Do people in Maryland have accents?

Answer 1

Everyone's way of speaking sounds different to people who are from a different region.

To me, the people in South Baltimore have accents.. I live right in the middle of MD.

Answer 2

Much like some of the others here I was born in Maryland and have lived here all most my whole life, and I evidently have an accent all though I usually don't notice it. Sometimes I'll catch myself saying I'm "goin' downy ocean"(which is very much a Baltimore/Maryland slang for traveling down to Ocean City, MD.

I'll also occasinally pernounce Baltimore as "Baldamore" or "Bawlamer" but I usually like to pernounce the city's name in it's gramitically correct form.

As for Maryland it is pretty much the halfway point IMO between the northeast and the southeast. So in that case I think you get a mixture of accents that can vary coming from southern MD and the eastern shore that differ from the accents around Baltimore and Washington. However if you head out to western MD at least out Frederick and beyond, you'll definately find a country accent with some of the people out that way.

Answer 3

The easiest way to hear someone's accent is to ask them where they're from. People generally have the most noticeable accents regarding place names. That being said, most people outside Maryland would pronounce it something like:

Mare-uh-land

The stereotypical way that people who are from their pronounce it is:

Muhr-lund

As someone above said, it's an interesting combination of urban and rural accents. Like many regional accents, there can also be differences in the "Maryland" accent based on the speakers race and socio-economic status.

Answer 4

Technically speaking, everyone has an accent, it's more a matter of native or non-native speaker, and in the case of native speaker, the strength of the 'regional alteration' of the language one uses.

I recognize what I call a Maryland/DC accent because my mother and my daughter's boyfriend's mother have it, but it really is minor compared to some other regions of the United States (ie, Boston, New York, Texas, etc)

Answer 5

Apparently we do. I've never noticed it but when I go out west and people hear me talk they automatically can tell I'm from the east coast and some of them can tell it's a Maryland accent.

Answer 6

I find that people in the Western part of the state tend to have a slight southern accent.

Answer 7

Yes I love the Baltimore/DC accent.

Answer 8

I've lived in MD all my life (so far anyway), so it's difficult for me to detect a MD accent, but my NJ relatives always say that we do...of course I think that they have an accent too;)

Answer 9

Yes, people in Merlin have an accent.

http://wilk4.com/humor/humorm221.htm

Answer 10

Depends on whom you are talking to. My family in Ga. says I do and I say they do.