Where Have All the Yinzers Gone?

One question we hear a lot from current AND former Pittsburghers is: "Where are all the yinzers on STBD?"

For those of you who've never graced our fair city, "yinzer" is a term lovingly applied to a subsection of the local populace. It's based upon the colloquialism "yinz," which is Pittsburghese for "y'all."

Yinzers tend to be hard-working, blue-collar, lifelong diehard Steelers fans (or "Stillers," if you speak the lingo). The most defining characteristic is the dialect, and it's that accent that's as inseparable from local Pittsburgh culture as the linguistics heard in Minnesota, Buffalo, Texas, Boston, Los Angeles... really, in most other major population centers.

So: where ARE the yinzers on STBD?

Simple answer: we've never had one, and we probably never will. At least, not on purpose.

Believe it or not, most of the STBD cast are native Pittsburghers. And yet, you've never heard Leo, Caroline or Liz utter a drop of Pittsburghese. That's because they never picked it up during their formative years -- and, even if they did, they lost it during dialect classes in college.

About the closest we've come to a "yinzer" accent comes from Rob Stone, who plays Rich's infrequently-seen lawyer Alex. But we're not going out of our way to play up that angle, mainly because we refuse to believe Pittsburgh should be defined by its dialect. It's the same reason some folks thought Fargo was a negative reflection on the northern midwest: people trapped in that speech pattern tend to come across as "yokels."

We like to think STBD represents a more universally engaged version of Pittsburgh. We think we can accurately portray the denizens of the city without resorting to accents as cultural shortcuts.

Now... if we could only do something about the diversity of our cast... (Though, some might argue, a lack of diversity is also, sadly, an accurate depiction of Pittsburgh...)