This evening on the way home I heard on NPR (Natl. Public Radio) a report on a campaign to buy Robert Frost's house and property from its current owner and make it a museum. This concluded with a recording, made in the late 1930's, of Frost reading Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening. I was struck by how much his New England accent (I've never heard such a heavy NE accent) resembled comtemporary British. He pronounced "queer" as "queah", just like a Pom. Of course, the soft, unvoiced 'r' is characteristic of the New England (Boston vicinity) accent, but there were other similarities to British pronunciation which I've never heard from anyone else. I wonder if this is a generational thing? WOW, any light to shed on this?

Incidentally, he used "queer" in nearly the same sense that Brits use it. This reminds me of one of my mother's friends who was an English war bride. She sent my brothers and sisters into unsuppressed convulsions one night at dinner when she was explaining her aversion to all but about 10 foods and started by saying, "I know I'm awfully queer [queah], ...".