Slightly random thread about Canadian accents

[phenomsmom]

Umm I call in New Fin Lan (my d drops off

)

Wyan--GOOOOOOOOOOOMIE!!

Guess that's the German in me cause I say addidas the "german" was too... I am confused at what accent I want I guess!

 

[gailc]

I thought that is how addidas was pronounced!!!
MY dh's ancestry is French Canadian!! Its been traced back several hundred yrs but the spelling got changed wayyy back!! French Candians settled the Oconto, WI (north of Green Bay) area long long ago and there are several familes with a long history.
New-fun- land.
GUMMI bears just like it is spelled!!!!

 

[hopehacker]

I think Canadians are basically much friendlier than people in the USA, or at least compared to California. I couldn't get over how nice and friendly people were in Toronto. I do however, come from about the least genuine city in the Universe. Very few people in the Los Angeles area are friendly unless there is something in it for them.

I think the Canadian accents I've heard are similar to the Northern MidWestern Accents, but they are a bit more clipped than the Americans, with just a touch of the British accent popping in here and there, as well as their own unique way of saying about (like a boat) and out (like oat). I heard that in both Toronto as well as Vancouver. I can always tell a Canadian when I hear them, except for a French Canadian, because I can't tell the difference from a French Canadian and a person from France.

In the US, I think we have waaay more than 3 accents. I hear the New England accent, which is different from the New York accent, then all of the people from Pennsylvania have an accent that is somewhere between the New Yorkers and the people in the Delaware area. The people in the Eastern deep South sound different from the people in the Middle Southern states. People from Chicago have their own unique accent. They say Car, almost like "care". Some people in the midwest have an accent, and some have the broad American accent, similar to mine. I've noticed that most people from Colorado and West of Colorado seem to have an accent like mine, which I call the Broad American accent, because all of the news people and Television announcers talk like I do.

A funny thing that happened once regarding accents. I was talking to my friend who is from the Boston area. We were talking about Garter Belts, that the brides wear. I couldn't think of the word "Garter", and my friend said it's called it a Gaadaa. I didn't know what she was saying. because we call it "GaRTeR, we prounce our R's and they don't pronounce their R's, except they will put and R at the end of a word that ends with an A.

 

[wellingtoncats]

My friend from Canada has a very strong accent - I find Canadian accents harder to understand (in general) than american accents.

Us kiwis have cool accents.

 

[tigerontheprowl]

I think some people find us harder to understand because they get used to their own way of talking. For example, if I were to go anywhere in Canada, I would be able to understand anything people say. But if I were to go to Scotland, it would be difficult to get past their accent.

 

[starryeyedtiger]

My best friend's dad is from Canada and he definitely has a Canadian accent. (i have a slight southern one- but years of acting and voice lessons lets me correct it when i need to). But anyways, the funniest thing i've ever heard him say was one day when we had waited in line at Mc Donalds for an outrageous amount of time for out food....lets just say he was a little impatient that day...and the obsenities that came out of his mouth were hilarious because every other word was "bloody idiots" and he did it in front of a huge crowd. lol it was definitely a funny memory.

Also they had a christmas party one time, and when he had a bit too much to drink, he did the polka in front of everyone...it was hysterical!

 

[Moz]

Originally Posted by StarryEyedTiGeR

"bloody idiots"

Sounds like something a British old chap might say!

 

[salix]

I know when I moved from Ontario to Alberta, they pegged me right away by my accent, because I tended to add an "ay" sound in the middle of some words.
Like ma-yan, for man, or ma-yandi, for mandi.
as for the about/aboot debate, I have one thing to add:
http://www.videoclipstream.com/akamai/therant/rant.html

 

[ilovesiamese]

Originally Posted by Salix

I know when I moved from Ontario to Alberta, they pegged me right away by my accent, because I tended to add an "ay" sound in the middle of some words.
Like ma-yan, for man, or ma-yandi, for mandi.
as for the about/aboot debate, I have one thing to add:
http://www.videoclipstream.com/akamai/therant/rant.html

I do the ma-yan thing too or when I'm mad and I send my son to his room I say go to your rooomma(with a slightly u sound) but other than that I don't think I have an accent

 

[kc&sherman]

Originally Posted by Salix

as for the about/aboot debate, I have one thing to add:
http://www.videoclipstream.com/akamai/therant/rant.html

The beaver is a trully proud and noble animal.

Yah, I guess I have more of a "Broad American Accent." Sometimes I wish I had a neat accent though - like an Austrailian or British one.

British accents always seem so proper and polite. I have family in New Jersey who have strong Jersey-ian accents. We decided that New Jersey-ian is a toned down New York-ian. They say "woawlk" and "toawlk" and everything to that extent. (If my spelling is right, you'll know what I mean

)

All this talk of accents makes me wonder how accents in different locations even came to be.

 

[lunasmom]

LOL...it always amazes me too. I'm on the other side of Windsor (Detroit Suburb) and it does crack me up the instant I'm on the other side of the river because it's a totally different accent.

Then again, there are people in the area I live in that have southern accents...even though they lived in MI all their life

I know when I first moved up from Michigan from the Chicago area several years ago, I was made fun of (and sometimes still am) for saying "melk" instead of "milk" and also "Ellinoi" instead of "Illinoise" (THE "S" IS SILENT PEOPLE!!!!)

 

[sunflower89]

Sorry to unearth this old,old thread but I found it by coincidence online after searching for "canadian accent" on google. I am already a member on this site coincidentally since I adopted a kitten in November.

I am Canadian and I only started to "hear" our accents about a year ago after taking a linguistic course. It is pretty shocking actually to finally hear the "vowels" as they truly are. We say about like "aboat" and most like "mewst" here in Ontario as well as so many other things. I never, ever, ever was able to hear this before and would have argued or disagreed with anyone who said we had an accent. I guess it's too late to go back to being oblivious...

 

[tuxedoontheloos]

I lived abroad for a few months in the Pacific. Lots of Aussie and Kiwi accents as well as various European and UK ones. A handful of Americans.Towards the end of my stay I met another Canadian. I'd never realized how distinct our accent was until that moment... or how goofy it is compared with some other accents. :/

When I moved back I found myself way more attuned to how people talk than before. There is a definite west coast accent, a prairie accent, several Ontario ones, and then you get into Quebec and the maritimes which really are regional. I can't distinguish maritime or French accents, but I can generally give a good guess at what part of the country someone's come from

 

[sunflower89]

I lived abroad for a few months in the Pacific. Lots of Aussie and Kiwi accents as well as various European and UK ones. A handful of Americans.Towards the end of my stay I met another Canadian. I'd never realized how distinct our accent was until that moment... or how goofy it is compared with some other accents. :/

When I moved back I found myself way more attuned to how people talk than before. There is a definite west coast accent, a prairie accent, several Ontario ones, and then you get into Quebec and the maritimes which really are regional. I can't distinguish maritime or French accents, but I can generally give a good guess at what part of the country someone's come from

Definitely agree about the "goofy" factor. I almost feel like it makes me sound a little "naive" in a way lol.

 

[sunflower89]

For "fun". Here's my Canadian accent. This sentence was a reddit meme someone sent me to "record" and I decided I would share it here too.

 

[misty8723]

Everyone has an accent, you just don't notice your own.

 

[catdavidlouis]

To me, anyone in western U.S. (Colorado to West Coast) is "accent-less,"   which is kind of dull, actually.  I like hearing  a genuine Southern drawl.  And BTW, that can't be faked like the actors try to do on NCIS- New Orleans. It doesn't work..

 

[Winchester]

Sorry to unearth this old,old thread but I found it by coincidence online after searching for "canadian accent" on google. I am already a member on this site coincidentally since I adopted a kitten in November.

I am Canadian and I only started to "hear" our accents about a year ago after taking a linguistic course. It is pretty shocking actually to finally hear the "vowels" as they truly are. We say about like "aboat" and most like "mewst" here in Ontario as well as so many other things. I never, ever, ever was able to hear this before and would have argued or disagreed with anyone who said we had an accent. I guess it's too late to go back to being oblivious...

I had a Planning prof who was from Canada and she definitely said "aboat"! Actually, I loved to listen to her lectures, simply because of her accent. She was married to a man from the Middle East, so I also learned quite a bit about culture there. She and her husband would go over on occasion and she would talk to us about it. She is a fascinating woman. (She had a life-size Spock in her office! And I have a life-size Captain Picard in our computer room! We had some interesting Star Trek discussions, too. 

)

 

[furballsmeow]

I say out and about like oat in a boat

Someone thinks we say watermelon really weird 

 

[natalie_ca]

We say about like "aboat" and most like "mewst" here in Ontario as well as so many other things.

I'm i Manitoba and I say "a bowt"      I'm not sure what word you are going for with "mewst" though. Maybe "most?"  If that is the case, I say "mow st"