Pronouncing "Foie Gras"

[Busboy]

[

I took Spanish and German.  I couldn't pronounce a French word properly if my life depended upon it.

But how many other people can order trocken-beeren-auslese or kartofflepuffen mit schlagsam properly? Play to your strengths...

[tommy]

My mother summed this up best:

"Everyone has an accent except me."

on a recent trip to italy, an american was sitting next to us a dinner. towards the end of dinner, she asked where we were from. when we said NJ, she said "i *knew* it. i couldn't detect any accent!" (she grew up in NJ)

and she's right.

[Suzanne F]

"Squeat Mungry" is the answer to the question, "jeetyet?"

AHA! Thanks, Bux. I've been trying to figure it out since August 28th.

[babyluck]

on a recent trip to italy, an american was sitting next to us a dinner.  towards the end of dinner, she asked where we were from.  when we said NJ, she said "i *knew* it.  i couldn't detect any accent!"  (she grew up in NJ)

and she's right. 

I agree. My mom always said the same thing about the TV newspeople & voiceover actors, except she said the locales with no accents were NJ & parts of California. Of course, there's the whole Jersey City-influenced northern NJ thing. My mom (from Cranford) has just a trace of it when she says words like "ball"--kind of like "boo-ul." Growing up in the country, I didn't pick it up. Always thought it was super-boring not to have an accent and tried to copy other peoples'.

But folks who are not from NJ never know this about us--they refuse to believe I'm from here, saying, "but you don't have an accent!"

[tommy]

But folks who are not from NJ never know this about us--they refuse to believe I'm from here, saying, "but you don't have an accent!"

people think that the jersey accent is the accent that i'd say comes from Long Island and Staten Island. i've spent the better part of my life explaining this. they donewannahearit.

[slkinsey]

You might notice that newscasters all speak with the midwestern non-accent.  Or at least the central OH non-accent.  I would take that to mean that it is the most non-accented way to speak American.  So anyone who pronounces things differently from the newscasters is wrong.

I have actually heard this said about many different locales... usually the locale in which the person saying it resides. I had always heard growing up that newscasters used "unaccented Eastern Seaboard English." It would make sense that I would hear that, as I grew up on the Eastern Seaboard.

I've lived and spent time in just about every major region of the United States, and what I have gleaned is that every single one of them has some kind of distinctive regional accent. Now... does this mean that everyone in those regions speaks with the accent? In my experience, no. My father, for example, grew up in rural West Texan, lived in Boston for 30 years and now lives in Houston. There is not, nor has there ever been, the slightest hint of an accent in his speaking voice. Similarly, most people who know me would say that I don't have any regional accent, despite the fact that I grew up in a city with one of the thickest and most distinctive accents, and lived for five years in a part of Wisconsin known for its regional accent.

Generally -- but not always, of course -- one finds that regional accents are less prominent among people from higher social and socioeconomic strata (especially among the "vieux riches" as opposed to the "nouveaux riches"), and among people with higher levels of education. There are plenty of counterexamples, of course (Bill Clinton, for example, is highly educated), but I have found this to be a reasonably reliable rule of thumb.

[Alex]

Now that we've gone totally OT: what about the different ways to indicate that you are trying to leave the elevator or bus? "Getting out" versus "Coming out." The latter took some getting used to, when I lived in Detroit.  That's dee-TROYT, not DEE-troyt or day-TRRWAH even if it was named for both a French gentleman of that pronunciation AND the fact that it's on a strait (étroit in French).

And not duh-TROYT either.

When I lived there the pronunciation of street names got to me: Freud = frood; Goethe = go'-thee; Dequindre = duh-quin'-der; Lahser = lasher. I could go on.

I'm 30 years removed from NYC but I still stand on line. I also put up some coffee in the morning. Is that a New York-ism or just me?

And thanks, Hobbes, for posting those pronunciations. I always had pronounced "sommelier" with the final "r," dilligently following the mnemonic I learned in high school French: "Be CaReFuL about pronouncing the final letter."

I think I'll have a bottle of Château Faux Pas with tonight's dinner.

[Mark Sommelier]

The British pronounce sommelier as "Smelly-A". Female sommeliers, called sommelieres, fare worse: "Smelly-Air".

[Squeat Mungry]

"Squeat Mungry" is the answer to the question, "jeetyet?"

AHA! Thanks, Bux. I've been trying to figure it out since August 28th.

Thanks from me as well, Bux! I based the handle on a vaguely recalled joke about the way New Yorkers talk as told by my father.

I had completely forgotten about the "jeetyet?" part!

My extended family on both sides is for several generations North Carolinian, but my father was a Coast Guard officer and I grew up all over the country and in Europe, finally settling here in San Francisco. I don't have a distinguishable accent, but to this day can instantly recognize a North Carolina accent, and often place it regionally.

Here in the Bay Area, I have heard our non-accent referred to as "Basic Radio Accent".

Cheers,

Squeat

[Ladybug]

Varmint will be familiar with the North Carolina town of Fayetteville. He will probably back me up when I assert that the inhabitants of this town pronounce it "FED-vul".

When I wish to disembark from a bus or elevator, I signal that wish with "going out!".

Cheers,

Squeat

As it's the home of Fort Bragg, most people just refer to it as Fayette-Nam.

And Fort Bragg is "Fort Drag." And Pope Air Force Base is "No Hope Pope." Every base has some sort of unflattering nickname. It's fun and not really a reflection on one's patriotism.

[bloviatrix]

I'll never get used to the Long Island accent.  There's just something about hearing 'saw' pronounced 'soar' that makes me cringe.

Actually, the Lawn Guyland accent is a bastardization of the the Brooklyn accent.

[babyluck]

I also put up some coffee in the morning. Is that a New York-ism or just me?

Just you.

[pete ganz]

Actually, the Lawn Guyland accent is a bastardization of the the Brooklyn accent.

Yeah, my dad is from Brooklyn and he pronounces pizza "peetz-er". Cracks me up.

[hjshorter]

Generally -- but not always, of course -- one finds that regional accents are less prominent among people from higher social and socioeconomic strata (especially among the "vieux riches" as opposed to the "nouveaux riches")

That may be true is most parts of the US, but doesn't hold up in the the Philly Main Line area. My college roommate was was from an old family and was virtually unintelligible due to the lockjaw that afflicts most of those families.

The upper crust Boston accent is smoother than the Southie, but is still readily apparent to anyone else in the rest of the country.

[Toliver]

My mom likes "EYE-talian" food.

Me: "Ma, it's 'Ih-talian' food. The country's not called 'EYE-taly' ."

Mom: "You knew what I meant, didnja?"

[sherribabee]

I'll never get used to the Long Island accent.  There's just something about hearing 'saw' pronounced 'soar' that makes me cringe.

Actually, the Lawn Guyland accent is a bastardization of the the Brooklyn accent.

I treat the Brooklyn accent like a foreign language. When I hear it, I just stand there with a confused look on my face.

I don't live too deep into Brooklyn, so most of the folks in my 'hood don't have the accent. And being from central OH and having lived all over the place I consider myself relatively non-accented.

[sherribabee]

Actually, the Lawn Guyland accent is a bastardization of the the Brooklyn accent.

Yeah, my dad is from Brooklyn and he pronounces pizza "peetz-er". Cracks me up.

I can't get over calling mozzarella 'MOOT zurel'

[bloviatrix]

I don't live too deep into Brooklyn, so most of the folks in my 'hood don't have the accent.  And being from central OH and having lived all over the place I consider myself relatively non-accented.

If you live in the Heights, or thereabouts, the reason for no Brooklyn accent is that they're all Manhattan transplants.

Oh, and if you think Brooklyn is bad, you should hear the Bronx accent.

[sherribabee]

I don't live too deep into Brooklyn, so most of the folks in my 'hood don't have the accent.  And being from central OH and having lived all over the place I consider myself relatively non-accented.

If you live in the Heights, or thereabouts, the reason for no Brooklyn accent is that they're all Manhattan transplants.

Oh, and if you think Brooklyn is bad, you should hear the Bronx accent.

Heh. I'm in the Slope, and yeah, it's chalk full of 'urban pioneers.'

When I first moved here and was starting to date, I decided that I just could NOT date anyone with a NY accent. I dislike it that much.

[elyse]

"Squeat Mungry" is the answer to the question, "jeetyet?"

It's actually Jeat jet.

Wait, you weren't doing Nine Stories, were you?

Edited November 6, 2003 by elyse (log)

[Schneier]

Did you intent to write "pronouncin" in the topic title? 

Did you intend to spell it "intent"?

Universal rule: Any comment on spelling will contain a spelling error.

Bruce

[Mark Sommelier]

Actually, the Lawn Guyland accent is a bastardization of the the Brooklyn accent.

Yeah, my dad is from Brooklyn and he pronounces pizza "peetz-er". Cracks me up.

I can't get over calling mozzarella 'MOOT zurel'

How do you feel about calling capicola "gabagool"?

[Bux]

Did you intent to write "pronouncin" in the topic title? 

Did you intend to spell it "intent"?

Universal rule: Any comment on spelling will contain a spelling error.

Bruce

What can I say? I'm a model citizen. I obey all laws, especially Murphy's.

[pete ganz]

How do you feel about calling capicola "gabagool"?

And don't forget that calamari is "gahlaMAHD"

I think this is more Italian-American though, and not just regional. People would break your chops if you pronounced calamari correctly in my area.

[elyse]

I'd rather have chops than calamari.