h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

No problem whatsoever. As long as it's all summed up for me on t'other thread, it's barely work at all.

I'd have responded sooner if I'd known about the entries. Skankyrich left me a message about it or I'd still be in the dark. I'm glad that's not the case, though.

Aside from speaking a few words or phrases, is there anything else I can do to help? I won't have a lot of time to devote to writing as I work in accounting and it's tax season. But I'd like to help if I can.

Sounds like a fascinating project, Jodan. I have to leave the house now, but hope to be able to keep an eye on this.
I find it fascinating the amount of different accents in the US and the UK. The Australian accent doesn't vary that greatly.

Just before I go, I thought of another fictional character to represent Boston, 'Charles Emerson Winchester III' from M*A*S*H.

pc... I'm not sure exactly what you can do right now. I'm sure something will pop up.

"The Australian accent doesn't vary that greatly."

Wonder why that is. Australia is certainly big enough to have independent dialects. For the US, it's all about lots of different immigrants (and I'd venture to guess, for the UK too, in a more distant historical sense). Would a more homogenous immigration pool be the reason for a more homogenous Australian dialect? I don't know, I'm just rambling to avoid going to sleep.

Incidentally, I like the Australian accent much more than any of the American accents. It's no bad thing to not have lots of odd accents, because otherwise you might develop some horrible ones like the Long Island or New York accent

I think you're right about the immigration thing. Over many years the UK was colonised or invaded by a variety of different cultures, the Romans, the Vikings, to name two off the top of my head. I guess groups stayed local to certain areas, and the regional dialects sprang up giving rise to different accents.
Much the same would've happened in the US, over a shorter period of time. Though I don't recall America being invaded by Vikings .

Immigration to Australia was largely from the UK and well spread, I guess the accent never localised. Though I should point out that the accent does vary from culture to culture. You do find different cultures grouping together. You can tell by their speech someone from an Italian background, or Greek. Indigenous Australians also have their own unique accent. Still it doesn't seem to matter what part of the country they're from, but that they live in close proximity to each other.

Just my observations. I could be wrong. There was a documentary on the Australian Accent on TV recently that I was disappointed to miss. http://shop.abc.net.au/browse/product.asp?productid=749112 We have it on order at the library where I work. I'll have to put it on hold.

Oh, and is it just me or does everyone think their own accent is a non-accent?

Glad you like the Aussie accent. Though I have to admit, some of the 'yobbos' have a very broad and harsh sounding accent. I think I'd prefer to listen to a Long Island accent.

>>> Though I don't recall America being invaded by Vikings

Some 500 years before Chris Columbus conned Isabella out of some ships, Leif Eriksson guided Vikings to America. Vikings traded with the Inuit.

Plus we have lots and lots of recent immigrants from the Viking part of the world. They invented the sauna, the inedible fish, meatballs, yule beer, smoked salmon, and swedish pancakes. They invaded and currently occupy Minnesota, pronounced minn-ah-SOOOO-ta.

I hope this helps, or at least doesn't hinder too much.

"Oh, and is it just me or does everyone think their own accent is a non-accent?"

Not me personally. When I was in my late teens and early twenties I believe I had a very neutral accent due to my fondness of watching TV as much as possible as I mentioned before. Now I can definitely hear the twang settle in.




Here's an odd little anecdote that has little to do with anything.

In college I had a dorm room mate who had a very odd accent indeed. He said it came from having an English mother but growing up here in Texas.

I forgot about it until the next semester when one day I noticed his accent was much more neutral. It wasn't a thick twang but the English had worn off. Of course by now I had actually met his mother... no British accent at all. It was just an affectation he put on when he went away to school for the first time.


Now, what makes this interesting is nearly 20 years later I get a new job and meet a fellow who has nearly the exact same accent that my old college friend had. I can't help but grin when I hear it, especially when he drinks and it gets thicker and words like "balls" sounds more like "boles". But, it turns out, this one's a bit more legitimate. I've met his parents, they actually are both English. They immigrated here in the late seventies when he was around 7. Apparently my college friend had a pretty good ear and tongue for accents, or at least had a good explanation for the inaccuracy of the one he was affecting.

Perhaps the mother of the first lad lost her English accent quickly. I dunno, it's a puzzler.

But apparently, some people in certain dialect regions are very aware of their accents, and people in different dialect regions are oblivious of their accents. New Yorkers are extremely aware of their accent. On the other hand, I had barely thought about my own accent (except perhaps as an American accent) until I began this project.

No puzzler at all... the kid in college was faking it.

I'll take your word for it.

Hey CZ, I've gone through his thread and added a few bits in the Southern Dialect entry based on your comments. They'll be up on the main page whenever 'rich has some time but in the mean time, in case you'd like to review them, they're here - A1303390 (the Texas section is changed, and there's a new section about the Cajun accent)

I'd also like to offer you a co-author credit for the Southern Dialect entry, as your comments have been quite useful

Just read the New Yawk entry - there are some things I haven't heard at all, and you can't emphasize enough the difference in accents between socioeconomic statuses, but one extra thing: pocketbook.

Until last year I honest-to-goodnessly thought pocketbook was an alternative for "handbag". A friend from Pitts informed me that everyone in the rest of civilization thinks a pocketbook is a book that fits in the pocket. We did a search on the Macys (based in NYC) website: a search for "pocketbook" brought up many handbag type items, not one of which was actually called "pocketbook". Interesting point.

Think I need more emphasis on the socioeconomic differences? There's a three paragraph section (subheader Subway Ride to a Silver Tongue) about it currently.

I'd heard mention of the pocketbook difference in a source or two when researching this. I'll see that it's added in

Also, Leo, purely out of my own curiosity, in which part of NYC do you live?

I've been re-reading the entries this morning (and enjoying reading about dialects of other regions), and I just have to ask... do people really refer to soda as "pop" in other parts of the Midwest? I haven't heard soda referred to as "pop" except on old TV shows.

But when visiting relatives down south (grandparents relocated to Knoxville, TN, and parents to Minneola, FL), I do hear all sodas referred to as "coke". It was a bit confusing the first time a waitress in a restaurant asked me "what kind of coke, hon?". Um, diet?

I refer to soft drinks as 'pop', absolutely. A slight plurality of Americans apparently prefer the term 'pop'. If someone asked* for a soda, I'd know what they were talking about, of course. But if a southerner asked for a coke, I wouldn't have the presence of mind to ask them which kind.

So, yeah, I drink pop. It's interesting though, because I have a whole branch of my family which grew up and lived in South Carolina, but now lives in Ohio and they apparently dropped the whole 'coke' thing quite quickly, because I've never heard them refer to it as such in Ohio. Maybe because they got frustrated explaining.

(*) Apparently in this scenario I'm playing the part of a waiter.

You're going to love this:


http://www.stupidvideos.com/pictures/Soda_Pop_Map/?m=new&pos=26&tf=all

Fascinating (really)! Especially as Chicago is smack in the middle of a "pop" area, and I've never heard anyone call it that. Another thing to add to my List Of Things To Listen For. Maybe it's been under my radar all this time. Though I've never known anyone close to me (family, better half) to use the term "pop", maybe that's just coincidence.

Such interesting and informative articles!!

When I was young we definitely called everything carbonated "coke". Today, though, we call things by their trade names (if you want a Dr. Pepper, you ask for a Dr. Pepper)... But here in my part of Texas, you'll never hear anyone asking for "soda", "pop" or "soda pop".

Yeah, if someone here orders a "coke", then they are asking for a Coke. I'm a Pepsi (diet) drinker, so I order "Diet Pepsi". But when we're going to the grocery store for the fizzy stuff (Orangina, Izze, etc), it's "do we need any soda?".

I got to thinking about this because we watched a silly horror flock the other night that took place in some Southern area, and one of the characters became upset that there was no Mr. Pibb available. He said "it's the only kind of coke I like", and my mind came back to regional dialects again!