Gongoozling ?

Tuesday night's rain storm was a big one.

It poured all night long and the front pond, which had been filled with only about 8    to 10 inches of water is now full to the brim which is about 20 inches up from the bottom.  

The front yard was a lake before morning. 

At 11:00 PM I padded into the kitchen to make a cup of Earl Grey and in the dark I watched rain cascading down in front of my kitchen window from the over-stuffed gutter above. 

Illuminated by the back porch light, it fell sparkling like streams of diamonds.  I couldn't stop looking at it and wished I knew how to photograph or record it.  My memory will have to suffice.

The tea was lovely and so was the episode of Rosemary and Thyme that I was watching called "The Gongoozlers".  I've seen it many times before but I always forget the endings anyway so , like Agatha Christie novels, I am always in for a surprise each time I see them!

What's a gongoozler you say?
 Gongoozler:
Line breaks: gon|gooz¦ler

Pronunciation: /ɡɒŋˈɡuːzlə

Meaning:early 20th century (originally denoting a person who idly watched activity on a canal); rare before 1970: perhaps from Lincolnshire dialect gawn and gooze 'stare, gape'.

It got me thinking of speech.
Americans over all speak an English closer to that of Shakespeare's time since we are cut off from England and those pronunciations survived.
 I discovered that in a book about the history of the English language.
For instance we still use the word platter while it is not used as much. if at all, in other English speaking countries.      And, some areas of the US still speak in a Shakespearean era dialect no longer heard anywhere else.   Tangier Island off the Carolina coast is one such place  and on Youtube you can hear their accents.
They will say Hoy Toyd for high tide.

What kind of accent do you have?
South Jersey is a completely separate state from North Jersey, or so we like to joke.
I have lived in both places but was born in the north.  I have traces of both in my speech but in university, a professor of speech was able to nail down my origin almost to the very town!
I never knew I had an accent!
North and South are separated by the Raritan River and bridge.
There is a shore south Jersey and there is the deeper south Jersey which is centered nearer to Philadelphia and the Delmarva accent prevails.
The accents you might have heard on the program Jersey Shore are not authentic. Not one of them was from New Jersey at all!
Here is a very funny video about Philly accents which can also be heard in western south Jersey, some parts of Delaware and etc.

I've heard the 'mayin' for mine from my mother and grandmother who were from the Schuylkill county area of Pennsylvania.

South Jersey Accent:  (From Wikipedia:)

Main article: Delaware Valley accent

South Jersey and some areas of Central Jersey are primarily within the Philadelphia dialect region. One recognizable feature of this is the pronunciation of /oʊ/ (the vowel in go) as [ɜʊ], and this can also be found elsewhere in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Delaware. The overwhelming majority of the state shares this dialect although New Jerseyans and Philadelphians are usually incorrectly depicted in cinema as having a New York City accent such as in the film Rocky. An example of a cinematic depiction of a correct Philadelphian accent is in the film The Sixth Sense. (Because Bruce Willis is from South Jersey)
Visitors to South Jersey will notice the following usages standard in the Delaware Valley:

  Hoagie: This usual term for what might elsewhere be called a submarine sandwich.(Best place for hoagies/subs is in Bruce Willis' hometown too!)
   Wooder: the first vowel in the word water is rhymed with that of the verb put.
   Jimmies: used to refer to the chocolate or rainbow variety of sprinkles used on cakes and ice cream. The term is also used in the Boston and Baltimore areas but is uncommon in North Jersey.
  Joors: A slurred pronunciation of Drawers can be rhymed with doors.
  Tail: A common pronunciation of "towel" which sounds almost identical to the common pronunciation of "tail."

How do I say words?
 Cawfee for coffee.       Chawklet for chocolate.
Waw-der  for water (think Elisabeth Shue, also from New Jersey, in The Saint, one of my favorite movies. I highly recommend it.) It is an aww sound not an ahhh sound.
Tawk  for talk.
We say Fawther for father when in a hurry.   Melk for milk when speaking quickly as well.
Jeet yet? No Jew? (did you eat yet? no did you?)
All  of those words are common in all New Jersey not just north or south.
South Jerseyans know how to say Forked River.  (Fork-ED River as you would say the word 'jagged' as in jagged edge)
 We called sports shoes or gym shoes 'sneakers'.

We call the wagon you buy groceries in a 'shopping cart'.

We call bubbly fizzy drinks like Coca Cola 'soda'.  In Ohio when I was in the university they called it 'pop' and what we call stockings (panty hose) they called 'hose'.
They said 'sack' but we say 'bag'.

How about you?  Any particular words or phrases unique to your area? What is your accent?