“JEET?” These 10 Cringey NJ Pronunciations Sound Like Nails on a Chalkboard
"Jeet? Cause I'm unna go wawk the doo-awg and then go the deli to axe if they have any gabagool left like I seen yesterday."
Did you get any of that? Then you're from New Jersey. But it didn't sound very pretty, did it!!?
We New Jerseyans have many colorful, unique ways to say the easiest, most commonplace words, like water, ask, drawer, you, and coffee. But if we were to say some of them to somebody from the West Coast for instance, they'd be like "...What??" Which is a valid response.
Because let's be honest... As endearing and uniquely Jersey these words and pronunciations can be, some of them sound just downright awful!
It drives me bananas when I hear someone say "I seen" instead of "I saw". Or when someone wants to "axe" a question. Agh!!
As someone born and raised in South Jersey, I'm guilty of some of these too, as much as I don't want to admit it! One time I was talking to my friend from Florida and then she interrupted me, saying "Wait, hold on... say 'water' again?" When I did, she laughed at me!
I came across a thread on the New Jersey subreddit called "What cringe-worthy NJ grammar/pronunciation issue do you hate the most?" And the responders popped off!
I perused through the thread and found some of the most popular answers. Youse ready?
Here Are 10 Cringe-Worthy NJ Pronunciations
What do you think? What other New Jersey words/pronunciations drive you crazy? Let us know in the comments!