Column: We might not have accents, but speaking like a Californian can be hella tricky

It’s not that Californians have an accent that takes some getting used to, as in Boston, or the American South. On the contrary, the standard-issue California accent is about as plain, mainstream American English as you can get. But speaking like a Californian means something else, and for the people who come here from elsewhere, it can take some getting used to. For them, and many of the rest of us, the new little book, “Talk Like a Californian – a Hella Fresh Guide to Golden State Speak,” offers some guideposts. The author’s family has been here since the Gold Rush, which is why Colleen Dunn Bates writes it under the romantic pseudonym Helena Ventura.

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