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On Tue, 25 Oct 1994, Nora Merhar wrote:
> I know this is only peripherally related to tech. writing, but I had to offer
> my 2 cents about dialects.
> I'm from a suburb of Columbus, OH, which is below what someone (sorry I can't
> remember who) said was the demarcation line in Ohio and Indiana (US 30).
> Growing up, I remember noticing the "southern" accents of many of the people
> who lived in Central Ohio (they tended to sound like Kentuckians). Since then,
> I've lived in Northwest and Northeast Ohio without anyone commenting on the wa
> I speak (although I've noticed that Clevelanders tend to talk like New Yorkers
> and Cincinnatians speak more slowly and are very polite--instead of saying
> "huh?" or "what?" when they mis-hear you, they say "excuse me?"--I could alway
> peg someone from Cincinnati this way, and they were very impressed).
> Since I've moved to Illinois (I live in one of the southwest suburbs of
> Chicago), a number of people have commented on my "accent" and asked where I'm
> from. When I say "Columbus, Ohio", they express disbelief. When I ask where
> they thought I was from, they sometimes say "New York", but mostly I hear
> "Pennsylvania"!! I hear no difference between the way I speak and the way most
> of the people around me speak, and I had NO idea that there was a Pennsylvania
> accent, but apparently I have one (my parents grew up in PA). Can anybody tell
> me what a PA accent is?