# Words/phrases used as shorthand for regional accents **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 19, 2024, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-phrases-used-as-shorthand-for-regional-accents/1004471 "2024-07-19T19:10:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2024, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-phrases-used-as-shorthand-for-regional-accents/1004471/1 "2024-07-19T19:10:45Z")
Some regional American accents are strongly associated with a single word or phrase - because people almost always use it when demonstrating how that accent sounds: Long Island: “Lawn Guyland” Boston: “pahk the cah in Hahvid Yahd” Any others? I’d also be interested to hear examples from other languages/countries. ---
**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 19, 2024, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-phrases-used-as-shorthand-for-regional-accents/1004471/2 "2024-07-19T19:12:53Z")
Working-class Chicago accent: “Daaa Bears.” ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2024, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-phrases-used-as-shorthand-for-regional-accents/1004471/3 "2024-07-19T19:15:27Z")
“Là là” , often exaggerated with additional “là” for effect to describe the accent of the people of Saguenay -Lac-St-Jean. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2024, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-phrases-used-as-shorthand-for-regional-accents/1004471/4 "2024-07-19T19:21:46Z")
Y’all for the South. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2024, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-phrases-used-as-shorthand-for-regional-accents/1004471/5 "2024-07-19T19:25:12Z")
nm nm nm edit already. ---
**Author:** ![whitetho](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whitetho/32/1059_2.png) [@whitetho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whitetho)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2024, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-phrases-used-as-shorthand-for-regional-accents/1004471/6 "2024-07-19T19:27:59Z")
“Hoi toid” is the local pronunciation of “high tide”, for the Hoi Toider accent located on the outer banks of North Carolina. ---
**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 19, 2024, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-phrases-used-as-shorthand-for-regional-accents/1004471/7 "2024-07-19T19:28:43Z")
Ya can’t get they-yah from hee-yah. Maine. ---
**Author:** ![Reeses\_Monkey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reeses_monkey/32/2885_2.png) [@Reeses\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeses_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2024, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-phrases-used-as-shorthand-for-regional-accents/1004471/8 "2024-07-19T19:45:51Z")
“Yinzer” for those of us from the Pittsburgh region. ---
**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 19, 2024, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-phrases-used-as-shorthand-for-regional-accents/1004471/9 "2024-07-19T19:48:03Z")
“Yah sure, you betcha” (or just “you betcha”): upper Midwest, particularly Minnesota. ---
**Author:** ![xizor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xizor/32/102_2.png) [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2024, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-phrases-used-as-shorthand-for-regional-accents/1004471/10 "2024-07-19T20:24:14Z")
“New Joisey” for the New Jersey accent ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2024, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-phrases-used-as-shorthand-for-regional-accents/1004471/11 "2024-07-19T20:24:23Z")
Southern California: Duuuuuuude. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2024, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-phrases-used-as-shorthand-for-regional-accents/1004471/12 "2024-07-19T20:34:09Z")
> [@Paintcharge](#): > > Ya can’t get they-yah from hee-yah. Maine Ay-yuh. Awwww-HEEEE: Cajun or “Nawlins” for New Orleans, even though I’ve never heard a native say it that way. ---
**Author:** ![Stratocaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stratocaster/32/16393_2.png) [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2024, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-phrases-used-as-shorthand-for-regional-accents/1004471/13 "2024-07-20T03:03:49Z")
“Yo” and “jawn” for Philly, though the former has been largely culturally appropriated by a jealous nation. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2024, 7:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-phrases-used-as-shorthand-for-regional-accents/1004471/14 "2024-07-20T07:39:27Z")
“Nah then” for stereotypical Yorkshire, “Ayoop” for Lancashire, “Look you” for Wales (that one’s in Shakespeare), “See you, Jimmy” for a Glaswegian, “You’ll have had your tea” for an Aberdonian, “Wotcher, cock!” for any Cockney over 70 or so, “Ooh -arr” for anywhere in the West of England (do NOT be tempted to use any of these if you’re visiting). ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2024, 8:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-phrases-used-as-shorthand-for-regional-accents/1004471/15 "2024-07-20T08:08:26Z")
Which exit? Bawlmer, Merlin ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2024, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-phrases-used-as-shorthand-for-regional-accents/1004471/16 "2024-07-20T12:38:56Z")
> [@Paintcharge](#): > > Ya can’t get they-yah from hee-yah. Maine. …and if you _can_ get there from here: “Ya go up the road a piece, and take a left where Clahk’s fahm\* used ta be.” \*[Clark’s farm] ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2024, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-phrases-used-as-shorthand-for-regional-accents/1004471/17 "2024-07-20T12:59:08Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > Working-class Chicago accent: “Daaa Bears.” More like ‘daaa Bearss’ - slightly more sibilant ‘s’ sound. At least according to the 9000 SNL ‘Bears fan’ skits I’ve seen. Our friends to the north (or to the south if you’re a Detroiter): Ending a sentence with ‘eh’: “how’s it going, eh?” Or ‘sorry’ (with an ‘O’ sound as in ‘sore’). Or “let’s go oot and aboot in the boot”. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2024, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-phrases-used-as-shorthand-for-regional-accents/1004471/18 "2024-07-20T13:09:58Z")
People in the US say “Aboot the hoose” to mean a Canadian accent. In Indiana, children use “Talk country” to refer to a rural accent. We said this (“talk country”) back in the 70s in a college city in southern IN, and I have heard children using in a different southern city in the 90s, and in Indianapolis in the 2010s, and very recently. I’ve never heard an adult say it though, and when I first said it to my non-Hoosier bred mother, it took her a minute to understand what I meant. There is a pretty sharp distinction, I should say, between the rural and the urban speech in Indiana. I once misunderstood a high school classmate saying her house “was on fire” as saying her house “wasn’t far.” In all fairness, I didn’t move to Indiana until I was 4, and I’ve lived other places; I think I speak mostly the generic “American” than either the New York (Manhattan), where I learned to speak, or the urban Hoosier, with which I grew up. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2024, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-phrases-used-as-shorthand-for-regional-accents/1004471/19 "2024-07-20T13:26:59Z")
_Toidy-toid and toid_ for Brooklyn, or possibly genericized to all of NYC. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2024, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-phrases-used-as-shorthand-for-regional-accents/1004471/20 "2024-07-20T13:32:54Z")
“The \” for California. I’ve heard it several times from natives but I can’t say it correctly myself, let alone recreate in text. But here goes. Something like “Bal’mere”. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-phrases-used-as-shorthand-for-regional-accents/1004471.md?page=2)