JCam Loc: MD Eastern Shore

Damn shame--one hundred and fifty plus years have passed, give it up and grow a thicker skin. Perhaps a sense of humor too!

GeorgeH Loc: Jonesboro, GA

Armadillos...they are becoming common here in Georgia. I tell a friend who wages continual war on them in his garden that they are ready for preparation "en casserole," coming with the vessel for preparation attached. Probably good with stewed okra....

GeorgeH Loc: Jonesboro, GA

Oops! Ya'll ain't a true Southerner. It is never Dam Yankee! Its ONE WORD, damYankee. Yo' Mamma needs ta wash yo' mouf out with soap!

GeorgeH Loc: Jonesboro, GA

I graduated from HS in 1961 in Chester, VA, near Richmond. I knew a guy who'd moved recently to Chester from the coastal plains of North Carolina. Jessie was a nice guy, but I could hardly understand him because of his accent! After a few months either I'd learned his "lingo," or he'd adapted.

Another story. My Parents, newly wedded, moved to the Petersburg VA area in the Summer of 1941. My Father went into Petersburg to buy a pair of shoes and was chatting with the salesman - this was when one was "fitted" with a pair of shoes, unlike today's depraved ways! The salesman commented, "Just moved here?" My Father said yes. "From the Mid-West?" Yes. "Perhaps Michigan?" Yes my Father replied, becoming intrigued. "Detroit area?" Yes. "Can I guess Royal Oak?" "How did you know?" my Father exclaimed. The salesman was a high-school speech teacher and a student of regional accents.

I have lived in the South for most of my life and have always felt that I have very little Southern accent, since my Parents were both from Michigan, educated at Detroit City College - now Wayne State University - and the University of Michigan. But when I did graduate work at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey in 1971, I found that I was characterized as the Confederate Calvary Officer! Partly because of my rather long blonde hair and mustache and goatee, and the accent I didn't realize I had. I do remember speaking with folks in Roanoke, VA about a job opening and being "soothed" with the sweet Southern accent on the 'phone.

I'd wager that this sort of zeroing in on regional accents my Father experienced in 1941 is more difficult in these days of mass communication and "standard American English" as exemplified by our talking heads. And something has been lost.

GeorgeH Loc: Jonesboro, GA

To use a Southern expression, "Ah heerd thayt!" While I've lived in the South most of my adult life (I'm almost 74) I seem to still have some remnants of my "rearin'" by parents from Michigan. For example, my pronunciation of the word "roof." I wish my introduction to the International Phonetic Alphabet in 1965 or so were still current! My friends who have lived - so far - all their lives in Georgia find my pronunciation an indicator of my Parents' linguistic heritages. Professor Henry Higgins, where are you??

GeorgeH Loc: Jonesboro, GA

Ah heerd thayt!

JCam Loc: MD Eastern Shore

George, Yep! It's strange how the pronunciation of some works stick to how our parents said them. Mine were born and raised on the NJ Shore, Long Branch area, but moved to Philadelphia and Long Island, NY within a couple of years of being married, and never had a home there again although we visited often because their parents, my grandparents, still lived there. They, especially my father, used to pronounce "creek" (a small stream) as "crick". Although my spouse of 55 years, and I lived in NJ for ten years and only five of them near 'the shore', plus 32 in MA, and 11 here, I still find myself also saying 'crick' 77+ years later. People in our retirement community from other places say "What?", but those from 'the shore' just ask if I grew up in the Monmouth County area.

pendennis

My cousin was originally from the Richmond, VA, area, and she had an accent which was distinctive, mostly Piedmont. That version of Piedmont is distinct from the plateau Piedmont of North Carolina.

As an aside, when I took music appreciation in college, we discovered that music from the mountains of Eastern Kentucky had a distinctive English "accent". It seemed so unlikely until my professor explained that English settlers brought their music with them, and settled there. There were few others who moved into the area, so the music didn't evolve.

bobsisk Loc: Chandler, Arizona

You are correct. Neither should southerners be referred to as '(some kind of) crackers'. That sort of name-calling should not be anywhere in this forum: actually, not in any forum. My wife of 51+ years was born in New Jersey, raised (to 8th grade) in upstate New York and went to high school in Massachusetts. On the other hand, I was born and raised in Texas, but went to high school in Indiana. In the two or three times (maybe) that we've discussed the civil war we both agree that 'civil war' is an oxymoron. No war is 'civil'. We also agree that neither side won that war, or both sides won, depending on how you look at it. The property damage and loss of lives was horrible on both sides, but the union among all of the states was preserved. The only people that actually gained anything were the emancipated slaves that went out and made something of themselves. We've never had a quarrel about it. Which brings to mind an old saying. The first half is:
"He who takes offense when it wasn't intended is a fool."
The second half is like unto it, but with a slight twist:
"He who takes offense when it was intended is a bigger fool."
Both halves require some depth of thought.

DickC Loc: NE Washington state

Yep, 'howsyour momnem, 'yall comengowithus'

JCam Loc: MD Eastern Shore

bobsisk, All of the ex-slaves were undoubtedly better off being free, but many didn't have the ability to travel any great distance to where the better jobs were and many ended up working for their previous owners for minimal wages.

I grew up and attended schools in "damnyankee" country, and from what we were taught 60+ years ago, I'd suggest that the only people that "really did well" in the years following the war were the 'carpetbaggers' and many of the political hacks who were sent down there by the Fed. Govt. to establish an "orderly system" . Graft, bribes and theft were the way things got done in 'plantation country' for years.

bobsisk Loc: Chandler, Arizona

You're right about the ex-slaves and we could probably go on and on about the progress of their descendants.

And you're right about the 'carpetbaggers'. But I'm guessing that there were at least a few honest people amongst the 'feds' then. The progress of the feds since then has been towards more corruption. They have elevated corruption to such a level that you can't recognize it as such unless you ponder on the news feeds about the things they are doing or not doing. But no more politics in this forum. I might have said too much already and I don't wish to offend anyone.