Terms like ya'll, fixin to, and ain't are part of my every day vocabulary. I "code switch" for no one. My own sister laughed when i told her something was "in yonder" one day. We live in the same state, how has she never heard that before?
My wife grew up in the Chicago suburbs, but moved to southern California with her parents and older sister in 1976. She has retained a hint of that "nasal" Chicago accent over the years, but for the most part it's nowhere near as noticeable as other Chicagoans we know who never lost that accent regardless of where they live/have lived. But send her to Chicago and expose her to her relatives for a week or so, and when she returns to California that accent comes back with her...for a while, anyway.
That used to be a common one here but I haven't heard it for quite a while. Another one I haven't heard lately is "richer than four feet up a bull's ass."
That's interesting, because an alleged linguistics expert once told me that southern Californians don't have an accent per se, but that we tend to speakquicklyandrunallofourwordstogether; I've noticed I'm guilty of that when I'm not stammering or tongue-tied. And I've had several native southern Californians comment on how annoyed they get with people who speak too slowly. So if we speak slower, by comparison you Northeast folks must really speak fast.
My wife grew up in the Chicago suburbs, but moved to southern California with her parents and older sister in 1976. She has retained a hint of that "nasal" Chicago accent over the years, but for the most part it's nowhere near as noticeable as other Chicagoans we know who never lost that accent regardless of where they live/have lived. But send her to Chicago and expose her to her relatives for a week or so, and when she returns to California that accent comes back with her...for a while, anyway.
I've been told I have a typical "southern California" accent which, of course, I don't notice; no one ever thinks they have an accent unless/until it's brought to their attention. But sometimes when I'm really tired I suddenly begin speaking with what sounds to family and friends like a "southern drawl", and I have no idea why. No one in my family spoke that way, and as far as I know I have no heritage connected to the "southern" U.S..
Please, tell me that she isn't a Cubs fan!
Even though I'm not a big sports fan I've noticed this here in California. People who are originally from New York or Chicago, for example, who still retain a strong loyalty to their former hometowns. I've noticed that many are still hardcore Yankees or Cubs fans even after being out here for many years. I've often said that LA is the only place where there are probably more visiting team fans at a sporting event than home team even though practically everybody is a "local."
She isn't, but that's because she's even less interested in sports than I am. We might watch a "big" game if we had money in a pool at work, but otherwise we're the kind of people who watch the Superbowl for the commercials and half-time show and really couldn't care less about the outcome. Most of her relatives who still live in the Chicago area are indeed sports fans and we've heard reports about the occasional serious argument between some of them about their favorite teams, but for the most part all we've ever seen is some very good-natured teasing about those teams' successes and failures during any given season.Please, tell me that she isn't a Cubs fan!
Even though I'm not a big sports fan I've noticed this here in California. People who are originally from New York or Chicago, for example, who still retain a strong loyalty to their former hometowns. I've noticed that many are still hardcore Yankees or Cubs fans even after being out here for many years. I've often said that LA is the only place where there are probably more visiting team fans at a sporting event than home team even though practically everybody is a "local."
In the UK the type of viewer that watches the lowest common denominator shows also has a two word vocabulary. Absolutely & Basically.The only words of New Englandspeak that I know are "ayuh" and "wicked."
