Do People In Minesota Really Sound Like They Do In The Show Fargo

Do people in Minnesota actually talk like the characters of Fargo?

Yah, sher, ya betcha we do!Seriously, yes, there are people here that talk just like that. For most Minnesotans, though the accent is a bit more subtle.For example, in Minnesota, the word “bag” often sounds like “bayg.”“Roof” doesn’t rhyme with “goof” — it sounds like what a dog says: “ruff.”For “sure,” you will hear more “sher” than “shoor.”We also have some non-standard vocabulary.We call fizzy soft drinks “pop,” not “soda.”When it comes to any casserole-style recipe (you know: noodles, vegetables, Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom Soup), we call it “hot dish.”And maybe it’s because we’re sensitive about how we pronounce “bag,” but if it’s the paper or plastic kind in the grocery store, we’ll probably just call it a “sack.”

What do people think of Minnesotan accents?

Minnesota accents, you ask?There are no Minnesota accents. When you hear Bob Dylan or Prince or Garrison Keillor speak, do you hear an accent? I didn't think so.When you watch the Coen's Fargo, you do hear something that passes as a Minnesota accent, but most Minnesotans have only heard a few people from NW Minnesota actually say things like "you betcha." Now, there is clearly a Southern accent -- in fact, several, and a New York accent, and Boston. I lived for years in Chicago and hear a clear Chicago (Tschikago) accent, but nobody outside of rural Arkansas has actually ever looked at me to say, "Minnesota, right?" Minnesotans speak this Midwestern thing that is virtually unchanged from Decatur to Bismarck to  Beatrice, Nebraska. Remember Tom Brokaw? South Dakota. Tom Friedmann? Minnesota. John Belushi? Suburban Chicago. So, here's what Minnesotans think of Minnesota accents: they just don't exist.

How did the Minnesota accent originate?

Just look in any Minnesotan phone book and you will have your answer. Larsen, Olsen, Edgqvist, Schmidt, Miller/Mueller, etc. etc. etc.Minnesota was settled primarily by Scandinavian and German immigrants, for whom English was a second language. They left their mark in the (for other Americans) odd cadence and rhythm in how they speak, with more rounded vowels and an unusual sing-song, sprinkled with the occasional Scandinavian expressions like uff da! and a knack for dry understatement.The movie and TV series Fargo parodied the accent pretty mercilessly. So did A Prairie Home Companion. (The accent had it coming.) Seeing a British actor, Martin Freeman, do his take on the accent in Fargo Season One cracked me up to no end.What always annoyed me was that Minnesotans would get on my case for my Appalachian accent, not noticing how goofy their accent was, ya shure you betcha, heckuva deal there, Olaf. Some even had the gall to claim they had no accent at all. Hahahahahano.By the way, Minnesotans still occasionally eat lutefisk, which even the Norwegians think is insane. Right they are, too.

Do Canadians think Minnesota/Wisconsin accents sound similar to a Canadian accent?

Nope.We also have a bunch of accents, at least two per province, often more. I can hear the difference between Southern and Northern Alberta fairly often, though people do move around a good deal. I caught an earful when my family moved north, as I noticed my sister changing accents to fit the local sound.Ontario has four off the top of my head: Toronto, The Ottawa Valley Twang, a general rural accent, and one up north that incorporates some elements from Canadian French. There are probably more, like the cities in western Ontario.Quebec mostly speaks French of course, but there are several accents and dialects there, like Joual, which is a working class accent in just Montreal. There is the English Quebec accent as well.Newfoundland is another great example. There is the Labrador accent, one for St. Johns(called the townie accent, if I am not mistaken), and the Bayman accent. The farmers of the sea.

What would suprise you about Fargo, North Dakota?

A2A — What would surprise me about Fargo, having lived in North Dakota for over thirty years? Probably nothing.What would surprise a nonresident? Tops would probably be that no one in Fargo talks like they do in the movie Fargo. The accents in the film are stereotypical Minnesotan accents, not North Dakota. You will occasionally hear people talking like that (“Ya, yoo betcha.”) in small town northern and central Minnesota, not so much in North Dakota, which has a straight forward midwestern sound to it, with subtle Canadian influences (like “oot” instead of “out”,) depending on how far north in the state you are.

Why did Coen brothers name their movie Fargo, even though a very small part of the movie happens in the city of Fargo?

It's their twisted sense of humor. Like how they put that 'it was a story based on true events' in the beginning of the movie. (There was a person who actually did put a body in a wood chipper, but that was about all the reality there was to the story.) Most of the story doesn't even transpire in North Dakota but in a small town in Minnesota. If it is the same as the TV show, the town would be Bemidgi. It could also be sort of a joke about how small town people feel about large towns -- nothing good comes from them. The kidnappers come from Fargo and at least one of them is truly sociopathic. But the movie shows that small town "nice" people can do horrific things too, like Jerry Lundgard does. I think the first season of the TV show based on the movie, dwells on this aspect much more. You might remember that Marge goes to the big town of Minneapolis and is hit on by a delusional old classmate, which might seem tangential to the story, but it makes it even more funny.Life is really all jumbled up like Fargo if you think about it.