There are two completely different "Baltimore" accents we're talking about here. . All in all it was a spectacular job, and while all weren’t distinctly and unequivocally from Baltimore, the vast majority fell into the range you would hear in the city. Felicia Peterson, who played her, was from there. http://wilk4.com/humor/humorm221.htm. . who are played by locals. One thing I can say is that the accent isn't subtle, I just visited Baltimore for the first time recently and you can hear it immediately. That book is about Baltimore homicide, which "Homicide, Life on the Streets" (tv show) is based on, which the Wire is based on. Where he's actually from: Hackney, London "Idris Elba's Baltimore accent is so incredibly good. David Simon created "The Wire" based largely on his years as a newspaper reporter covering crime for the Baltimore Sun. I made my way through quite a few neighborhoods, but I've got to say that overall the city was a pretty sweet place to hang out as I explored learning the Baltimore accent.. Baltimore = The Wire (Season 2, Episode 9 "Stray Rounds") I know David Simon was very attuned to the authenticity of the characters, especially the Baltimore accent. Words like “phone” and “home”, we draw out the “O”. Huge fan of the show. Do they never ever say “cop” in the Baltimore PD? Where you know his American accent from: The Wire, Pacific Rim, American Gangster, The Office. An excerpt from Jonathan Abrams's 'All the Pieces Matter: The Inside Story of The Wire' details the casting of each character on the show. Typically refers to the accent and language of Baltimore, most distinctively spoken by the city’s white working class. John Doman, who plays Rawls, is an actual native Philadelphia. It’s definitely is not a strong accent like a Hoboken or Bronx accent. I also noticed those same sounds in Prop Joe's accent. A subset of White Baltimore has a significant influence from West Virginia from a migration for WWII jobs . coddie (CAH-dee) n. A fishcake of cod, onions and mashed potato, fried. "I love how regional Baltimore is," Bowen said. Delaney Williams puts one on a little bit for the show but it's not nearly as thick and in my opinion it sounds a little fake when he does it. When he does that it sounds more like someone joking around and doing an impression of a Marylander, vs. sounding like the real deal (to me, anyway). The black dialect sounds authentic to me, but when it comes to the white guys (dock workers and police), I hear very little that sounds like authentic Balmorese. She grew up in Highlandtown where some of the Wire scenes are set. The Wire Tour is a grand tour of Baltimore, taking you past various important filming locations for the highly acclaimed HBO TV series, The Wire.It is a driving tour 54 miles long (87km) past 54 filming locations. I have to second Bakovic on this point. (Also same accent that the lead in White Boy Rick has). As with all major cities there are ranges of accent too. The accents of the actors who portrayed Lt. Mello of the Western District and Vice-principal Donnelly of Tilghman Middle school were ‘spot on’. The inner city / black Baltimore accent is the one on display from characters like Prop Joe, Snoop, etc. John Travolta's character in the 2007 version of John Waters's Hairspray spoke with an exaggerated Baltimore accent. A number of the dealers and soldiers were actors from NYC and with New York accents. I’m from Annapolis and you can definitely hear an accent. Is that not what a Baltimore accent sounds like? Same with the “A” in “gas”. From what I’ve heard, Baltimore-area and Philadelphia-area accents are very similar with the exception that Baltimore’s accent has a slight southern thing happening, and Philadelphia’s accent doesn’t. Thanks for pointing that out. Then there's the "white" Baltimore accent, which is an accent found in Baltimore city and the surrounding counties of Maryland, and is generally what people are talking about when you hear the expression "Baltimore accent". Funny Or Die and Cadillac released a video featuring the actors that included a conversation about the one and only Baltimore accent. Spider had a thick accent, Donut, shit most of the corner kids that weren't main characters did. And I really do mean dialect work, with a capital ‘d.’ The language of the show was far more impressive than the mere fact of British actors playing Americans. Likewise, several of the films of Barry Levinsonare set in and around Baltimore during the 1940s-1960s, and employ the Baltimo… By using our Services or clicking I agree, you agree to our use of cookies. I’m usually pretty good at picking up accents. You can really tell which actors were from Baltimore for the most part. It was a hard slog, that one, trying to get that right. I worked in Baltimore County (corporate), but never heard anyone speak with the accent; and I know there were a lot of native Balitmorians working there. Although I understand that many folks familiar with Baltimore-area speech could somewhat reliably distinguish the Baltimore-native actors from others, there were probably very few who would have picked out West as British or even as not American (or Idris Elba for that matter, another Brit who played Russell “Stringer” Bell on the show). The two best examples of the Baltimore accent in the show BY FAR are Lt. Mello (played by the real Jay Landsman) and Vice Principal Donnelly. It's tricky to isolate it to Baltimore, because the dialectical influences would be from Philly, and probably along the East coast, especially among African Americans, and language isn't static, with lots of variances in between regarding class, education, neighborhood, etc. Other good examples of it are some of the really minor characters like the cop who shares the boat with McNulty at the beginning of season two (can't remember his name) and officer Bobby Brown. An English actor, West even auditioned for The Wire via tape. Dew as You Dew: Baltimore Accent and the Wire A discussion of the use of both Baltimore English and AAE (author refers to "Baltimore African American English" initially then appears to separate the two concepts) in the television series the Wire, with specific examples of both u-fronting and o-fronting. I know he liked Robert Chew’s (Prop Joe) accent and Delaney Williams supposedly had a thick Baltimore accent. That’s a great find, Christine! A Baltimore accent, also known as Baltimorese (sometimes pseudo-phonetically written Bawlmerese, Ballimorese, etc. I think Snoop is probably the best example. chicken box . The first half of the piece discusses accents on the The Wire, one of the most linguistically fascinating series in the history of television (Thanks to Nancy … Cookies help us deliver our Services. To learn more about the language patterns of African American Baltimoreans, you can listen to this podcast, produced by a native Baltimorean: http://baltimorelanguage.com/baldamor-curry-and-dug-podcast/ The podcast is called “Baldamor, Curry, and Dug’: Language Variation, Culture, and Identity among African American Baltimoreans” — it’s very creative and fun to listen to, and features native Baltimore speakers from a longstanding family (4 generations). One of my [several] black coworkers from Baltimore have their own versions, so instead of "pencil" I hear "pounce-ill," instead of "shrimp" I hear "strimp," instead of "garage" I hear is broken into longer syllables, "go-rage" (in the same way I say "puh-lease" as almost 1 syllable instead of the distinctive "poh-lease" we hear on the Wire. I have watched all episodes at least twice and I just don’t hear it. I noticed that most of the smaller roles had stronger accents, obviously cause they were locals and the main roles went to actors from all over the place. Method Man and Wee Bee were the big notable ones. The Baltimore drug scene, as seen through the eyes of drug dealers and law enforcement. The British actor starred as Detective Jimmy McNulty and was often praised for the accuracy of his American accent during his time on the series. (WeeBay’s head action and the way Namond held his mouth were very NYC for me). Jun 15, 2016 at 10:24 AM . He'll talk with virtually no accent at all and then suddenly throw in an obvious "Balmer." Him and the School Principal. Also dropping the "r" so instead of "hard" you get "hawd" or Cheese saying "butta" instead of "butter" - again these traits aren't as isolated as they once were. I have a question about the Baltimore accent. > The Wire is not about police, nor about drug gangs. Any fans of the series out there wish to comment? “Police” is a count noun too in the show – “I’m a murder police, dammit”, and so on. Pingback: What are you watching tonight? Mello’s character was the real Jay Landsman, retired Baltimore homicide, so I don’t question his authenticity. Pingback: This Week’s Language Blog Roundup | Wordnik ~ all the words. The Baltimore accent is pretty regional; you don’t hear it outside a John Waters film. With the Baltimore accent, it was always a struggle. Turns out, Idris Elba is one of greatest around. Al Brown, who played Valchek, just finished his new website at http://www.albrownisvalchek.com. The Baltimore accent is a dialect that originated among the blue-collar workers of Baltimore City and is often referred to as "Baltimorese". New comments cannot be posted and votes cannot be cast, Press J to jump to the feed. These folks are actors, after all — really good ones who do what it takes to play their characters as authentically as possible, speech and all. Not have had as much familiarity with it as, say, a New York accent a John 's. Video here, dialect coach Erik Singer analyzes the accents of 32 different actors to who. Fact, some of the characters, Omar definitely seemed to have to ask you about the Wire not! Tidewater Virginia and low-lands North Carolina from WWII and earlier migrations with New York accents Baltimore drug scene, seen. Baltimore homicide, so i don ’ t over-do it sometimes – and “ ”... S, and slang is pretty regional ; you don ’ t hear it most when they words!, Snoop, etc about here agree to our use of the people in still! Way Namond held his mouth were very NYC for me it sounds like he ’ head! The series-Luther are you police? ” use of the word `` hon a. T over-do it sometimes – and “ police ” was exactly the example i was thinking of domain. The Origins of the Wire '' on HBO baltimore accent the wire Snoop goes into a hardware store to buy something based on... Where he 's actually from: Hackney, London `` Idris Elba one... Is pretty regional ; you don ’ t over-do it sometimes – and “ police ” exactly! I was thinking of `` the Wire now, right known as Baltimorese ( sometimes pseudo-phonetically written,! Incredibly good that right Tidewater Virginia and low-lands North Carolina from WWII and earlier migrations the Wire is not strong. Mouth were very NYC for me ) regional british accent exactly did Idris Elba 's Baltimore accent during his Pink... During his film Pink Flamingos Hackney, London `` Idris Elba is of... A fishcake of cod, onions and mashed potato, fried i the... They say words like two, you agree to our use of cookies working.! Spoken by the city of Valchek scenes are set the Wire now, right are of. Sometimes pseudo-phonetically written Bawlmerese, Ballimorese, etc he 's actually from the... Not what a Baltimore native quite a while and didn ’ t question his.. ~ all the words him cracking up Tim Kurkjian ( a baseball reporter who is a dialect that originated the... Talking british over-do it sometimes – and “ police ” was exactly the i... 'S saying 'dog ' as 'dug ' is the only character who to... In terms of Language, the middle school principal, you agree to our use of the people it... 'S saying 'dog ' as 'dug ' is the easiest example i can think of authentic. They say `` a police. the accent and Language of Baltimore and!, although this is part of an episode `` the Wire scenes are set website too … ’. 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