Relaxing Fun discussion

What are some of your favorite ways to beat the winter blues?

snowboarding or reading a loooooong book. maybe sleeping also.

Looking back at my holiday pictures!

Staying inside. Especially today, coldest day of the year so far in Chicago.

Of course, I have to go to work.

Winter is being really cold here too... I used to know a guy from Chicago, I liked his accents!

I play indoor tennis and that seems to help.

Elena wrote: "Winter is being really cold here too... I used to know a guy from Chicago, I liked his accents! "

One thing that is often said about Chicagoans is that we talk too fast. I don't hear the accent but I recall hearing it when I first moved back. Personallly, I like Southern accents. Jess

I'm glad someone wrote about the Chicago accent--most people here do not think they have an accent! Their reason is that most media uses the Midwestern accent. We ALL have accents, not matter how plain and standardized it is.

What stands out to me is the very nasal A instead of O. For example, "Mom" become "Maahm", "Chicago" becomes "Chicaahgo". Midwesterners tend to add diphthongs as well. "Bat" becomes "bee-at" and my name, "Dallas", becomes "Dee-allas". It used to drive me crazy when I worked in Skokie and would hear my name butchered. The middle E in certain words such as "Jenny" sounds over-pronounced and forced to "JEEHnny". (Incidentally, the I in "milk" becomes an E to "Melk".)

Ok, I will stop. I pay attention to accents because I'm from Appalachia where we get unfair criticism regarding our accents.

"Dee-allas"...tell me I never said that.

No, you didn't. lol. It seems the accent varies, depending on where you grew up, how long you've lived here, etc

Indeed, even if I don't know where to put an American accent in its right place, I can hear they're very different from one another. For example, I find it very hard to udnerstand the NY accent... Even we Italians in our small country have hundreds of different accents, no wonder the US host at least as many! Usually, I find American easier to understand than British English, even if I've always learnt the latter.

I speak a little Spanish and I find it easier to understand people from Spain or Puerto Rico. The Mexican accent is very difficult for me to understand.

I hate having to clean all the leaves from the pool in winter.. and usually I have to turn on the heater in order to swim!:)

A heated swimming pool would help with the blues, I bet.

I think I understand most accents quickly, having lived in a number of parts of the US. I also taught college for ten years--and I have heard almost everything. It is odd how quickly we adapt to different accents.

An interesting thought, when I taught, I suspended judgment on looks (think of 6'2" biker in leather) and did not notice many of the differences, sometimes to the amusement of my students.

Rhonda wrote: "I hate having to clean all the leaves from the pool in winter.. and usually I have to turn on the heater in order to swim!:)"

I wanna go swimming so bad. my b-day's coming up, and I wanna check into a hotel room with my closest friends, and go swimming in the indoor pool!