Is it normal to grow up in New York City and not have a New York accent?

Question

I'm 30 years old and I grew up in New York City. I moved to Massachusetts when I was 18 but I don't have a New York accent or a Boston/New England accent. I speak General American English or Broadcaster English as some call it. Am I a freak of nature?

Answer 1

I grew up in GA and have no southern accent at all. My family encouraged me to maintain a dialect that taught me to speak with proper punctuation and announciation, I wasn't allowed to shorten my words or use many of the words found in southern dialects.
However, when I get angry or frustrated, my true southern nature takes over and it's often impossible to understand what I'm saying.

Answer 2

It is not at all strange to not have a "New England" accent from growing up in New York City. Here you acquired speech patterns through a blending of thousands of cultures and dialects and accents. You'd have to have been from a more homogeneous town to have taken on an a distinct accent.

Now to answer your freak of nature question: I don't know if we have enough information to answer that... how many arms do you have?

Answer 3

Nah, I know lots of people of NY without the standard accent. I lived there, so I know.

I live in the South now, and I know lots of Southerners without the stereotypical accent.

Nothing wrong with any type of accent, of course.

Answer 4

It's normal enough..

I grew up in Boston and I don't have a trace of a Boston accent, and there are other people I know who don't have one either.

Answer 5

Yes, it would massively improve it's income. Right now, 8 million new yorkers pay for the rest of the state to do everything, nyc cant cover it's own bills while it pays the majority of the states bills in taxes.

Answer 6

I went out with a guy for 4 years who is from Flushing, Queens and he doesn't really have a NY accent either. It's not that unusual I think!

Answer 7

Absolutely not. I've met people in NYC who pay good money to avoid taking on that accent. I grew up in Florida with relatives who came down from Michigan (on my mother's side), and sometimes I'm guessed to be Midwestern. It's like Michigan and Florida fight in my voice.

Answer 8

no ive lived in the south all my life and ive always been around people with that southern twang but ive never picked up the accent. my mom is from the north and she doesnt have the accent so maybe i picked it up from her. but nah, thats not weird

Answer 9

No that's good YOu know what is even lamer. People who grow up in like Upstate and try to act all cool with a fake brooklyn accent.

Answer 10

A great deal depends upon the influences that shaped your speech.