Illinois Accents (Chicago, Aurora, Naperville: maintenance, to relocate, buffet)

[GraniteStater]

Originally Posted by j33

Everyone has an accent. Perhaps those who aren't admitting it are afraid that people will look down on them because of it, like the poster complaining of 'too many southern accents'.

Yes, I have lived in NW Indiana in the past, and probably still have an accent as well.

[Switch625]

Champaign-Urbana is in a transition zone of accents. There is the somewhat "southern" like accent in southern Illinois, the Midwest rural twang, the Mid-Cities accent... it's a bit of a mess and very fun to hear. I have tried to culture an American Standard accent, but my Midwestern rural twang leaks out occasionally.

[PenguinSix]

Some folks south of Effingham say 'boosh' or 'poosh' instead of 'Bush' or 'Push'. There are also word selection issues (heel or crust of a loaf of bread) that might tip them off.

[M TYPE X]

Originally Posted by Switch625

Champaign-Urbana is in a transition zone of accents. There is the somewhat "southern" like accent in southern Illinois, the Midwest rural twang, the Mid-Cities accent... it's a bit of a mess and very fun to hear. I have tried to culture an American Standard accent, but my Midwestern rural twang leaks out occasionally.

I'm more worried about tornados, or smirking when the weather report calls it "metro" Champaign-Urbana. lol

[aus10]

I too, grew up in Southern IL, not far from IN and KY. In our travels people definitely thought I was from the south. I was once asked if I was from Texas. And I find it much easier to pick up a more southern sounding accent the farther south we travel. Perhaps instead of a true "southern" accent, perhaps we southern IL folks just sound more "country" than "city"?

[Switch625]

Originally Posted by M TYPE X

I'm more worried about tornados, or smirking when the weather report calls it "metro" Champaign-Urbana. lol

It is a metropolitan area. A small metro area, but we like to make the most of what we've got.

[Frenchy64]

Southern Illinois accent is like the southern midwest accent I used to have coming from Kansas City. I was born and lived there until age eight when our family moved to Northern Illinois. Boy was that a shock for me. Everyone in Northern Illinois and Chicago had a nasally accent. Well, after several decades the southern accent I had has faded and the more northern Illinois accent has taken over. When I was in Peoria one day I heard a waiter at the Bob Evans say "Can I GIT you folks anything else?" Well, the word "git" is the sourthern way of saying "get." My husband says I still say git.

When we were at spring training to see the Cubs, we took and day to see my beloved Royals and were chatting with the K.C. fans around us. They were surprised to hear I was from K.C., too because they thought I sounded like I was from Chicago. They made fun of us because we pronounced it "Chi-caaa-go."

[M TYPE X]

Originally Posted by Switch625

It is a metropolitan area. A small metro area, but we like to make the most of what we've got.

With the exception of Decatur, many cities in mid-state IL qualify as being located in metro areas. Springfield has micro-suburbs, although Peoria and Champaign-Urbana have better ones.

Indy is kinda small for a metro area (I'm from metro Detroit by way of metro Akron/Cleveland). Once you rock Chicagoland, it's hard to downsize.

[LeftSo.IL.Behind]

I lived in Southern Illinois from the age of 3 until I was 20. So. IL does not have an all encompassing accent that all people in the area share. There are two groups of people: those who speak properly and those who do not. I don't want to sound pious, but the fact is that the more successful and intellegent families in the area tend to speak proper English that sounds very much like most areas of the country that do not possess specific, strong accents (like: Chicago, Wisconsin or Boston). Then there are the NASCAR/Hunter types, which are perfectly nice people (they just use poor English). They sound like complete hicks, for lack of a better term. They like to say: ain't, ain't gonna, shee-oot, them-there, why-come, and anything that Larry the Cable Guy might come up with.

I now live in Boise, ID and people here speak precisely the same way I do. Also, I have spent a lot of time in Phoenix, AZ and the same is true there.

[Drover]

I don't know where you get the idea that Chicago, Wisconsin or Boston do not have specific, strong accents. When I moved from Chicago to Pittsburgh, people could tell instantly that I was from Chicago, or at the very least, they could tell that I was from the upper Midwest. I got comments about my accent all the time; the minute I opened my mouth and said one single sentence it was obvious to everyone within earshot that I was not from around there. And a Wisconsin accent is even thicker. As for Boston... their accent is so distinct that some people think Barbara Walters has a friggin' speech impediment ("how come that woman can't pronounce her R's??") when in fact all she has is an unmoderated Boston accent. Hell, the Chicago and Boston accents are distinct enough that SNL has parodied both of them (
"Superfans," aka "Da Bears" for the Chicago accent and
"This is Baba Wawa" for the Boston accent).

Here's a
Budweiser commercial that parodies the Wisconsin accent, which is pretty similar to a Chicago accent.