I love this one. I have read it three times and still giggle when I read ‘I am Cynthia and Cynthia is me’. It is my new mantra. I spent a good part of my childhood trying to perfect a Brooklyn accent - specifically, Barbra Streisand’s in Funny Girl ;) XO
When people are transitioning or contemplating changing their names one frequently given tip is try on the new name by using it at coffee shops. If the barista calls it out and it resonates for you, maybe it’s a good pick! All of which is to say I’m glad you’re using your beautiful name.
Oooohhhh I love this piece so much and am now so curious about your accent! I know that we all have an accent of some kind and that even standard American English is an accent in its own right, but I am sad that (at least in English) I sound rootless in my standardness. Happily, in Japanese I have a very strong Kansai accent that gets stronger around people with the same accent.
I love the idea of giving a false name in Starbucks. The chance to be someone else! I'm British so my accent always stands out when I am in the US. Not so much in NYC as it's very international there, but my last trip was to Tennessee where there aren't many Brits!
I was born and raised in Brooklyn, and I spent 3 decades teaching there. I am sure that my Brooklyn accent is noticeable, but an interesting thing happened yesterday. I was walking with my wife and dog, Rosie, around a campground up near Lake Ontario. Three boys asked to pet Rosie, and we spent a few minutes chatting. I was enjoying our conversation because the boys were the age of the students I taught. One of them asked me, “Are you from Australia? You definitely have an Australian accent.” I told him I was from the Australian part of Brooklyn.
New Zealander here - very painfully aware of my accent, I struggle to watch local tv/film content. Or even worse, when a non-NZ actor attempts a NZ accent... oh dear. We have the problem of being confused as Australian - but to our ears the accents are miles apart, and while we may both use English there is definitely a different vocab.
I absolutely love New York, the people and the accents! On our second trip in 2016 we got stuck in Houston for a few days (superstorm Jonas) so got the pleasure of hearing y’all - made me feel all warm inside.
I loved this essay so much. All the links and your wonderful writing. Your neighbor — the accent guy — such a fascinating way to present all of those accents. I’ve watched All of those Wired videos and more. He real knows how to explain accents!!
I’ve always felt I have a very boring accent / no accent, but watching those videos makes me realize I have a few interesting words. Main one — I say pellow for the word Pillow. I’m sure there are others.
Incidentally, I was just touring colleges with Ava in New York, Boston, parts of Massachusetts, Vermont and New Hampshire. So many different accents! I loved it! Thanks for Sharing your skoshi discovery! So amazing!
My wife and I grew up in northern Indiana, and had little experience with regional accents. Arriving in Dallas in 1974, we often found ourselves struggling to understand the locals, who frequently responded to us with "Saaaaay whuuut?". After almost 50 years here, we can communicate well, but still get the occasional "Y'all ain't from around here are you?"
Sometimes wording can change depending on one's origins. I came to Dallas for an IT job. We were preparing for a new product introduction, which was euphemistically, and somewhat sardonically, referred by us as a "dog and pony show". One of the presenters was visiting from another office, and she happened to be a native of the UK. She broke up the team when she referred to the presentation as a "horse and hound show".
Here in my hometown, people remark how I have a "Manila Accent." It's funny because when I lived in Manila, Manileños can always tell that I wasn't raised there because of peculiarities with how I form my sentences, or with how I use words that are unusual for them. 4 local languages are mainly used here. Then there's English and Arabic too. So 6 languages affect and influence my language and manner of speaking.
In college, I was taught that to speak English, I needed to think English. But too many garbled words from different languages swirl in my mind before they're filtered and uttered in a single language. And that affects my writing as well.
But it's all good. We are all different sorts of unique!
Hey, I didn't get notified about this and only saw it because it came up on my screen when i came to write my substack...whaaaawt happened to my subscription? LOL
I am from kansas and colorado and, to my own ear, don't think i hear an accent. I have a lot of family from the south and while i use some of those phrases, I don't have a southren acccent either. Kind of sad actually. Zakia, you'll have to tell me next time you hear me talk if i have an accent!
I love this one. I have read it three times and still giggle when I read ‘I am Cynthia and Cynthia is me’. It is my new mantra. I spent a good part of my childhood trying to perfect a Brooklyn accent - specifically, Barbra Streisand’s in Funny Girl ;) XO
When people are transitioning or contemplating changing their names one frequently given tip is try on the new name by using it at coffee shops. If the barista calls it out and it resonates for you, maybe it’s a good pick! All of which is to say I’m glad you’re using your beautiful name.
Oooohhhh I love this piece so much and am now so curious about your accent! I know that we all have an accent of some kind and that even standard American English is an accent in its own right, but I am sad that (at least in English) I sound rootless in my standardness. Happily, in Japanese I have a very strong Kansai accent that gets stronger around people with the same accent.
I love the idea of giving a false name in Starbucks. The chance to be someone else! I'm British so my accent always stands out when I am in the US. Not so much in NYC as it's very international there, but my last trip was to Tennessee where there aren't many Brits!
I was born and raised in Brooklyn, and I spent 3 decades teaching there. I am sure that my Brooklyn accent is noticeable, but an interesting thing happened yesterday. I was walking with my wife and dog, Rosie, around a campground up near Lake Ontario. Three boys asked to pet Rosie, and we spent a few minutes chatting. I was enjoying our conversation because the boys were the age of the students I taught. One of them asked me, “Are you from Australia? You definitely have an Australian accent.” I told him I was from the Australian part of Brooklyn.
New Zealander here - very painfully aware of my accent, I struggle to watch local tv/film content. Or even worse, when a non-NZ actor attempts a NZ accent... oh dear. We have the problem of being confused as Australian - but to our ears the accents are miles apart, and while we may both use English there is definitely a different vocab.
I absolutely love New York, the people and the accents! On our second trip in 2016 we got stuck in Houston for a few days (superstorm Jonas) so got the pleasure of hearing y’all - made me feel all warm inside.
I loved this essay so much. All the links and your wonderful writing. Your neighbor — the accent guy — such a fascinating way to present all of those accents. I’ve watched All of those Wired videos and more. He real knows how to explain accents!!
I’ve always felt I have a very boring accent / no accent, but watching those videos makes me realize I have a few interesting words. Main one — I say pellow for the word Pillow. I’m sure there are others.
Incidentally, I was just touring colleges with Ava in New York, Boston, parts of Massachusetts, Vermont and New Hampshire. So many different accents! I loved it! Thanks for Sharing your skoshi discovery! So amazing!
My wife and I grew up in northern Indiana, and had little experience with regional accents. Arriving in Dallas in 1974, we often found ourselves struggling to understand the locals, who frequently responded to us with "Saaaaay whuuut?". After almost 50 years here, we can communicate well, but still get the occasional "Y'all ain't from around here are you?"
Sometimes wording can change depending on one's origins. I came to Dallas for an IT job. We were preparing for a new product introduction, which was euphemistically, and somewhat sardonically, referred by us as a "dog and pony show". One of the presenters was visiting from another office, and she happened to be a native of the UK. She broke up the team when she referred to the presentation as a "horse and hound show".
Here in my hometown, people remark how I have a "Manila Accent." It's funny because when I lived in Manila, Manileños can always tell that I wasn't raised there because of peculiarities with how I form my sentences, or with how I use words that are unusual for them. 4 local languages are mainly used here. Then there's English and Arabic too. So 6 languages affect and influence my language and manner of speaking.
In college, I was taught that to speak English, I needed to think English. But too many garbled words from different languages swirl in my mind before they're filtered and uttered in a single language. And that affects my writing as well.
But it's all good. We are all different sorts of unique!
Lovely thoughts as always, Zakia!
Hey, I didn't get notified about this and only saw it because it came up on my screen when i came to write my substack...whaaaawt happened to my subscription? LOL
I am from kansas and colorado and, to my own ear, don't think i hear an accent. I have a lot of family from the south and while i use some of those phrases, I don't have a southren acccent either. Kind of sad actually. Zakia, you'll have to tell me next time you hear me talk if i have an accent!
I love NY accents with all its different strains. I forgot how much I miss hearing it.