The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon / NBC
To many Americans, the Boston accent is as indiscernible as someone speaking English with a thick Scottish accent. Drop someone from Birmingham, Alabama onto a bar stool in South Boston and they’ll be fighting for their lives trying to keep up with the conversation.
The Boston accent was forged primarily by early settlers originating from Southeast England (East Anglia) who commonly drop the ‘r’ in words. Over time, as the city of Boston grew it took on a life of its own and the accent was seen as a status badge which led to many other early settlers/Americans in and around Boston adopting the accent and then it just grew from there.
Two Guys From Boston (Ben Affleck and Matt Damon) On How To Pronounce Massachusetts Town Names
On the most recent episode of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy who born in Brooklyn and raised in Saugerties, NY and went to college in Albany but somehow has a strong Boston legacy thanks to starring in Fever Pitch, joined Ben Affleck and Matt Damon for a video on how to pronounce Massachusetts town and city names.
The video titled “Three Guys from Boston Say Every Town and City in Massachusetts” is thus a misnomer as Jimmy is not at all from Boston even if he has a spot-on Boston accent. But I digress…
For those among us who are completely baffled by Massachusetts town and city names, which often trace their roots to native tribes of the Northeast, Ben Affleck and Matt Damon are here to help you. In this clip they pronounce every town and city name in Massachusetts.
Having sat through a taping of Fallon before, when the crowd loudly booed Matt Damon all I could think about was how set up that was. They must’ve had someone come out and really prime the crowd, telling them when the ‘applause’ sign lights up for Matt to actually boo as loud as they possibly could. Matt knew it was coming… And it was still hilarious nonetheless.
Now I need to see Jimmy and company do this for Florida. Sure, we don’t have the same hilarious accents as Boston. Maybe he could pepper in a Newfoundland video first because they have the most asinine accents in North American IMHO.
But Florida town names are… special. Seeing Ben Affleck and Matt Damon (and Jimmy) attempt to pronounce names like Kissimmee, Okahumpka, Wacahoota, Weeki Wachee, Apalachicola, Micanopy, and Wewahitchka would make for enjoyable viewing. Heck, if anyone wants to just film a ‘man on the street’ style video asking strangers to try and pronounce these town names I’d happily watch.