Americans - how accurate is this (about language)

[CorporalCaptain]

^ Awesome. It went whoosh for me, then, when I saw that episode.

 

[The Boy Who Cried Worf]

Hella is one of those words that sounds stupid to outsiders, but once you integrate it into your vocabulary you wonder how you possibly formed coherent sentences without it. It just makes sense!

Yes! I need to get out of here before I start using it and then end up sounding stupid to everyone in Illinois!

Fear not, Kestra. We say "hella" in Illinois now.

Hella is hella old. I remember in college we goofed on it by using it constantly, and that was in 94.

 

[Kommander]

I've decided to provide an itemized list of words I use, words I most commonly hear in my area, and if it matches the maps. (I live in Detroit, and have lived in the Detroit Metro Area my whole life.)

1: Caramel:
Me: three syllables, but similar to the two syllable version; as car-ah-mal rather than care-ah-mel.
others: two sylables, car-mal
Accuracy:
Me: I've never heard anyone else pronounce it the way I do.
Others: accurate

2: Been
Me: Rhymes with "men"
Others: Same
Accuracy: accurate.

3: Bowie Knife
both: Bow-ee, not boo-ee
Accurate

4: Crayon
Me: Cray-ahn
Others: usually Cran, sometimes cray-ahn
Accuracy:
me: accurate
others: somewhat accurate

5: Lawyer
Both: Loyer
Accurate

6: Coleslaw = slaw
me: I say the entire word
others: sometimes
map is accurate

7: A group of people.
Me: Two people: you two. Three people: you three. more: you people or you guys, sometimes youse guys.
others: usually "You guys" sometimes "y'all" or "you all"
Accuracy:
Me: What do you mean, "you people"?!
Others: mostly accurate

8: Mayonnaise
Me: May-oh-naize or mayo
Others: Man-aze or mayo
map is accurate

9: Pajamas
Both: pah-jam-ahs
accurate

10: Pecan
Me: pee-KAHN or pik-on
Others: pee-CAN or pik-an
Accuracy: yes for me, no for others. How the hell did that happen?

11: Carbonated soft drinks
Me: pop, or carbonated soft drinks
Others: pop
accurate

12: Tiny freshwater lobster-like things
Me: crayfish or Hobbit Lobsters
Others: Crayfish
Accurate

13: Circular Intersections
Me: "Stupid fucking roundabout"
Others: no idea
Vaguely accurate?

14: Syrup
Both: sir-up
Accurate

15: Long sandwich
Me: Sandwich, sometimes sub
Others: sub
Accurate

16: Potable water dispensers
Me: "What the fuck is wrong with this sink?" or drinking fountain, or potable water dispensers.
Others: drinking fountain, sometimes water fountain
mostly accurate

17: Athletic shoes
Me: athletic shoes
Others Tennis shoes
Accuracy:
Me: no one else
Others: accurate

18: Roads
Both: Highway is rarely used, but they have stoplights and such.
Roads that have entrance/exit ramps and no stoplights:
Me: Interstate or express way
Others: freeway or express way about equally, express way slightly more common.
Accuracy: somewhat accurate

19: Rain while sunny
Me: "what the Hell?"
Others: "Hey, it's raining while the sun is shining, that's unexpected."
Accurate, I guess.

20: The City
Both: Not really used, but Detroit
Accurate

21: Drive-thru Liquor stores
Me: Drive-through liquor stores
Others: Drive-thru liquor stores.
Accuracy: My area is blue, the "we have them but no special name" color. As far as I know, they only exist in mythical places such as Valhalla, Never-Never Land, and Texas. If they have them in Detroit and no one told me... I'm angry now!

22: Mary/marry/Merry
Both: all the same
Map is accurate

Overall: Mostly accurate.

 

[RandyS]

Hella is one of those words that sounds stupid to outsiders, but once you integrate it into your vocabulary you wonder how you possibly formed coherent sentences without it. It just makes sense!

Yes! I need to get out of here before I start using it and then end up sounding stupid to everyone in Illinois!

Fear not, Kestra. We say "hella" in Illinois now.

I feel sorry for Illinois now. I NEVER expected THAT to happen...

 

[Spot's Meow]

I'm trying to figure out - how can marry/merry/Mary be pronounced differently? Every way I try it they sound the same to me.

 

[Third Nacelle]

I'm trying to figure out - how can marry/merry/Mary be pronounced differently? Every way I try it they sound the same to me.

For me, Mary and marry are the same, but merry is different. Mary and marry have a slightly different, harder, long A - like the A in May. Merry has a vowel between the A in May and the E in met.

 

[Miss Chicken]

I'm trying to figure out - how can marry/merry/Mary be pronounced differently? Every way I try it they sound the same to me.

For me, Mary and marry are the same, but merry is different. Mary and marry have a slightly different, harder, long A - like the A in May. Merry has a vowel between the A in May and the E in met.

To me all three are different.

Merry rhymes with berry. It has an noticeable E sound. It is as different from marry as berry is from Barry.

Mary sounds like mare-ree
Marry rhymes with Barry. The first syllable is shorter that in Mary.

 

[RoJoHen]

I'm trying to figure out - how can marry/merry/Mary be pronounced differently? Every way I try it they sound the same to me.

For me, Mary and marry are the same, but merry is different. Mary and marry have a slightly different, harder, long A - like the A in May. Merry has a vowel between the A in May and the E in met.

To me all three are different.

Merry rhymes with berry. It has an noticeable E sound. It is as different from marry as berry is from Barry.

Mary sounds like mare-ree
Marry rhymes with Barry. The first syllable is shorter that in Mary.

Mary, marry, and merry all rhyme with Barry and berry.

 

[Christopher]

I have heard "Barry" pronounced differently from "berry," with more of a short A sound as in "back." That's how the English-accented Amanda Pays rendered Barry Allen's name in the 1990 The Flash TV series. But as for myself, I think of "Barry," "berry," and "bury" as homophones.

 

[Miss Chicken]

I have heard "Barry" pronounced differently from "berry," with more of a short A sound as in "back." That's how the English-accented Amanda Pays rendered Barry Allen's name in the 1990 The Flash TV series. But as for myself, I think of "Barry," "berry," and "bury" as homophones.

What about the words terry and tarry?

 

[RoJoHen]

I have heard "Barry" pronounced differently from "berry," with more of a short A sound as in "back." That's how the English-accented Amanda Pays rendered Barry Allen's name in the 1990 The Flash TV series. But as for myself, I think of "Barry," "berry," and "bury" as homophones.

What about the words terry and tarry?

I just had to look those words up because I honestly couldn't think of a time when I've ever used them. I still don't think I've ever seen or heard the word "tarry" before.

Terry I've only ever seen used as a person's first name, and it also rhymes with merry, Mary, Barry, etc.

 

[Miss Chicken]

Here is an Australian pronouncing all three words.

[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2_VLUnbAbY&feature=youtube_gdata_player[/yt]

I would probably pronounce Mary with a slightly longer vowel sound than she does.

 

[Christopher]

I think I do detect a tiny difference in how I say "terry" and "tarry," the latter being more toward the British "Barry" I mentioned above.

Of course, that's for "tarry" in the sense of "linger." If it were "tarry" in the sense of "like tar," then it would sound very different.

 

[Miss Chicken]

Yes, I was asking about the tarry that means "to linger" which for me rhymes with Barry. Tarry meaning "like tar" rhymes with starry.

Edited to add - can anyone tell me if the term "terry towelling" or "terry cloth" is used in the USA?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terrycloth

 

[CorporalCaptain]

I have heard "Barry" pronounced differently from "berry," with more of a short A sound as in "back." That's how the English-accented Amanda Pays rendered Barry Allen's name in the 1990 The Flash TV series. But as for myself, I think of "Barry," "berry," and "bury" as homophones.

What about the words terry and tarry?

For me, Mary, marry, merry, Barry, berry, bury, tarry, Terry, and Teri all rhyme.

Edited to add - can anyone tell me if the term "terry towelling" or "terry cloth" is used in the USA?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terrycloth

I use a terry cloth every day, although, frankly, while I speak it frequently, as needed, I don't think I've ever spelled it before in my life (so I'm not sure if it's one or two words around here, but I'm guessing two words).

 

[propita]

I was born and raised in the LA area, but Mom is from Rhode Island, so I got mixed up on occasion. I say "ahnt" not "ant."

Mom says "sizzuhs" (something like that) for "scissors," and some weird "kw" sound at the start of "coffee" so that it sounds kinda like "quaff-ee." Does that make sense?

I'm in Fresno now. They use a broad A sound that I don't use or hear, but others hear the difference and know I'm not from here.

 

[Spot's Meow]

I have heard "Barry" pronounced differently from "berry," with more of a short A sound as in "back." That's how the English-accented Amanda Pays rendered Barry Allen's name in the 1990 The Flash TV series. But as for myself, I think of "Barry," "berry," and "bury" as homophones.

What about the words terry and tarry?

For me, Mary, marry, merry, Barry, berry, bury, tarry, Terry, and Teri all rhyme.

This is my experience as well (except that I would guess tarry rhymes with starry, though I can't remember ever hearing someone say tarry). Even in listening to your video, MissChicken, I can sort of detect a different between how merry and marry were spoken, but the way that she said merry and Mary sounded the same to me.

 

[Christopher]

^I had trouble with the merry/Mary distinction in the clip too, due to the poor audio quality, but the last time she said "Mary," it came out kind of like "May-ree."

 

[Third Nacelle]

What about the words terry and tarry?

For me, Mary, marry, merry, Barry, berry, bury, tarry, Terry, and Teri all rhyme.

This is my experience as well (except that I would guess tarry rhymes with starry, though I can't remember ever hearing someone say tarry). Even in listening to your video, MissChicken, I can sort of detect a different between how merry and marry were spoken, but the way that she said merry and Mary sounded the same to me.

I have a friend from Hawaii who not only pronounces "bot" and "bought" the same, but he can't even hear the difference when people who pronounce them differently say them. Maybe it's the same with all the merry and Mary for people raised speaking certain dialects.

 

[Miss Chicken]

This is my experience as well (except that I would guess tarry rhymes with starry, though I can't remember ever hearing someone say tarry). Even in listening to your video, MissChicken, I can sort of detect a different between how merry and marry were spoken, but the way that she said merry and Mary sounded the same to me.

I think that the first syllable in merry is shorter than in Mary.