this post was submitted on 13 Mar 2025
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[–] idiomaddict@lemmy.world 6 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I’m from Connecticut and used to work in a call center taking insurance claims nationwide. I once got a call from a guy in rural North Carolina, who had a super thick accent. He was explaining that the damage to his car came from the tar blowing up and I was trying to figure out wtf he meant by this (sometimes customers are nuts or lie- it was okay to take down a story that definitely didn’t happen, it just needs to be clear and true to what the caller claimed). I kept asking what caused the asphalt to explode and he was totally uninterested, saying it was old, sometimes that happens, isn’t that our job to figure out?

Anyway, I was having a tough time understanding this guy, but my coworker went to college in Tennessee, so I roped her in and transferred him.

His tire exploded, not the tar. He just pronounced tire the way that I pronounce tar. For me, it’s two syllables and indistinguishable from the word for one who ties.

Naw, not the tar, the tahre, the black rubber thang 'roun uh wheeyul, s'fulla ahr? It jus plum blew ayout. Ah tell ya i'us sygogglin downna road 'are for a minnit, but ah gotter stopped. y'all gonna seyun sumbuddy ta fix't?"

A major component of a tarheel accent is the "eye" sound comes out as "ah." Ah'm goin tuthuh stower to bah sum ahce creem. "Tire" beceomes "Tahre", which is not identical to how we pronounce "tar."

I'm from a particular area where it is sometimes useful to speak like a native, and sometimes it's useful to speak like not a native. Naturally my accent isn't very thick but I can put more on or take it off, even mid-sentence. Which is useful mostly for mocking people.