Are New Yorkers losing their accents?

Is the New York accent going the way of the checker cab and pay phone? Mike Sugerman finds out in this week's Sweet Spot.

[@jabbahursty]

accents are all going away everywhere.

[@DR-xt9ux]

Yeah they are welcome to chinamerica

[@VividFilmProductions]

It’s impossible to not talk without an accent

[@SamuelSamuelSamuel1]

*GOOGLE TRANSLATE* [sweats nervously]

[@everyonesaidmynamewasstupi3713]

@@VividFilmProductions is that a triple negative

[@mindtrapped9934]

@@DR-xt9ux lmao if it was Chinamerica, none of the accents would’ve went away. Chinese as a language is stupidly diverse

[@ChihuahuaMedic]

Him- *they are losing their accent?* Me who just watched a dad with a very strong new York accent *Are you sure about it?*

[@silversunset]

Saaame!!

[@sjlavey54]

Same! That's how I got here 😂

[@analogaudiorules1724]

uhn hes like 60 years old, hes part of a generation where there were more real ny residents with actual accents, it wasnt such a cultural melting pot...

[@14sakuya26]

but do you have the accent?

[@gintama4473]

Broo I letterly just got don’t 😂

[@plumeria66]

Everyone is sounding like a California valley girl now.

[@DarthTheGamer]

plumeria66 :(

[@johnshea7964]

plumeria66 embrace your accents bois

[@themermaidstale5008]

Oh, I hope not!

[@sethstopcallingmeryandickh9067]

Valley girl accent is a cancer

[@analogaudiorules1724]

It's sad lol

[@No85Limits]

A lot of the "blue collar" new yorkers are moving out of new york, and we are getting a lot of transplants. That's why you see a lot more less distinct accents. Some of us still have the throwback Brooklyn (or NY) accent, but we are the last of a dying breed.

[@DR-xt9ux]

True I’m out of ny for decades but still have my ny accent that always raises eyebrow of people saying “you have a heavy ny accent “

[@greenmachine5600]

If you are from New York, then speak with a new York accent. Don't speak with a standard American accent, that's boring. Keep ny culture alive and speak with the accent.

[@farmerbrown2a]

Green Machine THANK YOU! I practice to make sure I am not losing mine, here on the West Coast ! I keep watching Grey Gardens!

[@greenmachine5600]

@Perla Lopez Gomez why the question?

[@jKLa]

You mean you are the last of a dying breed in many NYC proper neighborhoods, and perhaps of the more intence "toydy toyd strit" accents of yesteryear(?) Today the New York accent has diminished in intensity somewhat but it's alive and well in much of the NYC suburbs especially in Jersey, and beyond up into the NY state capital region. It hasn't been dominate in much of Manhattan or Westchester for decades now however.

[@rs72098]

It's disappearing because of movies, television, media, state to state migration, and immigration. It sounds offputting when you talk on the phone or approach people with it. The same reason southern accents are disappearing.

[@themermaidstale5008]

I hope not!

[@Diaxminator]

True. Hundreds of years ago cross country and international communication wasn't easy so the accents in England, America ect changed. Now we have the Internet and in a few centuries I believe a lot of the accents will be merged.

[@greenmachine5600]

If you are from New York, then speak with a new York accent. Don't speak with a standard American accent, that's boring. Keep ny culture alive and speak with the accent.

[@quamne]

this is happening in every single country. the regional accents are looked down upon and laughed at. very sad

[@jKLa]

NYC accents are not disappearing though they are faiding in the majority of NYC proper and have been mostly gone from much of Manhattan and Westchester for decade's now. But they are still strong in most of the NYC suburbs and are common in the NY state capital region as well. Southern accents are not disapearing. And they are in no way off putting, but rather indearing. They are also actually growing and expanding in the lower Midwest. Southern English is slowly fading (or becoming something else, but still distinctive as in Texas) in some peripheral part's of the South and in some larger transplant heavy urban areas but is very prevalant and often very intence elsewhere. In Mississippi and Alabama almost everyone speaks Southern.

[@Izakokomarixyz]

No one even speaks English in Jackson Heights anymore lol...

[@PyroMiniYak]

@Izakokomarixyz As an East Elmhurst resident I can attest to that ✋🏻

[@ruthie3837]

Facts 😂

[@jsphat81]

So true. No one speaks English in Washington Heights, either.

[@VictoriaInahuazo]

True but I could be the exception to that ;)

[@bridgetjoyce469]

Or works

[@GrecoCalabrese]

Its not really so much because New York accent is dying, its just that New Yorkers are less numerous and are being replaced by either foreigners or Midwestern American Transplants doing a live action role play about being New Yorkers.

[@NickiFan499]

Nah New Yorkers aren’t losing their accents. The accent is more modernized because of slang. the classical N.Y. accent is fading, but it’s still mad easy to spot a New Yorker based off the accent, modernized or classical and non New Yorkers who live here for sum time end up having the accent.

[@erich1070]

Werd💯

[@kathrynlouie8631]

ngl I read “mad” and just knew

[@greenmachine5600]

If you are from New York, then speak with a new York accent. Don't speak with a standard American accent, that's boring. Keep ny culture alive and speak with the accent.

[@greenmachine5600]

@FireCloud14 that's really sad and just not true. It's just how we talk

[@mattguxxxtt9629]

Ur right. Whenever I talk to someone not from here they always ask if I’m from New York and I don’t even have an accent imo but I say certain words with the slight accent.

[@pashadwantara]

I really miss the classic NY accent.

[@cliffpadilla5871]

Nope. As long as I'm alive, the New York City accent is still alive.

[@nox6948]

Same here in London. The cockney accent is dying out.

[@greenmachine5600]

Get news reporters that speak with a new York accent, not standard American accent. If you are from New York, then speak with a new York accent. Don't speak with a standard American accent, that's boring. Keep ny culture alive and speak with the accent.

[@ethanschoof4953]

This. All corners of this nation should embrace what makes us culturally unique. As a rural minnesotan guy, I get laughed at by people when I’m in the twin cities for college because of how strong my accent is. People tell me to stop faking how I talk when they’re the ones who are faking and want to sound like they’re from California or something. Keep culture alive, embrace your accent!

[@Propofol001]

@@ethanschoof4953 I was born and raised in Miami but my dad is from NYC and I inherited his accent. Even in my hometown people will ask if I’m from NYC 😂 glad I’m able to keep the accent alive as people in Miami have either a neutral American accent or a “Miami” accent. Hope to visit Minnesota someday, both city and rural man, you guys have a beautiful state. And the accent is cool and a staple of your region!😊 saludos from sunny Miami FL 🏝️☀️

[@sethmeyer2443]

All cities seem to be losing their accents as mass media dominates everyone's life. The whole neighborhood also isnt outside all day anymore so kids are getting a lot more accents from TV

[@thehound9638]

They'll speak like their parents and school friends. The truth is accents take hold in settled communities and disappear in communities that have mass migration at a level that displaces the people that were already there. You could struggle to find an English speaker in some of these cities never mind an old school accent!

[@grinchoi1]

What a damn shame. The NY accent was sooo dope

[@greenmachine5600]

Agreed. We need to embrace regional accents

[@nox6948]

Best American accent

[@nox6948]

@New Car Smell I think it's only annoying when women speak with it but when men speak with it sounds cool.

[@jKLa]

Not was, is! NY English isn't dying, though it is gradually declining in NYC itself. New york English is NOT uneque to NYC however but can be found across the metro area and into the NY capital region as well as among transplants. Actually its probably more dominate and intence in the more blue collar suburbs (and Staten Island) then in most of NYC itself. NY English hasn't been dominate in lower-mid Manhattan or the majority of Westchester county for decades however. Dam shame to blindly take something from a KZbin post and turn it into a fantacy of something it's not in the real world.

[@jKLa]

@@greenmachine5600 the NY accent still is so dope! It isn't dying though is declining in NYC proper. New York English can be found across the New York metro and beyond, especially the NY capital region. It hasn't been dominate in most of Manhattan or Westchester for decades now however.

[@BenjaminMankowski]

I even hear New Yorkers and New Jerseyans saying "y'all" now. What the hell? Gen X and earlier, if you lived anywhere from New York to Philly, "yous" was perfectly acceptable.

[@Acord718]

It's the hood slang that's why. We hear it from other rappers from different states. So the youth copy it and it stayed I guess.

[@jeremiah_12]

It’s a contraction for you all….y’all.

[@yihunkusito1472]

Italian American New York accent is the coolest accent in English.

[@mr.talldarkandhandsome4111]

I'm not even from over there and I can tell you that the accent ain't leaving. Just like I don't hear all people in CA speaking 100% Valley Girl, Gangster, or Surfer..... but you can still hear that accent/vernacular within some capacity.

[@timothysdog6130]

I love the way that guy says coffee

[@JohnDoe-rt4jz]

“Eh, whataya taulkin’ abooout?!?”

[@Petty-BettyPolite1019]

You want to hear the real New York accent. You have to go outta town to hear that, all the real New Yorkers moved to Florida or Pennsylvania 💔.

[@Propofol001]

Can confirm, my dad moved from Queens in 1990 and I was born here in Miami FL. I inherited his NY accent thankfully 😂 but yes you’ll hear the classic NY accent here in FL from the retired people a lot across the beach towns

[@Petty-BettyPolite1019]

@@Propofol001 i am in NYC. All I hear are Midwest accents around me.

[@Propofol001]

@@Petty-BettyPolite1019 damn, haven’t been back to NYC in a while but I wish more was done to preserve it. It’s a beautiful , historic accent that literally tells a story

[@Petty-BettyPolite1019]

@@Propofol001 me personally, I speak it fluently, my dog even barks with a deep Brooklyn accent dead ass lol lol.

[@Propofol001]

@@Petty-BettyPolite1019 lmfao looking forward to going back soon 😂

[@ScribblebytesWorldwide]

Bugs Bunny will save the day.

[@stassibonassi7373]

Ay son pick that shit on the floor

[@ScribblebytesWorldwide]

@@stassibonassi7373 What's up doc?

[@anthonyarcanumsanctumregnu9551]

As an Italian American new yorker yes the accent is changing and its a shame.

[@icu2ytmartian938]

Its happening all over not just new york

[@billlombard9911]

It’s all the rich yuppies and hipsters that moved in , plus torrents of immigrants, the accent is going away

[@evanricheson1630]

Everybody sounding like a goddamn hippie from california i wish their accents weren't going away

[@cosmicgub1014]

RIP old MAFIA accent :'(

[@JohnBradford14]

Everyone, like, talks like this? Like, they all, like, end their sentences with, like, a vocal uptick?

[@Cl2olvleY21]

Other boroughs like jersey not changing as fast.. Didnt know jersey was a borough of NY.

[@haitianflavo4804]

It’s not 😂

[@Cl2olvleY21]

@@haitianflavo4804 You must have it all figured out my man ! Your common sense is through the roof, IQ levels reached its maximum limit.

[@haitianflavo4804]

@@Cl2olvleY21 it was a sarcastic question. Which is why I put the laughing the emoji. You just sucking the fun out of it. But keep being a wise guy tho 👍🏾

[@AllWillBeRevealed957]

It might as well be

[@AmazianLinsation82]

Lol yeah Jersey is not a borough but hey what do we know

[@carissa1201]

Ok not a ton of us got recommended this but I'm glad I'm still not the only one who ended up here lol

[@gamerman1140]

this was at my recommended

[@SappyWasHere]

The real New York accent dies with the tough guys.

[@randomfella8084]

Well queens is all black now and they speak their own language

[@ForeignBlasianLA]

Brooklyn queens and bronx and all them prob carribeans and west Indians that's why ik cause I'm half guyanese and trinidad

[@LeafInTheWind88]

I’m glad to know that I’m not the only person who noticed this!😭

[@butterman3100]

I think the white new york accent is fading, but the black ny accent is very alive still

[@mrsmurf2541]

What's a black ny accent?

[@AlexGarcia-xw4ts]

just went to new york, happy to report i could not understand a single thing anyone was saying in brooklyn and queens,

[@AmazianLinsation82]

Trahh haadah next time

[@richards2004]

i was born in NY but grew up in northern jersey near the border and ive been told i have a faint NY accent

[@johnmaynardapostol2]

The future of English language in New York City is more “General American” than “New York accent”. What do you guys think?

[@dustin.foreal6132]

They should do a New York accent vs southern accent, I guarantee you the New York accent is so much more popular bc I love it 😭😭

[@djhemp2o5]

NY accent sucks, bland as hell, no sauce

[@drethegiant6176]

New York accent versus Souther accent means that one or two Dialects will go against the entire south. I doubt NY will win

[@dustin.foreal6132]

@@drethegiant6176 I don’t doubt they will win, no one wants to be familiar with the south accent.

[@Jess1234]

Texan here and we definitely sound way better than any yank

[@jeremiah_12]

@@dustin.foreal6132 Have some respect man. The South has many accents. The accent of New Orleans even has an accent that shares features with NY. The old school Coastal Southern accents are elegant.

[@question3613]

Because all of the New Yorkers are moving to California, and all the Californians are moving to New York

[@bezoticallyyours83]

So you're saying we're trading one expensive state for another?

[@question3613]

@@bezoticallyyours83 lol, There are so many things… cultures are different, housing market was different but at this rate of exchange I think it's gonna even out it will be trading one for another

[@bezoticallyyours83]

@@question3613 Ahh.

[@JonnyRootsDem]

Same everywhere, we losing our London accent. New people come in, slang and original accents change.

[@mattblah7737]

Internet is destroying culture Babel

[@themermaidstale5008]

I’ll have watch SNL re-runs for New York accents.

[@elizabethjayjay1043]

Nah, everyone in my school sound like they straight up from the bronx. It just where your placement at, I found that if you go to the outlying neighborhoods of the boroughs you'll find all types out there. It's more quiet so you'll find all of the OG's out there.

[@razaqadeanova3255]

Hwota, dhuog, khofi

[@randomlifeoffola3719]

Did he just refer to New Jersey as a borough..?🤔🤔

[@AllWillBeRevealed957]

That's the joke 😉

[@lizarrington3636]

Nah everybody at my school and in my neighborhood got a thick new York accent. Including myself.

[@aidanrocha2043]

Sounds like they’ve..... Forgot about it.

[@MillienFilms]

Ya nam sayin

[@apass2803]

We are the last of a dying breed

[@TreeHairedGingerAle]

Gentrification is a bitch.

[@hereisayana8207]

No the original NYers that lived there in the 80s-90s, all moved south and still have the accents... the people there now ARE NOT NYers, including the minorities you see, that replaced African Americans and Puerto Ricans

[@jillianleda6732]

There's just not many Italians left so it sounds more bronxish and hoodish

[@Bsyrawan]

North Jersey accent is the same as the New Yorkers accent .

[@sethmeyer2443]

i lived in both and when i first moved to NJ everyone made fun of my accent. They aren't even close.

[@TheMovieKnightProductions]

oh

[@jeannestark6293]

You mean they all moved to Florida 50 years ago and come back? I don’t know

[@The55nomad]

D'endizneah.

[@mrk45]

Are New Yorkers losing their accent? Eh, waddya gonna do?

[@nilevalleyafrican9451]

Yea notice allot of these Californian are moving here, i had to ask certain people typically whites are you from newyork ?

[@Themsbeatlesrock]

This is cuz all the Italians moved to westchesta and then got Americanized

[@TheFriendlyPsychopath]

I’m actually working on losing my heavy NY accent, as I’m told it’s holding me back in my professional career from advancing.

[@blitzkrieg634]

That's retarded

[@NostalgiCrazy]

Lol wait for real? They did an episode on King of Queens just like that.

[@svegacampos]

I've met 5 people so far that have moved from anywhere in New York and they all have more of an English trans Atlantic fake movie accents? Am I tripping or what's going on??

[@Magnify.]

who dat guy

[@THEKINGISHIM]

*STOP THE CAP*

[@JacksonGuitarsPlayer03]

No

[@observant6428]

Thats whathappends when you open borders

[@54Nt1460CD]

That's ridiculous, NYC has always been packed with immigrants.

[@minimerzzz123]

B

[@JBLUE97]

Everyone just got a education that's all😁

[@blakemcnamara9105]

Wow, how insulting.

[@greenmachine5600]

Accent doesn't equal education. If you are from New York, then speak with a new York accent. Don't speak with a standard American accent, that's boring. Keep ny culture alive and speak with the accent.

[@JBLUE97]

@@greenmachine5600 I agree with you

[@MrDude-qq4xs]

100 like

[@gamerdawg4804]

Democrats

[@leotodosiev8513]

I don't know man, Bernie Sanders has a pretty thick Nu Yohk accent.

[@gregvaldez1269]

You are stupid as fuck lol.

[@sontalks]

why

[@caleb1413]

@@leotodosiev8513 I agree that democrats or politics have nothing to do with this, but technically Bernie is a an independent, not a democrat.

[@theultimatemale6820]

DA BRONX BOMBERS!