Readers respond: Is the Boston accent dying?

A few weeks ago, the Globe’s Beth Teitell penned a piece heralding the death of the Boston accent.

Such a controversial pronouncement prompted a lot of thoughts, some of which readers shared with us via a “tip line” the Globe set up to collect thoughts about the story.

Here is a small sampling of those voicemails.

A warm Dunkin’ on a wicked cold day

" It’s sad to think that the Boston accent is disappearing. It’s like a warm Dunkin’ regular on a wicked cold day. It’s not something to learn in school, but I, for one, will make sure to keep the magic alive and pass it on to my grandkids when they are born in the future. Have a good day. Go Sox!"

What else would Ben and Matt talk about?

“I just wanted to say that the report of the death of the Boston accent is highly premature. And even so, if the accent was gone away forever, Ben and Matt Affleck would have nothing to talk about in the movies. Okay bye.”

At least I’m not from New York

“Good morning. I’m calling because I grew up in Boston. I grew up in Hyde Park and my children did not grow up in Boston, and they continue to this day to make fun of me when I talk. Matter of fact, years ago, I practiced as a nurse for 45 years in Boston at Children’s Hospital the majority of the time. And one of my colleagues told me one day that every time I opened my mouth, I sounded stupid because I had a Boston accent. And I told him every time he opened his mouth, he sounded like he was from New York, which was far worse than being stupid. I am not. I love my accent. My father was a firefighter in Boston. My mother grew up in Roxbury. We all had Boston accents. I haven’t been able to lose it, uh, and I do still park the car in Harvard yard. Have a great day.”

An ode to the Boston accent

“Hi, this is Daria Mondesir. I am from Roxbury where I grew up, and I have a poem I want to read to you about the Boston accent:

Our accent is disarming, but our spunk not so charming.

We’re nice as we can be

so sad about George’s tea.

Out of bed at half past six

grab onto your Duncan fix.

Check the piggybank for quarters,

drive the rotary like martyrs.

We’ll ask about your mother.

Don’t start about your brother.

We’ll help shovel out your car.

Pray your driving Worcester far.

We’ll drop our Rs if we wish.

Put Tartar sauce on our fish.

Three Martins to Victory

Love our Boston by the sea.

That’s the end of the poem. And I said I grew up in Roxbury. I’m helping take care of my hundred year old mom who also grew up in Boston, but now in California. And I’m African American and for some reason, I get the feeling that too many people think there are no African Americans with Boston Accents. I am one of them. Okay, bye."

Put me in a room with the kids I grew up with

" Yeah, I think you should make it clear that, you know, the accident comes and goes. You know, if you put me in a room with the kids I grew up with, it comes back instantly. So I really haven’t so much right now, but I could. Thanks for doing this."

My accent is a treasah

“Hi. I’m one of the few people I know who still drinks tonic. I, uh, I’m 84 years old. When I was in the Navy 60 odd years ago, people made fun, my shipmates made fun of my accent, and I tried to lose it. After I got out and came back home, I realized my accent was a treasure. So, uh, I’m not sure how strong it is now, but instead of, instead of trying to lose it, I cultivated it. Bye now.”

I learned to pronounce my Rs

“Yes, I have a suggestion or an opinion why the accent is disappearing: Because for years and years and years Boston was a very parochial city. But now, you know, Bostonians grow up, they move, they relocate to other parts of the country. And other people from other parts of the country, and, uh, students from around the world come here and settle here. So, you know, the Boston natives, uh, are are a... or the Boston area natives are a rare breed. I’m a Rhode Islander. I learned to pronounce my Rs when I started my career and traveled around the country in the world for 40 years and never looked back.”

Skepticism about this so-called linguist

“Hey, I just read this. So how are you doing? You know, I was just over at Harvard Yard. I did park the car, all this nonsense from this guy from, where is he from? Dartmouth linguist. What research is he talking about? He couldn’t have been talking to anybody from Boston. If he did, he’d understand that we’re all dying to hear what his real story is.”

Harvard sociologist weighs in

“Hi. It’s um, Dr. Jack Porter, I’m a sociologist at the Davis Center at Harvard. And I’ve noticed, uh, my students, I also have a real estate school on the side, and so I get a lot of different Boston.

Yeah, the accent is, um, is disappearing. Uh, once in a while when you hear it, it’s kind of jarring ‘cause it’s so, you know, so different and so, so Bostonian.

But yeah, I consider it as a teacher, by the time they get to college, you know, you don’t, you don’t hear it anymore. It’s kind of sad. I think it denotes working class, Whitey Bulger, you know, the mob, drinking culture, Southie, Whitey Bulger, racist.

And it’s not true! I mean, it really shouldn’t be that, but it does connotate low class, lower class, working class, and people wanna rise up socially, just want to get it to, you know, colleges and jobs, and especially elite colleges, they will lose that accent.

So we, we’ll be losing that accent, you know, very much in the future. You know, it’ll disappear. Except in movies maybe. So it’s very jarring. You know, when I hear it among some students, I rarely get right away, uh, Southie, uh, or Dorchester or anybody with an accent in my classes. I can’t remember any students."

I didn’t pay for a drink all night

The Boston accent is a very class-based accent in a way that other regional accents aren’t. But I will say having a Boston accent is a skill that is highly sought after in other cities. I was somewhere at a social gathering, I believe in Chicago, and they found out that I could, someone said, you’re from Boston, can you do an I Boston accent? I said, sure. And I didn’t have to pay for another drink that night because people just wanted to hear someone talk like they’d heard of the movies.