The Boston accent has long been notorious. Now, it’s notoriously sexy.
That’s according to a new survey by travel company Big 7, anyway, whose 1.5 million social media followers ranked Boston’s signature accent the second-sexiest in the United States.
Apparently imitation is the greatest form of flattery, with Big 7 calling their second-place winner “one of America’s most imitated and parodied accents.” According to the website, those parodies ring true. “Locals really do say ‘pahk yuh cahr in hahvuhd yahd.’” Charming!
While the news was flattering for Bostonians, not everyone was convinced by the city’s new honor.
“Did a Boston accent write this?” tweeted comedian Blaine Capatch on Twitter in response to NBC10 Boston’s coverage of the survey.
“Even the Boston accent itself knew it couldn’t get away with first place,” replied actor Andy Richter.
Even the Boston accent itself knew it couldn’t get away with first place
— Andy Richter (@AndyRichter) May 15, 2019
While one twitter user suggested the top designation must belong to “any other accent,” Boston actually fell to Texas, whose slow drawl nabbed the number-one spot. “Who can resist a slow, Texan drawl?” wrote Big 7, who described the winning accent as a “Southern accent with a twist, with strong ‘r’s and plenty of ‘Howdy’s.’”
New York, Maine and Chicago rounded out the top five, and Philadelphia somehow managed to pull a surprising top 10 appearance.
“General American,” or the no-accent accent, the kind you’re most likely to hear on TV, came in at a modest 32. Big 7 called the standard intonation “slightly boring but nicely inoffensive,” and pointed to Stephen Colbert (a D.C. native) as a prime example.
So who has the least sexy accents? While New York nailed a number three ranking, its Long Island neighbors didn’t fare half so well. The Long Island accent came in dead last, even beating Jersey as the country’s least sexy accent. Yikes.
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