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Our Michigan Accent


blueradon

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So I don't know if this is old news to anyone...but to those who won't find this old news go to http://www.michigannative.com. This website has links detailing our Michigan accent and how we tend to say things different (and how we sound different than the other parts of the state)...I found the whole thing really comical and noticed that indeed I do say some of those things.

One thing I didn't know is that people in Lower Michigan were called "Trolls," and if you were a visitor to the UP you were called a "cidiot" :lol:

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Here's an annoying quirk of West Michiganders.

If you ask someone from the eastern part of the state how long ago something happened, you'll get a definite answer. A week ago, ten minutes ago, the fourth of July, etc.

In West Michigan, here's what you'll get:

"Oh, a while ago."

But, when? When exactly did that happen?

Oh, quite a while ago!"

Maddening.

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It may sound ridiculous, but I epitomize the "accent." When I'm working customer service I get :huh: In Michigan we have an 'accent.' Here, it isn't that I have an accent, it's that I miss pronounce. What Michigan/ders/ians/ think of as their own 'accent,' is really an embarrassing mispronunciation -- especially when dealing with a distraught customer.

I say "a while ago," but it really happened 3 hours ago -- or was it a few days?

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I say "asssfault."

I don't know about some of you, but I think one of the reasons for my pronunciations is because of family. My Grandfather's history and his grandfather's immigration could explain some of how I might talk. They went from Ireland to Nova Scotia Canada to Leelanau-Traverse City and finally the fair city of Grand Rapids. He has hard 'rs' and a slur about his talk, much like how I talk. I'm thinking that part of the pronunciation and mannerism is induced by parents/family. :dontknow:

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I hate it hate it hate it. It sounds so completely trashy, when I hear people speaking with thick michigan accents. It's pure lazy!

I've been told many times I don't sound like i'm from around here - and I LOVE it.

Listen to radio stations with call in guests, some who are from michigan, and some who aren't, it's maddening to hear how 'dumb' people sound from michigan just because of the laziness of their words.

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I would guess people from teh UP have even stronger accents... I know it's often been associated with northern Wisconsin and northern Minnesota... and the accent is very thick.

Often times, "th" becomes just "t" or "d" so you get... da udder day, it was tirty-two below zero, don'tcha know? Also, the long o.. and A's.. so that "and" becomes eand and cot rhymes with caught... or something like congress almost sounds like can-gress. Milwaukee ends up sounding like Meh-wah-key. So you get "Oh ya, over der in WisCANsin dey eat lots a cheese, I'll tell ya what!"

Also, can ends up sounding like cen and can't sounds like can with a voiced nasal at the end.

Do people say "ya" instead of yeah? Or do you say "yep" instead of yes? I hear "Yep, sure do!" a lot when you ask if a place has something. But I think that might be exclusive to the UP of Michigan.

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I hate it hate it hate it. It sounds so completely white trash, when I hear people speaking with thick michigan accents. It's pure lazy!

I've been told many times I don't sound like i'm from around here - and I LOVE it.

Listen to radio stations with call in guests, some who are from michigan, and some who aren't, it's maddening to hear how dumb people sound from michigan just because of the laziness of their words.

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Never heard "couple-a-three" or any combination, but I also use couple to mean two or more, but not exclusively two.

And, I don't know what NorthEnder is talking about saying an accent is all "white trash." I guess that makes New York, Boston, Chicago...all white trash. EVERY place has an accent, some are just far more distiguishable and pronounced than others. Compared to Wisconsin or Minnesota, the mild accent is pretty mild.

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Rudeness is a characteristic of white trash. I guess 'white trash' is all in the eye of the beholder, but I'm not sure you really know what white trash is. Someone with an explicit non-Michigan accent maybe viewed as white trash to the folks here. I'm pretty sure there goes more into our 'accent' than just laziness.
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But, dropping g's at the end of ing's is hardly an exclusively Michigan thing, and, in fact, is much more common and noticeable in other regions of the country. In fact, many of the things mentioned here are exclusively Michigan. And, to beat in this point, an accent doesn't ever accurately and alone defines someone's intelligence. I think we as humans are notorious for connecting accents with intelligence, where connections shouldn't be made.

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