Can't Shake the Long Island Accent
by Anonymous
(Former Long Islander)
I grew up on Long Island, and lived there for over 30 years. A few years ago I moved to the Midwest, where I am constantly asked about my accent. For some reason I get annoyed if someone asks if I am from Boston.
I had no idea how pronounced our Long Island accent was, until I moved. Why do we drop the R’s, and say rememba instead of remember? Why do we say motha instead of mother? Yet we throw an 'R' at the end of the word idea, making it idear?
Long Islanders, and New Yorkers in general, have this respect, which I don't think a lot of us realize. We are tougher, harder, and more direct than most people outside of the area. New York is extremely competitive.
There are so many little details of Long Island that I miss, such as the Greek diners that are open 24 hours, and order a gyro not a yero and have the waitress write it down, without correcting my pronunciation.
I miss the pizzerias that sell pizza by the slice... yes; they are rare outside of New York! And don't think you can walk into a pizza place outside of NY, and ask for a pie. They'll hand you their dessert menu. Don't forget to mention to cut the pizza (not pie) into slices! Otherwise, you'll get it cut into squares... yes, a round pie cut into squares. I don't get it either.
It took me 3 months to find a bagel shop that had lox on the menu. I had to drive 40 minutes from my house to find it, and it really wasn't the same. They looked at me funny for ordering an onion bagel with lox and a schmear. I confused the hell out of them, they said nobody ever orders the “smoked salmon.”
I ordered a soda, they brought me pop. I looked for a Carvel, they have Dairy Queens (I can't complain - DG is GREAT!) I go for a burger, they go for a Sonic. I said to the waiter, “where's my freakin water,” (with a smile of course) I get kicked out for disorderly conduct.
I miss it when I'm not there, and when I go back to visit, I can't stand it!
Long Island is a world on its own.
