How to Recognize a New York Accent

Co-authored by Patrick Muñoz

Last Updated: October 29, 2024 References

Recognize a New York accent by observing how the speaker treats vowels and consonants, their tone and delivery, and their use of words. Remember, just because New Yorkers have a different dialect and delivery than residents of other regions, it doesn’t mean they’re trying to be rude. Their communication style of asking a lot of questions is a way of indicating interest, and being talkative may be their method of showing friendliness.

Part 1

Part 1 of 3:

Observing Treatment of Vowels and Consonants

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Listen for the addition of the “w” sound. New Yorkers may add a “w” to vowels. This is often done to words containing an “ah” sound. A word like “coffee” would be pronounced “cawfee.”^{[1]
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- For example, “on” would be pronounced “awn.”
2
Notice elongated vowels. New Yorkers often alter the pronunciation of vowels by splitting them up into multiple syllables. For instance, “talk” becomes “taw-uhk.” ^{[2]
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- Brooklyn natives in particular tend to elongate or “chew on” their vowels.^{[3]
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New Yorkers may stress the first syllable whereas other dialects may stress the second. For example, “pecan” is pronounced “PEEcan.”
People with New York accents may add or drop the letter “r” at random. For example, “I saw it” may become “I sawr it.” The word “doctor” may become “doctah.”
New Yorkers may substitute “d” for “th.” For example, “these” becomes “dees.” Another change to the “th” sound is changing it to a “t” sound. For instance, “tree” instead of “three.” ^{[4]
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Part 2

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Recognizing Dialect

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1
Observe New York slang. New York slang is used for things, like sandwiches or corner stores. It’s also used to replace common phrases.
- A sub sandwich may be called a “hero.” A corner store may be called a “bodega.”
- “Thank you” may be replaced with “Good looks,” which is a shortened form of the slang “Good looking out.”
- “Gotchu” is used as slang for “you’re welcome,” as in “I’ve got your back” or “I’ve got you covered.”
- People in New York may say “on a line” instead of “in line.” They may also say “around the way” instead of “nearby.”^{[5]
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Notice how New Yorkers reference native landmarks. New Yorkers will often use their own terms for these places. This is one way to recognize whether someone is from New York or not.^{[6]
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- Long Island City is called by its letters, L-I-C.
- The Museum of Modern Art is called “MOMA,” pronounced like the “om” sound in “Sonoma.”
- The John F. Kennedy International Airport is called JFK.
- The observation area atop the Rockefeller Center is called “Top of the Rock.”
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Observe the New York version of geographical areas. Streets in New York have official names. They also have nicknames used by New Yorkers. Portions of the city are also characterized with nicknames.
- 6th Avenue is referred to as “Avenue of the Americas.”
- Interstate 278 is called “B.Q.E.,” an abbreviation for the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway.
- ”The Willie B” refers to the Williamsburg Bridge.
- ”Upstate” refers to areas north of Westchester County. “Downtown” is south of Manhattan’s Canal Street.

Part 3

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Identifying Speech Style

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1
Look for a clipped but high-energy speech style. When a New Yorker meets a new person, they may tend to ask abrupt, rapid-fire questions in a very high or low pitch. To some people, this may come across as pushy or nosy.^{[7]
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- For example, a New Yorker may ask you, “What’s your name? Where ya from? Whaddya do for a living? Yeah, how’s that?”
- People from Brooklyn, for example, tend to have more of a laid-back delivery than those from the Bronx, who generally come across more tough.
New Yorkers tend to have a tone that is particularly tense or lax.^{[8]
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3
Observe whether the person is talkative. Consider whether they tend to replace silence with conversation. New Yorkers may make comments to strangers, particularly regarding general complaints.^{[12]
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- For example, a New Yorker may complain about the subway schedule or garbage collection to anyone nearby in public.
- New Yorkers may interrupt or talk over other people.

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What does "gotta" mean?

Donagan

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It means "got to" (the equivalent of "have to").

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What does "woddah" mean?

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This word is referring to "water." Many New Yorkers say it that way because they don't pronounce the letter R at the end of a word. They do say the R in the middle of a word and before a consonant.

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What does "fuhgeddaboudit" mean?

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"Forget about it" (or "never mind" or "don't worry about it").

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