I noticed Knighted Vorpal Sword is from Bawtimore, Hon! So I thought he/she and our fellow Bawlmoreans might enjoy my dictionary.
Ay gaw, hon, ah gots one o’ dase outsade mah winder, in case der’s a far!
—Eve, who went to college in Bawlmer
Nice dictionary. I always thought the pronounciation and words were a bit dependent on the neighborhood. Found it hysterical that the people in Upper Locust Point looked down on the people in Lower Locust Point (no idea what is the exact line of demarcation).
That’s a great one, Eve, mind if I add it?
I grew up in Towson, not Baltimore proper, so the dialect was a little watered down. Pronunciation does depend on the neighborhood.
Heehee. When I want to, I can sound like I’m straight out of Highlandtown. See youse downy ewshun, hon!
Weirddave, don’t you mean Hollandtown??
I grew up in Essex (please don’t hold it against me). 
I really never encountered the true Bawlmer dialect until I met some folks from Highlandtown. Now, they had it down pat!
I believe the correct pronunciation is “Hollantane.”
Very funny! Made me a little homesick. As soon as I started reading it, I scrolled to the bottom to make sure you had ‘zinc’ on there. You did, in fact. Good job!
- Anamorphic, who grew up in Randallstown
It’s an interesting dialect. It sounds mostly Southern, yet with some hints of New England as well as Scots. All the long-a for long-o substitutions (e.g. ayshun) are a hallmark of Scots English.
I spent my formative years in Parkville, and I can say with confidence that I don’t sound like a Baltimorean. In fact, I can’t even mimic most of the pronounciations. I can recognize it a mile off (it was weird hearing the accent in Athens, Ga from one of my instructors), but I can’t make the sounds.
Incidentally, my maternal grandmother used to rench the zinc when she was done warshing dishes. And my grandfather cut the grass with a paramoer.
heh That’s just great. I moved from Bawlmer back to San Juan ten years and 25 days ago, after a little more than that studying/working in Mobtown. Still got some dear people back there.
FairyChatMom - I’m in Fullerton. You know, next to Overlea, along “Blair” Road, selling a house so I can move to Virginia. I’m going to miss Bawlmer.
I’m very sorry to report that Herring Run is NOT happy tonight. 
30 million gallons of stuff that should never reach a creek has spilled into it.
Heh. I love watching news items from the US (I know whereabouts in the US now 
) that talk about “far farters”.
“Far farters in Colorado battling a forest far…”
Nope, I wasn’t “talking the talk” yet.
Ahhh, I remember my Jr and Sr High school days now.
You have to imagine a born and bread New Englander (who had picked up most of his dialect in and near BOSTON, no less) being moved to Linthicum, just south of Bawlmore, at the northern end of Ann Rundel county, right smack in the middle of eighth grade. You should have heard me by the time I graduated - talk about a kid with a majorly screwed up sense of words and dialectical usage!!
My first experience with the language was my first day in school when my mom was signing me up. The administrator was trying to figure out whether I was eligible to ride the school bus or not. He asked if I lived a “mau” - my mom and I just looked at him with blank stares. “Do you live a mau fom schoool?” My mom and I looked at each other and I asked, “do you mean ‘do I live more than a mile away?’” He said, “Yes, a mau.”
Our next door neighbor confused us once when she came over and said that her freezer “went up” and all the frozen food was now in the zinc. We eventually determined that “went up” meant “it broke down.”
Of course, you hoped you’d never have to ride in the AM-bew-LANCE if you got hurt.
Those years were fun.
I grew up too far away from Baltimore (20 miles) to pick up any of that enunciation, but a friend of mine who grew up in Glen Burnie frequently lapses into it when she’s drinking…sample line…
“Ha yoo bendoon, I aim durnk rite now”
Translation:
“How are you doing, I am drunk right now”
I always thought it’d be funny if they had some Baltimore people talking in a movie with Proper English subtitles appearing, kinda like they had the subtitles for the black guys speaking jive in “Airplane!”.
I don’t think either of the dictionarys has O’s or dem O’s, short for the Orioles. I wouldn’t even know how to tell somone to properly pronounce O’s.
How is this accent different from a Philadelphia accent? Can anyone point out something specific?
I was born in Philly and grew up outside the city, and when I moved to Maryland a few years ago, I was surprised that everyone talked like me! My Os sound funny, too (“close” is something like “cle-ose”), “ayg” for egg, yep, yep… I don’t say “wooder” or “warsh,” though, thank GOD.
Now that I think about it, I think the Baltimore accent is a little flatter than the Philadelphia accent…hmmm, must gather more evidence…