Comments (46)

1. she did alright, but a true ‘burgher would know that it is pronounced “Stillers.”
   “Here we go, Stillers, Here we go. Pixburgh’s going to da Super Bowl!”

   posted by Yerg on 10-12-2007 at 5:24 am

2. I live in northwest Louisiana, and have noticed that the pronunciation of “Jordan” sounds much more like “Jerdan.” It’s across the board — people’s names, street names, rivers, etc.

   posted by Nora on 10-12-2007 at 6:34 am

3. David - thanks! I was born about 30 miles outside of Pitt (Greensburg) and many of my cousins still live there but I have migrated to Jersey (yinz want to talk about ‘talking funny there’s a subject for ya). When we get together we talk about all the different local things like City Chicken, chip-chopped ham, Isley’s ice cream. Nice memories!

   posted by JaneM on 10-12-2007 at 6:36 am

4. Awww, that made me all homesick n’at.

   posted by Alison on 10-12-2007 at 7:21 am

5. I live in the Pacific NW now, but am from Jersey orignially. People always tell me I tawk funny. But they wonder why I don’t say things like Joisy. Seems that most of the country thinks that Brooklynese and the Lawng Guyland accent are how people from Jersey speak. It’s not, that is a New York accent from all the people who moved from NY to NJ.

   posted by QT314159265 on 10-12-2007 at 7:44 am

6. I think this is the correct time to point out that the majority of Canadians do not have an accent. I grew up about an hour outside of Michigan and frequently watched US news stations, and for the most part, all of the Canadians I know (including myself) talk exactly the same. However, we have pecan pie (PEE-CAN), not (PUH-CAWN).

   posted by Kate on 10-12-2007 at 7:50 am

7. I too live around the Phildelphia area, and I’m sure that there’s so many things I’m not even aware of. I remember reading that other people don’t call sprinkles ‘jimmies,’ which just seems weird.

   posted by Kitty on 10-12-2007 at 7:53 am

8. What? Canadians do have an accent! I just got back from a trip to Winnipeg and they definitely have an accent there. I’m struggling to try to type something out the way it would be pronounced in Winnipeg but can’t seem to do it. It was kind of like how they talk in Fargo but not as bad; not nearly as pervasive, just certain words. And the use of “eh?” is uniquely Canadian, and frequently used, at least in Winnipeg.

   Of course, I’m from Pittsburgh so I can’t really criticize.

   posted by Amber on 10-12-2007 at 8:04 am

9. I live about 25 minutes from the Burgh. There still some phrases that I end up using that are only used in Pittsburgh. If you use them anywhere else, no one knows what you’re talking about. ie gumband, jimmies, Rolly Coaster, Scootch

   posted by Amy on 10-12-2007 at 8:08 am

10. Pittsburgh is kind of an interesting accent… It’s kind of Midwest-sounding, and a little like Baltimore too, where I’m from. I have lived here my whole life and somehow have not picked up the Baltimorese accent. (check out www.baltimorehon.com for some examples of that)
    Of course, no one really thinks they have an accent until they travel somewhere else, or until someone comes to visit them and says “Yall sher dew tawk fuhnny!” (like our cousins from Kain-tuck said)

    posted by Molly on 10-12-2007 at 8:30 am

11. I’m a life-long Long Islander and know that we pronounce some words in our own unique way. However, contrary to the comment from QT314159265 and many people’s assumptions, I do not say either “Lawng Guyland” or “Joisy,” nor do any of the Long Islanders I know. Those Brooklynites, though….

    posted by Betsy on 10-12-2007 at 8:47 am

12. Canadians don’t have an accent, eh? LOL
    How aboot the way they say aboot?

    I’m in the upper Midwest, and always thought national newscasters had the same accent as we do. I think maybe everyone does. It wasn’t until I met someone from NY that I really realized I had an accent at all. We draw our vowels out. Which is why you hear, “Oooh yaaa, yoou betcha.” LOL

    There’s a cool quiz floating around the net-”What American Accent Do You Have?”
    I’ve taken it a few different times and it always ends up being dead-on.

    posted by mrs.djs on 10-12-2007 at 9:09 am

13. Appalachain (Southern) Ohio has some doozies.

    The long “a” sound in many words gets changed into a short “e” sound. “Well” for “whale”, “tell” for “tail”, etc.

    The short “i” sound often gets changed to a long “e” sound as in “deesh” and “weesh” for “dish” and “wish”.

    There are also still some quirks which hang on from the German heritage of this area. My grandmother says “milch cow” instead of “milk cow”.

    posted by bibli0phile on 10-12-2007 at 9:30 am

14. It’s funny you posted this because I’m at the University of Pittsburgh right now, and I hear so many different accents every day (the Buffalo accent is prevalent here too). Being from New Jersey, Massachusettes, and Virginia, I’m pretty sure I don’t have a particular way of speaking, but I’ve noticed that some people from the ‘burgh have that Irish way of asking a question. If that makes sense. (see soundbite #2)

    & i’m still getting used to the word “pop” for soda

    posted by Laurel on 10-12-2007 at 9:42 am

15. Kate-

    Many great “American” news-anchors are Canadian immigrants. You may talk like those anchors because you all have a shared accent.

    posted by Jack on 10-12-2007 at 9:55 am

16. I lived in Jersey for quite a few years and my mother was raised there. Since then, I’ve moved all over the country. I’ve picked up and lost many accents and phrases. Occasionally someone will ask me if I’m from Jersey based solely on my choice of words. I don’t go to the beach. I go down the shore. That guy’s not a tourist. He looks like a Benny with his socks and sandals. These are just a few of the phrases that have stuck with me. There are only three words that still carry the accent and they are aranges, Flaridah, and my grandmother is Darahthy.

    Down in Virginia I lived in Hampton Roads (pronounced Rudes) and near Norfolk (pronounced Nawfuk). I was up in Boston for a few years and its wicked bad up there, but if you’ve seen Good Will Hunting, you already knew that.

    posted by Olson on 10-12-2007 at 9:55 am

17. It makes me smile whenever I hear a native Pittsburgher speak. I’ve lived here for 12 years and married a Pittsburgh boy, but I’ve never picked up the accent.

    Thanks for the post!!

    posted by paperback writer on 10-12-2007 at 9:58 am

18. We here in Texas have our own language, but the one thing that gets me is the pronunciation of pen, as in the writing tool. Here it’s often pronounced pin, as in the thing that pricks ya.

    In my year living in St. Louis, I was also made fun of for my y’alls. While many people use the word these days, I apparently draw it out in the nice southern drawl I didn’t know I had . . .

    posted by Meagan on 10-12-2007 at 9:58 am

19. Oh, and my boyfriend is from central (rural) Minnesota, so he has a few that make me laugh. My favorites are using a short u sound in double o words–e.g. “rut” for root and “ruf” for roof. He also leaves out the Ds in couldn’t, wouldn’t, and shouldn’t, which gets a little awkward for people first hearing him say couldn’t (”coont” but sometimes with more of a short u sound . . . )

    posted by Meagan on 10-12-2007 at 10:03 am

20. Sheboygan, WI, had some interesting linguistic oddities (at least in the mid-80s when I lived there). Pastries or doughnuts were collectively referred to as “bakery” (as in, I’m going out to pick up some bakery for breakfast). What others might call a cookout or barbecue was known as a fry. And as in other parts of the state, we drank from the bubbler in the school hallway (elsewhere known as a drinking fountain or a water fountain).

    posted by Caleb on 10-12-2007 at 10:04 am

21. I lived in Eastern PA for a short while many moons ago, and on occasion tried to explain the interesting way people there seemed to end their questions; but couldn’t quite put my finger on it. Now at last I found an example, particularly in the Steeler’s example. Does anyone else “hear” what I am talking about?

    posted by SophieBird on 10-12-2007 at 10:07 am

22. Having grown up in the South, I found it amusing when my child’s speech teacher said she was concerned that he was dropping the last consonant sound off his words.

    Well what can I say…he doesn’t hear that consonant at home.

    posted by Kate on 10-12-2007 at 10:11 am

23. In Utah we tend to drop our middle t’s. So “mountain” becomes “moun’un,” “fountain” becomes “foun’un,” and “Layton” (a city on the Wasatch front) becomes “Lay’un.” There are also some people who will say “worsh” instead of “wash” and “bahrn” instead of “born”, although that is mostly the older generation.

    posted by Janel on 10-12-2007 at 10:31 am

24. In Hawaii, we speak a Creole dialect with grammar based in native Hawaiian and words borrowed from Japanese, Chinese, Filipino, Portuguese, and Korean. Apparently indecipherable to tourists, Pidgin is the first language of over half of the state.

    Ho, we stay go beach pauhana.

    posted by Rachel on 10-12-2007 at 11:24 am

25. I’ve grown up in the South, and I drop my “g”s off of -ing words, as much as I try to avoid it. ‘Getting’ becomes ‘gettin’, and I know that “fixin’ to do” something means you’re about to do it. And “over yonder” is another degree of distance, farther than “over there”. I spent the summer up North with all non-Southern people, and the main thing they noticed was me turning a one syllable word into two syllables.

    at Caleb: I’ve never heard of a cookout referred to as a fry, but my family would get on you for ever referring to it as ‘a barbecue’. In the South, barbecue has nothing to do with hamburgers and hot dogs; it’s a way of cooking pork, and a noun referring to that cooked pork. My mother was quite confused the first time her friend from Cali said something about ‘having a barbecue.’ It just doesn’t work.

    posted by scoobnut on 10-12-2007 at 11:30 am

26. As someone who grew up in the South and now lives outside of PGH, there is nothing more precious than someone with a strong Pittsburgh accent imitating a southern accent. I’d love to record it as a historical record, maybe send it to Language Log.

    And don’t forget the PA Dutch influence (at least, I’m told it is). I hear people talk about “redding up” (cleaning) quite often.

    posted by Jim on 10-12-2007 at 11:37 am

27. SophieBird, I don’t “hear” it. But I’d really like to understand. Could you maybe give me an example of how someone not from Pittsburgh would have asked the question?

    posted by Amber on 10-12-2007 at 11:47 am

28. Have you guys ever heard a Baltimore accent? It’s one of a kind - “dare, Hun.”

    posted by Scott on 10-12-2007 at 11:48 am

29. I’ve lived and worked in the the Trenton, NJ area for the past 20 years and have noted several dialect influences from both NYC and Philly areas. However, there is one item that seems distinctly “central Jersey” and that’s the inability to pronounce the letter “T” in the middle of a word. For instance, a “Trentonite” does not hail from “Trenton” … it’s “Tre-un.” A shopping spree could be described as: “I’m wan-in some-in from Tre-un.”

    posted by Mike on 10-12-2007 at 12:27 pm

30. nice piece. but no one here calls us pittsburghians. it’s the burgh and we’re pittsburghers

    posted by diana jones on 10-12-2007 at 12:50 pm

31. Yeah, I’m from Philly. The football team is the “Iggles”, water ice is “woodereyes”, tommorow is “tomar” as in “Yo dude, talkcha tomare” and the favorite “gihed” which translates to “go ahead”.

    posted by Audrey on 10-12-2007 at 1:10 pm

32. Howdy Ya’ll

    posted by Lindsey on 10-12-2007 at 1:33 pm

33. Gum bands instead of Rubber bands - only in Pittsburgh!

    And it’s not only that they say “pop”, but it comes out “PAWP” with the accent.

    I’m from Reading, PA - heavy Pennsylvania Dutch influence, and the thing with the questions is the emphasis is on the wrong word in the sentence, as in, “Did you GO to the store?”

    posted by Barbara on 10-12-2007 at 2:11 pm

34. She has been doing voice-overs for too long. She sounded like someone trying to sound like a Burgher.

    posted by Barbara on 10-12-2007 at 2:12 pm

35. I think I have a partial answer for the issue with the Steelers game question. It’s all about intonation. Traditional American English intonation has questions rising at the end; that is, the word “game” would be the word with the highest pitch in the question. The soundbite definitely does not sound that way; the word “game” has roughly the same pitch as the other words, and I think that the intonation actually goes up briefly on the latter half of the word “Steelers” but that goes by so quickly that I’m not sure. To the person who compared it to Irish English, I don’t know the rules for Irish intonation, but if you do maybe you could confirm what Irish questions sound like.

    posted by Kaberi on 10-12-2007 at 2:13 pm

36. I moved from Ohio to Kentucky where I learned to put things “up” instead of “away”. I also learned how to start a conversation with “I tell you what” to which the other person says, “I tell you what”. That’s all we need to say. Also, if someone asks you to do something and you agree to do it, you say, “I don’t care to”. For example:

    “Would you like to go get some dinner?”
    “I don’t care to.”
    That one still makes no sense to me.

    posted by josh on 10-12-2007 at 3:10 pm

37. I moved to the Burgh over a year ago (for school) and had to write a whole article about Dr. Barbara Johnstone’s research into Pittsburghese.

    My favorite is definitely “n’at.” It’s the only piece of Pittsburghese that I use in a non-ironic fashion.

    posted by Mary on 10-12-2007 at 4:57 pm

38. Ok, so the “Irish Question” thing is about the emphasis, not about the grammar.

    Speaking of grammar, my least favorite Pittsburghese thing is the way we drop “to be” out of sentences.

    Examples:
    Correct: This shirt needs to be washed.
    Pittsburghese: This shirt needs washed.

    Another Pittsburghese thing that’s hilarious but not yet mentioned is “jags.” As in, “Yinz are jags.” Jags is short for “jack offs,” which don’t ask me how that’s even a noun. It’s a commonly used insult around here though.

    posted by Amber on 10-12-2007 at 6:58 pm

39. I just moved from New Jersey to Pittsburgh last month, so this is quite timely for me. My boyfriend grew up just outside the city but doesn’t have a discernible accent, although I almost fell on the floor the first time he said that the dishes “need washed.” His parents and grandmother, however, drop yinzes and dahntahns left and right.

    Amber, “jags” is actually short for “jagoffs,” which as you said are the same as “jackoffs” or “jerkoffs” (the latter of which I’d normally use).

    Having grown up at the Jersey Shore, I think my own accent is a hybrid of Philadelphia (where some of my dad’s family came from) and North Jersey/NYC (my mom was born and raised in Brooklyn). Those two groups are the people who vacation and eventually move to the Shore, too. I say “wuter” like a Philadelphian (although sometimes the more standard pronunciation comes out), “chawclate” (chocolate) like a North Jersey and as for “Flahrida” (Florida) and “ahringes” (oranges), well, I have no idea where those come from.

    posted by Heather on 10-12-2007 at 7:53 pm

40. how do y’all say “Louisville?” I’m from Southern Indiana, and generally I don’t have any particular accent… but around here we say something like “Loo-vul” or “Loo-uh-vul.” (we also have a Versailles, IN, pronounced Ver-sails… and Cairo,KY .. which is pronounced CAY-ro.) (Oh and don’t forget Terre Haute, IN… Tara Hut) I live in Evansville.. which we pronounce.. Evansville.

    posted by Cari on 10-13-2007 at 2:16 am

41. I’m from Cleveland, Ohio and never knew I had an accent until I met my husband (from the West Coast). Apparently, rather than the “O” sound, we use the “AAAA” sound-as in “Caaallege” in place of College, “PAP”instead of “Pop”, “mam” instead of “mom”.

    posted by marissa on 10-13-2007 at 8:21 am

42. My stepmom’s from Pittburgh, and she pronounces her own name (Laura) like “Lara.” She says “melk” instead of “milk,” too.

    I’m from North Jersey, and I don’t think I have an accent, just regional stuff (”route” rhymes with “boot,” “soda” instead of “pop,” etc.). But I laugh at my boyfriend, who grew up around Trenton and names a nearby town as “Warshington.” Jon Stewart grew up in the same area as him, he’ll occasionally say “Warshington D.C” on the Daily Show.

    posted by Liz on 10-14-2007 at 12:17 pm

43. I grew up in Jersey, but moved when I was 14 to France then to Houston when I was 16. So I wound up with an incredibly neutral accent. Except when I’m talking to anyone with a Jersey or New Yorker accent, then I sound like I’m from Jersey. I do use typical Jersey expressions, “down to the shore” and such, and I say pecan, “pee-can.” Which got me a lot of confused looks in Texas. I also refer to carbonated beverages as SODA. This drove me nuts in Texas, they’re NOT all Coke!!! Someone would say, “I’d like a Coke please,” and the other person would respond back, “Which kind?” I also got in trouble at work once because I was working at Boston Market, and someone came in and asked me for dressing. So, I said, “well, we normally only give those with salads, but I’m sure I can find you some, which kind would you like?” To which he looked at me funny, and said slowly, “NO, dressing, that stuff.” And proceeded to point to the stuffing. My coworkers had a good hearty laugh at my expense.

    posted by greenstrawberries on 10-14-2007 at 10:21 pm

44. I have a book from years ago - Sam McCool’s New Pittsburghese: How to talk like a Pittsburgher. One of my favorites is the state to the west of PA - Ahia! Then there are the grinnys, aka chipmunks…I now live in Minnesota (I don’t want “a pahp”, I want a can of pop) but grew up in the Johnstown/Somerset area and I can always hear the Pittsburghese! Of course my mom says I sound like the neighbors they had (near their FL home) that were from Canada - everything ends on an up/questioning tone.

    posted by Ginger on 10-17-2007 at 5:24 am

45. Born and raised in New England, I moved to Baltimore in 96. One of my pet peeves is when people don’t enunciate well and leave off whole consonants. I know it’s a regional thing, but I don’t understand why it’s so hard to leave the last letter on words. To me it sounds like the person isn’t confident in what they’re saying. I had a older Baltimore native coworker get annoyed at me because I leave the T’s on my words, such as when I say “what”. Oh, and it’s Bawlmer. Not BAL-TI-MORE. ugh.

    posted by Jen on 11-7-2007 at 5:50 am

46. You forgot to mention “fillum” aka film. or the giant iggle. POP. Thats a biggie, and the line in which pop becomes soda lies somewhere just outside Allegheny county. I get funny looks when I ask for pop, and I live in Reading, Pa.

    posted by melissa on 3-3-2008 at 10:03 am

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