My Canadian friends *waves to the Hobbit of the North* pronounces "sorry" as sore-ee. People here in my area pronounce it like "sarr-ee." Any word with the "or" sound gets emphasized as such in Canada (at least it does with the Canadians that I have met). Another good example is "tomorrow," with Canadians saying Too-More-Oh and Ohioans saying Too-Marr-Oh.

*still doesn't think that he has an accent*

Gazer, I did pick up a very slight Minnesota accent on both you and Meltintalle when you were at my house back in July, but it wasn't overly strong like I have heard before. Whereabouts in Minnesota do you get those really "clenched-jaw" type of "Minnesota-Don'tcha-Know" kind of accents?

That's very interesting, n_a_h! So "eh" is a Canadian thing?
I think that the people you heard had a Southern Accent or something, because mostly in the north "y'all" is rare, except when people just use it just for the sake of using it, or when "you" won't do, and "you all" sounds too stiff. "Ayte" sounds pretty southern.

Do you say your 'o's with an accent (like in "oh no" it sounds like- oh, this is hard- kinda like "o-oh, n-oh")? And does "sorry" sound like "soo-ery"?

Agh, a lot of people here with a Midwestern Accent say "Soo-ery".
Another one is "melk" for "milk" and "iaand" for "and." That's rather midwestern.
I think what the Webster's dictionary says is General Standard American, which is spoken by people who intentionally speak it that way (which I try to do to some extent, because I do not want to pick up a Midwestern Accent. My accent is American from first hearing, but it's a mixture of quite a lot of other things...) or live in an area which they do.

Australians pronounce them as follows: "s-o-ree" and "too-mo-roh".
The "O" in sorry is like the "O" in orange. The "MO" in tomorrow is like the "MO" in moth. Also, the "ROH" in tomorrow - row a boat.

That's very interesting, n_a_h! So "eh" is a Canadian thing?
I think that the people you heard had a Southern Accent or something, because mostly in the north "y'all" is rare, except when people just use it just for the sake of using it, or when "you" won't do, and "you all" sounds too stiff. "Ayte" sounds pretty southern.

Yea, I know that not all people from down south say y'all. I was using that as an example like I used people who say "Warshington" as an example. Most of the people I've met from down south had some type of accent whether it be Southern, mid-western, whoever it is who adds that "r" into "warshington", a new york accent, etc.

Yea, the person who said "ayte" was from down south. She said "y'all" a lot too.

Also, being from Alaska, I say "you guys" generally in the place where you would say "y'all".

Ok, I have a question for you northerners:

Do you say your 'o's with an accent (like in "oh no" it sounds like- oh, this is hard- kinda like "o-oh, n-oh")? And does "sorry" sound like "soo-ery"?

I don't think so for either one. For me and everyone I know around here "Oh no" rhymes with "doe" like in the Sound of Music song (Doe a deer). And sorry, most of us say it with the "sorr" rhyming with "sore" as in a sore spot on your knee etc. Although sometimes my brother and I say sorry more like sah-ree (like the Indian robe the women wear? A sari I think it is?), because my littlest brother's name is Ari. So when we're saying sorry to him we like to rhyme it with his name.

And I don't know if much of that made sense. I'm not very good at finding pronunciation examples.

About Food... Pigeon Pie and such....
We don't eat like that any more. Hardly any of the food in the books are still eaten, excluding things like cake that everybody eats.

What are things that Americans say that tip you off to the fact that they're American?
As you said "she sure did" ect. are very American so is "I guess" "Side walk" "Elevator" and saying "British" when you mean "English" also lots of our vowels are different

Has an American ever pretended to be British but you knew they weren't?
As far as I know no American has ever pretended to be British to me but I had a teacher who did awful imitations of my classes accents.

What do you think about movies with British accents?
I'm abit confused by what you mean by this one, do you mean when there are American actors doing British accents? In this case some can do it and some can't it annoys me soooooooooo much when actors can't do the accent. Most can though and we only notice occasionally.

Is it true Americans think they can do British accents and you brits are rolling you're eyes because it sounds so fake?
Mostly, yes. Americans often think they can do British accents and they can't at all. But like every rule there are exceptions and some Americans can do some sort of British accent (Scotish, English, Welsh whatever) but mostly

Can Brits do American accents?
Some can some can't it's mostly the same as Americans with British accents. I really can't tell you, as a Brit I probably have some strange ideas about American accents.

I answered theese just a few pages late

Yeah my mom says soor-ee and melk, and she used to live up North. I tease her about it... It's almost Scottish sounding if you picture Pippin in LotR...

And thanks for the answers Jill!

Lu

That's strange but it smart way to make jobs for people who really need them. Plus you don't have to do it yourself! Why would people get mad. They don't have to get dirty pumping gas any more. Where I live they don't have very nice pumps and it drives my mom crazy!

They get upset because you have to pay a huge fine if you forget and start pumping it for yourself... plus they think that if people want jobs they should go and get an education first and then be less like a bum... It doesn't make much sense to me...

More 'accented' thoughts.

Whereabouts in Minnesota do you get those really "clenched-jaw" type of "Minnesota-Don'tcha-Know" kind of accents?

I've very rarely run into the Fargo-type accents (incidentally, the Coen brothers are from this area so I imagine that at least part of their portrayal of that almost-incomprehensible "Ya sure ya betcha doncha know" accent is an exaggerated version of that stereotype ). My guess is that your best bet in finding people who really talk like that is in the rural areas of the Iron Range in the northeast part of the state (no slight is intended toward rural areas; I grew up in a small town within sight of farms) - and then in older people (say, over 50 or so). I think the mass media has had a homogenizing effect on accents both in urban areas and among younger people - though that's a very generalized statement. There are neighborhoods within cities that have their own heritage and speech patterns too.

So that's a long and not very helpful reply. Incidentally, last spring we traveled to the far-northwest corner of the state to visit relatives. The most prominent accent I noticed there was actually French-Canadian, reflecting my father's ancestry.

Agh, a lot of people here with a Midwestern Accent say "Soo-ery". Another one is "melk" for "milk" and "iaand" for "and." That's rather midwestern.

Interesting! Maybe I live too far north to hear these much...I guess we're really 'Upper Midwest' rather than 'straight' Midwest.

I've noticed that Minnesotans sometimes tend to use 'soft' t when it appears in words. That is, it'll sound like 't' at the beginning or end of a word (like ten or at) but it sometimes sounds like 'd' when it appears in a word (for example, 'Minnesotan' comes out like 'Minnesodan'). This is by no means universal; I've noticed both used in the same conversation.

I was using that as an example like I used people who say "Warshington" as an example.

A couple of my friends speak that way; I have to resist the temptation to comment when they say they have to 'warsh' the car.

What I think is funny about English and American accents are the 'r' opposites! (remember Skandar and Tilda?)

Like they drop 'r's in certain words, where we saw them, yet add them when we don't!

Example of adding an r: "You sawr this place outside. We can do whatever we want here." (listen- Peter says it!! in the scene w/ Lucy's "sheets feel scratchy" line). Also Narniar. (or is that just New Zealand? It was Andrew Adamson that said that, I think)

Example of dropping an 'r': tons of them! Like "theh" for "there", etc. Almost like a deep south accent in that instanse!

And Sam in LotR (though his accent was couched I think this might be true, brits help me out here!) says "This is the farthest away from 'ome..." like he drops the 'h'! So you do that, Shantih?

And is 'been' pronounced "bean"?

And is "master" "moster" (Smeagol, you must trust Moster! Heehee, Frodo's line!)

And I'll add more if I think of them.

Lu

I have to resist the temptation to comment when they say they have to 'warsh' the car.

As much as I have tried to get my mom to stop saying this, she still does . I always hear her saying, "Well, I've got to go downstairs and warsh those potatoes if we're going to have them for dinner." I usually follow up with something like, "You're going to do what with the potatoes?" . She was raised in Kentucky, so she does have ever so slight of an accent.

I, however, am a proud yankee. The only southern influence I have is that I say y'all a lot. Which I suppose isn't bad as I was raised by a southern mother .

One thing that I hear all the time here in Ohio (and haven't really heard elsewhere) is the saying "a whole 'nother." For example, "I can't deal with her issues right now, because I have a whole 'nother set of problems to deal with." I'm thinking that it is one of those southern things that is slowly creeping north, but I'm not sure.

Interesting, Digs - 'nother' is fairly common over here too. I'm especially fond of it

What I think is funny about English and American accents are the 'r' opposites! (remember Skandar and Tilda?)

Like they drop 'r's in certain words, where we saw them, yet add them when we don't!

Example of adding an r: "You sawr this place outside. We can do whatever we want here." (listen- Peter says it!! in the scene w/ Lucy's "sheets feel scratchy" line). Also Narniar. (or is that just New Zealand? It was Andrew Adamson that said that, I think)

Example of dropping an 'r': tons of them! Like "theh" for "there", etc. Almost like a deep south accent in that instanse!

And Sam in LotR (though his accent was couched I think this might be true, brits help me out here!) says "This is the farthest away from 'ome..." like he drops the 'h'! So you do that, Shantih?

And is 'been' pronounced "bean"?

And is "master" "moster" (Smeagol, you must trust Moster! Heehee, Frodo's line!)

And I'll add more if I think of them.

Lu

I wouldn't say it's adding an 'r', but more extending the 'ar' sound. So master would be 'marr-ster', or 'Narni-arr' But to be honest, to us that's just how you pronounce that sound. From my point of view, a lot of American accents seem to be cutting the 'ah' short, if that makes any sense For example, my original reaction to this question was to say "We just extend the 'ahh' sound a bit more', but thinking of it, I realised our views on what the 'ahh' is are completely different to start with I think British accents tend to soften the 'r' sound a bit too, in words like 'there' and 'where'.

I don't drop my h's, but it is common in more rural accents, which is very appropriate for Sam

Bean and been are pronounced the same, I didn't realise there was a way they could not be Except maybe in some London accents where 'been' would be more like 'bin'.

Bean and been are pronounced the same, I didn't realise there was a way they could not be Except maybe in some London accents where 'been' would be more like 'bin'.

That is the way that it is pronounced here in the states (and is the way that I pronounce it as well). I think they pronounce it your way up in Canada as well

Although, like a good Anglophile, I do say either as "eye-ther," and neither as "nigh-ther." I also use british spelling

That's what I noticed too! I was thinking about it and noticed that I do that a lot. It's the same with 22. I would say " twenny two" but my Mom who is from Europe says "twenty two". She noticed that I did that a lot. I guess depending on where you are from you pronounce things differently. Oh and someone said something about people in the south that say yall, and as a person from the south I would say that is pretty true. I say yall a ton!

More 'accented' thoughts.

Whereabouts in Minnesota do you get those really "clenched-jaw" type of "Minnesota-Don'tcha-Know" kind of accents?

I've very rarely run into the Fargo-type accents (incidentally, the Coen brothers are from this area so I imagine that at least part of their portrayal of that almost-incomprehensible "Ya sure ya betcha doncha know" accent is an exaggerated version of that stereotype ). My guess is that your best bet in finding people who really talk like that is in the rural areas of the Iron Range in the northeast part of the state (no slight is intended toward rural areas; I grew up in a small town within sight of farms) - and then in older people (say, over 50 or so).

Haha yep, seems like a lot of the elderly are that way, my mom's parents were very stereotypical Minnesotans .
Not as stereotypical as Lorraine from Mad TV though .

To anyone living in England or any European country, what do most people eat fro breakfast? (probably varies a lot, just curious to what you see most often).
Hmm I must be hungry..