Why do the Mannings sound like they have a Different accent ?? (1 Viewer)

[ClubLevelPete]

I don't consider Peyton and Eli real, totally authentic, 100 percent Orleanians. I can't totally put my finger on it. Part of it is that the kids are part of the Uptown establishment and went to Newman (see above, and I understand and probably deserve the bashing from Uptowners and Newman grads).

Part of it is that the kids have names like Cooper and Peyton and Eli rather than Buddy or Skippy or Hap.

Part of it is the accent, which may have traces of Uptown but which is just so different from what you hear in the city (we will not hear Peyton tell the female sideline reporter after the game: "Darlin', when I threw that pass, I just said, 'Oh my Gawd!'").

Part of it is the college choices and the feeling that LSU was never a serious option for the boys. Cooper and Eli went to Ole Miss, a decision totally understandable given that mother and father attended Ole Miss (and a popular choice of Uptown kids). But Peyton's Tennessee choice--not LSU, not even Ole Miss, but another SEC school--rankles still.

In summary, the Manning kids, especially Peyton, are from New Orleans but in terms of culture are not totally part of New Orleans. Indeed, in terms of culture, they probably are a tad more from Mississippi--in speech, in manner, in outlook--than from New Orleans. And the reason is Archie and Olivia are from Mississippi, and the family's roots are there.

This is probably the worst post I've ever read. You're saying that because Peyton and Eli were raised in the one of the two New Orleans zip code that basically subsidizes the other eight New Orleans zip codes that they aren't "true" New Orleanians?

I guess we should tell Drew and Brittany Brees to go the hell back to San Diego, because they'll never be "true" New Orleanians living uptown.

 

[MR.Breez]

In summary, the Manning kids, especially Peyton, are from New Orleans but in terms of culture are not totally part of New Orleans. Indeed, in terms of culture, they probably are a tad more from Mississippi--in speech, in manner, in outlook--than from New Orleans. And the reason is Archie and Olivia are from Mississippi, and the family's roots are there.

That nails it. That and they also spent alot of time in Mississippi during the summer months when they were growing up.....But hey who says talking like you are from MS is a bad thing.

 

[dtc]

kids who are raised uptown and go to private school don't have accents.

Exactly right. I moved to Florida in 8th grade and I don't have much of an accent. I pronounce the E in Orleans like most uptown kids, but don't have much otherwise. It comes out a little more when you're around home though, but at Tennessee and Ole Miss, they picked up more of the country sound that their parents have.

 

[new city champ]

I know I have a mix of accents. I grew up here but don't have a full n'awlins accent, more neutral. Went to college in carolina and spent time growing up in north louisiana, which added a southern accent that comes out in certain situations (lots of beer drinking or when hunting or fishing). And a sort of official accent for business. I think it's not uncommon to internalize different accents based on where you've lived and what company you are in. I wonder if Peyton had that accent, for example, before he went to Tennessee?

 

[ClubLevelPete]

Most uptown kids whose parents are millionaires don't "consider LSU" seriously. To hold that against Peyton and Eli as an argument that they aren't "true New Orleanians" is silly.

 

[mt15]

Geez, Pete, that's pretty harsh. I think RJ qualified his statements well enough, he's entitled to his opinion. Little thin-skinned?

Back to original topic at hand: I do think that parents accents have a big bearing on the children's speech. When children learn to talk they are mostly hearing people within the family unit speak. And they strive mightily to emulate their parents, who are the 2 most important people in their young lives.

My son just recently moved to the South (South Carolina) for his first post-college job, and he has found it fascinating hearing the differences in accents in his town. Some people have very pronounced accents and others not so much, but both types are native to the same town. It's actually similar here in the Midwest, it's just that the differences are subtle and not so easily noticed.

 

[ClubLevelPete]

Sorry but I found that post to be offensive and petty. I'd argue that people who grew up in and went to school in New Orleans are pretty much about as "New Orleanian" as you can get. Just because Eli and Peyton don't own a pair of tacky white shrimp boots doesn't mean that they are frauds or something.

 

[N.O.Badboy]

Okay, now if we are talking about Jake Delhomme that's a TOTALLY DIFF. story Listening to him talk.............you know he's one of ours.

 

[Mutt]

It is an uptown accent. My parents speak the same way. There are at least 10 different accents in the New Orleans metro area.

 

[Blakejam]

I don't agree with RJ...I was born in marrero, lived in avondale until i was 3, moved to small town south of lafayette and lived there until i was 18. I don't sound I am from New Orleans or cajun country...i sound more like the yankee newscaster(thank the military for that one too). My family members all have muddled accents since my is from varying parts of LA and MS. I hate crawfish and most other types of seafood. I don't do the typical things like go fishing in my pirouge or go mudding in the rice fields once they are drained.

By RJ's definition I guess I'm not a true louisianaian since I don't sound,eat, or behave like I'm from LA.

As far as I'm concearned, I am proud to say that I am a true citizen of this state.

 

[mt15]

Pete, I'm not trying to say you don't have a right to your own opinion, or that you don't have a valid point. RJ was just stating the way he feels, and he went out of his way to say he wasn't trying to be critical of the Mannings.

I have run across the same sentiment. I went to high school in a very small town, and my parents continued to live in that same town when I went off to college, but I wasn't born there. At a get-together at college, I was asked where was I from, and I replied with the name of that small town. A girl who was my friend, who I attended HS with, responded quite vehemently, you aren't from there, you just lived there while you were in school. I was quite taken aback by her comment, who is she to decide what town I consider to be my home?

It's not worth being offended at someone's opinion of their hometown. And no matter what you do, there will be people who don't want to let you in. You can't worry about that. It's the same as the "bandwagon" fan comments - better to just let it go.

 

[DadsDream]

I met my cousin from Metairie for the first time when I enrolled at Tech where she was a junior.

She was well-spoken and her elocution gave no hint of her roots.

I'd never met my uncle either. He was a Waukesha Marine Diesel VP and heavily involved in the Mardi Gras krewe scene for many years.

So, I got invited down to see Mardi Gras from an insider's point of view.

From the private parties in Lakeview to late-night work on the floats, I got to see everything.

The first time my cousin said, "Jesus-Gawd, man!" my ears perked up. Everybody was speaking in accents and dialects and using expressions I'd never heard before.

My cousin had to translate, her voice slipping easily back and forth between Yat and Redneck.

That was when I first came to appreciate the vast diversity of New Orleans and its unique dialects.

 

[DadsDream]

Oh, I thought of something else. You good folks who know the area better than I might want to help me out here.

My cousin and I talked about her various dialects a great deal.

I don't know if she was pulling my leg or what, but she chalked it up to the Catholic Church's schools and nuns.

I'd noticed that when she spoke to her friends at the parties, they sounded to my ears like some of the guys I'd known from New York in the Marines.

My cousin smiled. The nuns at her school had been transferred from Brooklyn when the neighborhood there had changed and they wanted nuns who could speak Spanish.

So, given their age, the Brooklyn nuns were moved to Louisiana's warmer climate. The school kids picked up bits and pieces and portions of their accents from the nuns who taught them.

Now I have absolutely no idea if that's true or not, but if I learned one thing in my time in and around New Orleans, it's that you should never discount the influence of the Mother Church.

 

[estrabd]

Silly post, but every time I hear any of the Mannings talk, especially Peyton and Eli they don't have a New Orleans accent. Is it just me or what ??

Uptown and Newman bred that out of 'em.

 

[Mr. Blue Sky]

Sorry but I found that post to be offensive and petty. I'd argue that people who grew up in and went to school in New Orleans are pretty much about as "New Orleanian" as you can get. Just because Eli and Peyton don't own a pair of tacky white shrimp boots doesn't mean that they are frauds or something.

-- I agree. The post was just completely unneccesary, and it's opinions like that that contribute to the "us vs. the outsiders" and the "brother-in-law" culture in New Orleans. As someone who grew up all over New Orleans, I really hope that this is a generational thing and that each generation of New Orleanians will become less and less concerned about exactly which part of town you grew up in, or exactly which brand of "Yat" you speak...