<p>Here is the merry, Mary, marry pronunciation video. I amused my family for days trying to imitate it, but I have gone back to pronouncing them all the same.</p>
<p>[Mary</a>, marry, merry = not the same! - YouTube](<a href=“- YouTube”>- YouTube)</p>
<p>I never realized I pronounced “Barry” like “berry” (which I probably pronounced more like “bair-y”) until someone criticized me for it. Made me more aware!</p>
<p>I also associate the vowel shift with Chicago, which I don’t think is mentioned in the article. But of course it’s on a Great Lake!</p>
<p>The first time I heard “melk” for milk was from a friend who grew up in Baltimore. She wondered why everyone didn’t pronounce it melk.</p>
<p>And it’s cran, not crayon. One syllable. I think that’s one of our more unique words.</p>
<p>My parents were journalists from the midwest who had migrated over the years to NY and then Philadelphia (where I was raised). They hated all the regional accents, so did their best to raise us all without accents or regionalisms. No one ever asks where I’m from; I have no Philadelphia accent. My father described it once as “American standard English.”</p>
<p>Soft drinks (not pop, or soda, Coke (which is the generic term in Atlanta), or tonic (Maine))
Frappe (New England for what is called a milk shake everywhere else)
I know there’s a difference between Mary, merry, and marry–it was part of a discussion in my high school speech class (yes, high school speech class)–but couldn’t hear it then and don’t hear it now.</p>
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<p>merry sounds different because its a short e vs short a sound. Mary and marry are very close. To be honest, I don’t get how 5 distinct short vowels sounds could have gotten so messed up. Pen is not pin and milk is not melk…they are not even close. I realize the English language is full of exceptions, but on common words, you would think everyone should just pronounce the correct vowel sound.</p>
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<p>dictionary.com shows krey-on…2 syllables, that’s how I say it as well.</p>
<p>My new(ish) answering machine says, “Ind of messages.” I wanted to smash the thing when I heard it. Now I get to hear it every day. Oh yay! /sarcasm off.</p>
<p>Geeps… I meant with our accent. I know how it’s supposed to be pronounced :rolleyes:</p>
<p>^lol…from this thread, I’m second guessing how every word is pronounced now.</p>
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<p>that would drive me crazy…reminds me of my midwestern college days when someone during first day of classes asked if he could borrow a “pin” I responded that I didn’t have a pin(was not being sarcastic)…and was looked at like I had 2 heads when he pointed to my desk and said I had one right there…OH, you mean a pen.</p>
<p>How about “INsurance” and “THANKSgiving”? Never heard them pronounced that way until we moved to the Southeast.</p>
<p>I get a kick out of the PHila and Delaware, Southern NJ accent. Can’t even write it out, so subtle. I guess its like “TEW” instead of “TOO”.</p>
<p>Someone wrote about adding R’s to words. I’m thinking “losengers”. What’s that all about? How about “Sowphomores”? I think that’s Connecticut?</p>
<p>some here in RI don’t pronounce their “R’s” at end of words but for some strange reason add them to words they shouldn’t…pizzer, Florider.</p>
<p>Reminds me…I used to play a game with my kids when they were young. I would say is it pizza or pizzer. Is it helicopter or helicopta…</p>
<p>And - in spite of what my older son’s 3rd grade teacher believes - the word “rural” has TWO syllables!</p>
<p>This explains why some people think I have an accent/Canadian.</p>
<p>[Pacific</a> Northwest English - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_Northwest_English]Pacific”>Pacific Northwest English - Wikipedia)</p>
<p>Although they lost me after " voiceless obstruents".
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<p>BAck to Kerry and Carrie. In Nj, neither is Cairee. the first is keh-ree. The second is Cahree, except the “Cah” in that one would have the short “a” of Cat. Like Pizzagirl said, imagine ket-ree and kat-ree then take out the T’s. Or rhyme Kerry with Cherry (no ones says “Chairee”–or do they?)</p>
<p>MY SIL Kari, though, pronounces the first syllable like the word Car. We have no problem telling her name from my D’s when we’re all together. (For a while, there was another member of the family named Currie. We could tell his name apart, too.)</p>
<p>garland, I’d say I say chair-y for cherry. Kerry rhymes with cherry which rhymes with carry (like the motion). Actually Kerry is the same as carry.</p>
<p>yeah, Garland. Totally those red things that you eat are called chair-ees down here in the south. :)</p>