Comments on: The Utah accent strikes again

By: Mike

Mike — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 15:41:31 +0000

Whow, no responses in all of 2009, but then suddenly one appears in Q2 of the year after!

Then no more until the last month of the year after that (this response). Hmm…

By: Katie Purdie

Katie Purdie — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 06:33:53 +0000

Thanks for sharing this! I laughed so hard I cried. Reading it at 2:30 a.m. made it even more funny. I’ve actually spent the last hour browsing through your website for the first time. Love it.

By: Lindy-Lou

Lindy-Lou — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 05:51:30 +0000

I just wondered if anyone has heard about the great Christmas “DILLS” you can get at Kohls, or the great :”SELLS” too? Imagine being from California and looking to find Christmas dills. I was upset when DelMonte stopped making the dills. I thought I was about to find a great new pickle. I settled for Fry Sauce.

By: whea-wix

whea-wix — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 02:47:12 +0000

Many a year ago, there was a car by the side of the highway with this sign in the window: Fore Sail.

By: rk

rk — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 01:47:02 +0000

I love this story!

Everyone uses regional usage. It is not necessarily a sign that someone isn’t educated or intelligent. Few people if anyone speak standard English all the time. A regional dialect simply indicates where you from and who you have been hanging around.

Anyone that took Don Norton’s Modern American Usage class at BYU knows that those who are very self-conscience of their usage and who correct others are social climbers. Personally I like listening to different regional dialects. I don’t look down on those that have them, but I do get very annoyed at those who rudely “correct” others.

By: Jessie

Jessie — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 17:11:50 +0000

My family has a cabin near Fairview, Utah and one of the lots near by is for sale. Or, according to the sign, fer sell.

By: Sara

Sara — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 04:27:19 +0000

My husband and I were both raised in Utah, but haven’t lived there for 10 years. We make a point, though, of having “Proper” Pronunciation lessons. They go something like this: “Hey kids, if I were in Utah, how would I pronounce the name of the town we just passed?” Then they all yell out, “Prunedell!” Or: “Hey kids, give me a sentence in correct Utahn!” Different answers are accepted as long as they have the right sound to them, such as, “Let’s go see if we got any mell from Aunt Camill.” Extra points are given if we get a rendition of “Chris-miss is a Filling.”

We feel it’s important to make sure they are raised true to their heritage.

By: Jenn

Jenn — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 02:15:46 +0000

The funniest accent story I have is when I was a teenager, & my best friend’s mom sent us to Smith’s to get some lard for her. We didn’t know where to find it, so we asked an employee. She kind of looked at us funny & said “Well, I usually find him in church.” It took us a minute to realize what she thought we were saying & I just started laughing like a crazy person!! My friend said “No, the cooking lard!” The lady said “Oh….why didn’t you say that in the first place?” Whenever I hear someone say “Dear Lard” I start laughing, thinking about it…..not very appropriate in Sacrament Meeting though…..;)

I didn’t think I had a Utah accent until I moved back east. Someone asked me my name & when I said my last name, the lady just looked at me shocked. I was slightly confused, & she said “Your last name is Hell? What kind of joke is that?” Apparently I pronnounce “Hill” as “Hell”…..who knew? No one ever mistook it for that before! After that, I went out of my way to make sure that it sounded like “Hell”!! Of course, I still say “Layt-en” & “moun-en”, just so I am not shunned by my fellow Utahans!

By: Karen

Karen — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 01:09:17 +0000

I recently had a conversation about that very thing with the head of the Quality Growth Commission here in Utah. He told me the city of Mantua was pronounced Man-away, and many people from Manti pronounced it Man-eye, but if you tried to say it the way they did, they would correct you (and say it the same way you did immitating them). Weird.

By: angela n

angela n — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 21:36:21 +0000

I worked at a Wendy’s in Orem during high school. I’ll never forget this exchange I had with a girl in drive-thru:

Her: I’d like [sandwich] and a mill.
Me: A milk?
Her: No, a mill.

It took her a couple tries, then finally she said, “You know, a MILL, with fries and a drink?!”

Me: Ohhhh. A MEAL.
Her: Yes, a MILL!

Maybe I should put that on notalwaysright.com . . .