The Philadelphia accent...

[Demoiselle]

It's distinctive, very diphthong-y. ("Haow or yee-ew" for "How are you" is as close as I can come with phonetic spelling.)
Unmistakable. And yet only John Travolta (Edna in Hairspray) has ever used it in a movie. Yeah, I know, the story was set in Baltimore, but they talk that way there, too, often. And maybe Edna migrated from Philadelphia earlier in her life.

So now we have Silver Linings Playbook, set firmly in Philly and full of loving shots of the city...and yet, I am reliably informed by my son who saw the movie last night....NOBODY talks with a Philly accent. Robert DeNiro does his usual New Yawk thing.

I'll bet most of you don't even know what a Philly accent sounds like. So check out a "Hairspray" clip.
And if you heard a Philly accent in "Silver Linings" that my son missed...let me know.
I'm thinking of starting a campaign to promote the accent.

[onehandle]

1. Bradley Cooper is from Philadelphia and it was shot on location.

I am new in the Philly area, and yes some speak with with speak with a thick accent, but they are in the minority.

[T.J. Kutz]

24. Not the minority

I grew up in Levittown " levitewn" until the age of 22. Relocated to Jacksonville FL for 12 years. Before I moved I never new that we had an accent. Regardless, when I used to chat with people I know I could distinctly hear the accent after a few years of living in jax. After a little while longer I could hear it when I spoke. Everyone born and raised up hear has the accent; some r thicker than others but I still distinctly hear it everyday as I now reside here once again. No one here think they have accents either. Oh they do, it is horrible...lmao!! Shortened words, a "w" sound after an "o" and "d" for "t" in the middle of some words as well as a hard "d" sound"

"come over here"- "come oewva here.
Philadelphia-Phildelphya
on- oewn
do it- deew it.
Off. Knock it ahwf.
Water-wooder
The- get "da"f*** outa here.
Going- go-win to da mawl Sundi mornin before the igles game.
etc...
Not everyone uses all of it in their speaking such as wooder or, yous guys but everyone has some form of it and some unfortunately have all of it. For example I say water and wooder as well as wash and warsh what ever comes out. I do my best to avoid them as well as "yous" being the worst but it still slips. Most ppl up here are absolutely oblivious to the way that they speak as such as I was before I relocated. Any way, everyone has some form of it if u were born and raised from Baltimore-DE, North East Philly subs-South Jersey... One time in Jax I asked what part of Philly this guy was from based on his accent and he said Baltimore. He then stated that he gets it all the time.

[RebelOne]

2. I have a Philadelphia accent.

I was born in Philadelphia, but parents moved me to Miami when I was 5 years old. I have never yet lost that accent. Though I was raised in the South, I never picked up a Southern accent. When my relatives from Philadelphia would visit Miami, I would think that they talked funny, but then I realized that I sounded just like them after hearing a voice recording of myself.

[Beaverhausen]

3. Ha Ha! I have a Philly accent too

I haven't seen the film though, so can't comment.

I'm out in Los Angeles now and I'm often asked if I'm from Philly when I talk to a stranger who's also from the area. It's a subtle difference from the New York accent and you are right about the dipthong-y thing. Another good example is the word 'down' - sort of sounds like "day-yon."

[OriginalGeek]

4. All I know is

the Philly accent makes a cheese steak sangwich taste better.

[Demoiselle]

5. This is absolutely true.

And phonetically correct as well.

[pipi_k]

6. That's pretty close

to how a bunch of my cousins who live in Branford, CT say it.

Only with them, it's "sang-widge". Oh, and they say "you's" a lot too.

I don't know about anyone else here in Western Mass, but I call them "san-witches"

Gotta love those regional accents and stuff

[DFW]

7. I know the Philly accent all too well

I went to college in West Philadelphia. I heard enough of that accent after spending 5 years in that town.

"Come on" became "Comb-AWWN." When I finally left Philadelphia for good, the only thing I regretted leaving behind was the Reading Terminal Market.

[Demoiselle]

8. I actually like it...now.

I was five when we moved to Philly. All of my people are from North Dakota. We sounded a bit like, God help me, Sarah Palin.
I actually got grief from a fellow second grader for pronouncing "OUT" , "AH-oot&quot like the "a" in "Bah humbug&quot instead of "Aaa-oot" (like the "a" in "Daddy.&quot
Ah, dipthongs.

[DFW]

9. I grew up in Virginia

I NEVER got used to it. I stayed on in Philly for a year after graduation, moved up to New England for a while, and never looked back.

Eventually, I hung my hat in Dallas over 30 years ago, but have spent a lot of time overseas for my work, for which I am now pretty much over in Europe full time. The only "non-local" accents I hear now are my wife's northwestern Lower Saxony accent, which is not native to the Rheinland where we live, and my Transylvanian friend in Belgium, who even has a slightly "foreign" accent when speaking his native Hungarian, as the Transylvanian accent sounds "different" to the ears of Budapest natives. He has also learned Hebrew and Aramaic, but I speak neither, I have no idea how good or bad his accent is in either language.

[Orrex]

10. I've never heard a Pittsburgh accent in film, either

Countless films have been set in Pittsburgh and its vicinity, but I have never heard a Yinzer accent portrayed onscreen.

I've seen people absolutely freak out with horror that a Mississippi accent is actually a North Carolina accent, or whatever, but it's simply not worth getting worked up over IMO. More of a quirky piece of trivia, like when the film Stigmata featured an extended sequence on the Pittsburgh subway.

[Still Blue in PDX]

21. My in-laws don't think there is a Pittsburgh accent.

Conversely, my sister-in-law commented that I have a California accent.

[BearsMom]

11. I disagree..several of them nailed the accent

Bradley Cooper (who is from Philly) and Robert DeNiro (occasional slips) and Jackie Weaver(who is Australian) all nailed it. The demographic of these characters was not what is usually portrayed in film and tv (particularly in Eagles fans), i.e. South Philly residents. I have lived in Philadelphia all my life and people remark on my accent when I am out of the area all the time. "Where ARE you from?" But I do not sound like a South Philadelphian.

The above three all sounded just like everyone I know. I would also say that Kirsten Dunst produced a great Main Line Philadelphia accent, which she was going for.

There are a lot of variations in the Philadelphia depending on your neighborhood, cultural background ect. This movie was looking at a specific type of Philadelphia accent and they nailed it.

[vedere]

12. No way, no how!

I just saw the film. I grew up in NYC from 1965 until I moved to Philly permanently in 1989 after attending college in Philly. I studied Communications in college and wrote papers on accents/linguistics. I have always been fascinating with accents and can imitate most accents.

Jackie Weaver's accent was indeed excellent. After that, I was shocked. Bradly Cooper sounded like he could have been from any midwest town; that is, he had almost no accent at all. (The same can be said about Jennifer Lawrence, too.) Considering that Cooper allegedly grew up in a working-class neighborhood, his "barely there" accent didn't make sense. DeNiro -- one of my favorite actors ever -- was the biggest shock of all. He still sounded like a New Yorker. Without going into too much detail, his most common flub was continuing to drop his post-vocalic r's, which is not a feature of the the Philly accent at all. He also rarely exhibited any of the distinctive features of the Philly accent. Simply put, he sounded like, well, DeNiro!

[a la izquierda]

13. Nothing grates on someone from...

Central Jersey quite like the Philly, aka 609, accent. However, the Great Lakes accents sound awful to my ear as well.

[pink-o]

14. I was born in Baltimore...

or Balmere, as the locals pronounce it. But I grew up in San Francisco, so I have the typical NoCal No accent.

My family members still sound Baltimorian, and I deduced the accent is pretty much the same as Philly when I worked with a woman from there. She'd get on the PA @ the airport, and ask passengers if they had a "Friggin' Flyer Number". We would be incapacitated by laughter.

It's not a pretty dialect, but what do you want from Philly? Flowers and Bunnies??

[MadrasT]

16. Baltimore accents sound *very* different to Philadelphians.

But I can see how they would sound similar to folks from other parts of the country.

There even are subtle varieties of Philadelphia accents... I can tell a South Philly accent from a NE Philly accent (granted, there is a lot of overlap.)

It's not a pretty dialect, but what do you want from Philly? Flowers and Bunnies??

OK, that was just funny. So true. We aren't known for being delicate.

[KamaAina]

17. Bawlmer native here as well

once took an online quiz to determine my regional accent, and it said "Philadelphia".

But if you really want to hear a sharp Mid-Atlantic accent, you must travel to Wilmington, Del. Srsly. I once saw a City Confidential filmed there, and the locals made Phillyites sound like network newscasters!

[sadbear]

15. As a native Texan, the only Philadelphia accent I know is Sylvester Stallone

from Rocky 1.

[KamaAina]

18. The name of the city itself comes out as "Fluffia"!

The stuff that flows in the Delaware and the Schuylkill ("SKOO-kull&quot is "wooder". Acme Markets are "the ACK-a-me". And so forth.

[HERVEPA]

20. Yup. And wooder flows in a crick

When I go out of town, I have to force myself to pronounce it differently or the waiter often has no clue what I'm asking for.

And, inquiring whether someone has ingested food, the conversation is

Jeet?
No jew?

[mithnanthy]

23. You nailed it!

Wooder and Crick.....how about KELLERS....(colors)?

[Bucky]

19. Jack in the Box commercials are ruthlessly cruel and abusive to Philadelphians

When I was a kid we'd visit my cousins in Philly all the time, but the only thing I remember is that they'd say "youse guys" instead of the grammatically proper "y'all."

[mithnanthy]

22. There ya go....!

Youse Guys!....or..."are YOUSE ready to order?" omg!.the memories of being in the entertainment business at the JOISEY SHORE, Philly and the tri-State area. My favorite "whine" was......"I wanna go to FLORRIDA!" We moved here in 1986...as in "86...We're outta here". The weather is great! "what can I say?"

[T.J. Kutz]

25. Yep, no Philly on Niro....

Born and raised in the N E subs in Levittown/"Levitewn" until the age of 22 and was completely oblivious to the way that we sound; most from here are as well. They have no idea lol. Relocated to Jacksonville FL. Took me two years to realize that I had an accent!!! I here it in myself everyday now. Just moved back, this place is an over priced/taxed dump. Literally, the dump is 3 miles away...lol, gotta love it....Back to the subject....

Disappointed in De Niro's accent after I heard that he worked w/ Coopers Uncle. Philly? What? He sounded like all his other Italian characters...

Philly.....
"Yo, I'm runnin to da mawl Sundi before I go to da city for da igl's game. Gonna grab me a fresh jersey, got pickle juice on mine, didn't come out in da warsh. Djew need anyding or "anythin"?

Yeeeh, pick me up a howgi from Lee's, oh, and a turkey san-wich for my chick.
Danks..
"I'll talk da ya..."


Come on De Niro, step up that game...