Fuhgeddaboutit! Sorry, But There Is No Brooklyn Accent

[RNCollins]

Fuhgeddaboutit! Sorry, But There Is No Brooklyn Accent
https://gothamist.com/arts-entertainment/fuhgeddaboutit-sorry-there-no-brooklyn-accent

BY ARUN VENUGOPAL, WNYC / Arts & Entertainment / gothamist / gothamist.com / 10/24/19


“The idea of “Brooklynese” has fairly deep roots in New York City lore, going back more than a century.

“Representative John J. Fitzgerald, of Brooklyn, uses that peculiar Brooklynese dialect which corrupts such words as ‘saw’ and ‘law,’ making them ‘sawr’ and ‘lawr’; which ignores the ‘g’s’ at the end of words, and otherwise maltreats the English language as it is spoken by those who think they know,” reads a 1914 issue of Metropolitan Magazine, edited at the time by Theodore Roosevelt.

The first known usage of “Brooklynese,” according to linguist Kara Becker, can be traced to 1893, when it appeared in the satirical magazine Town Topics.

“It should be mentioned here that the people of Brooklyn talk Brooklynese. Brooklynese is a language that is a mixture of Bowery, Pittsburgh, and Zulu,” reads the article.

In the years since, Brooklynese — as personified by Barbra Streisand, Vinnie Barbarino and Andrew Dice Clay, among others — has been joined by other borough variants, in the Bronx and Queens, each apparently distinct from the other....”

From clockwise, top left: Fanny Brice, Ratso Rizzo, Vinnie Barbarino, and Archie and Edith Bunker
Photos: gothamist

 

[Brett]

OK, so they just sound different, it's not an accent
similar to people in the deep south - no southern accents

 

[T-Dot-Traveller]

The accent thing reminds me of the Yoggi Berra saying :
“It’s so popular ; nobody goes there anymore “

Accents are people and people move . There may or may not be a historic Brooklyn accent - but there are people in the New York area (iincluding Jersey & Brooklyn) with all kinds of accents.

Nicki Manaj & Cardi B - speak similarly BUT different .

Nicki Manaj{ Onika Tanya Marat-(Petty)} -Queens / born in Trinidad

Cardi B {Belcalis Marlenis Almanzar} - Bronx ( Dominican dad -Trinidadian -Spanish mom)
spent much time at her paternal grandmother’s home in Washington Heights *- which she credits for giving her “such a thick accent “)

[*Washington Heights is the northern tip of Manahattan and has been a Dominican neighbourhood for 40+ years]

some credit to Wikipedia .

And neither Nicky or Cardi speak anything like a classic New York Puerto Rican accent - which remains the “ property” of folks who grew up in certain NYC neighbourhoods mostly before the 1980’s. (Population movement are blending that accent away.)

Just my opinion
-born 1955 - St.Albans Naval Hospital.Queens NY - grew up on Long Island
haven’t lived in NY since 1978 , BUT still say “ get ON line “ - “two twin” and some other phrases that make my kids laugh .

FYI - a couple of years ago I received a scam / sell your timeshare call -in which the caller said he was calling from Manhattan New York . I knew he was lying from that statement alone . No one , who lives there ; says Manhattan New York - it’s redundent (although factually correct) .
When I was growing up - people would say - “they lived in the city “ if they lived in Manhattan . Everyone else lived in Brooklyn - Queens - the Bronx - Jersey {losers- (just kidding) } - Long Island -Westchester or Upstate . Beyond those places was the rest of the universe.

 

[WVBaker]

The accent thing reminds me of the Yoggi Berra saying :
“It’s so popular ; nobody goes there anymore “

Just my opinion
-born 1955 - St.Albans Naval Hospital.Queens NY - grew up on Long Island
haven’t lived in NY since 1978 , BUT still say “ get ON line “ - “two twin” and some other phrases that make my kids laugh .

As Archie would say... "Poifect English"

 

[WinniWoman]

My husband has the Brooklyn accent. Born in Manhattan. Grew up there and in Brooklyn. All his friends- the same- and Queens, too. He pronounced words like ask, as aks, etc.

I was born in the Bronx and moved when I was 3 years old to Rockland County when it was rural. But I have a Bronx accent because of my parents and relatives and though I don't hear it myself- it's very obvious to everyone else. Yet I am not a city person by any stretch of the imagination.

 

[WVBaker]

My husband has the Brooklyn accent. Born in Manhattan. Grew up there and in Brooklyn. All his friends- the same- and Queens, too. He pronounced words like ask, as aks, etc.

I was born in the Bronx and moved when I was 3 years old to Rockland County when it was rural. But I have a Bronx accent because of my parents and relatives and though I don't hear it myself- it's very obvious to everyone else. Yet I am not a city person by any stretch of the imagination.

You can take the girl out of the Bronx, but you can't take the Bronx out of the girl.

 

[jackio]

I grew up, and still live, ON Long Island (I went to a conference the other day where the guest speaker said she was happy to be here IN Long Island).
Here we drink soda and have a catch.
I can usually distinguish between Queens, Brooklyn and Staten Island accents (and “Jersey” ) but it is true that the accents are diminishing due to gentrification.
Of course I don’t ever think I have an accent, but I know I do since when I travel I am often asked where I am from.
Long islanders generally do not drop the r’s at the end of the words like “city” people do (wawduh for water) or substitute d for th, or drop the h in thr ( dere are tree birds in the tree so trow dem out), but we do say cawfee.
The Long Island was recently voted the most unpleasant sounding in the country. Ouch!

 

[Passepartout]

Youse guys all soun' funny to us Westerners.

Jim

 

[T-Dot-Traveller]

I grew up, and still live, ON Long Island (I went to a conference the other day where the guest speaker said she was happy to be here IN Long Island ......Long islanders generally do not drop the r’s at the end of the words like “city” people do (wawduh for water) or substitute d for th, or drop the h in thr ( dere are tree birds in the tree so trow dem out), but we do say cawfee.
The Long Island was recently voted the most unpleasant sounding in the country. Ouch!

Personally - I think Rochester & area has a much more unpleasant accent.
(ie) RAH-chester - very nasal sounding .

I can still be found saying - Long- Guyland - ( 40+ year’s later) of course .

Speaking of “upstate” - there is a point somewhere past Poughkeepsie * where the pizza
becomes “different” / and not in a good way .

* we recently went to a wedding & stayed at the Residence Inn Marriott / Poughkeepsie .
The pizza in that area was decent . (not as good as Sal’s Pizzaria in Mamaroneck / personal favourite & fairly close to my 89 year old dad’s apartment) . - but still decent NY cheese slices were to be found & we indulged.

On the drive back to Canada - we stopped & ordered take out pizza off Route 17 past the Catskills . The dough - the sauce - the cheese / all different / and nothing like a slice of real Newh Yourk pizza .