Is it just me? Or is it because I'm from California? Is it because my mother is an English Professor and the Dean of Humanities? What is my problem? (don't answer that - Lizzie says " you don't have to tell people they're fat - they already know") Anyway, I think it's hilarious about the way people from Utah talk. I didn't come up with this idea, I read about it, and I've added to it, after being here for almost 2 years. Ubonics, the way people talk in U-tah. It's like Ebonics but it's U-bonics for lack of a better word. Here is a start-up vocabulary list, in case you want to take up Ubonics and convert to the language as well as the religion of Utah, or perhaps you want to avoid this. Either way, after reading this, you will be either educated or entertained.
I chose the latter. (by the way, it is a little charming...to talk Ubonics, but it does make one sound a little inept, which makes it funny.)
ENGLISH vs. UBONICS
Heal - Hill "I see you're hilled up from your surgery" (Uh, ouch)
Steal - Still "Thou shalt not still" (that confuses the Primary kids)
Deal - Dill "I got a great DILL at the mall" (A pickle stand?)
Feel - Fill "I fill great!" (I don't even go there...)
Meal - Mill "Get three square mills a day" (that's a lot to take in..)
Sale - Sell "I'm having a yard sell today" (I've seen SIGNS spelled that way!)
Jail - Gel "Did you hear OJ is in GEL" (Yikes, is he ok?)
Fairytale - Fairytell (Is that what happens when someone "comes out"?)
Whale - Well "she's as fat as a WELL" (Round wide and deep?)
Sex Appeal- Sex Appell (I can't explain this one AT ALL)
Lord -Lard Q. Where can I find the Lard" A. In heaven. (not appropriate...)
Layton - Lay'en "He lives in Lay'en" (does that mean he's lazy layin' around?)
Cotton - Co'en "I have Co'en mouth" (isn't it CAUGHT IN your throat?) yikes.
Mountain - Mou'en (What? All I know is that they are EAST of here)
Ok folks, so next time you catch me speaking like this, it's either that I'm being slowly brainwashed or I'm just messin' with you, because I think it's funny. I do have to run now, and check and see if the MELL is here. Let me know if YOU have heard any more great words in Ubonics, so I can add them to the list. Don't send me CRICK, BATT-RY or SPA-CIAL I already know that's CREEK, BATTERY, and SPECIAL. Those were the first ones I learned. :)
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10 comments:
wow. so true....:) thats all I can say.
I have one, because I work at Sorenson Video Relay, I hear this one often... they don't pronounce the sor-en-son. It sounds like sorntson. (2 syllables, add the "T" sound) They do this ALL THE TIME!
I have another to add, and I'm afraid I'm VERY guilty of this one. (probably because my ROOTS are from SLC and Jordan area) I always say "or eltse" and I add the T in there. Lizzie catches me on it all the time. I have nothing ELTSE to say!
My sweet hubby is from rural Utah and it's even worse! He works for a city and tells me things about the mare...huh? a horse? No, the mayor...makes me crazy!
Wow, embarrassing, had to delete my comment for poor spelling...
I have another one:
A COUPLE MINUTES (intead of)
A COUPLE OF MINUTES
So I have one, that I catch myself doing all too much. It is ending questions with a preposition that really don't need one at all. Like "whe're you at?" when "where are you?" works just fine. There are other common phrases like it. Do other states say "Are you coming with?" which translates "Are you coming with me or us?"
I have another one! I know a lot of people that have roots in Utah that don't say "these", instead they say "this'un" or "that'un" (I suppose that's "this one" or "that one") I've also heard "these-un" and I think they meant "these ones", which I think are all grammatically incorrect. Still, they are funny.
I apologize. I apparently offended my son, in referenced to the U-bonics. My deepest regrets to anyone that was offended by this post.
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