Kennedys and that Boston accent

[Anonymous]

I know that this is purely anecdotal, but whenever I've met wealthy people from New York or Boston they generally don't have (or hide) their strong regional accents. Anyone know why the Kennedy accent was so strong?

[Anonymous]

Huh I know 3 people from Boston and it comes out fairly often in all of them. Especially when drunk or at a ball gamr...which is one in the same I guess.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Huh I know 3 people from Boston and it comes out fairly often in all of them. Especially when drunk or at a ball gamr...which is one in the same I guess.

Do they have it all the time though or does it come out? Are they super wealthy?

[Anonymous]

It is the Boston Brahmin accent and it is dying out. Mercifully.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It is the Boston Brahmin accent and it is dying out. Mercifully.

The Kennedys were not Brahmins.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is the Boston Brahmin accent and it is dying out. Mercifully.

The Kennedys were not Brahmins.

Agree. A Brahmin accent is more English. The Kennedy accent is traditional Boston Irish catholic.

The upper classes in MA tend to have a much lighter accent than lower classes. It’s also mostly an eastern MA thing.

[Anonymous]

The Kennedys spoke with what is called the Mid-Atlantic accent (also sometimes known as the Boston Brahmin accent or Long Island Lockjaw). It is a consciously acquired accent, meaning that people had to be taught to speak that way. It's not an accent native to a specific location, like the famous Boston accent. It was largely taught in Northeastern prep schools and acting schools, so you would hear it in upper-class Easterners and stage actors. It's pretty much no longer taught, so the kind of people who in the 1940s and 50s would have learned it, aren't learning it anymore.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mid-Atlantic_accent

[Anonymous]

It's a really gross and tacky sounding accent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The Kennedys spoke with what is called the Mid-Atlantic accent (also sometimes known as the Boston Brahmin accent or Long Island Lockjaw). It is a consciously acquired accent, meaning that people had to be taught to speak that way. It's not an accent native to a specific location, like the famous Boston accent. It was largely taught in Northeastern prep schools and acting schools, so you would hear it in upper-class Easterners and stage actors. It's pretty much no longer taught, so the kind of people who in the 1940s and 50s would have learned it, aren't learning it anymore.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mid-Atlantic_accent

Affected. It was terrible!

[Anonymous]

Jackie has an upper class, mid Atlantic accent, Kennedy's had a lower middle Boston accent. It helped them be one of the people

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The Kennedys spoke with what is called the Mid-Atlantic accent (also sometimes known as the Boston Brahmin accent or Long Island Lockjaw). It is a consciously acquired accent, meaning that people had to be taught to speak that way. It's not an accent native to a specific location, like the famous Boston accent. It was largely taught in Northeastern prep schools and acting schools, so you would hear it in upper-class Easterners and stage actors. It's pretty much no longer taught, so the kind of people who in the 1940s and 50s would have learned it, aren't learning it anymore.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mid-Atlantic_accent

That’s an interesting article.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The Kennedys spoke with what is called the Mid-Atlantic accent (also sometimes known as the Boston Brahmin accent or Long Island Lockjaw). It is a consciously acquired accent, meaning that people had to be taught to speak that way. It's not an accent native to a specific location, like the famous Boston accent. It was largely taught in Northeastern prep schools and acting schools, so you would hear it in upper-class Easterners and stage actors. It's pretty much no longer taught, so the kind of people who in the 1940s and 50s would have learned it, aren't learning it anymore.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mid-Atlantic_accent

Wrong. The Kennedys did not speak with this accent. Their accent was not upper class at all.

[Anonymous]

Hey, does anyone here know if the Kennedys were WASPs?

[Anonymous]

Do they still teach the Mid-Atlantic accent anywhere? Can you learn it in drama school?

[Anonymous]

We saw the Chappaquiddick movie yesterday. It was interesting watching the lead actor - an Australian - attempt the Boston accent. It came and went.