When I grewup in da Buffalotown der, dat der Cheektowaga accent der was da one we used der when we wanted to describe one of dose der people der who were a bit dumb, dontcha’ know gutdemmet. Now I gotta’ go to dat der Home Depot’s der on da Unionroat and get a wychodek for da’ johnny. Sophie can’t flush down her big uh-uhs der, gutdemmet.
I refer to it as “normal speaking voice.”
I consider myself an above-average imitator of accents. Whenever I tell a joke I try to use whatever accent(s) may be appropriate for the character(s) involved.
I can do Maine, Massachusetts, Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana, California, Texas, various flavors of Deep South, Cajun, Canadian, most foreign countries including regional dialects of many of them.
But when I want to sound dumb I usually go for the mentally disabled. The kind of people Jerry Lewis used to make his money abusing and now is trying to atone for by way of his Labor Day telethon.
The way I see it there are stupid shits everywhere, and giving one region of the country, not to mention the world, some kind of exclusive rights to dumb is, well, let’s call a spade a spade, dumb.
When you pick a specific region to stand for “dumb” you are (from where I sit) dumb yourself. Uneducated, untraveled, biased, bigoted, and next to goddamn worthless.
:wince:
Did I read this correctly? One is all manner of evil, up to and including “goddam worthless” for mocking different regionalisms but your default for sounding dumb is mocking people with muscular dystrophy? 
Please tell me you’re joking.
As for me, I go for SoCal Valley style lingo (though sadly, I hear people from all over the country speak that way. Why, I don’t know).
Only that Southern US accents are closer to British accents than Northen US accents are, and so it’s easy for the British to affect a Southern US accent.
Oh. My. GAWD. I can, like, totally not believe that, like no ONE has mentioned that an accent/speech affectation from the Valley is so, like, duh, stoopid.
Although in written communication I might use lol a lot.
When I want to sound dumb, I do a southern Ohio accent. When I don’t want to sound dumb, I have a northern Ohio accent. Unfortunately, the latter doesn’t scream “intelligence.”
I guess you can sound like a dolt with accent. After all, when Richard Pryor or Eddie Murphy (and more recently, Dave Chappelle) wanted to sound completely clueless, they affected a neutral white accent.
I find often among my friends the “stupid” voice sounds a lot like Bullwinkle the Moose. With a lot of “hyuk, hyuk!” thrown in for good measure.
What am I, chopped liver?
Ohmigod, that’s soooo harsh! I like, TOtally beat you to it by like, threeeee posts. I’m so sure!
No. You didn’t read it correctly.
People with Muscular Dystrophy are not automatically “mentally disabled” nor are my efforts to sound “dumb” taken to include whatever physical limitations might be implied by affecting a Muscular Dystrophied person’s speech. We were (supposedly) talking about accents. The accent (more precisely “mannerisms of speech”) of a mentally handicapped person would be my preference over a regional stereotype if “dumb” was all I was after.
Also, the labeling as “evil” of “uneducated, untraveled, biased, bigoted” is your word choice, not mine.
<snip>
So, which part did I read incorrectly?(bolding mine)You’re the one that (incorrectly)
identified “Jerry’s kids” as mentally disabled. Regardless, it’s reprehensible.
Pretty fucking selfrighteous coming from someone who equates mental and or physical disabilities with sounding dumb.
As for my use of the word “evil” to paraphrase your list of adjectives for people who mock specific regionalisms , (as opposed to the more noble among us who, ya know, mock the disabled :rolleyes: )if that’s the only thing you can think to comment on then I can see my words are certainly wasted on you.
Sort of like the buzzard character on those old Bugs Bunny cartoons: “Which way did he go, George … which way did he go?”
ISTM no matter what accent or mannerism you use to indicate “stupid” … there’s potential to offend someone. Your default might be fine so long as nobody with a mentally handicapped relative was listening in.
Here’s what I said:
“But when I want to sound dumb I usually go for the mentally disabled. The kind of people Jerry Lewis used to make his money abusing and now is trying to atone for by way of his Labor Day telethon.”
Please notice the words “used to” in the second sentence. In the days when Jerry Lewis and Dean Martin were a comedy team and made many movies together, Jerry had as a pattern for his characters those who had some marked mental disabilities. In those days, words like “spastic” and “retarded” and “slow” and such were used to describe the type of person Jerry like to portray. Goofy is another word that still has some favor without the PC issues.
Even after the team broke up, Lewis continued to use that type of character in his solo efforts.
As far as I can remember, Jerry didn’t do people with marked physical disabilities. His choice, later in his career, to do Labor Day telethons for the benefit of Muscular Dystrophy and related disabilites may be totally innocent and may have no relationship to his earlier portrayal of mentally disabled people. I just find it an odd connection.
But I did not say, and you incorrectly assumed that I did, that I was referring to “Jerry’s kids” as the sort of people I would select as models for “dumb.”
I get the distinct impression that you really want to argue with me. It takes two to argue. I have explained what I meant and you can continue to ignore that if you wish. But I have nothing further to say to you on this issue.
I believe Oakminster, Tuckerfan, and the lamented Sampiro would all back me up when I say that WE don’t have accents in the South. We speak the language PROPERLY. It’s the rest of y’all who can’t be bothered even to distinguish between the second person singular & plural pronouns, not to mention everything else.
At any rate, when we’re trying to sound dumb, we affect Harvard accents. 
Yep. We even pahked owah cahs in Hahvahd Yahd.
Except they weren’t cars. They were F-150s.
My sincerest apologies, ** Zeldar **. Upon reading your explanaion, I apparently did missundersand your statement. I am not familiar with the Martin / Lewis characterization that you are referring to, and mistakenly thought you were speaking about the people Mr. Lewis’s telethon now benefits. You may now feel free to use “WOOKINPANUB” speak as your dumb prototype. As for me, I shall be in the corner eating a heaping helping of crow. Mea culpa 
A well-stated apology. I accept with no hard feelings. I had suspected the comedy styles of the 50’s might not be the sort of thing you would have gone to the trouble to catch up on in reruns. They are really pretty lame, and it makes me furious that the French regard Jerry Lewis as the pinnacle of American comedy. Yecch.
Peace
And, of course, the “George” in such settings refers to the lead character in Of Mice and Men and the manner of speaking (with constant references to George) is taken from the character Lennie, portrayed by Lon Chaney Jr. (George was played by Burgess Meredith).
Following the release of that 1939 film, the inclusion of a hulking person of limited intelligence shadowing a brighter, smaller individual named George, and constantly seeking affirmation for his ideas or desires by repeatedly seeking “George’s” approval became a staple of many cartoons (and several live action comedies).
And you’d be wrong. If I want to sound dumb, I talk like Pete Puma.