I have very suddenly started hearing a strange quirk of grammar that needs to die in a fire. I’m going to write it on an index card and burn the index card.
I swear I haven’t heard this before the 2020s: “My kitchen needs cleaned.” Not “My kitchen needs to be cleaned”, not “my kitchen needs cleaning.”
Explain to someone ESL that “My kitchen needs cleaned” has two verbs in it, one is present tense, one is past tense, combined they imply a future action. AAAH!
On the grammar subject, it’s “couple of whatevers”, not “couple whatevers”. The word “couple” is like the word “group”. It wouldn’t make sense to say “a group people walked in” (instead of “a group of people walked in”), and that’s why it doesn’t make sense to say “a couple people walked in”. It can be spoken slang, like “you gonna gimme a couple bucks?” “I would of if I had it.” All that makes sense to local speakers where I am, but it only fits in casual speech and written dialogue, and I believe that’s because it’s lazily dropping a sound when spoken, not because it’s not understood to mean a collection of something.
So I live in New Jersey. There’s North Jersey, where they say cawfee, which is fine. There’s Central Jersey, where were normal. And then, there’s south Jersey, where they have a stupid accent - I need to go hoom (home) because I forgot my phoon (phone) - and they also have this weird grammatical quirk where they say “I’m done my dinner,” and just ditch the word “with.”
New Jersey is basically a postage stamp, and not a collectible edition, just a regular ass postage stamp with a piece of the american flag on it, on the envelope that is the United States, yet somehow we have three dialects, essentially. And it’s gotten a bit more homogenous over time, as things tend to (except south Jersey is still fucking weird), but there’s still plenty of people who you can tell where they’re from by how they talk.
The way you folks saw words like phone and home. I realized I couldn’t exactly figure out how to spell it, but I’d committed. And I suppose I should say I’m talking about deep south, not Toms River and whatnot (although I have some cousins from Manchester where some have the accent and some don’t).
Hoagie, for example, is Hō-Gee up north, but more like Hoo-Gee down south. If you can’t hear it, perhaps you are it!
We’re going to have to go ahead and disagree, Toms River is, by all metrics, south Jersey. It’s south of 195 and the souls are sandy, so it’s manmade and naturally below the line.
And I’m thinking you don’t hear the accent because you’ve got it! Although, when I’ve left Jersey, I’ve been told I sound like I’m from Jersey (mainly by folks on the left coast), and I personally don’t think that’s true!
I also curse a lot, but I think I’ve slowed down in my old age.
And North Jersey is weird, that’s why central Jersey is best Jersey!
I have very suddenly started hearing a strange quirk of grammar that needs to die in a fire. I’m going to write it on an index card and burn the index card.
I swear I haven’t heard this before the 2020s: “My kitchen needs cleaned.” Not “My kitchen needs to be cleaned”, not “my kitchen needs cleaning.”
Explain to someone ESL that “My kitchen needs cleaned” has two verbs in it, one is present tense, one is past tense, combined they imply a future action. AAAH!
On the grammar subject, it’s “couple of whatevers”, not “couple whatevers”. The word “couple” is like the word “group”. It wouldn’t make sense to say “a group people walked in” (instead of “a group of people walked in”), and that’s why it doesn’t make sense to say “a couple people walked in”. It can be spoken slang, like “you gonna gimme a couple bucks?” “I would of if I had it.” All that makes sense to local speakers where I am, but it only fits in casual speech and written dialogue, and I believe that’s because it’s lazily dropping a sound when spoken, not because it’s not understood to mean a collection of something.
Yeah, this is a prevalent phrasing in Pennsylvania and surrounding areas.
So I live in New Jersey. There’s North Jersey, where they say cawfee, which is fine. There’s Central Jersey, where were normal. And then, there’s south Jersey, where they have a stupid accent - I need to go hoom (home) because I forgot my phoon (phone) - and they also have this weird grammatical quirk where they say “I’m done my dinner,” and just ditch the word “with.”
New Jersey is basically a postage stamp, and not a collectible edition, just a regular ass postage stamp with a piece of the american flag on it, on the envelope that is the United States, yet somehow we have three dialects, essentially. And it’s gotten a bit more homogenous over time, as things tend to (except south Jersey is still fucking weird), but there’s still plenty of people who you can tell where they’re from by how they talk.
I’m in South Jersey and what the fuck is hoom. Or phoon. What boonies are you talking to???
The way you folks saw words like phone and home. I realized I couldn’t exactly figure out how to spell it, but I’d committed. And I suppose I should say I’m talking about deep south, not Toms River and whatnot (although I have some cousins from Manchester where some have the accent and some don’t).
Hoagie, for example, is Hō-Gee up north, but more like Hoo-Gee down south. If you can’t hear it, perhaps you are it!
Toms River isn’t south. I’m reading what you’re writing, but I’ve never heard the weird elongated o you’re putting in.
I also don’t have any jersey accent though, despite being here my entire life, and that’s backed up with people from other states hearing it.
Other than cursing a lot when talking.
But north jersey is its own weird little world I guess.
We’re going to have to go ahead and disagree, Toms River is, by all metrics, south Jersey. It’s south of 195 and the souls are sandy, so it’s manmade and naturally below the line.
And I’m thinking you don’t hear the accent because you’ve got it! Although, when I’ve left Jersey, I’ve been told I sound like I’m from Jersey (mainly by folks on the left coast), and I personally don’t think that’s true!
I also curse a lot, but I think I’ve slowed down in my old age.
And North Jersey is weird, that’s why central Jersey is best Jersey!