Mom's from Boston and Dad's from Brooklyn

Mom is really from Jamaica, Queens and Dad’s really from Bad Bergzabern, Germany – but you’d never know it. (Well, truth be told, when my mom met my dad she thought his accent was Irish. She grew up around tons of Irish people and yet was somehow unable to decipher the difference between “ach du lieber, gott” and “cheers, love” – but I digress.)

As long as I can remember, my mom has consistently said certain words with a strangely Boston-esque accent. Example:

Pop Tarts = Pop Tahts

Carnival = Cahnival

And dad’s not any easier… Even though he was transplanted from Germany to Richmond Hill, Queens, he somehow sounds like he’s from Brooklyn. Example:

Nurse = Noice

There is no way to determine why this is so. I have tried; it’s no use.