I grew up near Philadelphia, and the pronunciation of "water" is "wooder" and the pronunciation of "library" is "lie-berry" by lots of people there, even highly educated people...and of course, the "librarian" is often called the "lie-berrien"...and that's normal there. I lived there until I was 20 so even though I've been in Michigan for over 27 years, I still have some strong Philly pronunciation of some words that drive my sons bonkers, such as a heavy pronunciation of "dog" ("dawg") and "come awwwwnnnn" and "coffee" ("cawfee")...and yes, I admit I say "lie-berry" just to see them roll their eyes.

When I moved to west Michigan, one of the expressions that got on my nerves the most is "Thank you much!" They don't say the word VERY, people in most places say "Thank you very much!" People here also tack on the words "at all" to the ends of sentences for no reason, such as a waitress might ask, "Can I get you anything else at all?" and on other sentences sometimes...I think the words "at all" are overused here, I think they should put back the word VERY in "Thank you much" and leave off "at all" on the ends of sentences at all :) I have acquired a west Michigan accent, still with some Philly in it, but other peoples' heavier accents in both places seems more obvious to me when I hear them, and I guess my Michigan accent is really out of place in Philadelphia, but I can quickly snap back to speaking the way they speak there when I'm surrounded by people "tawking" that way!

I think you have made a very important point re. pronounciation. I think many people who reach a 'certain age' have some problems with hearing clearly - in my own case i am 60% deaf, which is possibly why reading (and writing) form a major part of my life.

Clarity of speech in any accent is a major way to communicate, but the jumble or rapid flow of words is difficult for anyone I would suggest. I can just about speak reasonable French and make myself understood, but when a veritable torrent of French comes back at me I am totally at a loss. I was interested in watching a documentary about Grace Kelly when she became Princess Grace who had exactly the same problem!

When I was a Prof. in foreign countries I had a little hint for shy students who felt I was talking to quickly for them, which as an enthusiast tends to happen. This was to do the 'cutting the throat' gesture with their hands and I would see this from in front of the group whilst most of the others would not. It was astonishing to see how often this appeared even with students (MBA and BBA levels) who reverted to using it. A salutory lesson indeed.

I find most modern films are incomprehensible, and even filtering out the expletives, hard to follow the plot - even where such a thing exists. Mumbling and so-called 'street talk' may accentuate reality, but do nothing (again) for communication. Incidentally my French wife has a new hobby of counting how often the 'F' word is used in a film!

Trying to follow many TV reporters in either French or English is almost impossible as they really do seem to work with 10-second soundbites and try to fit in the text of War and Peace in that space. Weather forecasters ditto - shut up and let me look at the maps!

Going back to expletives, there is a place for these, although it is a shame that so many old and genuine Anglo-Saxon words ended up as debased - blame the French invaders! Hitting one's thumb with a hammer really does demand something more forceful than 'Oh bother!doesn't it?

I know it is a digression from the thrust of the forum issue, but who else out there is fascinated by the 'origins' of words? For me it never ends.

Hi Norman,

In elementary school and high school in Philly, I had nuns/teachers from other places say it was impossible to listen to us or teach us, haha! The elementary principle, a nun who had traveled thru Europe and the upper east coast of USA, said Philadelphia accent was horrific, and I remember she took offense to our saying "keller" instead of "color".

Then in high school, our French teacher said it was nearly impossible to teach French to Philadelphians.

Relatives from other places also think the east coast speaks too quickly, "Ineedaglassawooder!"

Or "emnot" and "yartoo" arguments for "am not" and "you are, too!"

I seem to remember the comedian Bill Cosby coming from Philadelphia?

I saw him in a live concert in Australia and recall he referred to it as 'FilthyDephia'

LOL! The Philly airport is the only one I've ever seen where people throw trash into the luggage size-example boxes that are in the check-in areas (the rectangular boxes to see if carry-on luggage will fit into the overhead). Not just one or two items of garbage, every size-box was full to the top sometimes.