Yes, I Was Raised in New York

I can’t wait to get back to the East Coast. I’ve lived heeya fer a little ova five yeeyas and I’m ty-yid of havin’ people make funna the way I tawk. Did that make any sense whatsoever to anyone living outside of the New York City/Long Island area? What I said, for those who didn’t understand, was, “I’ve lived here for a little over five years and I’m tired of having people make fun of the way I talk.”

I was born here in Columbia, MO but I was, pretty much, raised on Long Island so I do speak like a New Yorker; not a Brooklyn New Yorker, but a New Yorker nonetheless. People are always asking me where I’m from. I tell them I’m from here, Missouri; and they stare at me like I just grew another head. I can’t imagine why. I didn’t lie; I am from here. It’s only after I tell them where I’m from that they think for a second and then adjust the question: “But you haven’t always lived here, have you?” Ah, now we’re getting to the heart of it. No, I haven’t always lived here. I spent a lot of time in NY; about 35 years, I’d say. When I explain that I always get the, “See, I knew you didn’t sound like you were from here. I knew it had to be somewhere on the East Coast.”

My problem with that is that the East Coast is an awfully long stretch of area – running from Maine (Yah cahn’t get they-uh from hee-uh.) to Florida (Yew cayun’t get they’er from here, y’all), with numerous other dialects and accents in between. So, yes, I was raised on the East Coast, but from a specific location therein. I’m trying to get to the DC metro area where I’m sure they speak closer to my dialect than the people here in Missouri so I won’t be asked where I’m from constantly. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not angry about being asked where I was raised; I actually find it pretty funny. :) I just find the different continental dialects funny altogether.

What I say one way, everyone else says a completely different way. It’s interesting considering we settled this country when our ancestors all originally came here from the same country. How did we go from British accents to Southern drawls, Midwest twangs, New England dialects, and Western accents? I also think it’s interesting to know how people around the country refer so differently to the same things. For example, in NY they say ‘soda’ when referring to carbonated beverages (Coke, Pepsi, Sprite, etc.). Here in MO it’s called ‘pop.’ Okay, if you say so. A ‘lollipop’ in NY is a ‘sucker’ out here; which, by the way is someone who got duped into a bad deal in NY. There are others, but you get the idea.

There was a website I found once that I saved because it’s pretty cool. It’s a fun test you can take to find out whether you’re a Rebel or a Yankee, depending on how you say certain words and phrases. There are two tests, actually; the first one on the opening page of the link, and a second one listed in the box below the first test; it’s called the Advance Rebel-Yankee test. They’re fun, you should try them: http://www.alphadictionary.com/articles/yankeetest.html I’m sure you’ll learn some expressions and phrases you’ve never heard before. I’m sure, too, when I get to DC, I’ll learn even more that I’ve never heard from here or NY. It’ll be a fun comparison. Until I get there, though, I’ll just have to deal with explaining to the people here where I’m from and where I was raised. I don't mind, it let's us all laugh. :)

Until tomorrow…peace to all.