Due to the significant similarity between the speeches of Baltimore, Philadelphia, Delaware and southern New Jersey, sociolinguists refer to them collectively as the Mid-Atlantic regional dialect.
According to linguists, the "hon" dialect that is popularized in the media and that derives historically from the speech of white blue-collar residents of South and Southeast Baltimore is not the only accent spoken in the region.
Television drama series Homicide: Life on the Street and The Wire are both set in Baltimore and in some cases include actors who are native white and black Baltimoreans.
[37] In the 30 Rock episode, "I Do Do", Elizabeth Banks parodies the accent by portraying Avery Jessup, the spokesperson for the fictional Overshoppe.com in a flashback scene.
[39][40][41][42] Whether it was on his ESPN Radio show or SportsCenter at Night, Scott Van Pelt always ended his segments with Tim Kurkjian by mentioning names in a Baltimore accent featuring at least one fronted 'o'.
[43] Singer-songwriter Mary Prankster uses several examples of Baltimore slang in her song, "Blue Skies Over Dundalk," from the album of the same name, including, "There'll be O's fans going downy ocean, hon."
Comedian Stavros Halkias (a native of Greektown) was also known for performing an exaggerated version of a Baltimore accent on the podcast Cum Town, when impersonating a typical citizen of Dundalk.