Born and raised in Boiling Springs, PA. This is about 30 minutes west of Harrisburg. I find where I'm from is rather "middle of nowhere" to most, though it is near Hershey! So we have a few notable things. A friend's parents in Gardners (only 10 mins from Boiling Springs) consistently said "yous" or "youinz" and "red up your room" which means "clean (ready up) your room."
As far as PA accents go, it's an interesting mix! I find once we hit Hanover/Gettysburg (heading into Maryland) there is a slight...twang? Noticeable change in accent to my ears. I spent a lot of time in this area and my friends from there would make fun of certain words I said, and we'd lovingly dish it out to one another. They'd say y'all a lot, and I picked it up from them! It still slips out sometimes. They'd say "bibs" for overalls and "crick" for creek. And I find a lot of people I know say "I seen" instead of "I saw."
Now, I live near Lancaster (PA Dutch!) I worked in an Amish tourist trap. And yes they (the Amish) mostly speak actual PA Dutch.. it's nothing to do with Dutch but rather a very different type of German? The kids learn English later on. Their accents can be thick but I'm not sure how to describe it! Of course, this is all anecdotal, but it's true to what I've witnessed and heard my whole life.
As for my accent.. I don't think it's anything out of the ordinary for this area. I've been told I have a very mild, almost modern PA Dutch influence. Probably more of a Central PA accent. It's mostly how I pronounce the "o" sound that can stick out. Once as a waitress, a table asked me if I was from Texas. Ha, not sure what made them think that!
I interject "like" a bit when I talk. I know that can be annoying to some but I don't think I overdo it. It just happens naturally. I have a penpal in Texas who tells me I sound like her family from PA, just with the way I structure my sentences. I have an aversion to the words "to be." I just say "the car needs washed" or "the house needs vacuumed." I never knew that was wrong until I was called out on it! The pronunciation of "water" and "wash" around here is up for debate! I hear "wooder" and "warsh" a lot but I don't naturally say them like that. Oh, and if I say "did you eat yet" I say "jeet yet" lol. And I'll just randomly place the words "then" and "awhile" at the ends of sentences when the mood strikes. Which I also thought was normal.
And as for the plural you.. I just say "hey (you) guys."
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