I like most of the items you link to at your site but the comment about accents really rubs the wrong way. You come off like a speech bigot.

Being a fellow "Midlander", I thank the internet and comprehensive 13-question quizzes for confirming my colloquial superiority against the Bahstin, New Yawk, and Bawlmer accents. Funny talking ju-ju bunnies, I just can't get enough of you all...

Susan, I know you weren't being funny, but the term "speech bigot" is awesome on the face of it. Thank you for reading, and please continue reading.

While I think the New Jersey and Staten Island accents are horrible, I am absolutely amazed by them, and could listen to them forever. There is something otherworldly about them, which sets them apart from the Boston Brahman accent or southern accents.

I really do enjoy the variegation of culture, language, idiosyncrasies, and accents which the USA has to offer. The best part of travelling often entails just listening to people.

Grubbykid: Your word choice (variegation rather than variety; 'entails' rather than 'is') indicates insecurity. Please realize that accents, like points of view, are relative. To the ears of Staten Islanders, they way you speak probably sounds odd ("ranks up there with one of the worst") as well. And are you saying that the regional accents of Hawaiians or Alaskans are worse than those of Staten Islanders? Or are you just talking to hear your head rattle?

Anti-Bluster: I'm not going to apologize for word choice. I am fully aware that my accent sounds strange and funny to those outside the region we all grew up. But that is the fun of the US and A: if we can't laugh at ourselves, then who can we really laugh at. How insecure are you about your accent?

Like I said above: I have a love/hate relationship with SI and NJ accents; they are both sincerely wonderful and ear-splitting at the same time. That is why I'm fascinated with them.

Not to jump in to something I could care less about, but I should point out to the GK that you were laughing not at yourself, but at someone else. And yes, I know you meant "ourselves" in the larger picture. In any case, you should understand how some people might get touchy when joking about an aspect that they were more or less born into.

Well, isn't THIS a little piss-party!

Laughing at other people is great. If you don't think so, it's because you get laughed at all the time, and that's probably because you're a loser.

Just sayin'.

There was nothing to get touchy about in grubby's original post. If you HAVE an SI or NJ accent, you're well aware of how your accent is perceived by the general populace, and you've made youre peace with that. If you don't, and you're still offended, then you are too sensitive and should stay out of other people's business.

JW - So does your logic apply to all such circumstances? Does this mean that as a black man, I should be aware of how I am perceived, and if I am not okay with that, it means I'm too sensitive? That's bullshit.

If you want to laugh at others (due to differences) fine. But if they kick your ass because they find you to be an arrogant bigot, don't be so surprised.

susan is most enjoying this thread!

I'm fine with someone kicking my ass, just not whining in my face like a baby because their "feewings got huwted".

My logic applies to all circumstances past, present, and future. Thick accented Jerseyites and Swedish Chefs may break my bones, but words on a weblog will never hurt me.

There's a difference between being an arrogant bigoted jerk and a bleeding heart wuss-ass liberal crybaby. I'd like to think I fall somewhere in the middle, seeing as I don't kowtow to PC nonsense, yet I've never committed a hate-crime.

I've been lucky enough to grow up in incredibly diverse communities that saw no racial prejudice, gender bias, accent prejudice (get real, people),or class discrimination. One of the biggest benefits of being a child of a soldier is that army bases have thousands of different people rallying around a common cause- and for some reason, it seems that when people can see a unified goal, they tend not to hate each other because of trivial bullshit like samantics, jokes, and casual musings on personal websites. I've not been on a base in a while, I'm not a fan of what the military's been put up to at the moment, but I'd already taken that message to heart long ago.

So get off it- the world is what you make of it, not what someone else insists you make of it.

so, after all this we have arrived at the previously defined conclusion that grubby kid is a speech bigot? you speech profiler you.....