The Boston Accent
Simply put, I love the Boston accent... on guys. It's a masculine thing, I guess. Makes guys sound cooler. More "BA." It's exciting. On girls, the accent drops from "exciting" to "below average" in status. It just doesn't appeal to me. Going to school in Boston, I was around it quite a bit. Not as much as you might think, because so many BC kids came from other areas of the country. But it was there. Some of my friends, some of their friends, professors, employees of the university... it was around me. And when I would venture from Chestnut Hill into Boston for a night out at Faniel Hall or for a Sox game at Fenway, the accent really took off.
I remember the first real education about the Boston accent. Freshman year, talking to Jomo and K-Mac. They gave me the "pahk the cah in Hahvahd Yahd" tutorial. But I also learned a few other things. A water fountain is a "bubblah." A liquor store is a package store, or a "packie." And chocolate sprinkles are "jimmies." Those are just the basics. See, one of the great things about the Boston accent is when you incorporate things from the region to it. "We were going to Hahvahd to a pahty, and had to stop at the packie. But Murph couldn't find a place to pahk."
Something I've noticed with Bostonians and their accent is when it comes out. The most obvious time for a college student to notice is that it comes out when they are drinking. One of my coworkers this summer, Dave, was a prime example. He had a thick accent to start, but once he got some beehs in him he really stahted with the accent. Sorry.
The other time that the accent comes out of a Bostonian in force is when they are talking, or rather arguing, about something they are passionate about. The Sox especially. It was very fitting for the Sox to have "Nomah" for so many years. He just so happened to be one of the fan favorites. Sox fans were devestated when they traded Nomah. One of my friends, Matt, is from Boston but, somehow, is a Seattle Mariner fan. I remember Jomo saying he shouldn't be allowed to pronounce Nomar "Nomah." But anything a Bostonian is passionate about, when argued, the accent comes to the surface even more. Like one night over the summer, when my coworker Dave had been drinking, and a Fort Minor song came on the radio. Dave doesn't like Fort Minor, or Linkin Park for that matter. (For those of you who don't know, Fort Minor is the side project of Linkin Park rapper Mike Shinoda) Needless to say, it was very amusing to hear Dave verbally assault "Fort Minah" and "Linkin Pahk" for fifteen straight minutes.
As I said earlier, I love the Boston accent. Over the summer, when I would drink with the gang, the Boston accent could be found coming out of my lips. That happens to me when I'm surrounded by it. After four years in Boston, I can pull it off well enough. And as stated, I like it. I enjoy it. It's exciting. So, sometimes I like to get in on the fun as well. Saturday night, a huge BC crew went out to Brother Jimmy's on the Upper West Side. At one point, I was talking to a group of guys and girls from Jersey that I had never met. One of them said, "So, where in Boston are you from." It was at that point that I realized I had been speaking in a Boston accent the entire conversation. And I realized the reason I was talking like that, in addition to the booze in my system, was because I had seen The Departed earlier that day.
The Departed (or "Depahted" as it should be called) is a fantastic movie based in Boston, starring two actors (Matt Damon and Mark Wahlberg) who grew up in Boston and absolutely nail the Boston accent. I saw it on Saturday with a few of the BC kids who live in NYC or were visiting for my friend Chris's birthday. We all loved it, all agreed it's one of the best movies we've ever seen, and all agreed that, for the most part, the Boston accent was fantastic on every character in the movie, minus one: the girl. Maybe if Vera Farmiga had nailed it as well as the men did, I would appreciate it more on women. Maybe.
Simply put, I love the Boston accent... on guys. It's a masculine thing, I guess. Makes guys sound cooler. More "BA." It's exciting. On girls, the accent drops from "exciting" to "below average" in status. It just doesn't appeal to me. Going to school in Boston, I was around it quite a bit. Not as much as you might think, because so many BC kids came from other areas of the country. But it was there. Some of my friends, some of their friends, professors, employees of the university... it was around me. And when I would venture from Chestnut Hill into Boston for a night out at Faniel Hall or for a Sox game at Fenway, the accent really took off.
I remember the first real education about the Boston accent. Freshman year, talking to Jomo and K-Mac. They gave me the "pahk the cah in Hahvahd Yahd" tutorial. But I also learned a few other things. A water fountain is a "bubblah." A liquor store is a package store, or a "packie." And chocolate sprinkles are "jimmies." Those are just the basics. See, one of the great things about the Boston accent is when you incorporate things from the region to it. "We were going to Hahvahd to a pahty, and had to stop at the packie. But Murph couldn't find a place to pahk."
Something I've noticed with Bostonians and their accent is when it comes out. The most obvious time for a college student to notice is that it comes out when they are drinking. One of my coworkers this summer, Dave, was a prime example. He had a thick accent to start, but once he got some beehs in him he really stahted with the accent. Sorry.
The other time that the accent comes out of a Bostonian in force is when they are talking, or rather arguing, about something they are passionate about. The Sox especially. It was very fitting for the Sox to have "Nomah" for so many years. He just so happened to be one of the fan favorites. Sox fans were devestated when they traded Nomah. One of my friends, Matt, is from Boston but, somehow, is a Seattle Mariner fan. I remember Jomo saying he shouldn't be allowed to pronounce Nomar "Nomah." But anything a Bostonian is passionate about, when argued, the accent comes to the surface even more. Like one night over the summer, when my coworker Dave had been drinking, and a Fort Minor song came on the radio. Dave doesn't like Fort Minor, or Linkin Park for that matter. (For those of you who don't know, Fort Minor is the side project of Linkin Park rapper Mike Shinoda) Needless to say, it was very amusing to hear Dave verbally assault "Fort Minah" and "Linkin Pahk" for fifteen straight minutes.
As I said earlier, I love the Boston accent. Over the summer, when I would drink with the gang, the Boston accent could be found coming out of my lips. That happens to me when I'm surrounded by it. After four years in Boston, I can pull it off well enough. And as stated, I like it. I enjoy it. It's exciting. So, sometimes I like to get in on the fun as well. Saturday night, a huge BC crew went out to Brother Jimmy's on the Upper West Side. At one point, I was talking to a group of guys and girls from Jersey that I had never met. One of them said, "So, where in Boston are you from." It was at that point that I realized I had been speaking in a Boston accent the entire conversation. And I realized the reason I was talking like that, in addition to the booze in my system, was because I had seen The Departed earlier that day.
The Departed (or "Depahted" as it should be called) is a fantastic movie based in Boston, starring two actors (Matt Damon and Mark Wahlberg) who grew up in Boston and absolutely nail the Boston accent. I saw it on Saturday with a few of the BC kids who live in NYC or were visiting for my friend Chris's birthday. We all loved it, all agreed it's one of the best movies we've ever seen, and all agreed that, for the most part, the Boston accent was fantastic on every character in the movie, minus one: the girl. Maybe if Vera Farmiga had nailed it as well as the men did, I would appreciate it more on women. Maybe.
Labels: Boston
posted by Longhammer at 5:20 PM
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