Wicked Sad: Boston Accent Somehow Ranked Most Annoying in America

For the first 18 years of my life, I had no idea I spoke with a heavy Boston accent. It made perfect sense because my mom grew up in Everett, my dad in Malden. Both cities were just a stone's throw from the Tobin Bridge.

Everyone around me spoke with the accent, but my mom's is so thick that it's almost British. She'll pronounce bath like "baaaaath" (as in a sheep's "baa").

When I went away to Syracuse to study broadcasting, I quickly learned that my use of "wicked' along with inserting "R" where it doesn't belong and eliminating it where it does belong could become problematic if I wanted a serious career in media.

Even though I thought Rahjuh Clemens from the Red Sawx was wicked good, I had to start paying closer attention to my speech. My mother thought it was blasphemous.  She looked at it like me becoming someone I wasn't. But if I wanted to be on the air in Syracuse (which I desperately did) I had to stop sounding like a kid from Summahville.

It's a good thing I did. It turns out that the Boston accent has only become more and more offensive to those who live outside of 617, 508 or 978 area codes.  In fact, in a brand new study from Highland Titles, a Scottish real estate company, no other accent was more annoying to Americans than the Boston accent. Unfortunately, it also led the league as the least attractive male accent.

That being said, the poll also showed that the Boston accent sounded the most assertive and confident.

Looking for an accent that portrays intelligence and sophistication? Learn to speak with a British accent.