Help with Californian accent!

Discussion in 'California' started by Jennyflower, Aug 29, 2006.

  1. zilla939

    zilla939 Thought Police Lifetime Supporter

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    wow, OUTRAGEOUS necropost. people were so dumb in '06
     
  2. scratcho

    scratcho Lifetime Supporter Lifetime Supporter

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    It's changed?
     
  3. scratcho

    scratcho Lifetime Supporter Lifetime Supporter

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    Reminds me--I saw a van (couldn't catch the state) with a licence plate that said Zilla and then maybe a number. You been sneakin' around here?
     
  4. dennpat

    dennpat Member

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    DUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUDE!!!!! :cool::D

    Actually, I've lived in California all of my adult life and I've never called anyone "dude." :rolleyes: As far as having a California accent, I think people in the western half of the country all have the same, homogenous speech patterns (think newscasters and how they don't have accents when they speak).
     
  5. MissEmma

    MissEmma Member

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    Watch American TV. A large amount of it comes from LA which believe it or not is in California.
     
  6. spazzingfetish

    spazzingfetish Member

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    don't say "really", say "rilly".
    don't say "no", say "naw".
    don't say "that", say "dat".
    don't say "-ing", say "-in'"
     
  7. Blue Meets Green

    Blue Meets Green Member

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    I can't speak to the whole State, but I will say that true Coastal Californians definitely have an accent. I was born and raised on the Coast and will attest to the fact that all of my 'local' friends sound alike, from SD to the Emerald Triangle - and we sound different than you - :2thumbsup:
    I've got friends I grew up with who's parents were from Mexico, Nigeria, India, Iran, Italy, China, Japan - and all of us Cal Kids talk alike and differently than our parents. I would suggest that the reason some visitors and trannys (transplants) don't hear or notice or believe in the Cal accent - is because the people they are talking to are not actually from the California Coast - as in - moved there as opposed to born and raised. One has to remember - a bulk of California Residents are not actually from California. But the true and tested locals as well as the acclimated trannys definitely have a distinct speech and colloquial vernacular.
     
  8. IvSeenTwilght

    IvSeenTwilght Member

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    I'm southern california born and raised and I think that it depends on where you go. LA as opposed to beach areas will have different slang. There isn't a "Valley girl" type of accent, at least not anymore, although the word "like" is definitely used more than other states. It's almost a filler word for sentences haha. I remember going out to maryland to visit family and getting called out on it :D I don't think people even notice how much they use it. I think california actually has a pretty large mix of cultures compared to other states so there are a lot of different influences on vocabulary. It would be hard to describe exactly because a 20-30 minute drive could land you in a whole other mix of cultures. Everything is so compact here. I live in surf city huntington beach and if you listen to the true local surfers you will find a lot of jargon about the area, but drive 35 minutes to south central LA and you'll get something completely different. 15 minutes to fountain valley and it's something else! haha
     
  9. SouthPaw

    SouthPaw Members

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    This is an old thread but I'll add to it anyway.

    I grew up in Boston but as an adult lived in Kentucky, Georgia, Arkansas, Hawaii, New Hampshire, and Germany. I also lived in California in 1992, 1996-1997, and 2014 to the present.

    I've been exposed to a broad range of accents over the last 23 years and found California accents tend to be subtle. They're more noticeable among younger Californians but putting Spanish accents aside, they seem to be more along the lines of lazy syllables, not really accents. I also notice Spanish inflections in people who aren't Hispanic but it's to be expected with all the Mexicans here. My wife grew up here, her parents are from Nicaragua and Cuba, but despite being born and raised here she had a bit of a Spanish accent when I met her.

    Anyway, the only really discernible California "accent" that used to really get on my nerves was their habit of turning statements into questions combined with lazy syllables and an inflection at the end, (i.e. I went to Maahlibu last night? And I met this booy? And he was like, soooo cuute. But I don't think I'll see him again? Because he's like, waay uptight? y'know?).

    Luckily I don't hear that too much anymore. The last time I heard it was from a female Sheriff's Deputy. It was hard taking her seriously, I was half expecting to hear her follow up with, "Fer sure".
     
  10. magickman

    magickman Supporters HipForums Supporter

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    hmm most of that sounds kinda "Hoosier" to me.
     

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