Southern Accents

[BobbyTheDon]

i am from Biloxi and my Southern Accent is pretty strong. I laugh at all those fools in Lexington who claim the South, especially those who have a passion for Shrinky Dinks.

i can defintely tell when some chump Oregonian is trying to be like a FLoridian.

And as far as Reese Witherspoon goes. She dont KEEP it rrrrreeaalllll with the South.

ok. just kidding. i think you all know I am from Cali and that I am weird. please don't kill me. please...

[Jill1228]

I can usually tell NC, Texas and Alabama.

Of course I get crap up here in the Pacific NW and Canada for having a Southern Accent

[TigerLilly]

Originally posted by AOII*Azra-elle
*snip*But then again.. I can go to North Eastern Ireland or North Western Scotland and can do pretty well on understanding people since the Southern dialect is Scot-Irish.

Interesting... I recently went to Ireland with a girl from New Jersey and she couldn't understand a word that anyone said! They couldn't understand her either. I ended up having to be the translator, since I understood everything perfectly. I'm from the South, so that makes sense, I guess.

[twhrider13]

Having lived in Alabama for 20 years, I've gotten pretty good at picking out accents. I've more or less always been able to tell the difference in people from North Alabama, Central Alabama, and South Alabama (also known around here as Upper, Middle, and Lower ).

People from North Alabama seem to have more of a mountain dialect, like Tennessee. To me, South Alabama has the cutest-sounding one. It's kind of like the South Georgia dialect--nice and mellow. And of course, the Central Alabama dialect, where I'm from, generally sounds like the most hick thing you can possibly imagine! That being said, I've learned to curb mine a lot, and I can even make people believe I'm not even from the South when I want to. Listening to people from Central Alabama butcher the English language tends to drive me nuts! Of course, there are those times (like when I've been drinking, when I'm angry, or when I've been around other people who talk that way) that it's painfully obvious where I really come from!

Since I've started working as a Directory Assistance operator, I'm also learning to place other Southern accents pretty well. I've noticed that everything everyone has said about the different states (and areas of the states) is right on target!

[WCUgirl]

Growing up in FL I had no accent...and called everything a "soda" or referred to it by its proper name - ie Pepsi, Mountain Dew, 7Up, etc. (perhaps that's what the "other" category is).

Going to school in NC (the western part) and coming back home, my friends made incredible fun of the new accent I (supposedly) picked up.

Moved out here to Charlotte, and there is definitely a different type of southern accent out here. Whenever I head back to the mountains, I can hear the way people talk and realize how different it is now that I'm not around it every day. Friends back home say I have lost most of my accent.

Supposedly there is at least another NC accent floating around this state somewhere...haven't heard it yet.

People here look at me strangely when I offer them a soda. They say, "You mean a coke?" I say, "No, I mean a Pepsi, 'cause that's what I have and it tastes better anyways."

Whenever we go down to Charleston, it's a completely different accent down there. Almost fake sounding....like a forced lilt. I don't know how else to describe it.

I worked at a restaurant in college and waited on a table from Georgia one day. I asked what they wanted to drink. They all said "Coke" simultaneously. I said, "Is Pepsi alright?" ('cause that's what that particular establishment served) and they all shot me this look like they were going to kill me. "We're from Georgia. We don't drink Pepsi." Whatever.

[AOII*Azra-elle]

Originally posted by TigerLilly
Interesting... I recently went to Ireland with a girl from New Jersey and she couldn't understand a word that anyone said! They couldn't understand her either. I ended up having to be the translator, since I understood everything perfectly. I'm from the South, so that makes sense, I guess.

I learned that from one of my history classes, and I laughed when they said it, but it really is true. *laughs*

[swissmiss04]

I lived most of my life in Huntsville, but I can guarantee you that I sound nothing like the mountain dialect. I suppose this comes from moving around a lot when I was little and my Dad having no accent whatsoever (he's from up north). I didn't have a trace of a Southern accent until I moved to Tuscaloosa. I'll probably spend the next 4 years of my life trying to get rid of it. I can't stand the way people talk around here.
I call it a soda because I hate Coca-Cola and I'm so afraid I'll be given one if I ask for "a coke".

Originally posted by twhrider13
Having lived in Alabama for 20 years, I've gotten pretty good at picking out accents. I've more or less always been able to tell the difference in people from North Alabama, Central Alabama, and South Alabama (also known around here as Upper, Middle, and Lower ).

People from North Alabama seem to have more of a mountain dialect, like Tennessee. To me, South Alabama has the cutest-sounding one. It's kind of like the South Georgia dialect--nice and mellow. And of course, the Central Alabama dialect, where I'm from, generally sounds like the most hick thing you can possibly imagine! That being said, I've learned to curb mine a lot, and I can even make people believe I'm not even from the South when I want to. Listening to people from Central Alabama butcher the English language tends to drive me nuts! Of course, there are those times (like when I've been drinking, when I'm angry, or when I've been around other people who talk that way) that it's painfully obvious where I really come from!

Since I've started working as a Directory Assistance operator, I'm also learning to place other Southern accents pretty well. I've noticed that everything everyone has said about the different states (and areas of the states) is right on target!

[lifesaver]

Originally posted by AOII*Azra-elle
Being a born and bred East Tennessean *Johnson City* I can attest to that.

Love the JC/East Tennessee Accent. I think its cool how they can take the word 'No' and stretch it all out to 'Naaooohhww"

Being on the edge of the south I cant differentate Southern Accents, but can definately tell you where someone is from in Texas by the way they talk.

[Tom Earp]

This is a sympton of being from differenet parts of the USA!

When you are From The Middle Part of the Country and Have travelled to others, there is a different accent from each other!

Ya All have different Accents, that are adjugded to be from a particular part of the Country.

Let Me List The States that are only unto them selfs!

Texass, Okie, Arkie, Tenn, in the South.

Now The Damn Yankees, Well they are unto them selves as no other!

Mass. for one!

Pak Yo Car! Oh In Havawd Yad!

We in the HEART of The Reall USA,(Ks.-MO.) can try to decipher from some of the rantings an ravings from all of those People Who do not understand the American English Way Of LIFE!

lifesaver, can anyone explain the True meaning of the Tn. Flag and what it means?????

[queequek]

Nobody speaks with southern accent here in Atlanta
Although my co-worker is from Charleston, he does not speak like a southie.

[tinydancer]

This reminds me of being in grad school at the University of North Texas. I had a professor who was from Rhode Island. He would say something and all us Texans would say "WHUT????" We would also tell him to talk slower - we can't listen that fast. One night he stopped in the middle of his lecture and said "I must be getting better. No one has said "WHUT??" to me all night."

I sound real Texan. That drives directors crazy when I'm in a play that is not based in Texas or the south.

[AOII*Azra-elle]

Originally posted by lifesaver
Love the JC/East Tennessee Accent. I think its cool how they can take the word 'No' and stretch it all out to 'Naaooohhww"

Hahaha! I get teased by friends b/c of words that I do that to! I also get teased when I add a ville onto a word, like Nashville. Out here they say Nashville and in the Tennessee they say it like Nashvul.

Originally posted by Tom Earp
Now The Damn Yankees, Well they are unto them selves as no other!

Mass. for one!

Pak Yo Car! Oh In Havawd Yad!

I had a roommate from Pennsylvania. We used to laugh at how she said car, and mall, and many other words. *l* Too bad she moved back, I kind of miss the laughs now!