Harvard’s Dialect Survey is an in-depth look at how we speak as Americans, in terms of vocal inflections and regional phrases. For instance, do you pronounce “coupon” as “q-pon” or are you one of those annoying people that says it “coo-pon”? (Of course here “annoying people” refers to people that “don’t say it like I do.”)
One of the more interesting questions to me was with regards to subs/grinders/hoagies/etc.. Being from New Jersey, I’ve always called them “hoagies” but was amazed that the majority of the country says “subs.” I guess that’s why there’s no chain called “Hoagieway.”
A word they seem to have left out, though, is “water.” I’ve always said it with a “New Jersey accent” (which I wasn’t aware existed until I went to college) as “wooder.” Apparently, that’s not how most people say it…
What words do you use or pronounce differently from everyone you know?
Posted in Everyday Life