This is an article on a kind of strangely named Business Insider site (I say "strangely named" because, from what I can see, there does not seem to be THAT much emphasis on business there). ANYWAY.
The article is interesting in that it showcases research by a North Carolina State University's Joshua Katz, who studied all kinds of different ways different parts of US call the same thing.
For example, we all know the "pop-soda-coke" thing, but did you know that, apparently, only in Philadelphia region do people call a long sandwich with cold cuts, lettuce/tomato etc. a "hoagie" while the rest of the States call it a "sub"? Or the apparent fact that Americans can't seem to agree on how to pronounce "pecan pie"?
It's a real nice visual treat, as well, with maps looking very watercolor-y and everythin'. So, check it out.
I had this very experience as I moved from Pittsburgh (pop, hoagie) to Philadelphia (soda, hoagie). I remember that people would make fun of my accent. I had no idea that I even had an accent until several years later when I went back to Pittsburgh and everyone sounded so "funny". Ah, such is life!!!
ReplyDeleteHmmm..... I'm a native NYer and I've always pronounced it pee-KAHN, though sometimes I might say pee-CAN, but I always put the accent on the second syllable, assuming the caps indicate the emphasized syllable, yet the map says I pronounce it Pee-can. Then again, there is no one NYC accent. People in the Bronx speak with a different accent typically than Brooklyn natives.
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