Old timers sometimes refer to Alabama as Alabamy, Missouri as Missoura, Georgia as Georgy etc. Why is that?

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elonmusktheturd22@reddit

Accent like how my grandmother would say soder instead of soda and turlet instead of toilet

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Helpinmontana@reddit

Imma warsh ya with the water in the crick down in the holler

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DietOwn2695@reddit

Warsh ya with turlet water for sundy school.

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elphaba00@reddit

Crick and creek are two different things. I will die on that hill.

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Zappagrrl02@reddit

I generally think of a crick as being smaller than a creek😂

But I have heard people refer to the city of Battle Creek as “Battle Crick” so I don’t think everyone sees it that way!

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I was almost 50 years old before I realized crick was not a legitimate synonym to creek. I did not live where saying crick was common but somehow I got it in my childhood head that crick was a proper spelling and pronunciation of a synonym for creek or stream.

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glassfromsand@reddit

Awl instead of oil

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sharpshooter999@reddit

A crick is just a creek without a name

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oceansapart333@reddit

My Texan grandmother would go “jump in the shire (shower)” to “warsh off real quick”.

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ComesInAnOldBox@reddit

My other half used to say this. They were ragging on Texas accents that their friends, and I was sitting at the table enjoying my dinner and finally got fed up with them claiming they don't have an accent and simply said, "okay, warsh."

I had the couch that night, but they haven't said it since.

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redditsuckspokey1@reddit

Warsh the turlet with some soder

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Kennesaw79@reddit

My dad's from Missouri - or Missouruh as he says it - and he says warsh.

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Gomdok_the_Short@reddit

Is he from west Missouruh? I bet he also says the ea in measure like "ay" instead of "eh".

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Kennesaw79@reddit

He's from Springfield. He doesn't say "maysure", it's mainly Missouri and wash that he pronounces differently.

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7evenCircles@reddit

My grandfather was an anglo from maritime Quebec and he pronounced it warsh too

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Saltpork545@reddit

I still say this. I got rid of most of my Ozarkian twang because I got made fun of for it, but I still warsh the dishes and likely always will.

It's a dish-wash-er but I warsh the dishes.

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slatz1970@reddit

Winder- window. Piller- pillow. Tamater... Gotta love my country relatives!

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elonmusktheturd22@reddit

Actually she grew up in Brooklyn in the 30s.

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FaberGrad@reddit

Once heard my aunt say "Whirs my piller?" as she was preparing to take a nap.

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PhysicsEagle@reddit

My grandmother puts her dirty laundry in the warshing machine

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Measurex2@reddit

When my Grammy was warshing clothes she'd often holler out the wind-er

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squishgallows@reddit

"Sometimes there's shit on the outside of the torlet."

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Pitiful-Anxiety-1410@reddit

ill be deep in the cold, cold ground before i recognize Missoura...

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Rev_Henry_Cane@reddit

I have lived in Ga for 43 years. I have been around hundreds of old timers.

I've never once heard one refer to Georgia as Georgy.

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LSATMaven@reddit

Same-- I'm from Georgia and have never heard that in my life.

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uffington@reddit (OP)

My British jazz-loving dad played a classic song called "Sweet Georgie Brown". I once asked who Georgie was, and he chuckled and said it referred to Georgia, the state. Then, for my impertience, he ushered me into the garage where he beat me unconscious with jumper cables.

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Dio_Yuji@reddit

Gonna start saying it now. Atlanty, Georgie

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OldLeatherPumpkin@reddit

I snorted

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Marlbey@reddit

Just an old sweet song keeps Georgie on my mind

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visitor987@reddit

Southern accent

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Marlbey@reddit

I've lived in Virginia, Tennessee and Georgia my (53) entire life and I've never heard "Alabamy" or "Georgie." Definitely have heard "Missoura" but I think that pronounciation is not unique to the U.S. South.

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CedarBuffalo@reddit

Yeah I’m from Alabama and it’s much more common to hear “Joe-gia”

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Marlbey@reddit

Yes. The Southern way to pronounce it is to soften the "r" to almost imperceptable.

And we have a joke around here that you can tell how Southern someone is by how many "T"s they pronounce in "Atlanta." (I pronounce the first one, ergo I'm not that Southern. I soften the second one, ergo, I'm also not an outsider.)

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VirtualBroccoliBoy@reddit

Depends on what kind of southern too. In my experience dropping r's is more deep south whereas the Appalachian southern accent would never say it like "Jawja" (my closest approximation in text) except as maybe a joke. We're more likely to add r's like in warsh.

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beyondplutola@reddit

Southern accents seem to be either non-rhotic or extra-rhotic.

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copious_cogitation@reddit

Southern drawl vs Southern twang

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Marlbey@reddit

Couldn't agree more. I grew up in East Tennessee which I consider more culturally (incl. accent) more Appalachia than South. Growing up we would say "Jawja" in mock imitation of then President "Jimma" Carter.

I am alone in that opinion though. If you dare \~suggest\~ to anyone from East Tennessee that it is more "Appalachia" than "Southern" they get offended, perhaps because of the pride associated with being a Tennessean, and no one would dispute that central and west Tennessee are the "South." Also, I suppose East Tennesse would distance itself from the extreme poverty in undisputedly Appalachia states like Kentucky and West Viriginia. (Never mind the fact that the counties in East Tennessee, like Kentucky and WV, supported the Union during the Civil War, a source of regional pride).

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Darkdragoon324@reddit

I don't think i've ever heard anyone pronounce that second T hard, and I grew up all the way over in Utah.

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Marlbey@reddit

People definitely pronounce the second T hard... and it sticks out when they do.

Utahns are more (not less) inclined to soften the last hard consonant than Southerners, I don't think the "g" in an -ing word has ever been pronounced in Utah.

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Darkdragoon324@reddit

That’s true, we’re just a little moun’n town.

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7evenCircles@reddit

Same with Toronto, if you say the second t you're probably an American

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crunchyfoliage@reddit

In Michigan we love dropping our Ts. We'd say "Toronno." I grew up in Flint and it took like 2 months for a college friend to realize I wasn't saying "Flynn"

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Majestic-Macaron6019@reddit

Adlanna

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peaveyftw@reddit

New Orleans seems a lot more inconsistent..

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BlueEyedSpiceJunkie@reddit

Jaw-juh

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CedarBuffalo@reddit

I am absolutely in the boat with you - “Atlanna”

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UnfairHoneydew6690@reddit

Yeah we jokingly call it “alabamer”

I think the only person I’ve heard use “alabamy” was from up north and making fun of us.

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Stoned-monkey@reddit

Surely you remember lynyrd skynyrd saying “I miss Albamy once again and I think it’s a sin!”

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Twilightterritories@reddit

And they were from Florida.

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uffington@reddit (OP)

Floridy, you say?

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George_H_W_Kush@reddit

I always heard “ol’ bammy”

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UnfairHoneydew6690@reddit

Oddly enough I don’t know a single fucking person who pronounces it like that when they sing the song. Probably because no one actually says that here.

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QuinceDaPence@reddit

"I got in a rehab program at Redstone center down in Alabamer"

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FaberGrad@reddit

The only time I recall hearing "Alabamy" is in the song "Mississippi Kid" by Lynyrd Skynyrd.

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Cerrida82@reddit

Ah yes, good old "Byoona Vista" (Buena Vista) and "Stan'un" (Staunton) VA

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norskie7@reddit

Don’t forget Botta-tot (Botetourt) and Buck-cannon (Buchanan)!

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QuinceDaPence@reddit

Then Houston comes at you with Kuykendal and Fuqua

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Cerrida82@reddit

Oh yeah! Even as a native, Botetourt always threw me.

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Scrappy_The_Crow@reddit

I've lived in Georgia the majority of my 59 years and I've never heard "Alabamy" or "Georgie," either.

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hucareshokiesrul@reddit

I've had, now decreased, relatives in Virginia who'd say this like extry for extra. Maybe they would've done that for Alabama and Georgia but Im not really sure of the rule for when they'd do that a/y swap.

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Midnight2012@reddit

South Carolina was "South Cakalaky"

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Suspicious-Froyo2181@reddit

55 years in Georgia, never heard anything close to "Georgie".

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RealBenWoodruff@reddit

I am southern, and Alabama is often just Bama, and Georgia is Jaw Juh.

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Pristine-Confection3@reddit

No it’s not either.

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lorienne22@reddit

I know plenty of youngins that say Missoura and Alabamy. I (47) say it jokingly all the time in the appropriate accent (cuz I'm not from the area where that accent originates). Georgy is new one for me, though.

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HurtsCauseItMatters@reddit

This just sounds like a dialect thing. I seriously doubt anyone is writing any of them down this way.

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ActuaLogic@reddit

People say "Missoura" (reflecting the use of a neutral schwa sound in a final unstressed /i/ syllable) but I don't think the other two are used. It's possible "Alabamy" and "Georgy," were never used by actual speakers but simply reflect the fact that a final unstressed /i/ would have been pronounced as a neutral schwa sound (which is how "Alabama" and "Georgia" are pronounced. Or it could have originally been a hyper-correction.

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Ok_Motor_3069@reddit

I was told long ago that when Native American words were translated into French that it was difficult to the sound exactly right so there were variations.

On the other hand just plain French words get butchered too. So I don’t know. There are well known regional variations that’s for sure.

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GroundThing@reddit

It'll be a cold day in hell before I recognize Missoura

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IHaveBoxerDogs@reddit

I’ve never heard Alabammy or Georgy You know some odd “old-timers!”

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Intelligent-Art-5000@reddit

Regional dialects and mimicry of people they heard when they were little.

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AnOkFella@reddit

They think they’re being funny lol

The trend of American regional accents dying off started even before boomers were born, and those were the old school pronunciations made from way back in the day.

And since the antiquated is novel, it occasionally becomes amusing, so here we are.

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La_Rata_de_Pizza@reddit

Because they’re dumb

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Lousy_Her0@reddit

Anyone else have relatives that pronounce 'sandwich' as 'sangwich'?

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OK_The_Nomad@reddit

It's not old-timers. It less educated people.

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a_sandcat_196@reddit

It’s stupid. Alabama is Alabama, not Alabamy. And the same for the rest.

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BrunoGerace@reddit

Dialectical distinctions...playfulness with language...hardening back to older forms.

BTW, please include "ar-KAN'-zes". Arkansas.

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Darkdragoon324@reddit

I thought people only pronounced it like that when they're trying to piss off people from Arkansas on purpose.

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Firefly_Magic@reddit

I’ve never heard Alabamy or Georgy. I have heard a close similarity to Missoura, from local residents in the state.

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MohaveZoner@reddit

Low IQ

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ConfoundedHokie@reddit

Missoura is very much a mid western thing. Never heard Alabamy from my old Alabama family.

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Henchman4Hire@reddit

I'll be deep in the cold, cold ground before I recognize Missoura!

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Intelligent-Invite79@reddit

First thing I thought of.

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NickelCitySaint@reddit

I'll be dead in the cold cold ground before I ever recognize Missourah

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DonDonn00@reddit

Same reason Baltimore is pronounced Bauld-im-er by locals.

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Building_a_life@reddit

I thought it was Bawlmer.

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life_experienced@reddit

I once heard a lady say she was from "Ioway."

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notonrexmanningday@reddit

My granny went to her grave calling every video game system an "antinder machine". That was the closest she ever got to pronouncing Nintendo.

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7yearlurkernowposter@reddit

Missouri and Missourah aren't an age thing, it's culture.
One culture may be more aging now but it won't stay that way if history is any guide.

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Dio_Yuji@reddit

Looziana

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Pristine-Confection3@reddit

Yeah nobody from here says it like that.

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slatz1970@reddit

Some folks do.

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Dio_Yuji@reddit

We do ironically. Lighten up

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slatz1970@reddit

My sister and I were born in Louisiana and this is how she pronounced it. It drove me crazy lol

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BarleyBo@reddit

I’ve heard Cincinnati pronounced Cincinnata

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taintmaster900@reddit

Same reason that I end up callin those red fruit you wouldn't put In a fruit salad a Tomatah

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UltraShadowArbiter@reddit

Accent and lack of brain cells.

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Hunts5555@reddit

That was what they were called before Hillary became President.

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3X_Cat@reddit

Miama

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Arkyguy13@reddit

That's just a regionality. In Oklahoma it's pronounced like that, most of the rest of the country pronounces it Miamee. The interesting thing is both are kind of right and kind of wrong. In the Miami language it would've been pronounced more like Miahmia so both pronunciations dropped a different part of the final diphthong. Both changed the middle A pronunciation.

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Riker_Omega_Three@reddit

I have lived in the south my entire life

I have never once heard anyone from the south call Alabama...Alabamy

Missoura? Sure..that's just a quirk of the meshing of midwestern and southern accents

Goergy? Nope..not a thing I have ever heard.

Miss-ippi

Tenn-uh-see

Jaw-Juh

Flur-duh

Nawlins

Looz-eye-anna

These are ones I have heard

But again, Alabamy and Goergy? Never in my entire life have those words been uttered near me, on the radio, tv or in Movies

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Arkyguy13@reddit

Just out of curiosity how else would you say Tennessee? That's how everyone I know says it.

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doubtinggull@reddit

When you hear "Miss-ippi", do you think it's the first or second set of s's that's getting dropped? In my head it's the first set, so its "Mi'ssippi" but I suppose for others it might be the second set ("Miss'ippi").

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Pristine-Confection3@reddit

Nobody from Louisiana says the state that way or New Orleans like that. Thats tourists and people in other states.

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_WillCAD_@reddit

Accent and dialect.

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Awkward-Motor3287@reddit

That's what they call it. Why do you call charisma rizz?

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GlueSniffingCat@reddit

People call my state the land of traitors, rattle sneks, and alligators.

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AnymooseProphet@reddit

People I know from Missouri always pronounce it "Missoura" but "Alabamy" and "Georgy" I've not heard.

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toomanyracistshere@reddit

For the same reason Italia became Italy and Germania became Germany.

Can't say I've ever heard anyone call Georgia "Georgy" though.

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ExistentialCrispies@reddit

English does have a habit of adding an 'y' sound at the end, but in the cast of Italia (which is still what Italians call it) it's most likely because the long 'e' sound was in the name the whole time and we simply truncated the "-ah" sound, perhaps because it's more similar to the French way of saying it.

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Yankee_chef_nen@reddit

I live in Georgia and have never heard that. I guess it’s possible that someone that’s lived here longer than me might have heard it. I am wondering where OP heard it though.

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bknight63@reddit

My grandmother used to pronounce it Georg-er because of that left-over Elizabethan English thing in the Appalachians where the ending “a” turns into “er”.

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SweetandSourCaroline@reddit

Coker-coler

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Comediorologist@reddit

I've heard Jaw-juh.

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Yankee_chef_nen@reddit

Yup I’ve heard that.

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MuscaMurum@reddit

Regional dialect.

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Pristine-Confection3@reddit

Except it’s not because nobody down south says this.

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MuscaMurum@reddit

I didn't say they did. It's there difference between demonyms and

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Chank-a-chank1795@reddit

Never heard of "Georgy"

And I lived there 5 yrs

There is also "Lose-y--anna"

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RihanBrohe12@reddit

Missoura is just how I grew up saying it. Its accent

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Confetticandi@reddit

Which part of the state? In St. Louis I grew up calling it Missouri.

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RihanBrohe12@reddit

I grew up in southwest Missouri. Springfield area.

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Confetticandi@reddit

Ah, that makes sense.

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RihanBrohe12@reddit

The old water park commercial they played since like the late 70s in springfield area until well after I graduated in 2012 always went something like

"ITS THE GREATEST WATER SLIDE IN THE ENTIRE STATE OF MISSOURAA"

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Fappy_as_a_Clam@reddit

Arkansas as Ar-kansas

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peaveyftw@reddit

Regional accents. One place in my state is Clanton, and locals call it Clantern.

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Complete_Aerie_6908@reddit

I’ve never heard of that in real life. I’m 60 and live in TN.

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No-Conversation1940@reddit

I grew up in the Missouri Ozarks, never heard "Missoura" once, and there were many old Ozarks natives around.

This is a relic from the 19th century, if it was ever a thing used in the real world and not just in mediocre vaudeville shows.

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seifd@reddit

Iowa as Ioway. They just don't like it when other people do it.

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Jdevers77@reddit

Missouri is actually two states…Missouri which is everything above Interstate 44, everything below is Missoura haha.

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Kennesaw79@reddit

My dad is from Missouri, and he pronounces it Missouruh. I've lived in Georgia most oof my life and never heard anyone say Georgy. I've heard plenty of people say Alabamy, but more as a nickname.

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Nouseriously@reddit

Jo-ja is what I hear more

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ManVsWater@reddit

Tesler

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nakedreader_ga@reddit

No one calls Georgia “Georgie”.

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ShakeWeightMyDick@reddit

Why does anybody nickname anything?

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Totschlag@reddit

Missouruh and Missouri are two different states, and I'll die on that native born hill.

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Aggressive-Emu5358@reddit

I’ve only ever heard “Missoura” and am pretty sure it’s just the accent.

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Confetticandi@reddit

It’s Missouri in the urban areas.

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k464howdy@reddit

i've only heard of Missourah.

I thought that's what they wanted it to be called. I think i heard it from a teacher way back when who used to be from there.

I don't think Alabamy and Georgy are accents, just deep south silliness. and i've never actually heard it.

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Confetticandi@reddit

People from St. Louis and Kansas City generally call it “Missouri.”

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Playful_Fan4035@reddit

Missouri being pronounced with an “uh” sound at the end is related to regional accents, not “old timers”. That’s how I say it if I don’t think about it. My parents grew up in Missouri and that’s how most of my family from there pronounce it regardless of age.

I’ve never heard anyone say the others like that, although I’ve only been to Alabama once and I’ve never been to Georgia.

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Tom_Tildrum@reddit

Someone from KC once told me that it was generally pronounced Missouri in Kansas City and St. Louis, and Missoura in between.

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Confetticandi@reddit

Yeah, I’m from St. Louis and it was always “Missouri” there. The only people I met who said “Missoura” were elderly people who grew up in more rural areas.

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fmlyjwls@reddit

My mom grew up in Missouri, and pronounces it with an A at the end, but told me that I was not allowed to because I didn’t live there

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Playful_Fan4035@reddit

People can be really rude sometimes when I pronounce it Missour-uh where I live. I live in Texas, so it’s not like our accent is here is super sophisticated or anything. Your mom probably did you a favor. ;)

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Honest_Swim7195@reddit

That’s how you’re supposed to say Missouri

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thedeepfake@reddit

Missoura is how anyone from there pronounces it.

You’re making up the other two.

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Dry-Tomorrow8531@reddit

I from dat Souf cackalack dere bo, who you wit???

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relikter@reddit

I scrolled too far to find a South Cackalacky or North Cackalacky reference. Thank you for remembering us!

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Cock--Robin@reddit

That’s the sort of thing you would hear in old Bugs Bunny cartoons featuring hillbillies.

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FreydisEir@reddit

I’ve heard “Alabamer” and “Georgy” before, although the former is much more common than the latter.

We also pronounce California as “Californai” often. The last sound is pronounced the same as we’d pronounce the vowel sound in “eye” or “my.” But also keep in mind that we pronounce that sound closer to “ah,” like we’d say “that’s mah book.” Vowel sounds can get pretty weird in different dialects.

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Iamonly@reddit

Literally never heard Georgia pronounced that way ever. I'm in my 30's and grew up around boomers and older in north GA.

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Efficient-Video-9454@reddit

What year do you think this is?

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dildozer10@reddit

I’ve lived in Alabama all my 30 years, and not once have I ever heard someone say “Alabamy”, or “Georgy”.

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P00PooKitty@reddit

Because that was the accent where you live. I’m from Boston our old timers wouldn’t say that.

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RustBeltLab@reddit

Ignorant rednecks and the failure of reconstruction to stamp out regional accents.

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sammysbud@reddit

Reconstruction failed to do a lot because it ended too soon, but I think regional accents/dialects are something we should preserve and be proud of.

Also, accent has nothing to do with intelligence or ignorance. Stop and check your own bias. Apply that same sentiment to other groups of people with distinct accents, and see how bigoted it sounds.

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RustBeltLab@reddit

Yes, I am a bigot for shitting on slave owning successionists and their Trump loving grandkids.

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sammysbud@reddit

Shitting on slave-owning successionists is fine. I hate them as well.

But I’m willing to bet that wherever you live has its fair share of Trump lovers. If you are in the US, then I’d bet everything I own. So why don’t you focus on them?

The south holds a deep, proud history of resistance, and FWIW, we are also proud of our accents.

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eerie_lake_@reddit

Ignoring the hundreds of thousands southerners aren’t who aren’t white. And/Or the thousands who are actively protesting the current regime. Y’all’s prejudice is showing.

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toomanyracistshere@reddit

Reconstruction had a lot of goals, but I don't think the stamping out of regional accents was one of them.

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RustBeltLab@reddit

I know that, just jumping at a chance to shit on southerners.

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Danibear285@reddit

Speaking: it’s fun!

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vingtsun_guy@reddit

Forgot Californy.

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vteezy99@reddit

Some old timey movies would pronounce Los Angeles as Los Anjuhlees or Los Anguhlees (with a hard G). Also can’t forget Warshington

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Pristine-Confection3@reddit

They don’t. I am from the south and have lived in many of those states and never once heard this before. I think it’s only on tv.

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Trillian75@reddit

The strangest one I’ve heard is “Ioway” (Iowa with a long A at the end). I worked for a call center about 20 years ago, and a very elderly woman said she was from “Ioway”. I wonder if that accent has died out; every other Iowan I’ve met pronounces Iowa the usual way with a schwa sound at the end.

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SatisfactionHour1722@reddit

I’ve only ever heard missoura.

Or misery.

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Popular-Local8354@reddit

Accent.