The Chicago Accent

[Blowm3]

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I think that is what he’s talking about. That northeast coast sounding accent. But here in Chicago it’s different because it’s very nasally/midwestern-ish. I think there’s similarities because NJ has a lot of Italians, and so did Chicago to a lesser extent.

However, it’s not prominent an accent to say that it’s a “Chicago” accent. Because it’s not well known, and only a few still have it. Speaking of which, I don’t hear any similarities between the northeast and Chicago’s accent.

[mas23]

Originally Posted by Sunbiz1

I'm 40 miles away from the south side, and when I took a call from there last week; thought I was on the phone with New Jersey...all the dee's and dou's.
That accent is very localized to certain areas of the city, and a few bordering towns like Berwyn.

Funny you say that because most people in New Jersey these days do even sound like that unless you go into the inner cities. A lot of them still have a general east coast accent where they pronounce certain words a certain way, but it's not like the stereotypical sounding one we hear on TV.

And technically the chicago accent is really just a great lakes accent. People from Milwaukee to Buffalo NY speak like that with slight variations. I actually find those two cities to have it even more than chicago to an extent.

[RocketDawg]

Originally Posted by warchildbosnia

I recently read a piece saying the Chicago accent was dying and this inspired me to write a piece on the Chicago accent that I've been working on for some time now. Let me know if there is something specific to your neighborhood accent-wise or culturally that I may have missed.

I hope you enjoy it:

https://hubpages.com/education/Chicago-Accent

I think accents are homogenizing across the nation, except in certain big cities where some residents never leave their neighborhoods. A lot of it is due to people being mobile and moving around, but one of the bigger causes is television - almost all we hear are people with essentially unaccented midwestern speech, and the younger people pick it up and go with it.

My town is in the south, technically the Deep South by a few miles, but far from the Deep South stereotype. Most people here, except a few rural natives, speak unaccented, midwesternish English. Coming here blindfolded, you'd never know you were in the South.

[Kmanshouse]

FYI, it's not a myth. I have several family members with THICK Chicago accents. They are all white south siders. Males and females.

My dad, who died 10 years ago, had a thick one too - very loud voice, booming, cutting.

My accent is mild-Chicago, softer than my dad's, but I can bust the full one out on command, anytime, anywhere, and it will sound 100% authentic. My wife and kids have a milder version as well - they don't have that same ability to crank it up like I do, though.

It comes out more when I talk to a car mechanic, a plumber, ordering at drive throughs where I have to project my voice, or when telling a Chicago-based story.

When I worked telemarketing while in college - I would turn it up or down on purpose depending on the audience. Helped my sales sometimes.

[Master Jay]

I can concur Kmanshouse's claim....

I met him at Apple Fest, and I STILL have no idea what he was saying to me that whole time.

...

Or was that due to the apple wine?!?

[NoClueWho]

Regional accents are dying out and changing all over the U.S. these days. It's even happening in NYC. It happens over time, from generation to generation. Go look at the old James Cagney movies with the classic NYC accent from his 30s and 40s movies or even Woody Allen's common NYC accent from his 60s and 70s movies, and you will realize that most people in NYC don't really sound like that anymore, even though those used to be commonly known as the default NYC accents back in those days. Chicago is the same way. Not many younger people walking around sounding like Dennis Franz in Chicago anymore, are there?