney and John!

[causeways]

God should so write graffiti. I mean, he's God! I think he's got the right. :D

Hey, a frenzy of writing is a totally legitimate reason to forget about a banner. <3 Yay!