Posted on 08/16/2019 8:41:47 AM PDT by Vigilanteman
Marilyn Caye grew up in Pittsburgh’s Perry Hilltop neighborhood and graduated from University of Pittsburgh. A few years later she decided to explore the other end of the country and wound up in the San Francisco Bay area. She soon learned that while she could leave Pittsburgh, there was a part of the Steel City that wouldn’t leave her.
“I was about to audition for a commercial in San Francisco. When I was at Perry High School, I had done voice work for Rege Cordic’s ‘Cordic and Company’ on KDKA radio. I called a fellow in Sausalito to get some advice,” said Caye, “and the first thing he said was, ‘Marilyn, you’ve got to get rid of your Pittsburgh accent.’
“I had lived in Northern California for nine years and didn’t think I had that accent at all!”
Since then, Caye has dedicated a good part of her life not only to getting rid of her own Pittsburgh accent, but helping others get rid of theirs.
For nearly 20 years, Caye has taught classes at Community College of Allegheny County in voiceover acting and public speaking. In the late 1990s, she went for the local angle and created “How to Lose Your Pittsburgh Accent.” The class lasted for three years and then fizzled out.
Now it’s back. Starting in October, you can “come to this class and learn how to subdue your Pittsburghese,” according to a description in the CCAC course catalog.
(Excerpt) Read more at triblive.com ...
My step grandfather was from Pittsburgh.
One thing he did was when talking about KFC instead of saying “Colonel Sanders” he would say “Colonel Saunders.” I always assumed that was just him.
The most weird thing about they way both he and his wife talked was.. Instead of asking a question like, “Were you just outside?” The would make a statement, “You were just outside.” But the last word of the sentence would have three musical notes to it, low, then high, then low. Which I suppose was their way of adding a verbal question mark. Does anyone know if that’s a common Pittsburgh speech thing?
According to my mother it is. While living in Ohio a doctor she saw nailed her as being from Pittsburgh by the up-and-down roller coaster intonations of the way she spoke.
I was among a group of ‘Burghers that started a factory in the deep south. The language clash was a real problem. We had a guy that talked real slow - he was the only yankee the natives could understand at first.
I did figure out how to get the grocery store deli to make me some chipped ham, though.
Some videos on youtube with the accent
include Dahntahn Song by John Eddie,
12 Days of Pitt. Christmas An’ ‘at,
Move Ya Jagoff (Moves Like Jagger),
Growing Up in Pittsburgh
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=OfAcV64Yma4 (12 Days)
I wore a T shirt with a pic of a raccoon on it at an Eat’n’Park and the waitress said, “I just can’t get over that raccoon”—and it’s tough to spell out how she said “raccoon”.
Accents—someone sent me a tape of a classic country radio show from WEVL in Memphis and the DJ sounded like he was from New England, not Tenn. I emailed him and he said, oh, I’m from Rhode Island and went to college down here and stuck around.
Holy crap, did he sound like someone out of Family Guy.
Exactly, Mt Warshington...car needs
worshed.Bedada (potato) patch froys at Kennywood. Cartoonist Joe Wos did a comic book, The Three Little Pigs in Pittsburgh-ese.
Gumband means rubber band.Used a medical product and instructions said, “use a gumband to hold it on”.Sure enough...it was made in Pittsburgh.
Indeed of all the cities and towns with that name only the PA one has the H at the end and my Pitt. Walking Tour guide said the Scottish heritage means it should really be “Pitts-burra” like Edinburgh is Edin-burra.
Have been told Carnegie is Kar-nay-gee not Kar-na-gee which Noo Yawkers have spread.
Other Pittsburgs have no G at the end, like Pittsburg NH on the Canadian border.Old sign at Kennywood says Pittsburg because the H was taken off for awhile.
Leonard Nimoy was a Jewish-American from Boston’s West End. A TV special with Nimoy and his son Adam showed them going around what was left of the old neighborhood.
Having been married to a Pittgsburgher 45 years, I know exactly what you said. Should I be worried?
Nobody should be laughing at a funeral, but I couldn’t help it!
Was it Islay’s?
Nope. Funny thing was, I never liked Isaly's - it had kind of a funny taste. The local Jine Iggle had 2 automatic slicers cranking it out all the time, and it was much better tasting than Isaly's to me. In the South, I had to find a grocery store deli that stocked chopped ham. Had them shave it as thin as possible and bingo - chipped ham.
This really cracks me up because in 1962 I went straight from high school to Navy boot camp and all the guys from places like Pittsburgh, Philly, New York etc. thought my South Carolina accent was hilarious. They were convinced that their way of speaking was the ONLY correct way! People seem to like the Southern accent now but in those days they would say things like, “Youse guize shoo doo taawwk funnee”.
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