Fastbak wrote:
I should have specified I'm from the west coast, so that's what I meant about not really having a distinct accent -
(According to what I've learned in college: Back when people from various European countries were first immigrating to America, they brought all their unique accents with them. This is why on the east coast, there are so many different accents, even in small areas. In Boston there are apparently at least half a dozen different accents - all in one city! As people migrated west, the accents kind of melted together, and that is why the further west you go, the more people sound the same to each other. Linguists say that people in southern California and northern Washington, and everything in between, all talk pretty much exactly the same. They also state that it is true that by them time you get to the west coast, the English we speak doesn't really have an "accent" - it's more like the absence of accents or something. So it is true that I'm basically accentless, although I do still sound different, even weird, to someone from the south or wherever. In case you wanted to know all that! I didn't mean to write so much, so I'll stop now.)


I saw something on television where they explained that when Webster's Dictionary was first published in the early 19th century as the midwest was being settled it helped standardized the language and flatten the vowel sounds of a lot of words .
I'm from San Francisco and the only thing that indicates is I use "hella" to mean "a lot" a lot! I grew up saying it and "hecka". Like I got hella tired playing basketball. orThat's hella stupid. and There was hella rain yesterday. It's become more widespread now thanks to No Doubt!


That's interesting! I didn't know about the dictionary standardizing English in that way.
And I didn't realize "hella" was a regional thing - I've been hearing it since I was in like 6th grade, and I thought it was said everywhere, haha! Of course, that's also when No Doub't Rock Steady album came out, so that must be it!