Why Northerners Think All Southerners Have One Accent
Sep 2, 2016 12:35:06 #
Why Northerners Think All Southerners Have One Accent
http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/why-northerners-think-all-southerners-have-one-accent
http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/why-northerners-think-all-southerners-have-one-accent
Sep 2, 2016 21:24:19 #
Absolutely true. There are many accents & sub-accents in the south. I managed a computer store in Monterey, CA for almost 7 years. A new customer came in 1 day and after chatting with him for a few minutes he asked what part of North Carolina I was from. I was born & raised in Winston-Salem. He was from Greensboro which is about 25 miles away. My boss, who was never lived anywhere but California, said he couldn't tell the difference.
Sep 2, 2016 21:32:13 #
Sep 3, 2016 08:03:14 #
I have never pronounced words the way the author cites in his drivel. I think people in New York, New Jersey and other parts of the northeast speak funny. In Texas, accents vary from the Pine Curtain to West Texas and from the Rio Grand Valley to the Panhandle. I had a tent mate in the army that I thought was from Boston. Turned out he was from New Orleans and was descended from Irish immigrants to Louisana.
Sep 3, 2016 08:05:38 #
I have been in Fl. for 50 years and you can tell the difference between a born and raised and a Yankee if you listen.
Sep 3, 2016 08:08:41 #
Mollie wrote:
I have trouble understanding Dr Phil........I think he is a southerner......
I would have trouble understanding Dr. Phil irregardless of accent.
Sep 3, 2016 08:10:07 #
St3v3M wrote:
Why Northerners Think All Southerners Have One Accent
http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/why-northerners-think-all-southerners-have-one-accent
http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/why-northerners-think-all-southerners-have-one-accent
I'm fascinated by accents. I was eating in a diner in the south, and the waitress said to a customer, "You're not from around here, are you?" He said, "No, I'm from..." - and he mentioned another southern state." Accents, and getting rid of them, was the basis of "My Fair Lady," based on "Pygmalion."
Although I was born in Brooklyn and raised on Long Island, when I started working in a supermarket, customers thought I was from England or Ireland. That was quite a surprise.
Sep 3, 2016 08:47:58 #
PRETENDER wrote:
I have been in Fl. for 50 years and you can tell the difference between a born and raised and a Yankee if you listen.
It is not just in the south - a "Yankee" may be from New York (and several very distinct accents just from the NYC area alone!), New Jersey, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, or Maine. All with distinct accents. Here in Florida I was behind a woman in line one time and after hearing her talk, I asked her when she moved from New Hampshire. She looked disappointed and said that she had been here 35 years and thought she had lost her NH accent.
Those of us from downeast Maine always get a good laugh when Hollywood tries to portray a Maine accent. Rarely can they come very close. Usually it is a bad Massachusetts accent.
But what is kind of sad is that with satellite and cable television, regional accents are disappearing. When I first went to live in downeast Maine 30 years ago, some of the older folks would use words not in the dictionary and even guttural gasps as part of their conversation. The word "Ayuh" was often spoken with an inhale. You rarely hear that anymore.
Sep 3, 2016 09:11:43 #
Mollie wrote:
I have trouble understanding Dr Phil........I think he is a southerner......
I have trouble understanding Dr. Phil because he's a meddling, self-proclaimed know-it-all. It has nothing to do with his dialect for me.
Sep 3, 2016 09:27:42 #
Sep 3, 2016 10:40:26 #
Sep 3, 2016 11:22:33 #
Sendai5355 wrote:
I would have trouble understanding Dr. Phil irregardless of accent.
"Irregardless" is not a word.
Sep 3, 2016 11:32:58 #
rightofattila wrote:
"Irregardless" is not a word.
My dictionary defines irregardless as an irregular adverb of regardless. This implies that irregardless may always be replaced by regardless. Once before I tried to discover whether the "ir" prefix added any nuances of meaning to regardless and came up empty handed. Any supremo English Majors out there.
Sep 3, 2016 11:58:48 #
Here in the UK we have a myriad of local dialects. One time as a teenager I was in hospital for several days. The hospital was approx. 4-5 miles from my home. One day one of the other patients in the ward came over to me and began to chat. After a couple of minutes he asked where I came from. When I told him he replied that he knew I wasn't from around this area as my accent was too posh. I nearly fell off the bed laughing.
Sep 3, 2016 12:06:18 #
I think most major cities, such as Houston, TX do not have too much of an accent since of the extreme diversity of it population and transplants from all over the US. Really, the times I hear a distinct Texas accent are from people from rural Texas or small towns in Texas that have moved to Houston. Probably many large metropolis cities are like Houston.
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