"Tree lawn."

 

I never thought of this phrase a regional specialty until I got a room full of blank stares recently. And lo and behold, per wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tree_lawn.

 

I've never heard anyone from Akron or anywhere else call it a "devil strip."  What does that even mean?

"Tree lawn."

 

I never thought of this phrase a regional specialty until I got a room full of blank stares recently. And lo and behold, per wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tree_lawn.

 

That's funny you say that because my wife, whose from Toledo, always forgets what area of our yard is the tree lawn when I use that word.  She's always like, you mean where the hydrant is. 

exactly. i've read about this before. tree lawn is a quick traditional marker of identifying ne ohioans, it's most prominent around cle-burbia, although i think it is not exclusive and is said elsewhere around the usa here and there.

 

devil's lawn i've heard of although i've never heard it used either, but it means that you own the land and have to take care of it, but if they need to the city can do whatever they damn well please there. devilish!

I'm now starting to wonder if the more neutral accent in Ohio is the one found among non-Appalachians in Columbus and Cincinnati. Certainly there is still a large Appalachian influence in Cincinnati and Columbus (Dayton too), but there are also some people who seem to not have any accent at all. There literally are people in Columbus I've talked to who just don't have an accent of any sort.

 

..also found in Indiana.  Dave Lettereman as an example.  This has become "standard American English.

 

i read somewhere this is called tiffin english. named after tiffin, ohio for being the heart of the least accented part of the usa. i cant find anything on that anymore tho. its supposedly what tv broadcasters have to practice to ditch the accents. or in letterman's case, i guess he grew up with it.

 

Growing up in the Massillon/Canton area, I never heard a term for the area between the sidewalk and street. (growing up in a family of renters, we never cared)  But here in Youngstown, it is definitely the "devil strip."

 

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Yes, I know this but I have a question for you guys since I can't seem to find the answer online lol. There's a word that is annoying me since I heard it today and for some reason I'm dwelling on it. That word is "buried". This woman actually said it properly.

 

Think of some words that should rhyme with buried. Hurried, fury. People pronounce these exactly as they're spelled. Why is it that people pronounce buried like "berried"? Look in the dictionary and it says that the pronounciation for bury is berE. It's so common everywhere. If you speak very standard american english yet say buried like it's spelled, where would you likely be from? Pacific Northwest?  :wtf:

 

 

 

Not the Pacific Northwest, she was probably just mispronouncing the word.  :wink:

 

The reason why words can be spelled similarly like that but not pronounced the same is that the English language changes in pronunciation constantly, but not always evenly.  Spelling is less changeable, though that does change sometimes too.  As spellings became standardized around the time dictionaries started appearing (and because of it), they often caught the changes and inconsistencies of pronunciations in stone at a particular point, while they were in reality in flux.

I would almost say she's likely to be from Canada.

Not the Pacific Northwest, she was probably just mispronouncing the word. :wink:

 

The reason why words can be spelled similarly like that but not pronounced the same is that the English language changes in pronunciation constantly, but not always evenly.  

 

Yeaaahh...and words change in different regions. Duh! Plus, she was like my age. NO ONE my age says "burreed"

 

I think Doctabrocolli may be right.  I'm going to ask her if she's Canadian next time I see her and the problem will be solved.

She's might be from somewhere in the Northeast US, where people haven't conformed to the mary/merry/marry merger as most of us have.

I hate how people in NY say route. It's a root! The only time it's route is when you're planning a trip or setting up your wireless network (router), not when referring to a road like root 66! Not everyone there says it but I noticed that it's way more common.

I say "route" and most people I know say "route" in Ohio.  "Root" is for losers and 1960's has-been lounge singers in Laughlin.

Definitely agree with CDM about route. Everyone I know in Ohio from all corners of the state pronounce it Route... not root. The big one I notice is with coupon... is it coo-pon or cue-pon? I say coo-pon.

Normal people say "coo-pon."  Baltimore citizens say "cue-pon."

Normal people say "coo-pon." Baltimore citizens say "cue-pon."

 

I say cue-pon and have nothing to do with B-more. I think random people say it everywhere.

Don't lie to me.  You know you are originally from Patterson Park.

What you got against Patterson Park? that's my homebase when I am in B'more.

 

I say "route" except when I am getting my kicks on Root 66.

It's my homebase too, bizzitch!  I love me my pagodas and Greek restaurants!

I think I use some pronunciations that are not typical for the region.... but that probably has more to do with both my parents and my wife being from the east coast and me spending a decent amount of my formative years (late teens and early twenties) in the Southeast.

I know someone from Cincinnati who says buried like it's spelled. He does it self-consciously, "because it's spelled that way".

 

My experience with people from NYC area is they say "root". In fact I'm pretty sure that's universal there, in most uses of the word. I once had someone tell me they thought it was "hickish" when people use the "rowt" pronunciation. The thing is, every now and then, they switch it up. I haven't figured out if there is an actual pattern to it, but I think it's never for a compound expression like "route 66" or "alternate route".

 

Coupon...I've always wondered about that. I think my parents say "cue-pon", but since I learned to read I've said "coo-pon".

 

Do people in C-Town drink "pop"?

I really don't care what dialect you use, the word 'measure' should never be pronounced "may-jur".... with an emphasis on the "may"

 

I also hate when folks add an "s" to words when there shouldn't be one.  That happens a decent amount in "old Cleveland"...... yous (as in "yous are gonna get it"), says (as in "So, I says..."), peoples (as in "they are good peoples"), mines (as in "that's mines").

Is it true leisure rhymed with measure until the '70s? I wasn't around but that's what I've read.

I know someone from Cincinnati who says buried like it's spelled. He does it self-consciously, "because it's spelled that way".

 

 

Is he from Wyoming? (northern 'burbs - not the state). That's something they would do.

Yes, we drink "pop" in Cleveland.  Well, I don't...

Do people in C-Town drink "pop"?

 

Most drink beer  :drunk: but seriously the majority drink "pop".

Is he from Wyoming? (northern 'burbs - not the state). That's something they would do.

 

Finneytown. Borders Wyoming, but culturally quite different. (Close guess, though!)

 

Most drink beer :drunk: but seriously the majority drink "pop".

 

Haha, I meant "pop" as opposed to "soda". People on here are always touting how Cleveland is more North Eastern than Midwestern, so I was wondering if you use the North Eastern "soda" or the Midwestern "pop". Sounds like it's "pop". I think with the spread of media/culture, though, many Midwesterners are becoming subconscious about using "pop" and switching.

 

I don't know why NEerners get all up in arms about it, though. I believe both are derived from "soda pop". (And, technically, "pop" would be the noun part of "soda pop", right?)

Is he from Wyoming? (northern 'burbs - not the state). That's something they would do.

 

Finneytown. Borders Wyoming, but culturally quite different. (Close guess, though!)

 

 

Ha!! D#mnit, I was off by a couple miles!! Well, maybe a mile but I admit the two are somewhat different.

^If I had to draw a line between the East and the Midwest, it would be right through the Cuyahoga Valley.  But the 'pop' thing does permeate the entire City.  Thankfully, I never really picked it up... due to my parents never using it.

Y-town and Western PA, where I hail from, says pop... so the East/West dividing line must be further east.

Sure, if you are in the camp that thinks that 'dividing line' is set according to the use of the word 'pop'...

^^^ What I don't get about that theory is that Pittsburgh seems pretty darn Midwestern to me. I think the truth is just that there are no real borders for regions. It's a gradual change, with pockets of the East in the Midwest, pockets of the Midwest in the East, etc.

 

Cincinnati is a complete oddball under any classification. As an old city, it has a lot of East Coast influence (it was originally settled by New Jerseyans), but it's in the Midwest, at the border with the South. It basically pioneered the Midwest, and the majority of the Southern influence didn't come until Appalachians came for jobs in the mid-20th Century. It's even a stretch to call Cincinnati "Rust Belt".

 

A lot of people have noted this impossibility of classification (notably Richard Longworth). It's like an island, or (as Gramarye put it) a foreign country. Even the local dialect (bringing this back on topic :lol:) shows this otherworldliness: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midland_American_English#Cincinnati

True.  There are no real dividing lines... hence, why I said "if I had to..."

 

I think more in terms of regions.  Cleveland, for instance, I would put in the Great Lakes Region.

Wouldn't Pittsburgh be considered Appalachian, not Midwestern?

Wouldn't Pittsburgh be considered Appalachian, not Midwestern?

 

Well.... it is the capital of West Virginia

I thought that it was a shot at the westsiders....

Why?  I think I am missing something here.  First, natininja accuses us of 'touting' being more east coast and now you say that it is an insult to be likened to the midwest.  What gives?  I guess I didn't realize how shameful it is to be called midwestern  :|

 

BTW, if I wanted to take a shot at westsiders, I would use pictures

 

True.  There are no real dividing lines... hence, why I said "if I had to..."

 

Yeah, sorry, I didn't mean to come off so contradictory.

 

I still think Ohio should go to war with PA over Pittsburgh. If we promise some of the southern suburban spoils to WV, we might even get them to ally with us.

I guess I am just sensitive after all of the coments by our favorite Shaker Square resident about the river being the start of the midwest.

 

Edit: Natininja, I just read your post. That's hilarious.

The people of Pittsburgh definitely act more midwest then east coast.  When I went to college I was called out for saying a few words differently.  Sometimes when I'm talking quickly I say the w in "saw it".  So it kind of sounds like saw wit.  When I came home I specifically listened for it, and this is really common in Cincinnati.  Also, I was called out for saying bull and bullet wrong.  I say bool, but was told I should say buhl.

I also hate when folks add an "s" to words when there shouldn't be one ... mines (as in "that's mines").

 

Git yer grammer rite. Us Hoosiers only use "mines" when talkin 'bout more'n one, like in "them's mines."

Y-town and Western PA, where I hail from, says pop... so the East/West dividing line must be further east.

 

The Midwest and East Coast dividing line is Blue Mountain in Pennsylvania or I-81 in New York state.  Meaning, Rochester = Midwest; Syracuse = Transition zone; Albany = Northeast.

Blue Mountain??  Wow interesting.  I think Pittsburgh belongs to Pennsylvania thankyouverymuch!

 

Not sure if I have discussed this or not, but being born in Delaware and growing up Jersey, I pronounce water like "wooder."

You wouldn't believe the heckling, and downright misunderstanding I got when I would say that word after I moved to north-central PA.

It's funny because now, after almost 4 years of living here, I notice Jersey accents.  Never did before and I think I'm losing mine and developing an Appalachia twang... :-(

 

Well, Harrisburg is standard soda-East Coast and Altoona is definitely pop-Midwest country!

HAHA right.  Never once have I heard the word "pop" referred to soda in PRR/Sheetz City...

Interesting I always thought the Pittsburg dialect was more Appalachia /Southern without the accent than midwest. Sack, gumbands, git, warsh, etc...

Pittsburghese is certainly Appalachian in nature "red up, warsh" but it's still more Midwestern than it is Southern or East Coast-ish.

That's funny!! Warsh and red up are phrases used by my grandma. She grew up just outside of Youngstown. When my family came over from Europe they all settled in and around Youngstown.

^^Do you mean the general "flat' Great Lakes accents instead of a NE accent or Southern drawl?

 

I do a lot a work in a midwest regional power organization and talk to a lot of people (and listen for hours) to people from the midwest. Here is my take on "Midwest" dialect based on my ears. Warning, these are generalizations. Ohio, Michigan,  N. Illionois, Chicago Land Indiana and Wisconsin generally sound the same to me, meaning they sound like me. Southern Indiana, Missouri, Kansas and Southern Illinois start to get what I consider a dry midwestern drawl, they also tend to use what I consider "folky" sayings or at least saying that I wouldn't use. Minnesota and Dakotas natives totally have some variation of the "Fargo" accent going on.

My grandmother said "red up" and "warsh" and she was from Ashland.

^^Do you mean the general "flat' Great Lakes accents instead of a NE accent or Southern drawl?

 

I'm thinking more Midland American English than Great Lakes.  Erie, Pennsylvania is more Great Lakes.  I can't even imagine a 'flat' Great Lakes accent as that seems like an oxymoron.