Iowans now have accents...

[cybirdie]

How come when I visit Iowa now, after having moved away only 7 years ago, everyone speaks like a southerner?

Did the racetrack in Newton really instill it's "southern-participle" that heavily in my formerly plain speaking state?

Please tell me that I'm not the only person to notice this......hell my own father has a different way of speaking now and he's almost 60, I can't believe it.

(FWIW places I've lived since leaving Iowa...Chicago 2 years, Atlanta 2 years, NYC 3 years)

I used to tell people that Iowans talked similar to newscasters, very plain and stripped down of any sort of accent. I find this no longer to be true.

 

[Marc936]

iowans always had an accent, i call it the farmer accent since every farm area i've been in have the same accent




edit: btw, its soda, not pop, so many iowans say pop

 

[LeSchmick]

Hmmm........Lets see. You have lived in 3 different places that have notable accents, a chicago accent, a southern accent, and a new england accent. Shot in the dark, but maybe you're used to hearing their ****** english and aren't used to hearing great english from great iowans?

 

[Mr Janny]

Hmmm........Lets see. You have lived in 3 different places that have notable accents, a chicago accent, a southern accent, and a new england accent. Shot in the dark, but maybe you're used to hearing their ****** english and aren't used to hearing great english from great iowans?

New yorkers do not have a new England accent. There's a big difference

 

[drednot57]

Iowans speak with, as Robert Heinlein used to describe, a harsh "midwestern" accent that's not all that pleasant to listen to according to some people. But RH lived in Malibu and became used to that nasally Cally accent.

 

[DMjazz]

New yorkers do not have a new England accent. There's a big difference

Exactly. Went to NYC in May and hung out with some friends. One was from Connecticut the others from NYC. There was a big difference in the NYC accent and the 'New England' accent. There is also a noticeable difference between the NYC accent and the Long Island accent.

On another note, we played a game with the guy from New England. He couldn't find Iowa ona map. He couldn't really identify any state west of Pennsylvania.

 

[QuickQuestion]

Rural Iowans have a "redneck" accent. Plain and simple.

 

[drednot57]

Rural Iowans have a "redneck" accent. Plain and simple.

Nah, "redneck" speaks of Alabamans and Mississipians; ours is not that thick.:no:
Think along the lines of Tennessee, Kentucky, and southern Indiana modified by Minnesota-like Norwegian english.

 

[IowaStateClones]

Rural Iowans have a "redneck" accent. Plain and simple.

If you consider that redneck, then you have never been to missouri, arkansas, and surrounding states.

 

[GrindingAway]

If you consider that redneck, then you have never been to missouri, arkansas, and surrounding states.

Or here...

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pg3krAEq_a8]YouTube - best of boomhauer[/ame]

 

[Al_4_State]

Everyone has an accent. It's all relative.

 

[BCforISU]

Everyone has an accent. It's all relative.

exactly, everyone in the south thinks I have an accent (from Iowa). To them their slow southern drawl is normal and I am the one with a weird sounding voice. The Iowa "Redneck" accent is nothing compared to Kentucky, Tenn, SC, GA, etc, the Iowa drawl sounds fake becuase it isn't slow like the true south. If they aren't flying the rebel flag cause the South will rise again, they aren't Rednecks!

 

[GaryJohnson]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPuS1XoRoJs]YouTube - David Cross - The "Redneck" Voice[/ame]

 

[BCforISU]

YouTube - David Cross - The "Redneck" Voice

You are double visible and I am invisible, we both invisible. That is some good stuff right there.

 

[colbycheese]

When I lived in Iowa I noticed the accent people would exhibit greatly depended on what part of the state they were from. It seems that the Ames/Des Moines area (central IA) had the least accent. As you went north and/or west it progressively became a northern Midwestern accent. As you went south it became similar to a Missourian accent (which is much different than most southern accents btw). If you went southeast the rate of speech slowed to rival southern Illinois/southern Indiana/Kentucky.

I grew up on the MN border. Once you crossed the border it was obvious because of the immediate change in accents.

I moved from Iowa to North Carolina in 2008. The Raleigh area is a melting pot of American accents so I've heard many since moving here. I also had the opportunity to see a speech I gave on video. I never thought I had much of an accent but I was surprised to find that I had such a strong northern Midwestern accent. Now I can't help but think about that when I talk to my family members (who have the same accent I've noticed).

Lastly, it's "pop" not "soda" or "Coke", and there is not "R" in wash. The whole pop/soda thing bugs me living in the south. Nobody gets that north of the Mason-Dixon line (minus the northeast) that it is called pop.

 

[BKLYNCyclone]

I've noticed the same phenomena. In the past 6-7 years I think that Iowa has developed some sort of hybrid redneck accent... I think a lot of it has to do with how it became "chic" to embrace redneck philosophies. (oxymoron if there ever was one) I find myself doing it out here a bit in NYC because I like rejecting the Manhattan east coast culture. However, when I went home to visit I was slightly shocked about how the "good old boy" culture had expanded. Seems like maybe people are taking it too far now.

 

[intrepid27]

If you listen hard enough every small region has some unique accents. I grew up near Carroll and once met a man in Maryland who talked to me for 10 minutes and then told me I was from West Central Iowa. He had drove Greyhound bus for 25+ years and said he made a habit of studying speech patterns.

 

[colbycheese]

I have some family that lives in Nooort Daakoota eh. They got ****** when I brought up the movie Fargo in discussion. They said they don't talk anything like what was shown in the movie. I couldn't help but laugh out loud as they gave this argument in one of the strongest northern Midwestern accents you can imagine. The Coen bro's hit the nail on the head wit dat movie der doncha know.

 

[BKLYNCyclone]

I have some family that lives in Nooort Daakoota eh. They got ****** when I brought up the movie Fargo in discussion. They said they don't talk anything like what was shown in the movie. I couldn't help but laugh out loud as they gave this argument in one of the strongest northern Midwestern accents you can imagine. The Coen bro's hit the nail on the head wit dat movie der doncha know.

ya der hey!

 

[WalkingCY]

New Yorkers - sounds like "New Yok" The "r" in york is very faint...and yo is really enunciated...and york itself is quickly said after "new"

Boston - sounds like: "Bah-sten" Wicked 'had' - core." Or, get in the "cah." (car)


yeah....their different. Crazy northeast.