ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the idea that local dialect is performed when taking particular stances. It shows that what it means for performers to create a 'working-class' identity through dialect. The chapter also shows how the actors in videos use a prosodic pattern typical of Pittsburgh speech – the falling question intonation – for particular stance work. This is a particular kind of stance in which the speaker asks a question that is not really question; in fact, it is often absurd. But it shows the kind of oppositional stance that enregisters a particular working class 'Yinzer' persona. The chapter analyses the videos that are part of a YouTube series called Greg and Donny, most of which are under five minutes. If the goal of the videos is humor, for the most part this humor works through the recognition of particular routines and types of people in Pittsburgh who use Pittsburghese.
