The Pronunciation Detective
Aug 4th 2008
Claudia DainOn Writing!
I love the English language. I love everything about it. I love how it’s irregular, and how it borrows from every other language freely and with no apologies. I love how pronunciation differs across the map. I love how you can tell where someone’s from or where their parents were from by how they pronounce certain words. Or you can tell if you’re a really good pronunciation detective. I’m not that good at it, but I keep trying.
Try this quiz: three words that are pronounced differently across the American English speaking world.
Roof: do you pronounce it like ‘tooth’ or like ‘tough’?
Interesting: do you pronounce it ‘in-tres-ting’ or ‘in-ter-es-ting’?
Experiment: do you pronounce it ‘ex-spear-i-ment’ or ‘ex-pear-i-ment’?
Once you have answered, tell where you’re from and see if the pronounciation detection exercise works! By the way, my DH and I pronounce each of these words differently because we’re from different parts of the United States. Needless to say, it drives me nuts that his pronunciation is so off.
85 Comments »
85 Responses to “The Pronunciation Detective”
LisaK on 04 Aug 2008 at 4:09 am #
Does the German girl count, too? I think this could be interesting in so far as to see how we’re taught here at school.
I pronounce “roof” like “tooth”, “interesting” is “in-tres-ting” and experiment is “ex-pear-iment”.
I think we’re supposed to learn British English, although I tend to mix it (I write “colour” but “recognize”). Is Paula anywhere in sight? Did our teachers do a good job?
Margaret Garland on 04 Aug 2008 at 5:58 am #
Oh, Claudia, I love words too. And the way they are strung together. I will sometimes stop in the middle of a book to read a paragraph 2-3 times just to savor it.
1. Roof is pronounced tooth
2. In-tres-ting
3. Ex-spear-i-ment
And, like the good Texas girl I am, pecan is pronounced puh-cahn with the emphasis on the 2nd syllable. If you say it as pee-can, you are wrong, wrong, wrong and I may have to shoot you.
Margaret Garland on 04 Aug 2008 at 6:00 am #
Umm. Where do I got to find out if the pronunciation detective is correct in my case?
Karen Hawkins on 04 Aug 2008 at 6:10 am #
Hmmm! That’s very in-trest-ing!
Roof = Tooth
Interesting = In-tres-ting
Experiment = Ex-spear-a-mint
Oh, and I say puh-cahn, too, Margaret!
Kerri on 04 Aug 2008 at 7:19 am #
Having a mother from northern Indiana, and a father from southern California, my sister and I tend to pronounce words BOTH ways - we never know which side will come out! For instance - do you say apricot with a long a, or a short a? How about mayonnaise? I tend to use may-o–naise, but once in a while come out with plain old maynaise.
Then there is the old hard “g”. My mother pronounces anything that ends in “g” (such as anything!) with a very pronounced “guh” sound at the end. She also says “fing-er” as opposed to “fin-ger”. Once my husband and I moved to Indiana from California ten years ago, I realized I could tell if people came from the northern part of the state if they spoke like my mom. Must be the Wisconsin/Minnesota Norwegian influence!
As for your examples, I pronounce them like you, Karen!
Laurie G on 04 Aug 2008 at 7:33 am #
Well, I’m from Wisconsin so I say it the correct way!! lol
in- ter-es-ting, rough, ex-pear-i ment, pee-can, caram-el
Others: bag & flag with a long a sound
meas-ure-ment vs mea-sure-ment
I’m German not Norwegian so we don’t draw out the o’s
boat vs booat
Kathy/Cookie on 04 Aug 2008 at 7:47 am #
1. Roof- like tooth
2. Interesting- IN-tres-ting
3. Experiment-ex-PEER-i-ment
I’m from Nova Scotia ,Canada, and I can assure you no one I know says about like a -boot.
I do find my self saying ‘right’- as in “it’s right over there” as rate. but when I use it to say ‘turn right’, it comes out the correct way. odd.
My mother spoke no english until she was 17- she was French Acadian. she said things like GAH-zee-bo for gazebo.
a high school friend of mine spent summers in Boston and she couldn’t say worm without pronouncing it wahm.
Jessie on 04 Aug 2008 at 7:52 am #
Oh, a game!
1. Roof= tooth
2. Interesting= either one, but I think mostly in-ter-esting (or innerresting)
3. Experiment= ex-pear-i-mint
Oh, and I say pecan puh-cahn too, Margaret!
I’m from Georgia.
Margaret Garland on 04 Aug 2008 at 8:04 am #
My theory on “pecan” is that only people who come from where they grow know how to pronounce the word. LOL
I remember reading a number of years back that tv would destroy the dialects from various parts of the country. Because everyone would learn to speak “tv”. I’ve found that,other than millions of people taking up buzz words, we all still tend to speak our regional dialects. However, Jeff Foxworthy & Garrison Keilor have made good money proving that our speaking patterns haven’t been lost. Buzz words come & go but the things we learned from the adults in our lives, stands us in good stead. I’d hate to have everybody speak the same way. Language would be very boring in that case. Remember “dead meat”? I was so happy when that passed into oblivion.
Keri, I hear people adding “uh” to words all the time. So odd.
Paula on 04 Aug 2008 at 8:13 am #
How confusing this could be!!
Roof as in: tooth
Interesting as in: in ter esting
Experiment as in: ex pear i ment.
Lisa K I spell colour but recognise
( no z just an s).
In England we have different ways of saying Bath vs barth
tomato vs tomarto!
SuzyQ on 04 Aug 2008 at 8:40 am #
Jersey checking in . . .
Roof = Tooth
Interesting = I use both but more so as In-tres-ting
Experiment = Ex-spear-a-mint
Margaret, for the record I pronounce pecan the correct way too, but I don’t think we grow them in Jersey.
Ronlyn on 04 Aug 2008 at 8:45 am #
In Seattle (but grew up in MT)
Roof=tooth
Interesting=In-ter-es-ting
Experiment=ex-spear-i-ment
My mother says “warsh” instead of “wash” which drives me absolutely batty. I’ve been correcting her for over 20 years. “There is no R in wash!!” She was visiting thsi weekend, so I got a fresh dose of it. LOL
dbrown3400 on 04 Aug 2008 at 8:52 am #
This is confusing for me because I grew up in Tulsa, and then moved to NJ when I was 23. Now people in both states think I talk funny, but this is how I pronounce these words:
Roof: tooth
Interesting: in-tres-ting
Experiment: ex-spear-iment
I’m with the the puh-cahn, say y’all, and in-sure-ance. The NJ daughter says caawfee in a way that makes me think of “LaawngIsland.” (All one word.)
Kathy/Cookie on 04 Aug 2008 at 9:01 am #
Paula, here in Canada we spell colour, theatre, favourite. I spell recognise either way.
and we say Z as ZED
Beth C. on 04 Aug 2008 at 9:02 am #
So I grew up in Morgantown, WV from parents going to the University.
Roof: is like tooth
Interesting: in-ter-es-ting
Experiment: ex-pear-i-ment
And just to mess everything up: Puh-cahn pie is made from Pee-cans
(Really I say the word by itself both ways (depends on whether or not I’m with my northern relatives or my husband’s southern relatives) but it is always Puh-cahn pie.)
And I love to eat kar-mel - yes, it is just two syllables. Don’t know why people insist on giving it three.
Charlotte on 04 Aug 2008 at 9:04 am #
I’m from the south.
Roof: tooth
Interesting: in-tres-ting
Experiment: ex-spear-iment
amy1242 on 04 Aug 2008 at 9:08 am #
Again, a Wisconsonite checking in.
Rough
ex-pair’-i-ment
in’-ter-est-ing
and I do find myself saying aboot more often than about, and sometimes rate comes out instead of right. It depends on how fast I’m talking. I love listening to other dialects in conversations. When I’m out east or out west, people always think I’m Canadian. I feel so exotic then! *g*
amy1242 on 04 Aug 2008 at 9:15 am #
Beth C, I too, make pah-cahn pie with pee-cans. I wonder why the two pronounciations come out like that. “I picked up my pee-cans for the pah-cahn pie I’m making.” Strange.
Gannon on 04 Aug 2008 at 9:30 am #
Great blog, Claudia.
Roof = tooth
Interesting = In-tres-ting
Experiment = Ex-spear-a-mint
And, of course, as a Southerner, I always say puh-cahn.
Kari on 04 Aug 2008 at 9:33 am #
Roof: tooth
Interesting: in-tres-ting when talking to adults but in-ter-es-ting when talking to my son or children
Experiment: ex-spear-i-ment
One day I would love to take a cruise to the Caribbean, “Car-i-be-an”.
Margaret Garland on 04 Aug 2008 at 9:35 am #
I’ve lived in Yankee land for 32 years but I still say “over yonder” , I’m “fixing” to do something and I still drink “ass tea” I don’t say T but can’t put the way it’s said into spelling.
My gks like to tell me words to say because they are all dam Yankees and think I talk funny. I say co-in, for instance.
I don’t know if this is regional or not, but my face has a forrid. Whereas the rest of my family has a 4-head. They laugh and I quote the little girl who was horrid and had a little curl in the middle of her “FORRID” you moron Yankees! Good thing they love me anyway. LOL
Freedom Writer on 04 Aug 2008 at 9:40 am #
Another Wisconsinite here
Roof like Tooth
Experiment like Ex-spear-iment
and Interesting depends on the usage It is an in-terst-ing quiz. Or The group’s answers are very in-ter-esting.
When I worked at Lands’ End as a telephone sales rep many people told me that they can tell a Wisconsinite by their accent. I don’t hear an accent, do you?
Karen Hawkins on 04 Aug 2008 at 9:58 am #
I had a friend from Wisconsin who, when she disagreed with something, always said in a spritely voice, “Gosh heck if I don’t!” I always associate that with Wisconsin and it makes me grin.
Freedom Writer on 04 Aug 2008 at 10:16 am #
KHawk, I have not heard that phrase, but it does sound like something you might hear while standing around the Bubbler here in Wisconsin.
Nichole B. on 04 Aug 2008 at 10:20 am #
OK, I’m a Washington state girl.
Roof- tooth
Interesting- in-ter-es-ting (come on it’s spelled that way, say it that way, right?)
Experiment- ex-pear-i-ment
Oh and Ronlyn= My mother says “warsh” instead of “wash” which drives me absolutely batty. I’ve been correcting her for over 20 years. “There is no R in wash!
My Dad grew up and has lived in the Seattle area all his life and he says those things too! Drives me crazy! What is up with that? Come to think of it, my Grandma did too- she grew up in the Seattle area too. Hmmmm.
evlqn on 04 Aug 2008 at 10:30 am #
I’m a dialect sponge. I don’t speak any other languages but I pick up speak patterns from whomever I am speaking to.
Tooth -roof
inter-est-ing
ex-spear-a ment
Call-a rad-a Colorada
Car-mel
Sabrina Jeffries on 04 Aug 2008 at 10:52 am #
Well, my accent is so confused, who knows what it is? My parents are from different parts of the country (Mom from Louisiana; Dad from St. Louis). I was born in New Orleans, grew up in Thailand, went to college in central Louisiana, grad school in New Orleans, lived in New Orleans for YEARS, and then moved to North Carolina. Which part of all that influenced my accent?
So, for the quiz, I pronounce “roof” like “tooth”, “interesting” as “in-tres-ting” and experiment as “ex-pear-iment”. Until Claudia wrote this blog, I didn’t even realize there were alternate pronunciations for those three.
I say “wash” the same way I’d say “water,” and I was teased for that in college.
And Margaret, you are absolutely right about “puh-cahn.” Drives me nuts when people say “pee-can.”
cail on 04 Aug 2008 at 11:14 am #
Newyawker checking in:
Roof: actually both ways, Santa is on the ruff, the roooof needs to be fixed. Blame it on my dad, he’s from VT
Interesting: ‘in-tres-ting’
Experiment: slightly different than both it ‘ex-sper-i-ment’
i took 3 years of speech class in college bc of my Acting major, and the majority of my New Yawk accent was minimized, but i still bust out with all-awl, call-cawl, talk- tawk, coffee-cawffee etc constantly, especially when on the phone with my grandma and mom.
cail on 04 Aug 2008 at 11:15 am #
oh, and i’ve never heard anyone say puh-can. ever.
PJane1031 on 04 Aug 2008 at 11:27 am #
I just surprised myself, reading thru the different responses, I was thinking that I said roof like tooth, when in fact, I apparently say it like ‘tough’ (though in actualilty, I thought it sounded more like a dog bark–ruff!!)
Interesting: In-ter-es-ting
Experiment: Ex-spear-i-ment
I’m also a midwestern girl (MN), and was a Speech Communications major in college. Not sure if that ‘messed’ with my speech patterns, but it sure took me long enough to learn to say ‘often’ with a silent ‘T’!!!!
ct009ct on 04 Aug 2008 at 11:48 am #
Oh, I love pronunciation and accents. I try to guess (only in my head, mostly) where people are from, by how they talk. My hubby and I occasionally play “name that accent”.
My mom’s German - my dad’s from Pennsylvania/New Jersey.
I’m an Army Brat - born in Germany. Lived in Kansas, Oklahoma, North Carolina, Illinois, New Jersey, Colorado and Germany in my youth.
I say roof as in tooth.
In-ter-rest-ing (i know there is only one r, but i pronounce two)
Ex-pear-i-ment
And for some reason I pronounce the nut pee-cahn. a mix of the two????
And I do say care-a-mel???
Surprising myself - I use both offen and often, depending on I don’t know what.
Julia London on 04 Aug 2008 at 11:54 am #
Roof like poof, experiment is ex-spear-i-ment, and if I am completely honest, its more like ex-spear-mint, and in-tres-ting, unless I am making fun of someone back east and say in-ter-e-sting in a well-modulated, authoritative tone while wrinkling my nose in disdain.
Here’s one that people think is funny: UM-brella, emphasis on the um. Lots of people emphasize the brella.
Margaret Garland on 04 Aug 2008 at 11:58 am #
I love this! Thanks, Claudia. ct, I think I must say “care-muhl”. I can’t eat them anymore so I don’t have much occasion to say the word.
My DH was from Boston. He took Houston-born me up there shortly after we were married. I swear it is no lie when I tell you all he had to act as interpreter for both sides. LOL BTW, when we were looking for a house, he told me I might be interested in a rue hoose. Uh huh. After we got it straight that he mean t “row house”, I was still clueless. We didn’t have those in TX and I had never seen one. Now, I know that I wouldn’t want to live in one as that would mean living in a 20 ft wide, 3 story house in the middle of the city. I don’t think so!
Nicole P on 04 Aug 2008 at 12:42 pm #
Roof = Tooth
Interesting = In-tres-ting
Experiment = Ex-spear-a-mint
And I am from West Virginia.
I think this stuff is very interesting too!!
evlqn on 04 Aug 2008 at 1:10 pm #
Oregon has two pronunciations Or-gun and Are-e-gone.
Reminds me of the Henry Higgins song,”Why can’t the English teach their children how to speak?”
Stephanie J on 04 Aug 2008 at 1:16 pm #
I’m a MN gal tho now in TX. I constantly get made fun of for saying roof the tough way although I’d have to say I associated it with more of a dog-bark “ruff” sound as well! I say ex-spear-a-mint and I really have no clue about in-tres-ting vs. in-ter-e-sting. I think I switch back and forth.
For those of us from MN…do you all know Duck, Duck, Grey Duck? Apparently the rest of the country has never heard of it and they only have Duck, Duck, Goose.
People in TX say IN-surance. I say in-SURE-ance. The TX way can drive me crazy but I’m sure the fact that I say root like I say foot drives others nuts.
LisaK on 04 Aug 2008 at 1:22 pm #
Claudia, with this blog you really stimulated my brain cells!
I find myself thinking very hard abouth whether we do have this pronounciaton thing in Germany, too. I don’t think so. We rather have different words which are also spelled differently but so that you can still determine what the actual word is.
Anyone here who wants to hear an example?
Janae on 04 Aug 2008 at 1:29 pm #
Another Montanan - it’s roof as in tooth, intresting, and expeariment. My mom used to tell us stories about our dad, who was raised in WY, pronunciation when they first got married. Tire was like tar; Saran Wrap was Saren wrap (or the closest proximation that I can come to), wash was and is to this day warsh - drives me batty. When I was in Virginia this last week, I heard Warshington when the tour guide was talking about the paintings and busts at Monticello. So I just thought my dad picked that up from his grandmother was from Virginia - until I read that other people’s parents said warsh. I wonder where it comes from.
Once we had a Welsh electrician who dh thought was from Eastern Europe, so he asked. I wish we had bet because I would won it. Since then I always make sure that we do because I’m better at it than him. *G*
Sheridan LA on 04 Aug 2008 at 1:32 pm #
roof - tooth (and poof)
in-tres-ting
ex-pear-i-ment
and it is puh-CAN… no pee-cans here.
it is also praw-LEEN (praline) when talking about the candy.. but PRAY-leen when talking about the ice cream flavor.
the first time I had a hard time understanding something (I know people from all over) was in Maine.. we were in a souvenier (how in the HECK do you spell that word? gawd) shop..the woman said they had a particular style of shirt in a shot sleeve.. took me forever to get she was saying “short” sleeve. heh..
course, the Cajun accent can be a fun puzzle, too…
and Freedom.. yeah.. there is an accent in Wisconsin..
Claudia Dain on 04 Aug 2008 at 1:39 pm #
Hello!
I’m awake! I’m here!
I got in late last night from the RWA conference and am just getting my feet underneath me.
I had forgotten all about caramel, which I pronounce car-mel.
Lisa K, I’d love to hear some German versions of this! Language is so cool.
Claudia Dain on 04 Aug 2008 at 1:42 pm #
The first time I heard IN-surance, I did a double take.
How about ’suit’ for suite (sweet) of furniture? That took me by surprise.
Here’s another word that gets double pronunciations: guarantee. Is it GAR-un-tee or WAR-un-tee?
I know the “right” answer. Ha! That which was learned at our mother’s knee is always the right answer.
Claudia Dain on 04 Aug 2008 at 1:44 pm #
Sheridan, that reminds me, when I was a kid in LA I met a girl who had just moved from Pennsylvania and she kept saying her blouse was ‘hut’ pink. I kept asking her to repeat it and repeat it, completely confused while she kept getting increasingly annoyed. She finally showed me the shirt.
Hot pink.
Sheridan LA on 04 Aug 2008 at 1:57 pm #
Claudia.. I went into a furniture store when I lived in Colorado to order a new table.. the guy pulls out the catalog and says they have it in mahogany, oak, white and mat-tee black…
I said in what black?!? (matte)
Mat-tee black. huh… I don’t think that was a dialect thing… just a.. well.. uneducated thing..
Sheridan LA on 04 Aug 2008 at 2:00 pm #
I have a friend who is from northern Germany.. I came back from central/southern Germany all excited I could say “I don’t know” and my fave (there is a story behind it) “dumb foreigner”
she cringed.. apparently, the southern German is a bit more harsh then northern - at least to her hears.. so she corrected me and now i say it with a softer “ich” sound….
I also giggle when my French speaking friends (from Paris, Avignon, French Canada) all talk about each others accents and how they all roll their eyes at one another and how they talk.. it all sounds French to me.. who knew?
My friend and I were in Mexico and some guy asked her in Spanish if she was from a certain area.. she was not, but her parents are who taught her Spanish… the man recognized her accent.
Funny how there are accents in “foreign” languages.. that sounds redneck - but you know what I mean..
Sheridan LA on 04 Aug 2008 at 2:09 pm #
oh.. and if “mat-tee” IS a regional thing, my apologies for claiming it is uneducated.. I have not heard it from anyone but him.
foot in keyboard on that one if that is the case.
bad, Sheridan.
*insert groveling if needed*
LisaK on 04 Aug 2008 at 2:27 pm #
Okay, now here I am exclusively with my faves! Hemhem (I cleared my throat). So, first things first, all the following “a”s are pronounced like the “o” in “other”. An “ä” is like “ai” in “air”, “e” like in “hem”.
Standard German for “a bit” is “ein bisschen”.
I grew up and live in the very south (of Bavaria) and I say “a bissl” or “a bissal”. My mom, who is from the Saarland, says “e bissje”, in the very north you say “n büschn”. In other Bavarian parts you can hear “a weng” (that comes from “ein wenig”, but that’s acutally rather written language), “a wengla” and “a bissele”.
Oh my, so funny what dialects look like when you write them down!
Another word is “nicht”=”not”.
I say “ned” (with long “e”), my mom says “nid/nit”, one from the north says “nüsch” or “näischd” or “nüdd”.
LisaK on 04 Aug 2008 at 2:37 pm #
Sheridan, I don’t think we have a harder “ich” sound here, it may rather be the fact that the “ch” (and it has two different ways of pronouncing depending on the word!) is harder to pronounce for foreigners in general. And actually, speaking dialects, nobody ever says “ich” - I say “i” (not like the English “I” but like the “ee” in “need”), the ones from the north say “ick/icke” and the ones from the west and east say “isch”.
Claudia, you’re right, language is sooo cool!
Hm, looking at my previous post I realize only now that “ein Bisschen” written with capital “b” is “a small bite”.
That’s cool. Really.
Sheridan LA on 04 Aug 2008 at 2:50 pm #
I think you described it better then I did, Lisa.. it was the “isch” and “ick” or something like that… I am not a German speaker at all, except a few words I learned here and there when I was visiting… so I mangled it more then you can imagine.
She is moving to Berlin in a few weeks (I’m VERY sad about this) so I will hopefully get to visit her soon and learn a few more words
ct009ct on 04 Aug 2008 at 3:12 pm #
Lisa, my mom is from Unter Franken (Kitzingen) and we say “a bissla” or “a weng” for a little bit.
LisaK on 04 Aug 2008 at 3:20 pm #
ct009ct, that. Is. So. Cool!
PJ on 04 Aug 2008 at 3:39 pm #
I grew up in southwest Michigan, lived 24 years in Florida and the past 12 in South Carolina. For me, it’s
roof - poof
interesting - intresting
experiment - ex spear i ment
wash not warsh
- When I was a kid, the summer neighbors from Chicago always talked about the warsh-a-teria. I thought it was some kind of bath house. Turns out it’s a laundromat!
pecan - puh cahn
praline - pray lean
aunt - ant (not ahnt)
Here in my little corner of the south people don’t use the world ‘pleased’. It’s always ‘proud’. “Ahm proud fer ya” “Proud to meet ya” “Proud to carry ya to the store” We don’t drive or take people places. We carry them.
FreedomWriter, what’s a Bubbler?
PJ on 04 Aug 2008 at 3:41 pm #
I’m always fascinated by regional dialects and the different words we use for the same thing. And accents are a funny thing. When I visit relatives in Michigan they invariably say something about my southern accent yet when I meet a native from my corner of South Carolina they almost always say, “You’re not from round these parts, are ya?” And the funny thing is that after living in Florida for 20+ years and South Carolina for 12 most locals around here can pinpoint my accent as being from Michigan.
Kathy/Cookie on 04 Aug 2008 at 3:56 pm #
I say PEE-cahn-pecan
PRAY-leen-praline
AHnt-aunt
Kari on 04 Aug 2008 at 3:56 pm #
PJ-The same thing happens to me. Next month I will have lived here in Florida for 10 years. Everytime I go back to Michigan for a visit I get accused of “catching” the accent of the Florida people. Makes me chuckle.
)
(My pops are now sodas
I had a bagger at my local Publix ask me where I was from. I looked at him and said “Michigan, how’d you know?” he said “No one is from Florida anymore”. It’s almost true. My dh and his brothers are about the only ones I know that were born and bred in Florida.
Ellen on 04 Aug 2008 at 4:01 pm #
New Yauwk weighing in. I would HARDLY prop us up as a dialect that could dictate pronunciation. Fagettabowtit.
Roof….tooth
Experiment…. ex-per-i-ment
Interesting….in-ter-est-ing
Pecan….nuts
Nuts….balls
Balls….chutzpah
amy1242 on 04 Aug 2008 at 4:01 pm #
PJ, a bubbler is a water fountain, like what you take a drink of water from in the hallway at school. My Texas cousins think it’s the funniest thing to say bubbler. And here we say soda, not pop. When I was a kid, someone asking me if I wanted a pop, always frightened me. Of course I don’t want a pop. What kid does?
amy1242 on 04 Aug 2008 at 4:03 pm #
LOL, Ellen!
Kari on 04 Aug 2008 at 4:09 pm #
HAHAHA LOL, Ellen!!
Karen Hawkins on 04 Aug 2008 at 4:17 pm #
Ellen, YOU are a nut! Or a chutzpah, either one!
Claudia Dain on 04 Aug 2008 at 4:25 pm #
Ellen! Too funny.
And Amy, now you bring up another slew of words to mean hit/punch/strike/slap.
Pop for me always and only means a sound. Jiffy Pop anyone?
Punch is either a hit or a drink from a big punch bowl.
Mash is always potatoes. Here in the southern US, it can mean push, like “mash number two” on the elevator panel.
Now hit has many meanings. I’d hit the button for my floor in the elevator; an idea can hit me; it can mean I need another playing card; it can mean a physical strike; it can mean go faster, go harder.
“Hit me with your best shot. Fire away!”
Jane on 04 Aug 2008 at 4:42 pm #
Roof: tooth
Interesting: in-tres-ting
Experiment: ex-spear-iment
I’m from NY.
Alice Faye on 04 Aug 2008 at 5:12 pm #
I have lived in Charlotte most of my life, miss two years in Utah going to college.
It is Roof = Proof
Interesting = In-ter-rest-ing
Experiment = Ex-pear-ment
Pecan = Pee-con
I also call it Sharlit not Char-lit. We turn out the lights, i call it tin foil can’t say the other word.
I know I watch Paula Deen too much.
But my grandmother who is 95 and had a 5th grade education can not say Michigan it always comes out Mitchagin. The eye doctor tried for over 30 minutes to get her to say Macular Degeneration. He finally gave up! Now if you talk to her sister who is in her late 70’s you wouldn’t believe they were even related. She lives in Virginia and speaks very proper.
Cemetery for her is Simatree and for us is simatary
Margaret Garland on 04 Aug 2008 at 5:13 pm #
Ellen, you are such a hoot! I love the transition there. LOL
If you are in Texas, you don’t ask for pop, soda, soda pop or Moxie. You ask for a coke. When asked what kind, you can say you want a Coke, Dr Pepper, root beer, Sprite or any other fizzy drink you might want.
Michelle B on 04 Aug 2008 at 5:17 pm #
Roof like tooth, inter-resting, ex-spear-iment. I am from Nebraska, but have spent the last 21+ years living all over the U.S. and meeting people from all over courtesy of the United States Air Force. We have lived in Texas twice and have picked up Y’all very easily. Love that “word” and still use it today.
Margaret Garland on 04 Aug 2008 at 5:33 pm #
The PA Dutch around here do the following:
Outen the lights
Let it there awhile OR Leave it lay. - Means the same thing.
Go down the shore - Meaning the beach on the Atlantic Ocean
They “red” up the room. - Tidy up the room lightly.
Tie the dog loose. - I had a neighbor who did this.
Go down the street a piece ways. - Giving someone directions.
If you’re not Amish, you are English.
Margaret Garland on 04 Aug 2008 at 5:43 pm #
Off topic but I have to get it off my chest. GD Olivia was coming over here a couple of hours ago to give me her camera so I could u/l photos to the computer for her.
She called crying. They had 2 5 week old kittens they’d rescuied from the tool shed & O had been hand feeding them. As she was walking out the door, she didn’t see one of the kittens following her and she slammed the front door on it.
She took it to the vet up the hill. I was out of here like a shot to be with her. It turned out the poor thing’s back was broken. I have permission to have it put down. Both Olivia and her mom, my DD, were sobbing. Phyllis left work early to come home for O.
O has a bigger problem. Her boyfriend called her while she was at the tournament to break up with her. Told her he’d been with a lot of other girls while he was seeing her and he didn’t even like her any more. What a toad!
I knew he was too much like Eddie Haskell. My poor baby. It’s hard to learn life’s lessons, isn’t it?
evlqn on 04 Aug 2008 at 6:04 pm #
Margaret, how awful for Olivia. Hope she knows the kitten is more worthy of greiving than the toad. We have a blessing or curse however you want to look at it in our religion “May you stand in your own truth.” Maybe someone should tell that to the toad because it seems like his truth is no where Olivia wants to be.
Kudos to you for being a great grandmother.
PJane1031 on 04 Aug 2008 at 6:06 pm #
Stephanie J–yep. . . I learned “Duck, Duck, Grey Duck” as well, and was SOOO confused when folks first started to talk about “Duck, Duck, Goose”–I was like, “No, you’re doing it wrong!!” I now realize it’s a regional thing, so it’s all good!
Margaret–((((HUGS)))) to both you and Olivia!!
Karen Rose on 04 Aug 2008 at 6:14 pm #
Hey Claudia! Glad the goddesses got home okay.
I’m from the DC Metro area, but my parents are from the South. I don’t know that there is “DC accent.” It’s such a transient area, with the government and the military, that people don’t stay that long as a rule.
I say roof like tooth, but my mom says ruf, but not like rough. I couldn’t think of a descriptor word. I say inneresting, or sometimes intresting. Ex-pair-iment.
And I say pee-can. Now that I know it bothers Sabrina, I’ll find a reason to say it to her whenever I can!
My mom always said aunt like ain’t, so I did too, for a long time.
So does your pronunciation thing work?
Kathy/Cookie on 04 Aug 2008 at 6:15 pm #
Oh my Margaret! that is so sad!
I feel so bad for Olivia!
send her hugs from me! not for the toad, since she is so better off without him. but the guilt she must feel for the little kitten. You don’t get over something like that vey easily.
Yaya on 04 Aug 2008 at 6:15 pm #
For me:
Roof as in tooth
in-ter-es-ting
ex-spear-i-ment
ca-ra-mel
puh-cahns but sometimes pee-cans
i am confused. Am I saying it correctly for california? I come from a dad that is mexican so I tend to speak spanglish. My mom has an accent she has always had that who-knows-where-it-came-from since she has lived only in cal and texas for a while. She adds a prolonged ’sshh’ sound to words that have ’sh’ or ‘ch’.
Yaya on 04 Aug 2008 at 6:17 pm #
Lots of hugs for Olivia, Margaret. She is way better off, let him stay a toad
Claudia Dain on 04 Aug 2008 at 6:19 pm #
Oh, Margaret, I’m so sorry! Poor, poor girl!
Jerk boyfriend! All I can say is that I’m glad she got loose of him now; the sooner the better with someone like that.
amy1242 on 04 Aug 2008 at 6:23 pm #
Oh, Margaret…hugs and circle back rubs to you and O. My heart breaks for the little kitty, but the toad can go to H-E-double hockey sticks! I had a brother like that…until he met a girl he really liked and she did the same thing to him. I was NOT sympathetic, like my mom was. The little prick! Taught him a good lesson! Now he’s a good husband and proud dad of three.
Claudia Dain on 04 Aug 2008 at 6:23 pm #
The pronunciation detective is seriously muddled today.
I was SURE that ex-spear-i-ment was a mid west thing, but it doesn’t look that way. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve pointed out to DH that there is no ’s’ in that word!
I also was SURE that roof as ‘ruff’ was another mid western anomaly.
The only thing I’m still sure of is that aunt is pronounced ‘ahnt’. Sure, I tell you, completely sure!
amy1242 on 04 Aug 2008 at 6:33 pm #
I use aunt and ant to suit the person I’m referring to. Ant Sandy doesn’t sound right to me, so she’s Aunt Sandy. Ant Barb, works, so I use it that way. Sometimes I throw in an Auntie Pam, just for fun. Or an Antie Cindy. I guess I’m all over the place on this one! No help from the midwest, sorry.
Ellen on 04 Aug 2008 at 6:42 pm #
Margaret…my brother-in-law did the same thing to their new kitten. He was talking on the phone and little “Emily” got caught up in the gears of his recliner. When they finally decided to unhook the life support, my sister whispered, “Go to the light, Emily.” That always made me smile.
As far as her boyfriend. Let me put it to you like this. Any jackass that, not only feels the need to break up but also admits that he was unfaithful, should have his Puh Cans roasted with a blow torch.
I truly believe that good comes from everything in our life. Olivia is SO VERY LUCKY to have that sommonabitch (italian NY) out of her life.
Margaret Garland on 04 Aug 2008 at 7:54 pm #
Thanks for the tea & sympathy today, goddesses. I’ve really enjoyed the Pronunciation Detective. Even if we did get Claudia “all fuddled up” as a man who worked for my daddy used to say. He’s long gone from this world but I still say it as it sounds like just how I feel at times.
Olvia is in sad shape at the moment. She did go up to football practice and hung with some of her guy friends for a bit. I tried to tell her that I don’t know any woman who’s ever had a boyfriend who hasn’t had such a thing happen. Sometimes more than once. She’s just 17 and needs to learn not to fall in “love” so fast.
Unfortunately, she’s like the rest of the women in my family. She just wants to crawl off somewhere private to lick her wounds. We are all too reclusive.
Sabrina Jeffries on 04 Aug 2008 at 9:29 pm #
I should clarify that I meant puh-cahn, not puh-can. I was focusing on the first syllable.
Margaret, I’m so sorry about your gd’s kitten. That’s very sad.
My 3-year-old sister stepped on the neck of one of our kittens when we were young, but it must have been a very strong kitten, because it got up and walked away shakily and lived to a ripe old age, thank goodness. But it is sometimes too easy to hurt them. They can get into places they shouldn’t be without our knowing it.
Oh, and I’m sorry about the boyfriend situation, too. He clearly wasn’t worthy of her. I’m sure she’ll find someone who is.
LauraR on 04 Aug 2008 at 9:59 pm #
northern california here.
roof = tooth
interesting = inneresting
experiment ex-speriment
like you folks who have puhcahn for pecan, we pronounce almond ahmun…the joke is that since the farmer uses a shaker to get the nuts out of the tree, the ‘L’ is shaken out of the name.
Margaret, poor Olivia. what a jerk to not only break up with her but to tell her he doesn’t even like her anymore. Maybe she can get one or more of her guy friends to beat the jerk up.
Karen Hawkins on 04 Aug 2008 at 10:12 pm #
Margaret, send me the name of that jerk. I’ll eviscerate him in fiction. Grrr! I hate a cheater, man or woman, but I ESPECIALLY hate a calloused jackass cheater. She’s lucky to have escaped!
TinaLouiseF on 04 Aug 2008 at 11:55 pm #
I suck at pronounciation (and spelling) silent letters in words should be eliminated.
My aunt in ND warshs the dishes.
I have a cousin in Jersey that asked for a glass of Wooter.
Rooof.
Interesting I say either way.
Car-mel or Cara-mel
Almost 3 years in North Dakota while very young, about 15 months in Spokane for junior college. The other 30 some years in Kalispell, Montana
Margaret Garland on 05 Aug 2008 at 5:55 am #
KarenH - “Margaret, send me the name of that jerk. I’ll eviscerate him in fiction. Grrr! I hate a cheater, man or woman, but I ESPECIALLY hate a calloused jackass cheater. She’s lucky to have escaped!”
Thanks, Karen. Did I mention both his parents are police officers? He is only 20 and we all know that means he’s not fully cooked yet. Olivia will be OK even tho she thinks there’ll never be anybody else. 17 year old girls tend to believe there is a one and only instead of multiple choice.
I’m just Allen lives & goes to school 1 1/2 hours away in Shippensburg. She’s having surgery tomorrow for a bunion. The pain ought to take her mind off the toad for awhile. Thanks for offering to make him a villan in print. You are so sweet!
dee on 09 Aug 2008 at 6:25 am #
roof - tooth
experiment - ex pear iment
interesting - inter esting
colour, theatre not theater, griller not a broiler
definition of dag - uncool person
jumper not a sweater
the back of the car is the boot
can you guess which country I’m in
Ellen on 11 Aug 2008 at 2:25 pm #
Another New Yorker here, also named Ellen, but nowhere near as funny as the other Ellen from NY–still laughing at your post. I think we have our own version of the english language, depending on where in New York you are from. Here are my answers:
Roof=tooth
experiment=ex per a ment
interesting=in tra sting
I used to cringe thinking that people could tell right away where I was from as soon as I started talking, until I started responding “Whaa do ya think I’m from” and that always gets a laugh, and they always guess right. I’ve embraced they way I “tawk” now!