Thursday, November 13, 2008

The Guide is 13 years old. And about that bailout money...

Weird to think that my Michigan Accent Pronunciation Guide is older than a lot of people's kids.

Yes, I started this silliness in November 1995. Wanted to capture some of the unique fun that is our accent. The site's been through several versions - this last one has been around for about 6 years now.

I miss my home state and hear worrying reports of the economy there. I read about the $700BB "Rescue Plan" and the idea that the Big 3 are possibly asking for a piece of the pie. Part of me thinks that using our taxes to rescue the automakers is insane. The other part of me worries about people losing their jobs.

What are your thoughts? Should our tax dollars go to help the state's largest employers? Or did they get themselves into this mess their own selves? Should we keep this massive industry from tanking and protect jobs - or will they blow that money and still be in the same situation regardless?

Is this incompetency or circumstance? Whadaya think?

9 Comments:

At 9:42 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I WANT to help them -- I've been to Flint and the idea of the entire state (and portions of the rest of the country) ending up like that if they fold terrifies me.

That said, I've heard a lot of asking for money and absolutely no indication of what good it would do -- or rather, of what they would do with my money to turn themselves around. That almost bothers me more!

 
At 10:53 AM, Blogger Jamie said...

I found your pronunciation guide this morning via the Port Huron Times Herald (http://www.thetimesherald.com/article/20090315/OPINION/903150323/1014/OPINION). I'm an expat too- I moved from Michigan to Massachusetts last year and I've been homesick ever since. Your guide was good for a giggle-my accent has become more pronounced since I moved, if only because I'm afraid of picking up the ghastly Boston accent!

Sad to see your cafe press store is no longer operational- I could have definitely used some nifty swag in my office!

 
At 10:36 AM, Anonymous Chris Daidone said...

Sadly, i think some of the phrases on your list show it's age


im 19 now, meaning this was written when i was 6.

some phrases like gee'z o pete and such will probably die with the previous generation of michiganders. I have heard the phrase uttered by middle aged and elderly people, but never by someone my own age

maybe we're entering a new age of dialect and slang

 
At 12:07 PM, Blogger Mike K said...

As an ex-Michigander who has a dad who used to work at Fords, the hate towards the big 3 really gets to me. Perhaps as much as the digs at Detroit.

I'm glad most of our politicians understand the significance of what is going on and are trying to fix the situation.

By the way you should add "the Big 3" to your guide. I realize it's used in other articles describing the auto industry, but outside of that context, no one outside of Michigan understands that phrase.

 
At 11:22 PM, Blogger Unknown said...

Just found this site. I was one of the white collars who took a buyout package and moved away. I'm glad I moved on but really miss home: the fall colors, apple cider, races on the Detroit River, people who actually know how cars work, Tim Hortons and especially Michigan Central.

 
At 6:27 PM, Blogger Snowgrl99 said...

Love this website. I never thought we had an accent and still do not. But honestly most of these are soooooo true. (Except crick?!?!?....really now, who the hell says crick??? lol) I lived in NC for about 4 months and will never live outside of Michigan again. They talk too slow, move too slow, and are just not the same. Love the state, Love the people, and LOVE the so called accent.

 
At 8:23 AM, Blogger Michael Lindvall said...

Great Site! I grew up in the UP, now live in NYC, but spend summers at our place on the Big Lake near Pentwater. Studied linguistics in collage and have long been fascinated with how Michiganians pronounce the many French place named in our state. Favorite is Seul Choix, generally pronouced in the UP something like "Sishwaw," which is actually fairly close! By the way, I have never heard Michiganians use a glottal stop. What we DO use is properly a "voiced labial stop." Only English dialects I know that use the glottal stop are English Cockney and certain NY dialects - mostly from Long Island and Queens. Michael Lindvall

 
At 11:32 AM, Blogger Gordon said...

Hi - I have been around some linguists in my various post-grad programs over the past twenty years. Yes, there is a formal designation of the accent, and a real pro can pick out a native Michigander easily. Having lived around the country, the thing that perhaps most identifies a Michigander is an almost insecure defensive attitude any time it is suggested they have an accent. I was that way until in Texas in college, when I would hear my Texas friends try to imitate me and I thought "Do I sound like that?" My Texas grandfather once said to me, "Gordie, it's good you finally lost that Michigan accent." Like, I'm gonna argue with a real Texan that was raised on the frontier? Michiganders get downright MAD when it is suggested they have an accent, and frequently use the classic retort: "When the TV networks want to hire someone with no accent, like for the news, they always go for a Midwesterner, which means Michigan." Slam dunk? Not really. A real, true Michigander reading the nightly news would be fodder for Dana Carvey and Mike Myers.

Okay, I'll close with this anecdote. I got off on a bad foot with a new boss, years ago. We were on this job in Connecticut, and she had just gotten hired and was flown in for the meeting. I was in the group that picked her up from JFK. She was talking, and I was listening. She made some mention of being raised in "The Bay Area." A few moments later, I asked, "Would that be Traverse City or Bay City?" She hesitated and said, blankly, "Ummm, Traverse City." The car got a little silent, and the mood turned dark. Finally she asked "Why wouldn't you think San Francisco or Tampa Bay?" And I said, "Because of your Michigan accent." The mood got darker yet ("yet". There's another one!). And she said slowly, "Michiganders don't HAVE an ACCENT!" I did not last long in that job.

 
At 3:36 PM, Blogger chiroveda said...

Mr. Weaver, I wonder if you wholesale your stuff, I love the Native sticker, Thanks, Mark

 

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