I have Questions for Americans!!!

Franco   Sun Mar 04, 2007 5:53 am GMT
It's the same in all countries not just America. Even in Eritrea there are people who have wonderful, happy lives and no problem with money, education etc etc.
Travis   Sun Mar 04, 2007 7:53 am GMT
>>But the real "standard" accent is the midwestern one because they dont have an accent.<<

Not really, as many Midwestern dialects today have been significantly affected by sound shifts such as the Northern Cities Vowel Shift and Canadian Raising, and many of them have other differences from General American due to things such as substratum features (for instance, final devoicing of fricatives and affricates, interdental hardening, the use of "with" as a particle with verbs, and a tendency to prefer rounded and backed back vowels). All things considered, I would say that Western (not Californian) dialects are much closer to General American today, with the exception of things like the cot-caught merger and the windy-wendy merger.

(And, by the way, this is coming from Wisconsinite, so this is not just trying to be promote my own dialect.)
Skippy   Sun Mar 04, 2007 8:24 am GMT
People are gonna view American culture differently depending on where they're from. Sure, New York has Broadway and a lot of immigrants, but that's hardly typical, and California has Hollywood, but I'd say true American culture is middle America... Suburban, etc...

Standard American though is probably more Colorado, New Mexico, those states. However, Southern American English has the most speakers.
Guest   Mon Mar 05, 2007 2:38 am GMT
>> Standard American though is probably more Colorado, New Mexico, those states. <<

but people from Washington, Idaho, and Montana tend to disagree with that.
Skippy   Mon Mar 05, 2007 3:32 am GMT
I'd include Montana and Idaho with the states that would typically speak Standard American... It's basically anything that's west of the Mississippi (for the most part, as Texan English is a branch of Southern American English) that isn't on the Pacific Coast.
Travis   Mon Mar 05, 2007 4:05 am GMT
>>I'd include Montana and Idaho with the states that would typically speak Standard American... It's basically anything that's west of the Mississippi (for the most part, as Texan English is a branch of Southern American English) that isn't on the Pacific Coast. <<

Obviously such does not include Minnesota and North Dakota, which are firmly Upper Midwestern in nature and which include dialects which are rather distant from General American, to say the very least.
Skippy   Mon Mar 05, 2007 5:15 am GMT
Ok, well I've never been there... My experience with the American South, Northeast, the Rockies, and Pacific Coast is that the Rockies (specifically Colorado) is what I think of when I think of Standard American.
Why?   Mon Mar 05, 2007 9:40 am GMT
My question is quite simple: why are there so many fat people in USA? you are a lot to be amazingly obese.
Franco   Mon Mar 05, 2007 9:50 am GMT
It's stunning isn't it! It's because as someone said

"they rely on cars so there's no need to walk other than to keep fit"

HAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHHAA!

Is to keep fit not a REALLY VALID REASON to walk? Don't Americans value fitness?

And also there are so many McDonalds everywhere that people are sucked into them and eat piles of fat. They're too lazy to cook their own home-made meals like the rest of the world
Guest   Mon Mar 05, 2007 3:29 pm GMT
>> They're too lazy to cook their own home-made meals like the rest of the world<<

Then why is the rest of the world so enthusiastic to see a McD's installed on every corner?
PNW   Mon Mar 05, 2007 3:36 pm GMT
>> I'd include Montana and Idaho with the states that would typically speak Standard American <<

Why? Many people there have some unusual features that are probably not considered General American.

>> It's basically anything that's west of the Mississippi (for the most part, as Texan English is a branch of Southern American English) that isn't on the Pacific Coast. <<<

I would have to disagree with you there. When you say "Pacific Coast" are you just referring to California? I can guarantee you that in Washington and Oregon (besides the Portland area), we sound just like people from Idaho and Montana. Californians have a distinct accent that is quite different. I don't know why people always think there is some "Pacific Coast" accent. Up here we don't have the California vowel shift, and we have a back and rounded /u/ and /o/. There are also many words that we pronounce differently than Californians.
Skippy   Tue Mar 06, 2007 7:41 am GMT
Franco-

No one in the world has more beautiful women than the American South (in my opinion, more so in Texas)... Yeah, there are alot of fat people there... But truthfully, the American South has more attractive women than Scandinavia, Germany, etc...

Not only are they more attractive, they're extremely polite and down to earth, and most of them could pick off a coyote at 200 yards from their back porch... (at least my dad's nurse could...and she was HOT)

Did some American woman break your heart? You sound more bitter than actually speaking from experience.
HOLD ON   Wed Mar 07, 2007 3:50 am GMT
So, back on track, what is the quintessentially American part of America in language and culture?
JGreco   Wed Mar 07, 2007 4:25 am GMT
I love it when foreigners attack something they don't even know or experienced only on vacation. Since they are not qualified to talk on that subject then they shouldn't talk. They are not Americans and don't know what it is to love in a true melting pot culture. Analyze your own cultures.
Guest   Wed Mar 07, 2007 5:18 am GMT
culture: Tom Cruise's daughter was born before he got married and attended his marriage.