You know that accent you hear in old films from the 30s and 40s that’s “not faux-British, but it’s a particular kind of lah-dee-dah American diction?” This piece ponders the prevalence and subsequent demise of that particular sound—apparently known as the Transatlantic or Midatlantic accent.
You can reflect on its demise yourself, as you watch the embedded “Wings Over The Golden Gate” clip, listening to its narrator talk about Market Street, The Embarcadero, and Chinatown, in that strange, extinct, la-dee-dah fashion.
