Gapers Block published from April 22, 2003 to Jan. 1, 2016. The site will remain up in archive form. Please visit Third Coast Review, a new site by several GB alumni.
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Wednesday, April 24
Turns out native Chicagoans have a regional accent, and it's not marked by the rough consonants of the SNL "Superfans." Rather, according to a study by McGill PhD candidate Corrine McCarthy, it's the pronunciation of certain vowels that's unique to the area; scholars call it "the Northern Cities Shift." Get the abbreviated version from NewCity, or go crazy with IPA notation and footnotes at McCarthy's website.