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Old Posted Jan 25, 2014, 9:07 PM
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giallo giallo is offline
be nice to the crackheads
 
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: Vancouver
Posts: 11,458
Quote:
Originally Posted by kool maudit View Post
it's all over the GTA, but it's maybe more subtle there. i can tell a torontonian from an american here using that exact metric. again, "aboot" isn't quite right, but there's a definite quality to that vowel sound that americans don't have. the american "about" is flatter and broader in nearly every regional case.
Yup. Ontarians are the biggest users of the ''aboat/oat'' pronunciations in my experience. It's how I can identify whether someone is from Ontario are not when abroad. Anglo Montrealers don't seem to do it and it gets softer the further west you.

I think the reason Americans have so much fun with it is because it's actually quite jarring when you first hear it. You'll be talking to someone, and be thinking, "Ok, where is this person from? California? Florida? New York?", then, BAM! "Aboat". It just doesn't match the rest of the accent. It hard to explain, but it really is apparent.

"Sorry" is another word that Canadians pronounce noticeably different.
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