park the car in Harvard Yard

English

Alternative forms

• pahk the cah in Hahvahd Yahd

Pronunciation

• (Boston) IPA: /ˈpaːk ðə ˈkaː.ɹ‿ɪn ˈhaːvəd ˈjaːd/
• (GenAm) IPA: /ˈpɑɹk ðə ˈkɑɹ ɪn ˈhɑɹvɚd ˈjɑɹd/

Phrase

park the car in Harvard Yard

1. (idiomatic) A sentence used to illustrate that the Boston accent is non-rhotic; typically pronounced "pahk the cah in Hahvad Yahd".
   • 1998, Walt Wolfram, Natalie Schilling-Estes, American English: Dialects and Variation [1]

     ... for “Park the car in Harvard Yard.” Interestingly, one of the most stereotypically r—less ... pahk the cah 'park the car' as you shape your answer.

   • 2000, Allan A. Metcalf, How We Talk: American Regional English Today [2]

     The "New England broad a"   Park the car in Harvard Yard. That saying is a well-known test for New England pronunciation. If you say "Pahk the car in Hahvahd Yahd," ...

   • 2003, Kim Grant, Boston: With Cape Cod & New England Getaways. [3]

     The Boston dialect is famous for broad-vowel English; Pahk the cah in Hahvahd Yahd (translation: Park the car in Harvard Yard) is the common illustration of the peculiar 'r.'