Our main objectives in watching the American Tongues videotape were to:

1. Hear different dialects and accents of spoken American English
2. Hear what value judgments are associated with these by people from other dialect regions
3. Identify certain regional, stereotypical or other terms of reference (e.g. "schlep")

Key Terminology (Chronological order as terms appear in the tape)

• "Pennsylvania Dutch" = 'Deutsch' = German influence; 'dutchified' (cf. also 'Dutchmen' from the Ethnic Stereotypes listing)
• "just like Walter Cronkite" = CBS TV national news anchor of the 1960s-1990s = 'network standard' English.
• "Buckeye" = resident of Ohio, the 'Buckeye State'
• Appalachian dialect (cf. Appalachian mountains and stereotypes)
• Regional foods: 'Pastrami' (NYC/Jewish/Italian); 'kishka, knish, bialys' (NYC/Jewish/Russian); 'hush puppies' (Southern, deep-fried cornmeal and onion balls, often served with fried catfish); 'peanuts and 'taters' (South); 'Jambalaya' (New Orleans/Louisiana okra/fish-based stew); 'cabinet' (= milkshake in Rhode Island); 'ice tea' (esp. South, Midwest, but general American cf. British)
• Register status in "Yale, Southern boyfriend & Faulkner/Capote image" vs reality of prejudices against 'Southern dialect' (see also Cajun Man Explains the Scene of a Crime [YouTube] and Why Do People in New Orleans Talk That Way? (Sheidlower) vs. A Louisiana Christmas). Compare this to the New England 'French' influence in Mike the Vermont Corn Maze Guy [YouTube].
• Hudson and Mississippi Rivers used as linguistic dividing lines
• Cartoon-character reference: Palookaville ('Joe Palooka', Al Capp, "Li'l Abner")
• Well-known local place names: Fenway (Park=Baseball), Borscht Belt
• Other character/category references: Will Rogers, Huck Finn, 'White trash'
• Varying dialects/sociolects within many metropolitan areas, such as with the Boston 'Brahmins' (cf. John Kerry) who discuss Dickens, vs 'Chris fucked up big time' in Boston's 'South Side'
• Or, lexical differences in other cities, such as 'gumband' in Pittsburgh — see also the 'Pittsburghese' website (and VOA Radio Program [MP3] on 'Pittsburghese').
• Other regional dialects and how they are perceived: compare A Texas Accent Could Help You Land a Job with Teaching With a Kentucky Accent
• For more on spoken dialect, see the American English Speech Samples Index