Proof: I Really AM From New York City!

James G. Beldock — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 05:26:51 +0000

I moved to California in 2001, after having commuted every couple of weeks from New York since 1999. Ever since then, and even before then whenever I would travel outside of New York City, people tell me that I couldn’t possibly be from New York City, because I don’t have a New York accent.

Well, hah! Finally, I have “scientific proof” (or at least one linguist’s corroborative test results) which prove that I’m a New York City native. According to Tom Kun’s very interesting American Regional Accent Map:

What American accent do you have?
Created by Xavier on Memegen.net

Northeastern.
You’re probably from somewhere near New York City, possibly north Jersey, or Connecticut or Rhode Island. If you are from New York City you may be one of the types who people never believe when you say you’re from New York.

So it turns out there is more than one New York Accent. According to Kun, there is another variant of the famous “fuggedaboudit” New York accent. Here is Kun’s explanation:

Q: How did you know I was from New York City when I don’t have an accent?
This is the best part of avoiding stereotypes and focusing on obscure stuff. If you say caught and cot differently, rhyme on with don, and say Mary, merry and marry differently, you can’t be from anywhere besides NYC, north Jersey, and southern New England. It doesn’t matter if you pronounce all your R’s.

If you’d like to test yourself and find out what sort of American accent you have, try the online survey.

5 Years Later

James G. Beldock — Tue, 12 Sep 2006 02:52:00 +0000

This was a difficult and strange day to be in New York City. The weather was just like it was five years ago: bright, sunny, slightly crisp, and utterly beautiful.

My then-wife and I moved from New York City to California some five months before the attacks of 2001. I had been back in New York on business the day before and had, in fact, been in the Towers that Monday. Aimee walked her dog between the towers every morning between 8:30 and 8:50. But for the luck of the draw, one or both of us would have perished.

On that morning, we frantically tried to contact friends and family, and over the next two days we realized just how many friends and family we had lost. After a day, with nobody knowing when the planes would fly, we decided to drive back home.

Too much has been written about the profound effect of 9/11 on our generation for me to attempt to equal their eloquence. Suffice it to say that my life will never be the same, and I consider myself lucky that I have a life which I can say has changed. Our dear friends were not so lucky.

James's Musings » New York

Proof: I Really *AM* From New York City!

5 Years Later

Proof: I Really AM From New York City!