# Eastern U.S. accents **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 16, 2001, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eastern-u-s-accents/93685 "2001-11-16T05:52:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![darin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/848f3c/32.png) [@darin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/darin)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2001, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eastern-u-s-accents/93685/1 "2001-11-16T05:52:32Z")
I was listening to a radio talk show when the caller who lived in San Jose but had recently moved from the north eastern part of the USA said the following to the talk show host (a fellow New Yorker), “The people out west talk funny. They say “fog” and “dog” like they rhyme.” The talk show host chuckled at her observation and sympathized with her frustration with the pronunciation of the westerners. Help this westerner improve his speech. Which word does not rhyme with “hog”? Fog? Or dog? ---
**Author:** ![ruadh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@ruadh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruadh)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2001, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eastern-u-s-accents/93685/2 "2001-11-16T06:28:33Z")
Must be specifically a **north** -eastern thing. I’m from Maryland, and all three of those words rhyme. ---
**Author:** ![Grelby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a5b964/32.png) [@Grelby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grelby)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2001, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eastern-u-s-accents/93685/3 "2001-11-16T06:35:38Z")
I have no idea what this person is talking about. Fog most definitely does rhyme with dog. What I wonder about are my “D’s” and “T’s.” When in the middle or end of words they are either deemphasized to the point of being nearly inaudible, or they are nearly identical in sound. Is it me? ---
**Author:** ![Flymaster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c4cdca/32.png) [@Flymaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flymaster)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2001, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eastern-u-s-accents/93685/4 "2001-11-16T06:37:11Z")
I agree. I have no idea what the caller is talking about, and I was born in Boston and currently live in upstate NY. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2001, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eastern-u-s-accents/93685/5 "2001-11-16T06:41:45Z")
Oh, come now! Fog (fahg) does not rhyme with dog (dawg). ---
**Author:** ![StephenG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7feea3/32.png) [@StephenG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StephenG)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2001, 7:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eastern-u-s-accents/93685/6 "2001-11-16T07:11:05Z")
As one from Boston (Bahstin?), fog (fawg) and dog (dawg) certainly rhyme. Grelby, are you talking about the phenomenon where the words “rider” and “writer” (or “writing” and “riding”) sound alike, except maybe for the length og the first vowel? That’s pretty common; I think most of us have that. ( **matt\_mcl** would probably tell you it’s called an alveolar flap, if I remember correctly…) ---
**Author:** ![cheezit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c57346/32.png) [@cheezit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cheezit)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2001, 7:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eastern-u-s-accents/93685/7 "2001-11-16T07:21:43Z")
Well, frog, dog, fog, hog…they all rhyme. But I was watching the news the other day and there was a guy they were interviewing from, I don’t know where, that had a real problem pronouncing the word **saw**. The guy kept saying that he **sore** this and he **sore** that. The last I looked, _saw_ did not have an “R” in it. ---
**Author:** ![PhiloVance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e19adc/32.png) [@PhiloVance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhiloVance)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2001, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eastern-u-s-accents/93685/8 "2001-11-16T07:25:58Z")
Yeah, and **wash** doesn’t have an **r** either. 😃 That’s why I always use: FWIW LOL IRL and WALLY etc. on the message boards, no problem with accents then. 😃 But on radio talk shoes, no one understands me! 😕 [SUB]_::: D&R :::_[/SUB] ---
**Author:** ![Grelby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a5b964/32.png) [@Grelby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grelby)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2001, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eastern-u-s-accents/93685/9 "2001-11-16T12:51:54Z")
That might be it StephenG. Maybe it’s not just me, after all. I was also referring to words like “wanted” and others (usually past-participle verbs, I guess) that end in a -ted or-ded. I tend to notice that some people definitely distinguish the syllable. You can definitely hear the t or the d. When I say it, the syllables blur a lot more; the t or d are very soft. Granted, this impression comes largely from listening to music. I just don’t pay enough attention in actual conversation, for the most part. In any case, the fact that we’re all New Englanders (well… almost) where I come from might make it an inadequate sample. I just don’t know. ---
**Author:** ![flodnak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/838e76/32.png) [@flodnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flodnak)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2001, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eastern-u-s-accents/93685/10 "2001-11-16T12:58:39Z")
“Fog” and “hog” rhyme in my dialect (south-central PA). They do not quite rhyme with “dog”, although it’s close. It wouldn’t be a problem for me to read a poem that rhymed “dog” with one of the other two. On the other hand, the first time I read “Goodnight Moon” to flodjunior, it threw me: > [@](#): > > _And a comb and a brush > And a bowlful of mush > And a quiet old lady who was whispering “Hush”_ “Brush” and “hush” rhyme just fine for me, but “mush” isn’t even close. ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2001, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eastern-u-s-accents/93685/11 "2001-11-16T14:22:40Z")
So, you rhyme _mush_ with _push_? Ewwww… that makes me never want to eat mush again. ---
**Author:** ![Bedrosian\_Bixby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecae2f/32.png) [@Bedrosian\_Bixby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bedrosian_Bixby)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2001, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eastern-u-s-accents/93685/12 "2001-11-16T14:39:48Z")
Another SE-Pa native here! Dog is definately (dawg) around here…ryming more with say saw or brawl then fog or hog. Then again we pronounce water (wooder). ---
**Author:** ![Niobium\_Knight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bc8723/32.png) [@Niobium\_Knight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Niobium_Knight)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2001, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eastern-u-s-accents/93685/13 "2001-11-16T14:40:19Z")
well i’m British (origin of your language) and they rhyme, definitely. the caller obviously has a pronounciation problem. ---
**Author:** ![flodnak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/838e76/32.png) [@flodnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flodnak)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2001, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eastern-u-s-accents/93685/14 "2001-11-16T14:46:00Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Attrayant \* > \*\*So, you rhyme _mush_ with _push_? Ewwww… that makes me never want to eat mush again. \*\* You wanted to eat it before?? ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2001, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eastern-u-s-accents/93685/15 "2001-11-16T16:25:39Z")
Good point 😃 ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2001, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eastern-u-s-accents/93685/16 "2001-11-16T16:56:24Z")
New Yorker here. “Fog” and “dog” do not rhyme. The former is pronounced “fahg” and the latter, “dawg.” But “fog” does rhyme with “hog” and “frog.” So “dog” seems to be the exception. ---
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2001, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eastern-u-s-accents/93685/17 "2001-11-16T17:48:40Z")
**BORN AND BRED IN NEW ENGLAND** Having lived in AZ for a spell, and having been accused of tawkin funny. I think I tawk quite normal. Look, Fawg and dawg rhyme. Plain and simple. Some the people I met in AZ and CA looked at me like I had a friggin thurd eye, when I spoke. I mean these are students lookin at me like I was retaadid or somthin. I think the eubonic-New England nomenclature comes from it being wicked cold all the damn time!! 🙂 this of course is my opinion, and if you could see my BUMPAH STICKAH it says ‘question authority’! ---
**Author:** ![Skelji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b38774/32.png) [@Skelji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skelji)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2001, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eastern-u-s-accents/93685/18 "2001-11-16T18:12:51Z")
Having spent most of my life in New York, it is definitely **dawg** that does not rhyme. I get all kinds of weird looks when I talk here in the Southeast US. Like when I say “cawfee” or ask for a magic “mahkuh”. That’s ok, since I look right back at 'em strange when I hear people say “tar” (tire), “far” (fire), “IN-surance”, and add syllables to words, like “hay-elp”. Friggin’ weirdos don’t tawk right. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2001, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eastern-u-s-accents/93685/19 "2001-11-16T18:14:32Z")
Southern here and they all rhyme in my way of speaking. Of course, they’re all also two syllable words “faw’ ug” “daw’ ug” and “haw’ ug” ---
**Author:** ![sbart6](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ba0ec/32.png) [@sbart6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sbart6)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2001, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eastern-u-s-accents/93685/20 "2001-11-16T18:18:56Z")
I’m from upstate NY and believe me, fog(fahg) rhymes with hog, not dog(dawg). But there are difference within my own state. NY’ers (from the City) and Long Islanders probably think they all rhyme. Go figure! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eastern-u-s-accents/93685.md?page=2)