Monday, February 1, 2010

Ohio vs. New York: The Way We Speak

Say these two words out loud:

1) Grocery

2) Coupon

I've recently begun to pronounce them differently, and I wonder if there's an Ohio-New York difference.

In Ohio:
GROW-shree
CUE-pon

In New York:
GROW-sir-ee
COO-pon

When I was in Defiance at Christmastime, I caught myself saying them the "New York" way and something immediately felt off. The words just didn't belong.

I certainly haven't picked up all New Yorkisms. No "fuggedaboutit." No "not for nuthin'." And certainly no "Jersey Shore" accent.

And I just as certainly haven't lost my Ohio-isms. I got called out in the lunchroom at work for referring to a carbonated beverage as "pop." And I still use "bag" and "sack" interchangeably.

GROW-shree bag, GROW-sir-ee sack, it's all the same to me.

2 comments:

  1. Interesting observations. I say them the New York way. Could be because my mom's from Massachusetts? Or because I grew up in Akron... it wouldn't surprise me if these differences existed between northern Ohio and southern Ohio.

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  2. I always say pop. And everyone laughs at me.

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