Don't want to hijack the striped bass post...

[Dumpsterkitty]

AKA-Regional dialects in the US...

... This particular fish got me to wondering ... on the Jersey shore where I spent my childhood summers, these fish were called "stri ped" bass (2 syllables). Is that the common pronunciation everywhere else? My uncle used to tell a story about uncovering a German spy in their midst during World War II when the spy said he was from Forked River NJ (pronounced as the 2-syllable "For ked River" but the spy said it as a one syllable word, so my uncle knew that this person wasn't really from that area.

Dot in PA

That fills in a bit of info for me...  In Northern New England, where I grew up, Stri ped had two syllables, ie: a Stri ped T-Shirt, or a Stri ped Cat.
When I got to Virginia, people looked at me funny when I said it that way, so I guess the boundary is somewhere not too far South of New Jersey  
Carol
now in WV

OK...the boundary is a bit more complicated than North/South.  I grew up in Brooklyn and, although most people don't pick up on it now, I did have a truly Brooklyn accent, with a hint of my mother's Bronx accent.  I pronounce striped as one syllable.

Regional dialects are very interesting.  Once upon a time I worked as an oversize load escort driver and ran into all sorts of accents on the CB.  One that I always found interesting was the very blurry line between a true down-east Maine accent and what is often thought of as classically Canadian.  Not much difference between Eh-ya?  and Eh?

Anyway...I ran across this very interesting map and pronunciation guide done as a hobby.  

http://aschmann.net/AmEng/

All sorts of fascinating tidbits if that's your sort of thing...like there's a correlation between a New Orleans accent and a Brooklyn accent.  Go figure!

[Donna]

My goodness, who put that together!!! 

[Tokira]

Regional dialects are very interesting.  Once upon a time I worked as an oversize load escort driver and ran into all sorts of accents on the CB.  One that I always found interesting was the very blurry line between a true down-east Maine accent and what is often thought of as classically Canadian.  Not much difference between Eh-ya?  and Eh?

Anyway...I ran across this very interesting map and pronunciation guide done as a hobby. 

http://aschmann.net/AmEng/

All sorts of fascinating tidbits if that's your sort of thing...like there's a correlation between a New Orleans accent and a Brooklyn accent.  Go figure!

Aaah, but the Maine (and New Hampsha) expression is AY UH 

I am rarely stumped by a regional pronunciation, but I have to say I was totalled by the guy who asked me (at my post as Home Depot Garden Cashier in WestbyGod Virginia), where the flares were.  I dutifully replied that they were in Aisle ten, the safety aisle. 
Seems the chap was looking for FLOWERS.

[Shaky]

Wow, is that a map or a puzzle?

I am rarely stumped by a regional pronunciation, but I have to say I was totalled by the guy who asked me (at my post as Home Depot Garden Cashier in WestbyGod Virginia), where the flares were.  I dutifully replied that they were in Aisle ten, the safety aisle. 
Seems the chap was looking for FLOWERS.

I wonder if he ever worked at RG&E, the local pare company. As you know, their Beebee station is not too far from the Kodak tare.

Oh, my. Look at the hare. It's past my bedtime.

[Tokira]

I wonder if he ever worked at RG&E, the local pare company. As you know, their Beebee station is not too far from the Kodak tare.

Oh, my. Look at the hare. It's past my bedtime.

 
Carol

[Donna]

I wonder if he ever worked at RG&E, the local pare company. As you know, their Beebee station is not too far from the Kodak tare.

Oh, my. Look at the hare. It's past my bedtime.

 
Carol

Ok, that was good!

[Dumpsterkitty]

Regional dialects are very interesting.  Once upon a time I worked as an oversize load escort driver and ran into all sorts of accents on the CB.  One that I always found interesting was the very blurry line between a true down-east Maine accent and what is often thought of as classically Canadian.  Not much difference between Eh-ya?  and Eh?

Aaah, but the Maine (and New Hampsha) expression is AY UH 

That's the part that was funny...I had finished escorting a load of steel in Portland Maine and needed to get to somewhere in way north interior Maine to pick up a machine in the morning.  I don't recall the town...I just recall taking I-95 so far I was seeing signs for New Brunswick, then got off and went further north.  Anyway, it was late & I was yakking with any truck driver willing to talk.  Every last accent sounded exactly alike-I asked where in Maine they were from-one was from Bah Hahbah, the rest were from Quebec.  They actually joked-"can't you tell the difference between Ay-yuh and Ay-yuh?"

[Bobbie Ireland]

Years ago, during the "Troubles" in Northern Ireland, I volunteered to work with a group that brought kids from Belfast to Dublin for a bit of R&R. We picked up our bunch of ragamuffins from the train station, and then had to take them to buses for the trip to the final destination.

As we walked, one little tyke cosied up alongside me and asked "Where are the turrets?" (Or at least that's what I thought she said.)

My heart sank for the poor child, having to live a life surrounded by gun turrets, tanks, soldiers. So I quietly reassured her:"Don't worry, love. There are no turrets around here."

Her eyes widened and her jaw dropped as she clutched my hand. I am thinking by now that I have made a friend.

Her words, however, became more clear with her next statement:

"Miss! You don't have any TER-lets here? But I need to pee!!

[Dumpsterkitty]

Years ago, during the "Troubles" in Northern Ireland, I volunteered to work with a group that brought kids from Belfast to Dublin for a bit of R&R. We picked up our bunch of ragamuffins from the train station, and then had to take them to buses for the trip to the final destination.

As we walked, one little tyke cosied up alongside me and asked "Where are the turrets?" (Or at least that's what I thought she said.)

My heart sank for the poor child, having to live a life surrounded by gun turrets, tanks, soldiers. So I quietly reassured her:"Don't worry, love. There are no turrets around here."

Her eyes widened and her jaw dropped as she clutched my hand. I am thinking by now that I have made a friend.

Her words, however, became more clear with her next statement:

"Miss! You don't have any TER-lets here? But I need to pee!!

That's how my grandfather pronounced it...he also did the "earl" for oil Brooklynism!  His father was Welsh, but his mother was Irish with a brogue as thick as soda bread, from what I hear.

Speaking of Irish brogues...in all my life the only accent I was completely unable to decipher was a woman with a Canadian-Irish brogue.  Could not understand a single word!

[Bobbie Ireland]

Years ago, during the "Troubles" in Northern Ireland, I volunteered to work with a group that brought kids from Belfast to Dublin for a bit of R&R. We picked up our bunch of ragamuffins from the train station, and then had to take them to buses for the trip to the final destination.

As we walked, one little tyke cosied up alongside me and asked "Where are the turrets?" (Or at least that's what I thought she said.)

My heart sank for the poor child, having to live a life surrounded by gun turrets, tanks, soldiers. So I quietly reassured her:"Don't worry, love. There are no turrets around here."

Her eyes widened and her jaw dropped as she clutched my hand. I am thinking by now that I have made a friend.

Her words, however, became more clear with her next statement:

"Miss! You don't have any TER-lets here? But I need to pee!!

That's how my grandfather pronounced it...he also did the "earl" for oil Brooklynism!  His father was Welsh, but his mother was Irish with a brogue as thick as soda bread, from what I hear.

Speaking of Irish brogues...in all my life the only accent I was completely unable to decipher was a woman with a Canadian-Irish brogue.  Could not understand a single word!

Another "language/accent" story... I was out in County Kerry with two friends some years back. One friend, Irish. The other, English. We sat by the fire at a little local pub where an old gentleman engaged us in conversation. The English girl remained silent while the Irish friend and I chatted away. The old fellow eventually tipped his soft cap and left, at which point our English friend commented that she was very impressed by our grasp of the Irish language when we responded to the old lad. Which is when we had to tell her: "Jenny, he was not speaking Irish - he was speaking English!"

[Tokira]

That's how my grandfather pronounced it...he also did the "earl" for oil Brooklynism!  His father was Welsh, but his mother was Irish with a brogue as thick as soda bread, from what I hear.

In (Northern?) Virginia, that's pronounced OLE...  Change th' ole in the corr.
Carol
WV