# People with really strong accents **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 21, 2022, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-with-really-strong-accents/968317 "2022-07-21T13:38:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Limmin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f04885/32.png) [@Limmin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Limmin)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2022, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-with-really-strong-accents/968317/41 "2022-07-24T15:00:42Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > I picked up the Wiscahnson accent (it has mild notes of Scandinavia) Yeah, you could tell the difference and choose to speak that way…or not. @kenobi_65 you’re from WI, do you / did you speak with a “Wiscaansin” accent? I’m from Madison, and I never did. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2022, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-with-really-strong-accents/968317/42 "2022-07-24T15:03:51Z")
> [@Limmin](#): > > @kenobi_65 you’re from WI, do you / did you speak with a “Wiscaansin” accent? I’m from Madison, and I never did. As a young person, I did. As I noted upthread, Madison is often considered to have a milder, “neutral Midwestern” accent, and my six years in Madison (and, now, 30+ years in the Chicago area) did a lot to blunt the edges off of my accent. But, I have definitely had people, even in the relatively recent past, comment on the nasal “a” (“Wiscaahnsin”) in how I speak. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2022, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-with-really-strong-accents/968317/43 "2022-07-24T17:58:46Z")
> [@iamatractorboy](#): > > Being a Brit, I think the only US show I’ve seen where I had trouble was The Wire, although I quickly got used to that and managed to cope without subtitles. I’m a native American speaker, and _I_ had trouble with _The Wire_ at first, too. Didn’t take too long, though, and I never resorted to subtitles. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2022, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-with-really-strong-accents/968317/44 "2022-07-24T18:09:13Z")
Yes, there seem to be differences between rural and urban parts of some states. In Missouri, the urban parts often pronounce it “mizooree”, while the rural southeast may call it “mizooruh”. When I showed up at the Oakland Army Terminal on assignment and told them I was from Missouri, they said, “We have someone else here from that state, but he doesn’t sound like you at all. Are you sure you’re from the same state?” ---
**Author:** ![Paintcharge](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/paintcharge/32/7946_2.png) [@Paintcharge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paintcharge)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2022, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-with-really-strong-accents/968317/45 "2022-07-24T19:01:58Z")
I’m originally from Maine, but I’ve got a pretty standard mid-atlantic accent, but I have relatives that I can barely understand. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2022, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-with-really-strong-accents/968317/46 "2022-07-24T22:42:48Z")
Children definitely learn their accents from their peers. My paternal grandparents spoke English with strong Yiddish accents. My father, although his first language was Yiddish, spoke with an ordinary South Philly accent. My mother’s was West Philly. I grew up just a couple blocks from where she did (and went to the same elementary school) so of course I sounded like her. Once I went to a talk by Richard Feynman, which he gave in a strong Brooklyn accent (the kind you don’t hear any more, even in Brooklyn where my daughter lives). Then there was a question period after the talk and, in answering, he reverted to what I take to be Southern Californian. ---
**Author:** ![Kropotkin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kropotkin/32/18045_2.png) [@Kropotkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kropotkin)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2022, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-with-really-strong-accents/968317/47 "2022-07-24T23:03:15Z")
St. John’s, Newfoundland (NEW-found-land, not new-FOUND-land,)1980s. We were the come-from-aways as we were from “Canada.” Neighbours had strong outport accents, not typical St. John’s accents. Finally we asked Audrey, “why do you call your husband ‘Bum Boy?’” “What do you mean? How do I use it?” “Well, you might say, 'let’s go to town, Bum Boy.” Audrey explained she was saying to her husband, “let’s go to town by and by,” that is, soon. Even with the explanation it sounded like bum boy ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2022, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-with-really-strong-accents/968317/48 "2022-07-25T02:25:19Z")
“What is a ‘yoot’?” [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/K6qGwmXZtsE/maxresdefault.jpg "My Cousin Vinny (4/5) Movie CLIP - Two "Yutes" (1992) HD") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6qGwmXZtsE) ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2022, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-with-really-strong-accents/968317/49 "2022-07-26T14:46:23Z")
I wonder if that is the reason for home schooling. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-with-really-strong-accents/968317.md?page=2)