Jul 292011
I thought BigSteve and others outside the Philadelphia area who’ve been known to marvel at our accent might dig this linked analysis of Joe Genaro‘s Philly accent in The Dead Milkmen‘s “Punk Rock Girl.” It’s just a matter of time before some young, skinny Brits adopt my hometown’s accent.
did he just use the word “minilmumum?”
You can really hear it on “Bitchin’ Camaro.” Interesting analysis.
One of the most succinct bits of instruction I’ve seen for adapting the World’s Greatest Accent came from Jon Wurster – arguably the leading practitioner of the accent as Philly Boy Roy on The Best Show on WFMU – who boiled it down to pronouncing the word “flight” as “floit” (and, by extension, Flyers as Floyers) and going from there.
I’m amazed at how quickly that gets you into the proper headspace and terrified by how quickly it unlocks my own repressed accent.
I agree that Philly Boy Roy does have it down pretty well. I think the key is to round the “o”s like that guy in the video above does when he says Coatesville. Here he is, among other things, predicting that the Phils take the World Series in 1.
Also, for days of the week, day “dee’ instead of “day” at the end. (Sundee, Mondee, etc).
Mercifully, I managed to dodge this accent for the most part but every now and then I am mortified to hear it creep into my voice.
I missed this the other day when it was first posted.
I agree that it’s the long ‘o’ sounds that catch the ear, but similar ‘o’ sounds are heard all along the eastern seaboard and even down into Florida and Georgia. The linked article is brilliant at filling out the picture. That reality show about the parking enforcement officers in Philly is a good way to wallow in this accent. I once got lost in a marathon of that show on A&E for a few hours.
http://www.gotoquiz.com/what_american_accent_do_you_have
this quiz correctly pegged my philly (actually ne penna) accent. worked for everyone in our office.
Well, it told me I was Philadelphian too. Not quite.
in spirit, perhaps?