Indiana Southern Accent?

[SEIndSAM]

I didn't know that I had one until I started dating after a divorce 6 years ago. The Indy women were telling me that I had a Southern Indiana accent. WTF??

Ended up married to a girl from Seattle anyway.

That accent map is spot on in many ways. I travel for work and as soon as you get north of Milwaukee, the upper Wisconsin/Minnesota accent kicks in.

 

[schafe]

I moved from Northern to Southern Indiana in the mid 70's. I noticed the dialect differences immediately. I found it fascinating. Over the years I've probably adopted some of the minor differences, but I still have not become able to comfortably use the word "you'ns", and being as old and set in my ways as I am, I doubt it will ever happen.

 

[CathyInBlue]

I've lived in west-central Indiana my whole life. I speak straight up,unaccented, newscaster, Midwestern English. But, when I went to southern Ontario once for vacation (canoeing in Quetico Provincial Park), those Canucks told me that I had a southern accent!

 

[goinggreyfast]

Oh HECK yeah that[STRIKE]'s[/STRIKE] there's the good stuff. I don't care who ya're!

FIFY...

 

[littletommy]

I was born in Kentucky, and all of my family is from there. We went to Gatlinburg a few years ago with some friends who live in northern In, I was amazed they couldn't understand some of the people we encountered there! I was the official translator on that trip.

 

[Titanium_Frost]

The worst accent is Southern Illinois. I canstantly make fun of my wife and her family. Especially this time of year when we see all the reindeers...

 

[goinggreyfast]

...Especially this time of year whenEVER we see all the reindeers...

FIFY... All ya'll need to be fixin' ta git a learnin' here.

 

[riverman67]

I grew up in western Indiana. I have spent a bit of time in the north east and Ireland for work. When some one asks where I'm from, I try to have them guess first,then i tell them. They usually guess Texas , Tennesee,Georgia or Kentucky.

 

[Titanium_Frost]

FIFY... All ya'll need to be fixin' ta git a learnin' here.

You fixed that and missed "CANstantly?"

 

[kalboy]

Mine's bad enough that a telephone order taker at Pacific Canvas and Leather told me about it once, and she was a native of Muhlenburg Co. Kentucky!
True I guess but whenever I am in Owensboro I can sometimes hardly understand what's being said and I've worked in Kentucky for 30 years!

 

[goinggreyfast]

You fixed that and missed "CANstantly?"

Do you use "canstantly" much??? That would be more Michigander than Evansvillian, wouldn't it?

 

[indiucky]

A wee bit. When we were on vacations in the 70's I got tired of telling people from up north that I was from Indiana..They would always go "NO WAY!"...I asked Dad about it and he said we are a mile away from Louisville so just say "Louisville." I did and then they would say, "Ahhh...I knew you were from somewhere down south, a Kentuckian."

I gritted my teeth and said "Yes ma'am."

The accent has actually been studied..Here is a link to the anomaly know as the "Hoosier Apex". As a side note I was a Branch Manager for a Mortgage company in Greenwood and commuted every day to work...Whenever someone was calling for a loan I would ask the secretary, "How much is he wanting to bar-y?" (pronounced like bar with a long e.) She would say "Do you mean borrow?" and I would said, "Yeah..How much does he want to bar-y?"

They called me Hillbilly...

Hoosier Apex link..

The Hoosier Apex - The American Midland Dialect

 

[snorko]

Living in Evansville and driving to Henderson, KY, you realize what a difference a river makes.

Googled this quiz and have the results below. Pretty accurate.

What American accent do you have?

My resluts:
"You have a Midland accent" is just another way of saying "you don't have an accent." You probably are from the Midland (Pennsylvania, southern Ohio, southern Indiana, southern Illinois, and Missouri) but then for all we know you could be from Florida or Charleston or one of those big southern cities like Atlanta or Dallas. You have a good voice for TV and radio.

Philadelphia 85%
The Inland North 81%
The South 64%
The Northeast 33%
The West 19%
Boston 15%

 

[Titanium_Frost]

Living in Evansville and driving to Henderson, KY, you realize what a difference a river makes.

Googled this quiz and have the results below. Pretty accurate.

What American accent do you have?

My resluts:
"You have a Midland accent" is just another way of saying "you don't have an accent." You probably are from the Midland (Pennsylvania, southern Ohio, southern Indiana, southern Illinois, and Missouri) but then for all we know you could be from Florida or Charleston or one of those big southern cities like Atlanta or Dallas. You have a good voice for TV and radio.

What American accent do you have?
Your Result: The Midland
"You have a Midland accent" is just another way of saying "you don't have an accent." You probably are from the Midland (Pennsylvania, southern Ohio, southern Indiana, southern Illinois, and Missouri) but then for all we know you could be from Florida or Charleston or one of those big southern cities like Atlanta or Dallas. You have a good voice for TV and radio.
Result Breakdown:
95% The Midland
84% The West
58% The South
50% Boston
46% North Central
33% The Inland North
27% Philadelphia
21% The Northeast
Quiz Created on GoTo Quiz

 

[goinggreyfast]

.

 

[Solitaire]

I speak plain old lightly accented Hoosier, but am fluent in Hillbilly, Tex-Mex, Yooper, New Yawker, Joisey, New Yorican Spanglish, Cajun, and Ebonics. I used to speak Jive, but you don't hear that much anymore, so I'm kinda rusty.

 

[indiucky]

I used to speak Jive, but you don't hear that much anymore, so I'm kinda rusty.

Here is a quick tutorial..


[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXSLcYQHqFQ[/ame]

 

[Rob377]

I grew up in western Indiana. I have spent a bit of time in the north east and Ireland for work. When some one asks where I'm from, I try to have them guess first,then i tell them. They usually guess Texas , Tennesee,Georgia or Kentucky.

True. To my Chicago-land raised ears, anyway.
Which is funny, because DR72 has almost no accent.

 

[Liberty1911]

Living in Evansville and driving to Henderson, KY, you realize what a difference a river makes.

Googled this quiz and have the results below. Pretty accurate.

What American accent do you have?

My resluts:
"You have a Midland accent" is just another way of saying "you don't have an accent." You probably are from the Midland (Pennsylvania, southern Ohio, southern Indiana, southern Illinois, and Missouri) but then for all we know you could be from Florida or Charleston or one of those big southern cities like Atlanta or Dallas. You have a good voice for TV and radio.

Neat quiz. I have the "Midland accent" also.


Growing up in Northern Indiana, I didn't realize they had an accent, until I joined the military.

In my early 20's, I broke myself of some of the common "accent" words that northern midwest people use. It's funny now to hear my family use them.

Some examples:

Motorcycle is pronounced motorsickle, like bicycle.

Add an "or" sound to wash, as in "put your clothes in the worshing machine", "the first President was George Worshington."

Pronounce words with a short "u" like it has an "oo" sound. As in "the last President was George Boosh.", "Hey don't poosh me!."

 

[Turf Doctor]

Not a southern accent but a German accent. I have a friend that works in Jasper which is German herritage. Some of his words you can pick up an accent.