Accent Tag! New Orleans "Yat"

[@GraceNPeace2023]

Here in New Orleans the black accent and the white accent are different. Whites have more of an east coast accent and the blacks sound more Caribbean. You did a great job. After Katrina I’ve had people tell me that we talk backwards, because we put “Yeah” and “no” at the end of some sentences. An example would be “You bet not go out side no” or “I’m bout to go to the sto yeah”. This cause a great deal of confusion when having a conversation with people outside south east Louisiana. Once a person from New Orleans goes west of Baton Rouge or east of Slidell, it becomes more and more difficult to converse with people.

[@Mehrvigne]

This is so accurate. This is very well explained. Thank you for adding this gem of info on our accents. So many people have said, "That's not how we talk in New Orleans." But there are many types of people who live here and many different types of accents.

[@derlingerardclair6252]

I grew up in New Orleans.But I don,t recall ever having any difficulty conversing with people east of Slidell,even into the Mississippi Gulf Coast area.Not that I ever got into any really prolonged conversation with them.But at least in relatively short conversations,i've never had any difficulty communicating with them,my friend.Anyway,best wishes,shalom,and God bless you.

[@euro_babe]

so true, i used to work at the convention center and people would always tell me i sound like im from the east coast. Brooklyn was the most common place people would think im from lol

[@king-emperorbotolfzainisem730]

😂😂😂 i used to work with a girl who said things like "She best not talk to me no"

[@nathan9368]

my dads from Shreveport Louisiana and I grew up in Shreveport and holly grove

[@andrewnoyb7415]

That was one of the most charming and sincere KZbin videos I've ever watched.

[@Mehrvigne]

That's so nice of you to say. Thank you, sir.

[@raybaker8653]

people in south louisiana are typically charming people

[@Tony_Cardoza]

@@raybaker8653 Truth

[@elizamamedova4123]

It sounds like a New Yorker accent mixed with southern.

[@spencexxx]

Like Boston

[@SheSweetLikSugarNSavage]

Nawl... It ain't itha😂its southern, so y'all can stop tryna call it summin else.

[@Snafuski]

non-rhotic...

[@roberttreadaway7853]

She is spot on for a lower 9 accent which is where the accent is prominent. Rich uptown people don't talk(speak) da same lol

[@roberttreadaway7853]

@@SheSweetLikSugarNSavage nawlins ain't southern ain't even close

[@anitantomhuggett7993]

Loved her video. I am from New Orleans and that's how we talk. Sick and tired of movies that show people from New Orleans talking with a southern drawl.

[@513morris]

Or a cajun accent.

[@yeahbabbler8209]

I've always thought the "YAT" accent sounded more like Brooklyn meets the swamp after a short walk through Jersey. Excellent video dear and the best 7 minutes I've spent on KZbin in a long while.

[@thegentofculture]

Hahaha that made me hollar. 😂

[@doubanjiang]

Lol, this is great! You sound like EVERYBODY in my family back in NOLA. You've got the most representative New Orleans accent of anyone I've heard on youtube. I live in Asia now, and I keep playing your vid so I can feel like I'm back home!

[@Mehrvigne]

Thank you for the kind words. I'm happy to help you feel less homesick. I know if ever I moved away from NOLA I'd keep watching/listening to things from home as well. I hope you are enjoying Asia!

[@Tmiwithjazz]

Girl, this was such a good video! The way you did it was very professional yet personable. I enjoyed it.

[@AeroHostale]

The chick in the video is how a lot of New Orleanians sound. There's at least five different dialects in the New Orleans area. I'm from the westbank so I sound like I'm from up North. There are a lot of folks in Nola who do sound like they're from Brooklyn, NY or even Jersey but with a twist of Southern twang. I hate it when people try to imitate our accent too thinking we sound like the typical Southerner when it's far from that in New Orleans. We sound more Jersey or NY many of us. Some of my words sound like I'm from NY. There is the Brooklynese dialect, Yat dialect, etc etc. Every soda is referred to cold drink down there. . Everyone in my family have different accents so they ask if we're even related. We all grew up in the same home so it's crazy to explain to people why we all sound different.

[@talishabennett2775]

I hate when people try to say baby or ask me to say it over and over (especially my kids. they are not NOLA raised)

[@kryptonic4043]

Big Facts Brudda!

[@craigtrent2410]

@@Tony_Cardoza i can totally relate!! whenever we go to panama city beach, everyone has that southern drawl accent, except for us.....we would always say they have the accent, but of course they always think we have the accent :-)

[@ThisIsMyYoutubeName1]

I was born and lived in Marrero for 10 years, then moved near Breaux Bridge. I’ve been here for 28 years and still get laughed at because some words sound YAT but others are bayou accent.

[@ThisIsMyYoutubeName1]

@@Tony_Cardoza I lived there from 83-93. I grew up in Estelle. My moms side of the family still live in that area, but we don’t get to visit often. I went right after Ida to pick up family so they could stay with us since they didn’t have power. I think because there is almost no crime where I live, I get nervous going back to Marrero. But my memories of living there were before they added more street lighting, so I witnessed shootings, a stabbing and remember at least 2 occasions of someone trying to climb into windows at our home. The last straw was when we were walking home from school (LW Rupple) and there was a drive-by shooting and we had to hit the ground. Now? I hear shots at any given time of the day or night and my thoughts are “mais, I hope they got that big coyote we seen on the camera”.

[@thedativecase9733]

As an English person I found this really enlightening - in UK someone from Louisiana would always be represented- say in a comedy sketch- as having an archetypal Southern drawl like a bad version of Scarlett O'Hara. How wrong can we be! I came here looking to find out what a "Yat" accent was and you explained it beautifully. Thankyou .

[@derlinclaire1778]

Very glad that you found this New Orleans' lady video both informative,and interesting.And thanks to your dear country of England for giving the world Shakespeare,Chaucer, and of course,Benny Hill,God bless his dear memory.Merci beaucoup,mon cher ami,and God bless you,and Happy Holidays!

[@monicanadine]

I’m so glad she did this video too! I live in London now, and although my accent isn’t as strong as it used to be, people are shocked when I tell them, “Yes I’m from New Orleans, and no I don’t have a Southern drawl/ twang”. And just to let you (if you haven’t found out already, this is just one layer. There are other accents found in New Orleans. I say a lot of words similar to her, but not with the “yat” sound. And many locals also call pop/soda “cold drink” (no matter what flavor, brand it is 😂). And always “basket” for when I go “make groceries”. Another expression used for going grocery shopping.

[@rawlssides4061]

As a life long resident of Baton Rouge I can confirm that she really does have an authentic New Orleans accent. It is unique to New Orleans, no where else in the state. I would hear it at LSU from the New Orleans students. Cool!

[@IslenoGutierrez]

In Louisiana, there are three main families of accents and transitional accents between them. The three main accent families are northern/central Louisiana, Acadiana and Greater New Orleans. Northern/Central Louisiana has the classic southern drawl accent similar to other southern states. The Acadiana accent family is the one often called Cajun and the Greater New Orleans accent family is the one that includes the yat accent and others like the garden district accent etc.

[@edwinholcombe2741]

Very nice. I've never heard a New Orleans accent before and was expecting a deep south type but instead it sounds east coast. At any rate you sound very nice and I could listen to you all day. Thanks

[@susielarocca9065]

Edwin Holcombe And that's what it's all about.

[@lakeviewviking]

+Edwin Holcombe Yeah, Hollywood also gives us a Cajun accent, which is at least in the southern Louisiana ballpark. N.O. was heavily Irish and German, and later Sicilian, so that's a big influence on the accent...

[@k4t1e26]

Absolutely loved hearing your accent. I definitely hear the similarities to Boston and some Brooklyn/New Jersey, but I also hear some Pittsburgh in there too! There are quite a few word we say the same!

[@whitegrey50]

She did a Great Job explaining our Dialect, didn't realize I had one until I was running from Hurricane Katrina traveling from State to State and everyone constantly asked me to repeat myself. I have to add to her list: The is Da' .... A Dragonfly aint Dat it's called a Maskita Hawk. .... and our Mosquito's are pronounced Maskita.

[@whitegrey50]

Cool. I was formally educated in Pennsylvania. Can you believe that. I always wanted to live in New orleans.

[@BackyardTarot]

Maskita. Accurate af

[@snow-wlkr7xplorer494]

I've heard it also as--'Muskita'....I had to laugh.

[@j.e.9184]

I could agree with you more! As a child of Yats, I'm always glad to see the accent represented truly. Nicely done.

[@durflust]

I'm from the NYC area, and there are a lot of similarities. Some differences of course (as there are even differences within the NYC area), but more similarities for sure.

[@fishouttawater347]

I'm Brooklyn born and raised and I would believe it if you told me you're from my neighborhood!

[@andrew-sykes]

This is wonderful. Authenticity is undeniable and it pours out here. This video has completely changed my idea about the New Orleans accent. I'm British and about to record an audiobook in a New Orleans accent - thank god I saw this first, or I'd have read it in a slow "Charleston style" country drawl! THANK YOU!

[@Tony_Cardoza]

That would have been horrible. If you need help with any slang we'd use in N.O. I'd help you out if you haven't done it already.

[@Amsidkdnsls]

I've been learning Louisiana accent for 3 years I'm from india never been to usa , id appreciate if you can tell me how i sound , just go to any one of my vidoes on my channel . If you can get in touch with me thatd be appreciated very much

[@cominatrix]

I love how distinct this is. But its also really cool how i agree, it has a lot of elements of the thick ny/nj and some elements of boston. im from CT and i hear people from both sides and its so funny how you have bits of both and clearly its own thing. also, thanks for giving the little explanations for stuff too! neat little stories!

[@IslenoGutierrez]

I’m a native of the New Orleans area and this is my take on how we got this accent… the city of New Orleans was split between French speakers on one side and English speaker on the other side after the onset of US statehood. Among the English speakers, were people that moved to New Orleans after statehood from other states in the south. Then Irish, German and Italian immigrants coming from previously living in NY, NJ and Boston and had picked up east coast accents moved to New Orleans. This mixture of southern dialects and east coast dialects mixed into one and formed the basis for the yat dialect. A southern-East coast hybrid. The French speakers who descend from the colonial Louisianians were still speaking French mainly and when they did learn English, it was these forms of hybrid English (other New Orleans varieties included) that they learned, this local southern-east coast mixture from the English speaking parts of the city. The yat dialect then picks up lots of French words and phrases whether in French or translated directly into English from French due to the influence of the French speakers. And this is what I think happened from all the research I’ve gathered this far. I think the 9th ward local whites that once lived in the 9th ward (that white flighted to the Suburbs in the 1970’s and 1980’s, especially upper St, Bernard Parish) their accent was heavily influenced by what took place in earlier times and similar to what took place in other areas of New Orleans as German, Irish, and Italian immigrant families, many from the east coast, took up residence alongside the French speakers of the area. And I believe this area lacked the lots of the southern influence of uptown since southerners settled mostly uptown instead of downtown, this caused the strongest east coast influenced variety to appear in the 9th ward due to a prominent lack of that southern element. The accent did however probably borrow some southern features from other dialects of New Orleans over time possibly. The area is mainly black as well as white transplant today because of massive local white flight of the area in from the late 1960’s to the 1980’s.

[@goofy2126]

Spot on...laughed till I cried, it brought back so many memories. Especially the devil beating his wife...learned that one at my mother's knee. Nicely done.

[@kwAnthony]

Met an amazing woman from Nola earlier this year. She's a travel nurse and I drove back home with her (993 miles). Stayed a few days in the quarter, one block behind the blacksmith shop and flew home. About a month later, I flew back to see her and stayed nearly the entire month of November in Slidell. Yall have the best accent. I can't wait to go back in February!

[@Mehrvigne]

That is such a sweet story. I hope you two have a happy future in whatever type of relationship you develop together. :)

[@kwAnthony]

@@Mehrvigne looks like I'm moving up there around fall next year! That's if everything goes right. Even if her and I don't make it til then, I'm still in love with your city and the surrounding areas. That's where I wanna be.

[@marypickens1742]

Your accent is so charming. I could listen to it all day!

[@markmcmeen287]

Love the video! I live in Tennessee but worked in south Louisiana for years. Your accent was music to my ears! I have tried to tell people that NO ONE from New Orleans says, "N'awlins." Thanks for confirming that, sharing your culture and reminding me of happy times in your area!

[@francisxd1040]

I knew about yat for years and you never hear it in the movies. I'm from Brooklyn and I went out with this girl with a wierd Brooklyn with a little twang accent to it and she said she was from New Orleans . It was very funny and sweet and I was amazed I loved it. She told me it was because there were Irish and Italian Catholics down there in the parishes. I wish I would hear this more

[@jeksixten5751]

The Irish contributed in the accent lots of Irish settled there because the place has lot more Cajun and Creole Catholics...

[@MaraJadeSharpie]

So happy you posted this! It's wonderful to hear someone represent our accent accurately. As someone else pointed out, different parts of the city have different accents, but this is an excellent example of the overall.

[@BadgerCheese94]

Sounds like a mix of southern and northeastern.

[@drishorton2696]

Thank you so much. Keep it educating us on the New Orleans and the Southeast Louisiana accents. I'm an actor and I grew up in Shreveport, lived in the French Quarter for over a decade. Katrina survivor. Keep working on your program. Thanks

[@archer1949]

This is another reason why they probably will never make a faithful movie adaptation of A Confederacy of Dunces. The audience will be sitting there wondering why the characters sound more like Joe Pesci and Marisa Tomei in My Cousin Vinny instead of the Foghorn Leghorn that they were expecting.

[@jeremyhope1649]

That's one of the funnier things I've ever read and totally true! The way Toole wrote out the accents one of my favorite parts of the book, 'specially Jones...

[@rolyatrocket4294]

They should do it anyway, it'll educate people when they look up why they sound like that.

[@midnightmystery544]

John McConnell.... Maybe one day...

[@greenmachine5600]

@@rolyatrocket4294 true. lets embrace regional accents and culture.

[@stopanimalabuse4741]

I've watched many of these accent tag videos and I have to say your video was my favorite. Very sincere and authentic. thanks

[@fotm07]

man, this really is probably the most fascinating accent in the US for me

[@stoverboo]

Thank you! Years ago, after reading A Confederacy of Dunces, I was very curious about this accent. At that time, there was no youtube to consult, so none of my research involved listening to an actual human voice. This was great.

[@kathrynbrady2357]

Love, love, love your accent and your wonderful video. Thanks for posting. Also, my father-in-law is from NOLA and yes, he takes the "er" off the end of words that have them and just makes it an "a" and he also ADDS an "er" to words that end in "a"--example "ya' cousin Brenda" becomes "ya' cousin Brender"! Love it!

[@daleandrews9356]

I'm only speaking of the white New Orleans accent. I come from Lake Charles(LA), so we're about 4 hours apart in Louisiana along the Gulf Coast. I lived in N.O. for about 9 years, so I have "room" to talk. To me, it(N.O.)sounds more like a Brooklyn accent. Interesting is how both treat the "r" sound if it comes at the end of word. Best example is how the New Orleans people pronounce the word "years". Native New Orleanians pronounce it "YEEAHHS". "Dollars" is pronounced "DAHHLAHHS". Hard "r's" in other words are similarly treated. There are other tell-tale N.O. "talk" like going to the grocery store is said "making groceries". I could think of other examples but don't have enough room. Great video summary, Mehrvigne. Thanks for posting.

[@Mehrvigne]

I am working on a New Orleans Yat dialect video. It will will have things like that in it.

[@jenniferdavis4997]

What a charming video :) thank you for making this! I met a lady in the airport in Chicago who was bringing her daughter home from a traveling softball championship and she shocked me when she said she's from New Orleans, because I thought she would have a southern accent too. Fascinating! Thanks again!

[@delta-v]

You are darling and I love your Yat accent! You have such positive energy 🥰

[@jaybae8056]

i was searching for persian accents, and stumbled upon this gem. VERY cool, and welcoming!!! and very very entertaining. thank you so much! i am off to check out some of your other vids. thanks a bunch!!!

[@theghosttiger1446]

I thought people were crazy when people say I have a New York accent. My family is from all over Louisiana. Then I started to read along with you. Sounded just like you.

[@juliacelestain6177]

she's right we don't talk like we're from south Carolina or Georgia we have a very different accent form northern louisana that's y I love My Home Town New Orleans

[@tatuco8]

Every now and then I hear a New york twang in your accent. Fascinating.

[@ryanarmstrong8042]

why did this video make me almost tear up? I live in Houston now, but man I love my home and my New Orleans people. This is an awesome video. It's very authentic and powerful for reasons I can't really explain.

[@valmarsiglia]

There's also a Hollywood dialect coach with a video in which he claims he's doing a Yat accent, but it's not Yat at all, it's a general SE Louisiana accent, though he sounds like someone trying to imitate it rather than a native speaker.

[@michaelbogle9140]

You remind me of my own daughter, in accent, manner, appearance & general age. We from the uppa nint ward, but moved away long before Katrina depopulated the city for a time. This was a good video on the local NOLA vernacular.

[@amandaviola_]

Love your vid! I'm glad you did a new Orleans accent vid because I really didn't know you guys had a distinct accent that wasn't typical southern drawl (blame Hollywood). Your accent is like a mixture of jersey/brooklyn and a light southern twang; I love it!

[@GuiZhang13]

That's a real nice accent! There are so many beautiful accents in the US, hope I can visit one day. Thanks for the upload :)

[@disasterdoyenne]

I love to hear that accent, we hear it a lot over here on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Y'all are Dawlins!

[@MJ-ug9cg]

This is amazing. Now I understand why people in my family pronounce certain words the way we do. Grandparents came from this area.

[@silas12ma]

this vídeo is amazing. you explain things in a clear way. I have a student who needs to understand New Orleans' accent. idk if that's your accent, but that's clears the path for me, thanks so very much.

[@NickAndTommyFight]

Oh my gosh!!! You have a natural coil-curl merger!!!!!!!!!! I've only heard like one person ever born after 1945 who still has that.

[@Tony_Cardoza]

What's that mean?

[@lupiemelly14]

I'm so thankful to find this video. My future daughter in law in from New Orleans and she sounds just like you and we completely thought she would sound more like me, I'm from Texas, but she sounding more like she was from New York. I appreciate you posting this. :)

[@MommyDontSeeMe]

Love listening to your accent. I wasn't born in Louisiana, but I moved there at 3 1/2 from Boston. It's funny to see comments from people who hear Boston in your accent. They are so different. Kids made fun of me, and I could barely understand them at first. My mother kept her Boston accent until she died, but mine morphed into a mild, Westbank version of Yat over the years. It's gone now (I've lived in Florida for 25+ years), but it comes back when I visit, just like when I visit Boston. I can hear Yat from a mile away, and it's like music to my ears, as odd as that may seem to some. Makes me smile.

[@Mehrvigne]

+MommyDontSeeMe Thank you. I have friends in Boston and we will say some similar things. It will come out like "Think abaaht it." but with less of a drag emphasis on the aah. I like how you said Westbank version of Yat. There are so many subtle variations of the yat accent depending on what corner pocket you live in.

[@Chibart]

Damn, hearing this makes me long to be in New Orleans again. I lived there three years and I can still pick that accent out of a line up. :)

[@dees9502]

NYC accent with a drawl. Same folks populated NOLA as NYC and there has always been a commercial connection between the two GREAT cities. My NYC accent fits perfectly in NOLA

[@ianmorgan4491]

“Mrs. Reilly called in that accent that occurs south of New Jersey only in New Orleans, that Hoboken near the Gulf of Mexico.” ― John Kennedy Toole, A Confederacy of Dunces

[@Nevermindwhat2358]

I didn't know about the yat accent until I read this book.

[@Tony_Cardoza]

Such a great book! That's the only book I've ever read that made me laugh out loud while reading it. It was so funny and clever.

[@j.clarknicholson9556]

Thank you sooo much!! We are presenting Streetcar Named Desire at our theater, The Gamut, in November... I've seen it multiple times, but never heard the dialect done correctly. I'm a South Carolinian by birth, but have been directing and acting in Central Pennsylvania for 25 years... and I've got to tell you that I've seen a lot of Tennessee Williams done painfully wrong, from a dialect standpoint... so many of his plays take place in other Southern locales, and so I know what you mean when you say that it's like "fingernails on chalkboard". Absolutely. So, I really want us to get this one right. I'm having my whole cast study you and a few other folks. You have provided us with a great resource! Thank you. Cross your fingers and wish us luck!

[@j.clarknicholson9556]

PS. I found it fascinating that you don't sound like South Carolinians, as you say, however, you do have some similarities to Charleston, SC... a coastal town which has an accent unlike any other in the state. In particular, you pronounce "house" similarly.

[@MrFitznicely]

I could've sworn you were from New York or New Jersey! Very interesting.

[@li0scc0]

This is ‘prolly’ my favorite video on any accent!

[@toddpatton6156]

Hey Vanessa! Great job. Your accent is, by far, the most Chalmette ever. I have completely lost my accent, and people think I'm lying when I say I'm from NOLA. It's nice to hear you've still got it!

[@Mehrvigne]

Thanks, Todd! I'm still in my same house in Arabi so I never really left Da Parish. I don't have that thick thick "Chalmatian" accent where Chalmette is pronounced with a hard Ch like Chow-met, or draaaag out da woooooords like down the road. I do a lot of online gaming and talk on a daily basis with people all over the globe. The australians can't understand Yat apparently. I tend to soften the accent when talking to them, but if something gets me riled up that yat mixed with ghetto comes out like crazy and next thing I know everybody's asking me, "Wait... where are you from? I can't place that accent."

[@bls1965]

Mehrvigne Lol I'm in amongst the Aussies these days, but grew up in the middle of Chalmette. Long way from home.

[@charlyshay1013]

Wow. If I heard someone with your accent I would think they were from New York or New Jersey. Very interesting! Never even heard of Yat before. Thanks for posting.

[@CrowdPleeza]

I'm from Georgia. I worked with a guy who sounded like he was from New York or New Jersey. Anyway I eventually asked him where he was from and he said New Orleans. I told him I was surprised that he was from New Orleans because for the longest time I assumed he was from NY or NJ by how he talked. Anyway I found out that he was one of the Hurricane Katrina evacuees.

[@kerryg100]

Greetings from Dublin Ireland yat... New Orleans. ...beautiful interested in your accents. .. fascinating. ..

[@atidalmind680]

I love your accent! It's like a less harsh version of New York...like a relaxed New Yorker haha :) I just uploaded my own accent tag if anyone wants to check it out & guess where I'm from :)

[@Amsidkdnsls]

I don't see your tag

[@rdbrewer4]

I love it. I went there when I was a kid and heard that. You're right; movies never capture that sound.

[@thewiggles3728]

i hear the french influence for sure, especially in words like “form” coming out more like “fom” rather than a hard r “fRom”

[@EvanGadol]

My grandmother grew up just outside of New Orleans and it was so interesting to hear how her accent and yours were similar, and how they were different. My grandmother spoke with an accent that sounds like a cross between yours and a Savannah accent. Thanks so much for sharing this! I am helping a group of actresses doing Steel Magnolias in Jerusalem learn to put on a proper New Orleans accent, and you've given me a few great pointers that I never noticed with my grandma until you pointed them out!

[@Tony_Cardoza]

I hope you showed the actresses this video. This would have been a good teacher too.

[@jenwhite8832]

I was born just outside of NYC and it's weird to hear how many similarities there are with your accent and the Northeast. It's not the same, obvi, but there's a lot more in common than I ever thought!

[@christyfitzgerald9485]

AGH, I don't think I could ever accurately guess your accent if I didn't already know what it was! I hear New York, I hear Boston, I hear Jersey, I hear New Orleans, I hear... man, so many things!!

[@eowynwannabe]

I grew up in NOLA - I call the accent "Twisted Brooklyn". But because I've lived in other places from the time I was 18, I lost it. I still use many of the idioms, though.

[@Mehrvigne]

Renee Levene I'm sure if you talk to someone with it, you'll pick it up again. When I talk to others, I tend to soften it some because some can't understand me. However, if I talk to my family, I snap right back into it. And It's fine Christy. I'm sure they all sound the same/similar because the same types of nationalities settled in the same spots and the accents blended into something similar.

[@dezcrawford]

Renee Levene I always tell outsiders "we sound like Brooklynites on Valium." Pretty much covers it.

[@pardue50]

I went to college at Tulane and worked there a year and this is absolutely genuine with zero affectation. This IS the working class New Orleans accent.

[@Spyderblade001]

I love this, I had never heard a "proper" New Orleans accent. I loved how pecan, and coupon was pronounced, and the answer to question about tv remote controls.

[@kimberlyhartman4865]

Love your beautiful voice and your sweet attitude! Thank you for this.

[@IslenoGutierrez]

Only someone from Greater New Orleans can understand this sentence (others will be lost): whea'yat bay hows ya'momma'an'em? Yea ya right, tell'a I'll be cross da nutra'ground at da staw makin' groceries ;)

[@Mehrvigne]

Yay for fellow Yats! And yes, I understood that clearly!

[@derlinclaire1778]

Rough translation:How you,re doing,and how,s your mother,and them?Yeah,you,re right,tell you,I,ll be crossing the neutral ground to the store to get some groceries.Am I correct,friend?

[@bplugo21]

😂😂😂😂😂 read every word of this perfectly laughing my ass off the whole time cus it’s what I’ve heard my whole life growing up down here

[@bplugo21]

Gonna berl da wawtah, from da hose pipe Mawk

[@MirrorDimly]

Neutral ground is called a median in most other parts of the country.

[@eggplantcouch1]

Having completely fallen in love with your city, this video was great to watch! I am originally from Boston where we also drop the "r"s at the end of words and growing up, soda was "tonic" or also "coke" - no matter what is was.

[@sofiewofie9503]

This is so good! Thank you! What a beautiful accent

[@caseysavestheday]

I loved the video, and I think this is the first time I've heard a genuine NOLA accent. I'm on the west coast now, but I grew up and spent most of my life in PA, and Northeastern PA has a very distinct accent, and I'm tempted to do a video about it. Even though I don't speak with it (at least not consciously), I can certainly imitate it properly lol. Anyway, great video! NOLA has a beautiful accent and it's pretty high on my list of places to visit. Such a wonderful, vibrant city. Have a great day! :)

[@Mehrvigne]

You should! Accent Tag! is fun. Represent your places you've been.

[@tonywalton1052]

I made groceries at Schwegman's with my shoppin cawt and bought bea (beer)

[@kristinaclark4264]

Tony Walton made groceries!! Lol My father in law is from Monroe Louisiana and my mother in law airways talks about hearing his family saying they were going too make groceries. We're Texan to by the way. Is never heard that in my life.

[@judithbaca7910]

Loved this video. I live in VA and people are always asking me if I’m from New Jersey or New York. When I say New Orleans they say they say “ you don’t sound like you’re from New Orleans”! My response is “Have you ever been to New Orleans?” Most of the time they say no. It’s really funny that everyone thinks I should have Alabama accent. I’m convinced it’s the Hollywood film makers fault. Lol

[@IslenoGutierrez]

I was in NJ before and I got to talking with this guy in a music store and he asked where I was from and I said New Orleans and he said “really? I just don’t hear the bayou” ... and I said “what does the bayou sound like because where I live they got more bayous that you got fingers”... Hollywood put something different in people’s heads about the New Orleans area...

[@toddsundell262]

It sounds like a combo of New York and the South!

[@sarahashley4699]

I first learned of this in the 90s when I met a guy from Metairie who sounded like he was from the east coast. My only frame of reference for the sound was movies like Taxi Driver. Cool sound to be in the south.

[@vvtheduckvv]

Almost very Bostonian, but with your own unique colloquialisms. I'm from NJ myself, and I sound very much the same, though after living around the south I've learnd to become a little more of a hybrid, and even neutral or midwesternish... but I do emphasize with different accents to get the right attention when necessary. LoL!

[@lucky7even622]

VvTheDuckvV I kept hearing my buddy Boston Mike in this video. Very interesting

[@armitagesoulshroude9815]

Once your stuck... may as well live with it.

[@Superabound2]

It was always weird having friends from both Boston and New Orleans and hearing them pronounce words the exact same way

[@EmilyStory]

Great video! Very informative. Great showcase of A lovely unique accent!

[@emilyneva1573]

This was incredibly helpful for the character I’m doing in a play, thank you!

[@my2centstoo]

This is really good. I cannot stand Hollywood giving us southern drawls! The main dispute I have with this video is that I and my New Orleans family always said "buggy" as opposed to shopping cart. And they were always"doodle bugs". Never heard of milk bugs. I played with them a lot! :)

[@tralala1958]

+coffeeluvr4sur I agree with you about buggies and doodlebugs!

[@antwinettecurtis8622]

I love how detailed you were. I grew up in Colorado but raised by a southern Mom. She grew up in Florida and Texas and many of the things you say and call things I grew up call them that as well. Even the people I grew up with here in Colorado don't know why I call or pronounce things those ways. Mehrvigne

[@MFB7000]

My mother in law is from Nola and we give her a hard time when she says " put ya dishes in da zink"

[@debbieebbiebobebbie]

Whea else ya gonna put ya dishes?

[@smobertoday]

an be sure ta wrench em off!

[@derlinclaire1778]

"Zink" probably comes from the strong German influence in New Orleans.Many German immigrants settled here back in the mid 19th Crntury,friends.In Deutsch(German),"Sink" is pronounced with a Z sound as "Zink".

[@lullabyemoon]

Ho da do (long O sound) = hold the door.

[@IslenoGutierrez]

My family kept them old time New Orleans phrases alive like my grandmother used to say “save the dishes” and “save the groceries” to mean put away the dishes or groceries in the cabinet. She used to say “pass the vacuum” “pass the broom” and “pass the mop” to mean vacuum the carpet, sweep the floor and mop the floor. Or “cut the light off” instead of turn the light off or “cut the tv off” to mean turn off the tv. My grandparents used to call the sidewalk the “banquette” too but nobody uses that anymore...that’s old school New Orleans...

[@pattyhscott3506]

This accent surprises me. It sounds more close to NY than southern than I expected. Thank you for helping us understand. And, your Spanish accent is beautiful. You are delightful.

[@Tony_Cardoza]

There is no one Southern accent.

[@BigMikeyK]

Very close to New Jersey, and a lot of Boston/Long Island in there, too. From NJ, and we say a lot of words similarly, though we are a little more rhotic.

[@greenmachine5600]

not a of the the rhotic stuff.

[@HickYankee]

YA LEARN SOMETHING NEW EVERY DAY! I was just reading about this on Wikipedia "Yat" page - blew me away because I'm a NYC native and thought there were just a lot of New Yorkers when I went to NO - but also it just sounded a little off, I thought they were New Yorkers who lived there a little while. 😂

[@Mehrvigne]

In another video, I mentioned this. We have more of a aw-wah aw-wah, and New Yorkers have more of a oo-wah oo-wah. I work with someone and have friends from New York. When we get together my accent gets thicker! Also, I had no idea Wikipedia has a "Yat" page. I will have to check that out!

[@HickYankee]

@@Mehrvigne yeah oddly I found it because I was looking up one of my favorite books, Confederacy of Dunces" and the secret lost Dr. Nut formula and came across the Yat stuff - if you're a NO native you should read the book

[@Mehrvigne]

@@HickYankee Actually, I had Confederacy of Dunces in my possession when I was in high school. It was the end of summer. I started reading it, but summer vacation ended and I never finished it. (And had to pay a hefty overdue fee back to the library. Oops!) I know people who have a copy and it is on my to (finish) reading list. A book bucket list? I've never heard of the second one. I have to look that one up.

[@HickYankee]

@@Mehrvigne it's a weird book but has some bug laugh out loud moments, but I have read it twice and I always figured a NO person would like it better than a NY person (even though I loved it) the character of Riley just seems like so many people I've met in the Big 10 college town I lived in - so many Quixote type figures - myself included. But also just the description of a place - reminded me a little of Cormack McCarthy's book about a man in Knoxville.

[@davechaplain4826]

Thank you Mehrvigne! I'm in Virginia now and I miss the accent a lot. And besides, you're adorable dor'lin! :)

[@PolkRidgeAesthete]

A wonderful demonstration and video! I've lived in New Orleans many times and in different parts of town, and know all variations of the Yat sound very well. Cheers to you!

[@ChrisTziokas]

Im from CT i always thought it was southern lol but doing my research i found this. Me being from CT i always get asked if im from NY NJ even Philly. But i think the New orleans accent is cool its like a mix with NY and a tiny bit of southern its cool never heard it lol

[@rlccar8518]

That is the most interesting accent I think I've ever heard-some words sound country, some sound New York, some (like when you say "Iron") I can't hear any accent.

[@jsmoove9619]

Nailed it, sweetie! You geaux, dawlin.

[@Mehrvigne]

Thank you! :)

[@marshabryan-i1x]

I used your video six years ago, and it is still the best I have found for "Steel Magnolias".

[@MrBenbaruch]

I'm from Brooklyn sounds similar.

[@johnnyberetta9533]

I could all listen to you talk for YEARS ! I was born way tooo far north !

[@weaverssystem]

You know it's funny. I grew up in New Orleans, but I lost a lot of the pronunciation. But the vocab is still there, and some of the traces remain. It's been a long time since I was last in New Orleans, but hearing you run through it I suddenly realize how much I've retained. I'm actually kind of happy for it. I still say "New Orleans" correctly (three syllables, not four or two). The two ways of saying "route," and the reasons you use each. Sunny showers are the devil beating his wife. I'm glad I found this video, to know I still hold on to a lot of my heritage.

[@bls1965]

I'm glad someone remembers about the sunny showers/devil beating his wife thingy. My aunt was always saying that when I was a kid, but outside of NOLA people look at me like I'm nuts when I say it. It always made sense to me, though.

[@weaverssystem]

I was the same way. I moved to Houston when I was a kid, and people would just start laughing at me for no reason. It actually squeezed most of the Yat out of me (peer pressure - I know).

[@starrover1111]

Loved your vid! Born in Brooklyn, I lived in Queens for many years and now I'm back in Brooklyn (for those who don't know, Brooklyn and Queens are two of the 5 boroughs of NYC. People tend to think only of Manhattan when they say NYC). I just found out about Yat here and thought it was so cool that you pronounce many words the same as I do. One example: I spent my junior college year in Scotland. I hung around with other Americans as well as people from the UK. I once said the word "beer" and the Americans started laughing. I asked what was so funny and one of them pronounced it like I did/still sometimes do: be-yuh, accent on the 1st syllable. I became very conscious of it after that and I still try to remember to pronounce it "bear." I also became a lot more aware of my Brooklyn accent in general. Linguists call it a NY regional accent, as it extends beyond the NYC borders.

[@greenmachine5600]

Be proud of it. Its cool actually and is part of your identity and the culture of the area. Accent diversity is a good thing and if you've been to the UK where they have more pride in their accent diversity, you should want the same for the US. Don't let regional accents die, as long as people can understand u that is all that matters.

[@midnightmystery544]

Well done, you sound like old New Orleans!

[@bootstrapjesse]

Thanks for that dawlin'. Nicely done. I'm from Metairie and have been living here in the DFW area (Fort Worth) since 2004. Ya'll are makin' me so homesick!

[@ryanmandree]

Love your accent

[@Mehrvigne]

Thank you! :)

[@harmonyzmyname]

I love the way you all pronounce your "o's" and "a's". Instead of "Baaybey" like I would say in my Alabama accent.. its "Behhbeh".. haha! So cute!

[@Mehrvigne]

Thank you! :) If you have an accent tag video, I'd like to see and hear it. I have friends in Alabama and they all talk different.

[@harmonyzmyname]

I don't..I definitely should make one! Yes, we all do have different accents I suppose. It depends on what part of the state you live in and also if you live in the country or the city. I guess I have more of a city accent. Lol!

[@lobofooty]

Very similar to how we pronouce things in Southern Ontario, except for the r's and the t's. All the vowels are ponouced the same