I'm starting to talk like them! Spend too much time around East Coasters, & Midwestern words begin to morph. I've always been a fan of "The Akron A," the way Northeast Ohio locals say words like "mom" (more like "mam") & "class" (sort of like a quick "clayiss"). My OU friends used to tease me because "crackpot" & "crockpot" sounded the same when I said them, like druggies & soup-cookers were synonymous.
And now? Not even a week with my new coworkers, & I already speak like them, saying things like "tehhr-ibble" & "vehh-ry." It's weirding me out. When we call Becca "Captain Manhattan," I want all my A's to sound the way A's are supposed to sound, but they don't - "Caip-tain Main-haittan" becomes vehhry New York & turns into "Cahhpt'n Mahn-hahht'n," with too many H's & not enough A's.
I'm very conscious of it; I feel pretentious when I speak differently. Even though I don't think they sound pretentious when they say things that way, I feel a like a phony for picking up on their dialect & switching over so quickly.
If this is what I sound like after six days, I shudder to think what a year as an East Coaster could do to me.
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a blog by Kate Kaput
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