History: Boston In The 1970s

Accent
The "Boston accent" is widely parodied in the U.S. as the speech of the Kennedys. It is non-rhotic (i.e., drops the "r" sound at the end of syllables unless the next syllable starts with a vowel) and traditionally uses a "broad a" in certain words, so "bath" can sound like "bahth". Boston English has many dialect words, such as "frappe", meaning "milkshake made with ice cream" (as opposed to other milkshakes). The accent originated in the non-rhotic speech of 17th century East Anglia and Lincolnshire.