Is There A San Francisco Accent?

Bay Curious

KQED

History, Society & Culture, Places & Travel

4.9 • 999 Ratings

🗓️ 16 December 2021

⏱️ 14 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

When trying to identify a San Francisco accent, sometimes people point to the "Mission Brogue." But San Franciscans have always had many ways of speaking. Naming just one the San Francisco accent says more about who has political power than how people speak. Additional Reading: Why the Myth of the 'San Francisco Accent' Persists Uncovering the Real Story Behind the 'East Bay Mystery Walls' Tunnels Under San Francisco? Inside the Dark, Dangerous World of the Sewers Reported by Chloe Veltman. Bay Curious is made by Olivia Allen-Price, Katrina Schwartz, Sebastian Miño-Bucheli and Brendan Willard. Additional support from Jessica Placzek, Kyana Moghadam, Paul Lancour, Suzie Racho, Carly Severn, Lina Blanco, Ethan Lindsey, Vinnee Tong and Jenny Pritchett.

Transcript

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0:00.0	From K-QED.
0:02.0	When you think about America's biggest cities, many have a recognizable accent.
0:08.0	From the shifting vowels of Chicago to the dropped rs of New York,
0:12.0	like you'll hear in this Joan Rivers clip.
0:14.0	When I was 21, my mother said, only a doctor for you.
0:17.0	When I was 22, she said, all right, a lawyer, CPA.
0:20.0	24, she said, we'll grab a dentist. 26, she said we'll grab a dentist 26 she said anything. Now if you ask people for an
0:28.0	example of a San Francisco accent some might say it sounds like this.
0:32.4	Tectady from the Petrara. Some might say it sounds like this.
0:33.0	Tough Tony from the Petrera,
0:35.0	that's out of Mark, it's on the slot, whatever.
0:38.0	That's where you picked up that accent, eh?
0:40.0	Right.
0:41.0	Yeah, at Brog. The Mission Brog accent is on full display in this 1985 interview with Tough Tony.
0:48.8	He was a San Francisco bus driver.
0:50.5	They used to ask me, you know, and when I left them off at the transfer point, are you from
0:55.9	Brooklyn? I says, no, I'm not from Brooklyn. I'm from side of market.
1:02.3	But Native San Franciscans have a lot of ways of speaking.
1:06.0	The campaign is over and it is time for us to forget about the drama that existed in the world of politics.
1:14.1	That was the thing that made me want to play was rock and roll.
1:17.1	When I heard Chuck Berry and all the great rock and roll licks
1:19.9	and just the sound.
	...

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