Boston Brahmin accent

The Boston Brahmin accent is a New England accent associated with the Boston Brahmins and is therefore quite different from the accent associated with most working-class Bostonians.

Examples of people with this accent include Charles Eliot Norton,^[1] Henry Cabot Lodge, Leverett Saltonstall, John Brooks Wheelwright,^[2] Katharine Hepburn,^[3] George C. Homans,^[4] Robert Lowell, McGeorge Bundy,^[5] Elliot Richardson,^[6] William F. Buckley, Jr.,^[7] George Plimpton,^[8] and John Kerry.^[9][10]

In popular culture, use of the accent often denotes stereotypes such as pretentiousness or snobbery. Users of this accent include the characters Charles Emerson Winchester on M*A*S*H, Thurston Howell III on Gilligan's Island, Walter Gaines on Cheers, Tracks on Transformers, and George Feeny on Boy Meets World. The accent bears some similarities to the Mid-Atlantic accent, as well as a greater New York exaggeration known as Locust Valley lockjaw.

References

1. Barbara W. Tuchman (31 August 2011). Proud Tower. Random House Digital, Inc. p. 115. ISBN 978-0-307-79811-4. Retrieved 3 April 2012.
2. Alan M. Wald (1983). The revolutionary imagination: the poetry and politics of John Wheelwright and Sherry Mangan. UNC Press Books. p. 93. ISBN 978-0-8078-1535-9. Retrieved 3 April 2012.
3. Robert Blumenfeld (1 December 2002). Accents: A Manual for Actors. Hal Leonard Corporation. p. 171. ISBN 978-0-87910-967-7. Retrieved 3 April 2012.
4. A. Javier Treviño (April 2006). George C. Homans: history, theory, and method. Paradigm Publishers. p. vii. ISBN 978-1-59451-191-2. Retrieved 11 September 2012.
5. Jacob Heilbrunn (6 January 2009). They Knew They Were Right: The Rise of the Neocons. Random House Digital, Inc. p. 85. ISBN 978-1-4000-7620-8. Retrieved 3 April 2012.
6. William Thaddeus Coleman; Donald T. Bliss (26 October 2010). Counsel for the situation: shaping the law to realize America's promise. Brookings Institution Press. p. 43. ISBN 978-0-8157-0488-1. Retrieved 3 April 2012.
7. Healy, Patrick (3 September 2009). "A Mannah of Speaking". The New York Times. p. 1.
8. Larry Gelbart; Museum of Television and Radio (New York, N.Y.) (1996). Stand-up comedians on television. Harry N. Abrams Publishers. p. 14. ISBN 978-0-8109-4467-1. Retrieved 3 April 2012.
9. Bill Sammon (1 February 2006). Strategery: How George W. Bush Is Defeating Terrorists, Outwitting Democrats, and Confounding the Mainstream Media. Regnery Publishing. p. 103. ISBN 978-1-59698-002-0. Retrieved 11 September 2012.
10. http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/explainer/2004/03/whats_a_boston_brahmin.html

• Alvarez, Louis; Kolker, Andrew, American Tongues, IMDb.
• Metcalf, Allan (2002). How We Talk: American Regional; English Today. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. p. 74. ISBN 978-0-618-04362-0.

External links

• Two Boston Brahmins converse, from the documentary American Tongues
• Boston Brahmin Accent Sample: "Park your car in Harvard Yard"
• Boston Brahmin Accent Sample: "The law is very formal and strict in that regard"