Thursday, February 9, 2012

How to Perfect the Cleveland Accent

I wrote this back in 2009 and decided to resurface it. I don’t really get made fun of for the way I talk anymore, but I also haven’t been in contact with people all that often lately. Anyways, enjoy it!

So, until I moved to Cincinnati I never realized how distinct my “accent” really was. Or the way I talk, for that matter. People always make fun of me, or correct my sentences because I usually say things like “Where’s my phone at?” instead of simply “Where is my phone?” In light of this, and my love for Cleveland, I researched what the accent really is and will now teach all of you in case you ever wanted to make fun of me when you hear me talk.

The list of how to perfect that accent:
  • Put unneccessary prepositions at the end of sentences. Ex:Where’s the pencil at? 
  • Say, “You guys” a lot. I never knew, until now, that this is a Cleveland thing. I really do say “you guys” a lot. 
  • It’s all about the prepositions. Use the preposition over in the middle of a sentence. Ex: I’m going over to my friends houseinstead of I’m going to my friends house. 
  • Sound nasally. I don’t understand this one, but apparently the way we talk it sounds nasally. 
  • IT’S ALL ABOUT STRESSING THE A’S! This one is a biggy! I get made fun of for how I say my’s A’s. Especially in words like “accent.” Make sure it’s a long A sound as if there were another vowel. Draw out that A. Ex: Aaaaaccent! 
  • Stress O’s also, but not as important as that A sound. Also, because you love that A you tend to say dawg instead of dog or maaawm instead of mom. 
  • Talk fast. 
  • Since you talk fast make sure you combine your words. Ex:Wassup instead of what’s up? 
  • Drop that g. Ex: “How are you doin’?” instead of “How are you doing?” 
  • Please, never say soda. It’s POP! 
  • Sound Canadian by using “eh.” I was told I sound Canadian once. 
This was fun to write! I hope you all perfect that Cleveland accent! ;)

8 comments

  1. Too funny! We moved to Missouri from Maryland almost two years ago, and my friends here always make fun of the way I say certain words :)

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    1. Wow, it's taken me a while to respond to this, but I'm actually writing a paper on linguistics so I wanted to see what I had written about the way I speak. What do they notice about how you pronounce words?

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  2. Interesting article. Now I gotta say I had to LOL @ the "you guys" thing. I'm a Cleveland girl, born and raised, and yeah I say it all the time! I left Ohio at age 18, have lived out West ever since. Yet, it's only been in the last 3 years or so that people have pegged me for being from Cleveland based on my alleged "accent" and speech patterns. Never mind I took college level broadcasting courses to speak with a 'standard non-regional American' way of speech. Guess you can take a girl out of the city...

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    1. I love carrying that part of Cleveland around with me. After living in Cincinnati for some years and moving back to Cleveland I'll say some words with a very Cleveland accent and I smile thinking about how my friends would all start laughing if they heard it!

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  3. One more advantage of being in Russia :)
    No one can make fun of you because nobody understands what the accent you have and whether you have it at all.
    You are just the English native speaker, a respected persone. :)

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    1. But they make fun of how I pronounce Russian words :)

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    2. That is quite different.
      At first, you are a foreigner - what can expect from you? :)
      At second, In this game you can play together. You can make fun of them of how they pronounce english words. And it's a big question who will have more fun :)))

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