How We Talk: American Regional English Today

by Allan A. Metcalf

Where are you when people • go to the coast instead of the beach • tote things as well as carry them • wait on line instead of in line • get groceries in a paper sack instead of a paper bag • say things like “The baby needs picked up” and “The car needs washed” • eat solid rectangular doughnuts that are also called beignets • complain when something is spendy (“costly”) • are chilled by a blue norther • ask for tonic instead of soda • go “dahntahn” to shop.

Allan Metcalf answers these and many other fascinating questions in his new book, How We Talk: American Regional English Today. In short, delightful essays, Metcalf explains the key features that make American speech so expressive and distinct. He begins in the South, home of the most easily recognized of American dialects, and travels north to New England, then on to the Midwest and the far West, even to Alaska and Hawaii. It’s all here: the northern Midwest “Fargo” accent, Louisiana Cajun and New Orleans Yat, dropped r’s as in Boston’s “Hahvahd Yahd,” and intrusive r’s as in “Warshington,” especially common in America’s midlands. With additional chapters on ethnic dialects and dialects in the movies, Metcalf reveals the resplendence of one our nation’s greatest natural resources — its endless and varied talk.

Genres: Nonfiction, Language, Linguistics

208 pages, Paperback

First published October 16, 2000

Reviews

[Robin Richardson · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I did like this book, it was very easy to get bogged down in the encyclopedic nature of the material. I thoroughly enjoyed learning about the different speech patterns that make different pockets of America unique, as well has how different dialects intersect and relate to one another. But I could have done less with the repetitive nature of the material (Arizona speaks similarly to New Mexico? Shock!) and maybe more of origins of different words or phrases. Another welcome addition might have been words or phrases that crop up nationwide that aren't heard elsewhere globally (just a thought). I feel a positive ambivalence towards this book -while I probably won't read it again, I would recommend it to language nerds or people interested in regional variations on American English.

[Damon · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting, if not plain and trivial, look at the United States and the evolution of the English language, reported state-by-state. Something interesting I found from reading this book: It matters more WHEN a state or region was settled, than by whom it was settled, when determining the roots of accent, dialect, and vocabulary.

[Grete · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting, but will date itself quickly. And its repeated repetitions and redundancies were redundant and repetitious. Identifying little with what the author recorded from ND and MN (where I have spent most of my life), I have to assume that locals from other areas would not necessarily agree with what he says about their dialects either.

[anonymousreader · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a slim volume but it could have been a little slimmer and not suffered for it. The author presents a very thorough discussion of the many differences in pronunciation (accents)and vocabulary (hero versus sub versus hoagie, etc) across the United States by region and by state. It was very interesting to see how some of the pronunciation styles started and also some of the unique terms that people use in different parts of the US.

[Phyllis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Disappointed as I thought it was more recently. published than 2000.
Did have little Underwood Iowa idiom I noticed - eliminating "to be" as in "cats need fed." It was attributed to the Upper South/South Midlands area, though, instead of the Inland North in which it said that Iowa is included.

[Rachel · Rating 2 out of 5]

I now submit the following for your consideration for the award of Worst Introductory Passage of Any Book Ever Written About Language:

"Americans have different ways of speaking. About 270 million of them, to be precise. That's 270 million Americans, of course, not ways of speaking. But you could make the argument that since no two people speak alike, there really are 270 million different ways of speaking in our country."

--- Huh? ---

I read this about 5 times and each time it sounded stupider. Not a great opener for a book about "speechways." (There's a word that also sounds stupider each time you read it. Unfortunately, Metcalf uses it about 270 million times in this book.)

On a scale from boring to fascinating, this book was a solid 5. I felt that the author cherry-picked some juicy tidbits from each regional dialect, and did a good job at explaining differences in pronunciation. But as a whole, the book is poorly written and you're probably better off googling. Actually, it seems that's what the author did a good bit of as well (or, given the publication date of 2000, perhaps he Yahooed or AltaVista-ed.)

Here are some more bafflingly idiotic sentences:

"In terms of dialect, New England is aptly named, just as the original namer might have wished."

"Two facts are clear about African American English: It is Southern, and it is not."

[April · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this book at the library while I was looking for Bill Bryson's book "Made in America" and picked it up to read as well. I liked the intro because it asked the same question that I was wondering, "Why, if our English came from Britain, don't we still talk like the people who live in Britain?" I was hoping to find out how the language got so transmuted from then to now.

I also like that the book sort of taught me how to speak with a Southern accent and I enjoyed playing with this new capability while reading another book aloud in the accent to entertain myself (since the subject matter wasn't all that interesting to me). It got a little into the weeds talking about names of regional plants and animals that I didn't necessarily care to know about, though. And I found out that I can't really speak with any other accent presented (New England and New York, especially).

In terms of answering the original question, though, I think the book did a mediocre job. Maybe Bryson's book will fill in the gaps.

Book: Skyline library book.

[window · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a slim volume but it could have been a little slimmer and not suffered for it. The author presents a very thorough discussion of the many differences in pronunciation (accents)and vocabulary (hero versus sub versus hoagie, etc) across the United States by region and by state. It was very interesting to see how some of the pronunciation styles started and also some of the unique terms that people use in different parts of the US.

[Bookwyrmgyrl]

This book was a little more serious than some I have read on language, and was still interesting and at times, funny. Metcalf breaks down his study of language into geographic areas of the United States, and also by group. Having lived in different parts of the country, I was able to confirm his many examples of vowel shifts and word-ending changes by personal experience, which was fun.

[Tori]

2008- An easily readable examination of American regional English. The author also touches upon African American, Latino/Hispanic and Native American English patterns. I actually learned quite a bit about how I ""supposedly"" talk and some words unique to my state.

[stephanie · Rating 2 out of 5]

mehhhhhhhh