The Old Forge accent.

THE OLD FORGE ACCENT

"You're from New York, right?"

Uh....New York?

As I've mentioned in my other Old Forge based blogs I've lived in Old Forge for my entire life in the old Allegrucci house. An Allegrucci has lived within these walls since Italian was the main language spoken around town.

When I was a little girl my grandma Allegrucci, who lived in the second half of the double, would have my older cousins, aunts, and uncles stop by for tea and a chat about the old times. Of course, with my grandma being extremely stubborn she stopped having these little get-togethers in fear of not being able to hear who she was talking to, or having to put on makeup and if you can't understand politics you should at least look good while pretending to listen. But before that the visits were a weekly treat.

My grandma was my favorite source of comedic release in this boring old town so every morning I would check to see if my great aunt's car was outside or if my uncle Sonny was parked in the front lawn again by accident. To see my grandma talk about things like taxes and politics was always fun. Sometimes her face would match the red color of her hair after a few hours.

I'll never forget seeing the old antique cars of my uncle Sonny parked out front ( a different one every time ).

I'd be so excited to go next door and see him that I would run over without my shoes on.

The screen door would open but I was too short to be seen through the window so it would always give my gram a good scare.

"Jesus! Are you trying to give me a heart attack?" She'd say.

"No."

"Look at this child. No shoes, messy hair, is that a sauce stain on your face?" She'd lick her fingers and wipe away the red stain on my cheek.

"Hey you. Tirarsela*. Look at you! What are yah, some kinda animal?" My uncle Sonny would say.

"No."

"Is that all you say?"

"No."

"She's a different one, Glor. A real pistol." I remember him laughing with his gut and then saying something in Italian. The two of them, my grandmother and my uncle Sonny, didn't speak Italian like their parents before them, but instead knew only the words their parents would say to them. That means they only knew the curse words, and demands like "take out the trash."  and "where's your brother?"

From the old Italian relatives I'd notice something a bit difference about their speech. Their vowels were harsher than people from other places. Even harsher from those in the nearest city of Scranton which was recently marked second place in the Gawker poll of America's Ugliest Accent.

http://gawker.com/americas-ugliest-accent-has-come-down-to-pittsburgh-vs-1646594002

Dog - DAHG

Water - WAH-DER

Come on - Come AHN

There - DAER

Three - TREE

H - HAYCH

Bottle it up - bott'l et up.

Here's a good one. It's more of a dialect - 

Don't yell at me. - "Don't be hollerin' at me."

God, if someone with this accent ever gets into an argument with you I would just pack up my bags and get out of town. Every time that harsh "A" comes through it's like a punch in the face. Very stern and very demanding just like the people who used to live here.

Here's the weird thing about it. Only some Old Forgers have it.

It's a deep and thick accent. Either you have it full blown or not at all.

I could say out of the 74 people who graduated with the OFSD class of 2014 only about four people had this accent.

Now in Bloomsburg, there are four Old Forgers who attend the University here.

I speak to three of the four, one being my boyfriend. Each have been born and raised in Old Forge just like me and yet the only hint of the accent I hear is in my boyfriends speech. It only comes through every once and while but when it does I notice it immediately. 

If you'd like to know where your accent most likely derived from you can take the quiz below and once you're finished a heat map will appear showing you the most relocatable locations with your accent.
CLICK:  How Y’all, Youse and You Guys Talk Quiz
*opens in a new window

Tell me about your experiences with the Old Forge or Scranton accent.

Has anyone commented on it?
What are some words you say a differently than others who don't have this accent???

 **Tirarsela - 

To put on airs, or to show off/boast/act superior, can be translated to darsi delle arie in Italian. Literally, to give oneself airs. That is the nice way to say it, or the proper way, but there are also more colloquial (less elegant) ways to say that a person is acting superior.