The other day a co-worker asked me where I was from. She said, “You have a slight accent but I can’t place it.” Hmm. I told her I was from NJ & wondered what she heard that suggested I was from elsewhere. There is definitely a New Jersey accent, although non-Jerseyites associate it with a New York accent.

An ex from Union (who happens to be Italian) sounds like someone from the Sopranos. My friend I’ve known since we were four always says certain words with what I guess was a southern accent. (Her mom’s from Louisiana). Like “ore-enge” for orange. Now she’s been living in Florida for a while & of course tells me I have such an NJ accent! When I first met my ex-now-seeing-other-people-boyfriend I asked where he was from. Born & raised in central Jersey. But his cousin sounds just like him, as does his brother who now lives in Ohio.

With some people it’s just expressions – my friend in Seattle uses different expressions, but still sounds like he’s from good ol’ NJ. I guess there are different Jersey dialects. But thanks to a stranger’s comment I keep wondering what I said. I know I say “beg-el” for bagel and have no idea where I picked that up. Water and car come out sounding different sometimes, but I never think about it unless someone points it out. And of course I’m an “Aunt” not an ant. Mom’s English. It’s funny how many times my brother & I have been asked (still to this day) why we don’t sound like either <pronounced I-ther not E-ther> my mother (with her English accent) or my father (with his German one).  Go figure. We were surrounded by Jerseyites.

I was doing a little reading and a few people wrote that “Clerks” depicts relatively authentic Jersey accents. (Do you own that, Diss?) I’m curious how accurate that is.

Anyway, just another thought dancing around in my head!

Good Day All!