Do ya'll talk funny?

[Tig]

I think you're on to it with the farm/meal size connection on dinner, Bird. I see a pattern now.

 

[dave1949]

I've never figured out the rules for dinner and supper either. There are Supper Clubs and Dinner Theaters. "Lunch" is safe, it always happens around noon.

I think dialects are related to long periods of relative isolation. With TV and national syndicated radio programs, kids going off to college, the military, career mobility, etc., dialects aren't as persistent as they used to be.

There is a difference between mild dialects due to accents or pronunciation, and dialects so extreme that unique words, that morphed into being over long periods of time by ever more divergent pronunciation, are used in place of the standard language.

My wife and I used to crack up every time the Central Maine Power commercial on TV offered customers a "smaht powah" guide. Nineteen years of living in Maine, and it doesn't sound so funny anymore. Having grown up in northern Ohio, we both continue to make full use of our "r's" however, which is dead giveaway that we are from "away."

 

[Bird]

Beer by the case, or usually, I just say "a case of beer". No reason to buy less than that!

Reminds me of a fellow who used to work for me. He said he always asked for "a case of the cheapest beer you have." He said his wife told him that even if he was going to drink cheap beer, he should ask for it by name, but he said, "Nope, might not get the cheapest one that way."

And in 1972, I learned that a "case" is different in different places. Enroute to Alaska, up on the Alaska Hwy in Canada, I noticed a posted price for a "case" of beer. Now I'd heard beer was more expensive in Canada, but that posted price wasn't much more than I'd pay for a case down here, so I ordered one. And that's when I learned that while our "case" was 24, theirs was 12.:laughing:

 

[joshuabardwell]

My father tells the story of moving to Atlanta and being confused when a waitress asked him, "hayoowawyoaee?"

The answer was, "scrambled."

 

[Tig]

And in 1972, I learned that a "case" is different in different places. Enroute to Alaska, up on the Alaska Hwy in Canada, I noticed a posted price for a "case" of beer. Now I'd heard beer was more expensive in Canada, but that posted price wasn't much more than I'd pay for a case down here, so I ordered one. And that's when I learned that while our "case" was 24, theirs was 12.:laughing:

We have very quirky liquor laws by province. That would have been Alberta. 12 was the biggest they had.
Now that I think about it, around here the spoken word would likely be "grab a Too-four" when you need beer. "I think I'll grab a too-four when I'm in town."

 

[bigtiller]

Years ago a friend at work went to visit some old Norwegian relatives in Minnesota. They said to him,,,, "I, R, U" with an upward inflection indicating a question. What they were saying was,,,, "Hi, how are you?"

 

[Marlowe]

I had an Australian bud once that I'd corresponded with via email for quite a while. We had no problem understanding each other in writing, but he once called on the phone to set up some business and I struggled quite a bit to understand him. Finally I told him his accent was a bit thick. Being from the south of the US I of course have no accent. He responded that if I thought he had an accent I should be him listening to me. Good point bud.

 

[/pine]

To me...if you eat your mid-day meal sitting down it's "dinner" otherwise it's just a lunch...

 

[jerrybob]

Several years back.....was doing some work in Croyden, England. I was in my hotel room when the front desk called and a young lady asked if my room needed another "loo" roll. With her British accent......I kept saying what, what? Finally figured out she was asking if I needed any more toilet paper.

 

[300UGUY]

I think TV and folks moving around have reduced the intensity of the dialects. I grew up in SE Michigan, with a lot of transplanted folks from down south. In high school, I could tell the difference between somebody from Pikeville and somebody from Louisville, not just by state. Now folks might still have a bit of inflection, but not as much as they used too. But I have run into people from Maine and NH that had some pretty wicked accents. Those folks seem to have held onto the accent more. Maybe because not a lot of folks have moved to Maine?