Poor speech habits/patterns

[chrose]

My wife and I were having a discussion this morning and I wanted to get a national opinion.
Up here in Western NY there seems to be a speech pattern where a conversation is peppered with the phrase "ya know what I'm saying"? this is just like saying "like", "ummm", "ya know", etc.
Is this particular phrase just up here or is it everywhere. If it's different in your neck of the woods? What phrase are you hearing every other sentence?

It just drives me up a freakin wall! "Ya know what I'm sayin"?

[phoebe]

I need to think about that a bit more, but I have a friend who ALWAYS finishes statements about her opinions, her feelings, her observations, her decisions, with "does that make sense?" And sometimes I honestly have to say, "no, not really."
Yours as well as my friend's sounds like a kind of reality-check. So what does that say about us or the state of the world that we need to keep checking in with others about our perceptions .

[foodpump]

Got a d/w from Sri Lanka. Nice guy, excellent worker, but I never know what's going on in his head because when I ask him if he understands instructions he just nods, nod = Yes, same nod = No. When I ask him to repeat instructions I've given him, he just mumbles, and heads off in another direction. On the other hand, never seen anyone like him move so fast or effecient. Drives me batty...

[boosehound]

im originally from outside of boston, so the natural mass thing to say is WICKED! i have some freinds from california and they always say hella, which we discussed at the time i met him because i has never heard this phrase before, ever, we decided it was the equivalent to my east coast wicked, we also use wicked pisser to describe something not so good such as a rainy day or a bad night on the line

[Blueicus]

Don't know if it's a faux pas to mention it, but I recall hearing Rachel Ray used the term wicked to denote something similar .

[katbalou]

also from massachusetts, to go along with wicked - it's pissa(remember there are no r's in the regions vocabulary) if you really want an adjective it would be "wicked pissa"
and don't even try to pronounce some of the local cities names - woista is actually spelled worcester. we tend to drop letters in some places and add them in others. such as kathleen gets morphed into kath-a-leen.
go figure.
kathee

[Pete]

It's not those little phrases that bug me, it's poor grammer in general. When I was interviewing waitstaff for the new restaurant I couldn't believe how many people I "wrote off" because they sounded like they came from some trailer park in the middle of "BFE." I won't even discuss the number of apps that went right into the trash due to horrible spelling or the use of "computer shorthand."

[Marion]

"Proper", in general, has degenerated during our life time. Not only in language arts, but dress, table manners, etc...

It wasn't so long ago, jacket and tie was minimal dress. Even the Esso service station attendant wore a hat & tie.

When the phone was answered, in a private residence, the normal salutation was; "This is the "blank" residence, "blank" speaking."

We can go on & on suggesting ways we have allowed our world to become 'lax. I miss our once "properness".

[boosehound]

Originally Posted by katbalou

also from massachusetts, to go along with wicked - it's pissa(remember there are no r's in the regions vocabulary) if you really want an adjective it would be "wicked pissa"
and don't even try to pronounce some of the local cities names - woista is actually spelled worcester. we tend to drop letters in some places and add them in others. such as kathleen gets morphed into kath-a-leen.
go figure.
kathee

i was thinking that as i typed but i didnt type it, lol everytime i go to mass i can hear that apparently i dont realy talk like that any more o well good call! i cant wait to get to mass now! just to hear someone say that! thanks kathee

[phatch]

The dialects across the US are quite different actually. With the rise of national television, they're evening out somewhat.

This is a blocky map showing regional dialects. I've seen better versions with more detail, but I couldn't find one in a quick search.

http://www.geocities.com/yvain.geo/dialects.html

Good ones show the area around Salt Lake City with a totally unique dialect... Sort of how San Francisco or Smoky Mtn is shown on the large version of that map link.

Phil

[Mezzaluna]

I'm in the "Upper Midwestern" area on the map, but I can tell you there are noticeable variances. When I lived in Kenosha, WI (which is in the same area), speech was affected by what I surmised were the effects of immigrant English: Italian and German immigrants, specifically. People 10 miles away from the city didn't have the same nasal quality or other characteristics as those in Kenosha. Now I live just west of Milwaukee, and those qualities are gone. 200 miles north and you've got what's sometimes called the "Yuper" accent- which I think is affected by Nordic immigrants and various Canadian patterns.

No, I'm not a linguist and I don't play one on television. But I do have an "ear" for accents and find them fascinating.

As for the central subject of this thread: I'm a retired middle school teacher, so I notice it! I demanded proper English (oral and written) but recognized that slang and informal forms are natural and shouldn't be extinguished. Our language is dynamic, a living thing, not static. I delineated between formal and informal situations, and even had a big classroom discussion about it, complete with role-playing. ("You're applying for a babysitting job. Do you use neighborhood slang or formal language?")

By the way, my 84-year-old mom is a retired teacher too. She still corrects my grammar.

[chrose]

Originally Posted by Mezzaluna

By the way, my 84-year-old mom is a retired teacher too. She still corrects my grammar.

You shouldn't correct your elders!

[Aurora]

Years ago there was a cooking show on PBS which was hosted by an elderly Cajun man who's grammar, pronunciation and idioms would drive me crazy. Evidently in Bayou country the phrase "I gar-run-teeeeeee" is a commonly used phrase. It's used so often, in fact, that it is all but meaningless.

His recipes and dishes were outstanding and he was a colorful character, but his English and manner of speaking was, to me, irritating.

I just have to remind myself the diversity is the spice of life.

[chrose]

Originally Posted by Aurora

Years ago there was a cooking show on PBS which was hosted by an elderly Cajun man who's grammar, pronunciation and idioms would drive me crazy.

Ahh I do miss Justin Wilson He was a charactor! (Good food too!)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justin_Wilson_(chef)

[allie]

I grew up in southeastern Georgia (USA) and now live in northeastern Indiana. My accent now is very strange and is peppered with slang and pronunciations from both regions of the country. I have noticed that people in northern Indiana talk differently than people in southern Indiana. Same goes with different areas of Georgia and all over the south. I find it fascinating to hear others talk. When I first moved to Indiana, I took a job selling homes for a manufactured housing dealership. I had customers refuse to buy from me because they assumed I was "dumb" due to my southern accent. In reality, I was probably a more learned person than they were but just sounded different than what they were accustomed to hearing. I absolutely hate people who judge another based on their accent....poor grammar or street slang, yes but accent is no indicator of intelligence!