How do you say, “Merry, Mary, Marry”?  Do all three sound different to you?  They do to my sister-in-law, who grew up in South Jersey.  She recently posted a video of her saying them and indeed, when she says them, they do sound different.  But when I say them to myself, they all sound the same.

Here’s a video of me saying them, in context so you know which ones I mean.

Do my pronunciations sound the same to you?  Do these words sound the same or different to you when you say them to yourself?

Evidently, unless you grew up in Massachusetts, Long Island, or New Jersey, they are likely to sound different.

See this map to find the specifics for where you grew up.

Linguistics fun!

P.S. It took me three tries to make a video that felt only slightly awkward.  This is why I usually just post videos of my kids, not myself! 🙂