I am a native Utahn but have tried to rid myself of the Utah accent . Mountain is Mowwnunn. Pleasure is play zhurr. Special is spay shul. in central Utah, Sanpete and Sevier Counties it gets worse . Corn is carn .Organ is Argun. Wash is Warsh. I would LMAO at my cousins and they way they spoke. The overuse of the word "amazing" is going to cuse me to lose control on of these day

That's so awesome. Really really awesome!

What I enjoy even more is listening to Mormons speak English. It's always stunted. It shows off the actual depth of their intellect.

Many of the out of staters confused me for being not from Utah. I never even thought about the Utah accents until then. Most people I know don't have the accent.

There are lot more things to poke fun of with Utahovians than our accents. Like the underwear a lot of people wear, or the temperature of their caffeine.

Okay, here are some I've learned since my days back in the MA in English Program:

Names like "Wilson" and "Nelson" have "t's" in them; i.e. Wiltson or Neltson...

And it's pronounce "Moun'in" (that's a "glottal" stop; pronounce it with your throat).

It's not "hunting" or "fishing"; it's huntin' or fishin' (or f**kin' for that matter, but never in mixed company). Deer huntin' used to be a state holiday, still observed by many, and it's permissible to "date" a "deer widow" during that period.

You've got "still belted tires" on your car, and your uncle used to work at the "Still Mill." That's to distinguish that word from "steal," which nobody does here...

The "Geographic line" runs east-to-west roughly through Filmore, to honor the old territorial capital.

I'm still researching whether the "t" is "often" is "supposed" to be pronounced. My daughter does; I don't. My fifth grade teacher's ghost would haunt me at night if I ever tried it.

Many of the polygamists use "plyg speech" to identify themselves informally so the regular LDS sorts don't catch on. A lot of plygs live in Hurkin...

More anyone?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/24/2017 11:58AM by SL Cabbie.

Accents can be funny things, though.

In English, I have a very posh Britishj accent and I can't be bothered to fake another one, as many British people do - it is my natural accent.

In French, however - and yes, I pass for French until I tell them I'm English - I have a rather working-class Parisian accent - because of the people I associated with when I first lived here, I expect.

Oh, and whether to pronounce the "t" in often seems to vary from one individual to another, even within families, even in the UK.

I don't honestly know which I say, but I suspect I use both ;-)

Tom in Paris



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 11/24/2017 12:57PM by Soft Machine.

"It's not "hunting" or "fishing"; it's huntin' or fishin'"

Hadn't thought about it for more than 40 years. Brought back old memories from Wyoming of Utah hunters. Thanks Cabbie.

I don't hear it as much in professional settings with outsiders and worldly types present.

Putting "t"s in words where there are none has always bothered me.
That and hur-cun.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/24/2017 02:13PM by Dave the Atheist.

Another thing I've noticed about women who never left Utah except for a mission is that they tend to use "like" as every other word when speaking. Not just that, but they talk with that little girl/RS president wannabe voice as well. It gets bad enough that I have to leave the room and read a book to avoid saying something that would offend them, and to prevent my IQ from being lowered a few points.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/24/2017 01:52PM by adoylelb.

The self-proclaimed gospel scholar in my old Utah ward was constantly blessing everyone with quotes from the "bookamarmon"

Instead of almonds it is aamonds

.....somehow Evanston becomes Evingston .....

Especially in out-loud prayers: "Please help us tuh. . ."

I find that so distracting, I lose focus on the prayer itself.

In my own speech, I find that I sometimes drop the vowel sound altogether, so I come out with things like "I wanna" or "I'd like
t'go see XYZ Park."

We used to drive down to Payson to see uncle Jarge, and ride harses...sometimes other famlee would drive up from Parwon and Hurcun, too.

as a kid I started watching the national news to break it. Every summer when I went to CA people would ask me why I talked so funny.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/25/2017 11:08AM by want2bx.

In my opinion, the most telling element of the "Utah"accent (which can also be heard in large parts of Idaho, Arizona, Wyoming, and Nevada) is the shift of long "A"(as in Tale) to short "E" (as in Tell).

Beyond actual pronunciation, what stands out to me when I hear people from Utah is their inflection. I have a hard time listening to the sing-songy, half-whispered, bear-my-testimony voice, with its over-emphasized S's, and reliance on cliches like "ten-der marssseessss."

I grew up in Sanpete County, and remember my mother calling graduations on a ruler “eench.” And here’s a doozie...”Lard Flarance, ur arckid sure looks good on ur farmal.”

St. Gaaarge, American Fark, confernze, nekkid, hur-ah-cun, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (best GA confernze voice).



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/25/2017 03:43PM by BYU Boner.

I haven't noticed it too much since I've been back to visit several times these past few years.

I'm more aware of a sing song dialect among the LDS genteel folks in the region.

I hear that often among Mormon women, maybe some of the men. It's a docile speaking mannerism that now I can attribute to a by-product of the brainwashing effect the religion has over their lives, down to their speech patterns.

And Boner, Hurricane *is* pronounced "Her-uh-cun," with the "uh" sound almost silent according to locals. It's not pronounced like the weather.

If you want to piss off the locals, pronounce it how everyone else outside of Utah would. :)

Her-uh-cun right next to La-ver-cun.

The one that's pronounced "Yer-rika," honest. I first heard that one when I got drunk in Nephi way back when...

And I can imagine some of the relief society sorts down Cedar City way reading this and exclaiming, "Fer ignernt!"

SL Cabbie Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I got drunk in Nephi

Dude, I just wet my pants! Did you get Laid in Lehi, too?