Oh, your reply was so great. I learned a lot from you, as usual. I hate the way I sound, especially on a digital recording. I am originally from Portland, Oregon, and New Yorkers often lament how we all sound as if we're stoned most of the time
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We speak very slowly, and it sounds almost like a California surfer accent, but not quite.
I now live in the US desert southwest, where a lot of people ask me, "Where are you from?"
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When I was a kid, I would say "pop," but now that I've lived in the Southwest so long, I say "soda."