Monday, August 1, 2011

The Utah Accent


I was rather disturbed the other day when my mom told me that I’m developing a Utah accent. When I turned to Keith for some moral support, hoping he would tell me my mom was crazy, he said, “I was scared to tell you, but you kinda are…” Dang.

The Utah accent can be subtle and hard to describe, but it’s something you just know when you hear it. Trust me, it’s not one of those accents you really want to have. After working in Farmington UT for almost a year, I’ve developed a fine-tuned ear for some specific “Utah-isms.”

If you want to sound like you are from Utah, try implementing a few of these into conversation (or better yet, if you want to avoid sounding like you are from Utah, NEVER say any of these):

Pronounce the word “deal” (or anything that rhymes with it), “dill.”
“That store always has the best dills” or “That mill was delicious!”

Pronounce the word “mail” (or anything that rhymes with it)—“mell.” 
"I sent 20 emells at work today” or “I got this shirt on sell!”

Definitely make sure you add random "T’s" into words that don’t have "T’s."  
"Keltsey" or "What eltse?"

Some other personal favs:
milk = "melk" 
measure ="mayzure" 

Also, if you travel to any of the below cities, make sure you pronounce them like this:
American Fork = “American Fark”
Hurricane = “Hurr-a-kin”

Keith and I have officially been in Utah WAY too long.