Maps That Show How Americans Speak English Differently From Each Other • Hacker News Board

Re: Maps That Show How Americans Speak English Differently From Each Other

#31

Post by russelluresti » Wed, Jun 05, 2013, 10:09 PM UTC

RK wrote: post #3

What is the difference between "cray-ahn" and "cray-awn"? Note that I pronounce "dawn" = "don". Also, I say crayon as "crown", which either isn't very popular, or they just chose poor colors for the heatmap.

The difference would be that "ahn" is pronounced like you were saying "Ahhhh" and "awn" is pronounced like you were saying "awe".

Re: Maps That Show How Americans Speak English Differently From Each Other

#32

Post by mindcrime » Wed, Jun 05, 2013, 10:10 PM UTC

mieubrisse wrote: post #27

As a Chicagoan, I've never paid the slighted bit of attention that, apparently, literally everyone around me doesn't say "sear-up" as I do. No clue how that came about, with no family ties to the east coast whatsoever.

I find that I pronounce some words differently, depending on context (who I'm talking to). Also, I've altered my pronunciation of some words as I've aged. But, FWIW, when I say "syrup", by default it comes out like "sear-up" for me, but it sometimes comes out as "sir-up". Not really sure why. I'm from North Carolina, but never really paid much attention to how other people say this.

Re: Maps That Show How Americans Speak English Differently From Each Other

#33

Post by dghughes » Wed, Jun 05, 2013, 10:11 PM UTC

Oh those Cajuns causing trouble, hello from The Maritimes.

I would say crayfish just as it's spelled. I have no idea what it is in Acadian French I'm not French but I know a lot of Acadian people.

It would be funny if the name came from little lobster, maybe "petite homard"? Not even close to crayfish.

Re: Maps That Show How Americans Speak English Differently From Each Other

#34

Post by mindcrime » Wed, Jun 05, 2013, 10:12 PM UTC

dripton wrote: post #15

They left the Pittsburgh "yinz" off question #7.

Some people in North Carolina use what seems to be a subtle variation from that... it comes out "you'uns". It's been a while since I heard anybody say that, though. I think it's more of a country thing.

Re: Maps That Show How Americans Speak English Differently From Each Other

#35

Post by m_myers » Wed, Jun 05, 2013, 10:21 PM UTC

Azulsky wrote: post #23

For #15 the Louisiana term is Poboy, despite the best attempts by Subway to convince us otherwise.

I thought a Poboy had fried food, not cold cuts.

Re: Maps That Show How Americans Speak English Differently From Each Other

#36

Post by nosecreek » Wed, Jun 05, 2013, 10:24 PM UTC

Zikes wrote: post #29

russelluresti wrote: post #26

I am firmly on the side of "y'all".

One of my foreign friends was teasing me about how English doesn't have a word for "a group of people" whereas many other major languages apparently do, and I replied "sure we do, it's y'all".

I'm in Canada where y'all doesn't get used much, but when I was learning Greek we used y'all as the English plural "you".

Re: Maps That Show How Americans Speak English Differently From Each Other

#37

Post by lindauer » Wed, Jun 05, 2013, 10:25 PM UTC

dghughes wrote: post #33

Oh those Cajuns causing trouble, hello from The Maritimes. I would say crayfish just as it's spelled. I have no idea what it is in Acadian French I'm not French but I know a lot of Acadian people. It would be funny if the name came from little lobster, maybe "petite homard"? Not even close to crayfish.

It's from the Old French crevis or modern French écrevisse, having something to do with crabs, not lobsters.

http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=crayfish http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/crayfish#Etymology

For what it's worth, it is also spelled, not just pronounced, "crawfish" in Texas and Louisiana.

Re: Maps That Show How Americans Speak English Differently From Each Other

#38

Post by rglovejoy » Wed, Jun 05, 2013, 10:26 PM UTC

loganfrederick wrote: post #10

http://www.businessinsider.com/22-maps-that-show-the-deepest... I have never known anyone to use the third phrase.

My mother would say that "the witches are getting married".

Re: Maps That Show How Americans Speak English Differently From Each Other

#39

Post by mig39 » Wed, Jun 05, 2013, 10:26 PM UTC

mindcrime wrote: post #19

The one about "What word(s) do you use to refer to a group of two or more people" is missing an option or two. I often use "you lot" or "you kids". To be fair, the latter is more of a joking thing, like parting from a group and saying "you kids be good" or whatever. The "you lot" bit is, I'm pretty sure, something I picked up from watching British television. Most people in my neck of the woods say "you all" or "y'al…

In Newfoundland, Canada, we say 'ye' when we mean more than one 'you.' Roughly equal to 'y'all' I think.

Re: Maps That Show How Americans Speak English Differently From Each Other

#40

Post by lindauer » Wed, Jun 05, 2013, 10:26 PM UTC

m_myers wrote: post #35

Azulsky wrote: post #23

For #15 the Louisiana term is Poboy, despite the best attempts by Subway to convince us otherwise.

I thought a Poboy had fried food, not cold cuts.

Roast beef po-boys are a big deal in New Orleans.

http://www.nola.com/dining-guide/index.ssf/2012/04/rb_top_10...