My Englishes

I have many different englishes that I use, though I do not use them all everyday. While I don't really have an accent or anything, I do pronounce some words differently and people make fun of me for it. I kind of wish I had an accent from somewhere though. I have moved three times, from New York to Pennsylvania and from Pennsylvania to Chapel Hill, so I never really got the chance to develop an accent. Some of the words I pronounce differently are water and both. Instead of water I say it like "wooder" and both is "bolth." It sounds kind of ugly but I can't really help it. Moving though has taught me different phrases and slang used in different parts of the country. For example in Philly people say "youse guys" which is equivalent to "yall" here in the south. Also, for the longest time I called going to the beach, "going down the shore" because when I lived in PA we would always go down to the Jersey Shore, not the beach.

In addition to pronouncing some words differently, I speak differently depending on the situation. For example, I speak differently at school and work than I do with my family and friends. In situations where I don't really know the person or it's a professional setting I am more proper and polite. Around my family and friends I don't have to censor my language, and while my parents don't like the fact that I cuss sometimes, I don't have to censor it in front of them. Basically, I never realized how many different englishes I use and how often it changes depending on the situation.