asperger's and accents

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I LOVE Houston and Houstonians. They are a very wiley bunch. People don't realize that but it has the highest per capita number of engineers in the US. Between NASA and the oil & gas industry - there are some smart "folks" there.

Yeah - and they sound nothing like Sandy. I dunno - maybe she's from Midland. I just had Spongebob on and she was saying "Aaah reckon" a lot - they don't say that in L.A.

Tennesseans are great, aren't they? Memphis, Nashville and Knoxville all have their own idiosynchrasies. The "edjucated ones" in Nashville actually have very nice accents. (Like the Vandy crowd).

Don't care for country music, though - but its not all country. Jack White and Sheryl Crow moved there.

OMG! New Jersey people have the best sense of humor about their state of anyone! And actually, I've been there and its definitely NOT the crappiest state in the union! Its actually quite pretty!

Houston definitely is an awesome place. Whenever I go back to visit, I always have a ton of fun. And then everyone there absolutely loves hearing about life in the midwest, especially the snow! People are really friendly and I'm really glad I was born there. Makes me proud.

Oh yeah, she does say that a lot, come to think of it. I'm beat on when it comes to exactly where she's from. There's so many different dialects down there, it's hard to say!

There's a couple of Tennessee families in my neighborhood and they're very nice. Come to think of it, nearly every state has moved into my neighborhood. There's a ton of Californians out here especially. And I know my neighbors come from Ohio. I only know of a few families that were actually *born* in this state! lol

Oh, me neither! There's very, very, very few country songs I like. I mainly listen to rock and stuff.

I've been to New Jersey a few of times. Once when I was four and twice when I was twelve. But that was only to fly to Europe and back. When it comes to people from states I know of, I'd say Virginians probably have the best sense of humor. My boyfriend and his family all live there and they actually think it's hilarious that I'll call it Virgin-yah. lol Guess they've already heard it all before. We all also get a kick out of making fun of Idaho and tourists hailing from Minnesota. Canada *always* gets made fun of the most. But it's all in good fun.

People ask me this question all the time and most of them say that i sound like an sports commentator.

That's awesome. Like Marv Albert? He's a super freak but I have similar pronunciation and timing to his.

I also like Al Michaels - but not because of his voice - but because he has excellent grammar and tempo. Plus he's a San Franciscan - so I don't notice an accent - which makes me listen - since I'm not trying to figure it out. (But I think he's from New Jersey.)

I never thought about Virginia like that. My family lives in Northern Virginia/DC area. The schools ARE excellent so maybe that explains the sense of humor. But come to think of it, some of the most warped people I know are from the area. VERY dry sense of humor but very wicked. Some of them can make me laugh without even talking. Like a funny expression or rolling their eyes or cocking an eyebrow. So - you're right! They are some of the funniest people in the country. (I think I'll lump parts of Maryland into that opinion. They're pretty hardcore, too.)

They just don't get a lot of credit because they end up in totally serious work - like working for the FBI or the Pentagon. A few made it into big time comedy but not a lot. I know Lewis Black, Dave Chappelle and Stephen Colbert spent their "formidable" years there.

Canadians are a hoot to tease - because they can totally hold their own. I never met a Canadian who didn't have some degree of tourettes. (ha ha.) Seriously, they are out-spoken and use humor to get what they want. Most them are very independent in spirit and attitude and they all have their own way of looking at the world. Some are super conservative and some are crazy liberal. They are also completely fearless.

Having said that - Canadians can also piss me off to the point of serious arguing. But they can take it and dish out and so can I...so it works out. I don't think passive-aggressive is a familiar M.O. in Canada.

Minnesota! Oh, ya! You betcha!



Enough said.

I'm from england, born in london, raised in somerset and consider myself to have no accent. Various people however say I have a very odd accent, that they either can't place or say is american. The american might be down to how much american shows I watched as a kid. I had a habit and still do a bit of repeating any words I hear someone on a show say that I find interesting in as near to their accent and voice as I could. Then again as I've heard a fair few aspies say they've been mistaken for having a american accent it could just be something in the syndrome.

MAN, maybe you and Whoopi should have a history lesson! Blacks(a term some have hated almost as much as colored) have been called negro(Refers to race class, and also an almost INTERNATIONALLY known word meaning BLACK, but ALSO hated), colored(Frankly, I can see the distaste there and, in a sense, we are ALL colored!), and african american(people feel that ALL blacks originated in africa, and that IS where most people originating from are BLACK). So african american is NOT a term indicating nationality, but a PC term indicating RACE! If you want to complain, talk to the blacks from the 70s and 80s! I WON'T use the term that is probably a white/black trash way of saying negro, and that blacks STILL say, but a white dare NEVER say to a group of blacks or an angry black.

BTW I don't mean to offend, I am just stating the TRUTH! As for whoopi, SHE is one of those blacks where, if I were black, or I ever said the word, I would use that white trash way of describing her. People like her make blacks look bad! Frankly, I don't know HOW she got the role of gynan(sp?).

Last edited by 2ukenkerl on 07 Mar 2009, 5:50 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Well, a lot of people think the old NJ accent is like the old NY accent. Surprisingly, the accents seem to be disappearing.

I don't know what indiana accents USED to be like, but I haven't heard any speak like what you described yet. I hope I never do. I HATE that type of accent(no offense to those here that speak that way). As for texas? Accents THERE seem to be disappearing also. Those that DO have such an accent often sound nice. If it were weaker, it would sound better. I thought I heard you before. I'm going to have to keep an eye out. I bet you sound nice.

I describe accent as some affectation of the standard sounds. Standard american(which seems to be spreading over the US), is that way. It is ODD when you come from california(south/west) and find that you now have what many call a midwest(almost north/east) accent! (midwest is a misnomer. I guess that comes from like the early 1800s when it was about as far west as things got in the US. TODAY, you might almost call it the middle east of the US.)

SURE, there are some states that were late to remove such affectations. You may STILL see it in several areas. SOME places have very different slang or an odd vocabulary, but that is a DIALECT! SOME may pronounce things differently, like the often accepted "nucular"(that george bush was ridiculed for), but that is just a different way of saying things. Having been exposed to nucular, and the like, I have to take umbrage that people act like it indicates george bush was an idiot. BTW YEAH! I KNOW it is nuclear, etc... I just spelled it the way many pronounce it.

Then again, WHO KNOWS? There is an interesting way of speaking that I have noticed is used ONLY by some females! Is THAT an accent? It fits my definition of an accent. It OBVIOUSLY has nothing to do with the area, since it may be in California, New York, Texas, etc... Not ALL females do it, and I have NEVER heard a male do it. BTW I kind of like it, so don't think I am being sexist simply because it has to do with the sex. HECK, I have heard it mixed with some other accents. I sometimes wonder how odd it would be if you ran it through one of those voice changers to make it sound otherwise male.

Maybe so many aspies are thought to have an "american accent" because they state the words, leaving out the affectations, and thus sound american. That ALSO explains why they are accused of speaking in monotone(Leaving off STANDARD affectations that are used in MANY languages to express emotion, emphasis, and questions.). I say STANDARD because they are used in perhaps ALL european languages(including english, french, italian and german), and many others(such as hindi).

I agree that accents everywhere are evolving. It was interesting to read the one poster from England who is picking up "American" from tv. (Sorry! On behalf of the US. We love UK accents!)

But as far as our observations - I think its that some people (aspies?) can detect the slightest variation. I know I can. I think its because I typically zone out when someone's talking and notice things like clothes or accent or gestures - everything but the actually words - as a means of compensating for not understanding spoken word like an NT. One of super powers that allows me to blend in anywhere. (Mimic)

I live in Atlanta and the high school kids have very soft accents - barely detectable. My husband - who is 45 (an immature 45 though) sounds like Andy Griffith if he's around older native Southerners. Otherwise he tones it down. I tell him he sounds so OLD when he speaks super Southern. He says words like "folks" and other country words. I know he has his reasons for doing the old school accent - and as I learn about language and aspergers - I am trying not to let it get it to me. But I do tell him everytime - how OLD he sounds.

So - yes - our regional accents are softening on the other hand - they will probably always have their differences. Like, the way a Southern US teenager says "dude" - is just slightly different than the way a kid from Santa Cruz (NorCal) would say it. And kids in NorCal are now saying "y'all" and "ain't" thanks to the proliferation of urban language in advertising, music and the whole marketability of words like "yo!" . But they don't sound the way the kids here say them. So, while we, as populations, imitate what we hear there will likely always be regional differences.

Unless of course we all end up living our entire lives indoors and our only human interaction is with the TV or radio. And its not just aspies who do this. Almost everyone I know works from home and is isolated.

Also - what I (and Lightning88) do - is learn to appreciate or at least be entertained by all accents and not let them grate on us. Its not easy - I know. Read all my billions of rants about Georgia accents - but acceptance its a process.

I`ve had some trouble with accents earlier, not so much that
i have an odd accent but that in the area i grew up there was
this thick insane accent. So i grew up and used that like every-
one else around me. Then at 16 i moved to my own place in another
part of the country, there the accent was different so i switched.
And i dont mean i chose to, it just happend since it to me sounded
so weird to talk with my original accent when few others did, even
though it was normal to me, but i switched very fast. Then i moved
again and the same thing happend. I noticed most others didnt do
this, they just had "their" accent all the time, which to me makes
more sense, but for some reason i switch to whatever those around
me speak. Or i used to when i was younger, now i travel less and
talk with few people so its not so much of an issue. The latest years
its just been the regular norwegian they talk in the capital here, its
ok with me, clean and easy to understand. I do however now live in
an area with an insane thick accent again, so i do stick out if i open
my mouth no need to switch again when i dont talk much, but i
do get that strange feeling if i end up in a lengthy conversation with
a native, i sound so strange in my ears luckily i know the accent
here well and can easily switch to it if i feel like it. Its a funny one,
thick as mud, if you come from the capital for example you have no
idea what people are talking about here.

Last edited by ImTheGuyThatDidThat on 07 Mar 2009, 7:11 pm, edited 3 times in total.

Yeah, I like a lot of UK accents also.



OH, I CAN detect them when they are there. My MOTHER used to have a STRONG boston accent. NOW, she doesn't.



Andy griffith has it all. Accent, Dialect, and the kind of regional thing that can't really even be called a regional dialect.



Yeah, but those tend to be DIALECTS.



I actually LIKE most NATIVE english accents! That means almost ALL US native english speakers, UK, ireland, etc.... HECK, I EVEN like some others(for english of course), such as danish, german, and swedish.

I like "foreign" accents, almost all! The only one that freaks me out is Vietnamese. The reason I know that is I heard one today and it had been YEARS since I heard a Vietnamese accent. Since before I became all accepting and appreciative.

So when I heard these Vietnamese women talking to each other and to the store clerk - I spun around to find at the source of that NOISE. Wow!

My hair stylist is from Thailand and I love listening to her - even though I usually have no clue what she's saying. And no problems with Chinese, or Indonesian but Vietnam. Wow! That takes some getting used to.

accents..
I love the idea of an "english accent"..I suppose that would be the BBC newsreader received pronunciation.I don't know anyone in real life who speaks like that.

Of course, typical yorkshire mentality here, nothing worse than being described as English ... I will admit, West Yorks accent is not particularly attractive. And my, can we differentiate between incredibly geographically close areas..to explain to those not from Yorkshire, Mel B has a broad Leeds accent (West Yorks), Sean Bean/Artic Monkeys -Sheffield (South Yorks) and Patrick Stuart is POSH.

I am more yorkshire (or aware of it) when with people of differing accents..I don't go as far as saying "Aye" instead of yes and reducing "the" to "t'"....I hope! .
I personally have trouble with strong Indian accents, particularly when stresses are placed on different syllables to where a native speaker would put them. I worry this comes across as racism sometimes...


I actually have more bother translating words in text speak....don't get it at all. Mind you, in a wierd ironic sense, I sometimes slip into doing emails /texts in yorks dialect, it looks funny written down.

So on that note, s'long and sithee

My boyfriend grew up in Fairfax and he's got pretty much an exact mix of a northern and southern accent. He actually makes me sound more southern than him sometimes! He also has family in both Maine and Georgia, so that could all be colliding into his Virginia accent as well. But he's hilarious. We're always saying to each other, "Okay, let's be serious now" but within a few seconds, we do something stupid and we both laugh our heads off.

OMG The Canadians! I don't know how many times I've heard "eh" and "aboot" come out of a Canadian's mouth. And I'm not just saying that because I watch South Park. Canadians are funny. But you're definitely right about them arguing a lot. Last fall on YouTube, a Canadian and I got into World War III and about thirty other people joined in. I actually ended up winning and people were like "Team America!" LOL

I think Minnesota has truly more tourists from any other state. That and Ohio. I swear half the cars here these days are from Ohio!