Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
Maybe it was all the pioneers from around Great Britain. Maybe it's just the laid-back way of life in the West. We're not sure where the Utah accent comes from, but there's no doubt we have a distinct way of sayin' things.
So what does the Utah accent sound like? Here are some prime examples of Utah pronunciation you'll overhear — and probably say yerself.
Killing me softly without Ts
Perhaps the most noticeable accent is the soft T pronunciation in Utah speech. You know what we're talking about: foun'in, impor'int, hun'in. Then there's the city of Lay'un and the ski resort Brigh'un. Why do Utahns say moun'in instead of mountain? Good question.
If you're guilty of letting the T slide, it's not that you're lazy. You do make a bit of sound in place of the T, it just comes from your throat instead of through your teeth. If you want to get technical, linguists refer to it as a glottal stop. It's a bit like when you gloss over all those silent letters in French. So really, maybe the Utah dialect is kinda fancy.
Then there are locals who add a T to words and names: "Hey, Mr. Wiltson"; "His heart surgeon is Dr. Neltson"; "This is my friend Keltsey." Some just change the sharp letter T for one easier on the tongue — a big fat D. "I need some wadder after eating that spicy saltza."
To be fair, the Utah accent isn't strictly a local deal. Folks across the West, from northern Arizona to southern Idaho and western Colorado, tend to drop their I's and T's just as often. (The T is silent on that last word, incidentally). Hey, 10 million people — give or take — can't be wrong.
Mixed vowel soup
Ever been introduced to someone named Dell, only to learn their name is actually Dale? It happens. Longtime Utahns, especially those who live in the far ends of the state, tend to ignore the long A sound and opt for the short E. As in, "I'm getting my nells done," "Blueberries are on sell this week," or your yogi telling you to "In-hell and ex-hell."
With the Utah accent, the short I sound gets switched out for the short E, too. Take, for instance, the words pellow for pillow and melk for milk.
Really old timers from rural Utah towns tend to switch up all the vowels, enough so that it can sound like a foreign language. "My gran'pa grew up in Spanish Fark, and every Saturdee he'd go fishin' down at the crick, usin' carn for bait."
Words just for You-tah
There are words Utahns pronounce differently, and then there are totally new words. Though you won't find it in a dictionary, locals tend to announce their newborn's stats as birth weight and "heighth."
And, don't forget to take the roast out of the freezer to "unthaw" for Sunday dinner. We don't think that means what you think it means.
You know those gray, armadillo-like bugs that live under rocks and roll up into a ball if you touch them? Early pioneers likely brought the name "potato bugs" with them from the Great Lakes area. Everyone else in the U.S. calls them roly-poly or pill bugs.
Even our curse words are unique: fetch, heck, dang it!
Are there other common Utah accent phrases and quirks we missed? List your favorites in the comments below.
