Southern Accents

[carnation]

Ack! I hate fake Southern accents! What were the studio execs thinking when they cast those English actors as Scarlett and Ashley in Gone With the Wind?

My husband is from Georgia and we can distinguish certain words that each of us say differently. As a Texan, I say "pah" for pie and "tile" for towel. He says boo-levard and uses different words than I do--like supermarket instead of grocery store. He also says he's going to carry someone somewhere instead of take them.

[KillarneyRose]

Originally posted by carnation
Ack! I hate fake Southern accents! What were the studio execs thinking when they cast those English actors as Scarlett and Ashley in Gone With the Wind?

My husband is from Georgia and we can distinguish certain words that each of us say differently. As a Texan, I say "pah" for pie and "tile" for towel. He says boo-levard and uses different words than I do--like supermarket instead of grocery store. He also says he's going to carry someone somewhere instead of take them.

Since you're a Texan and probably one of the few GCers other than myself who remember "Dallas", what did you think of the accents of Larry Hagman, Victoria Principal, et al?

I've heard they were horrendous, but I dont' really know how they're SUPPOSED to sound!

[DZHBrown]

Yes, a little out of Nashville. She went to an all girls school. Forgot the name of it, she is a born and bred TN gal

She attended Harpeth Hall in Nashville. Her dad and my mom work together!

However, I didn't think her accent sounded Tennessean or strictly Alabamian. You could tell it was Southern, but I thought it sounded more drawn out than mine does (I've been in TN for 13 years) and not nearly as bad as my Alabama relatives. lol

[Cluey]

Yes, I can tell accents from various states in the south apart. It's funny that you brought up "Sweet Home Alabama," because my roommate and I went to go see it when it was at the theatres. We said the exact same thing that your friend did.

The easiest to pick out for me are Alabamaians. People from Alabama pronounce things with a flat "i". I can't really think of how to explain it in text, but it's like pronouncing anything with the letter i by just lowering your jaw.

I pick up accents very easily, so I guess it is easier for me to tell them apart, too.

[lifesaver]

Its pretty easy for me having been born and raised here.

To me the two easiest accents to discern are 'panhandle", which is really twangy. East texas is real drawn out. It has to do with the way they pronounce their "r's". The vally is also real easy to discern, because of the influence of spanish. For instance, people will say "Do you want to go to the store, or no?" Only someone from the valley wil bust out with the "or no." Everynow and then someone will call me out as being from the panhandle. I dont think I have had that accent since I left tho. Always catches me off guard. My friends charity and leslie from back home still have their west texas drawl. "oh my gawish!" Like they put extra syllables in theirwords.

[AlphaSigOU]

Originally posted by KillarneyRose
Since you're a Texan and probably one of the few GCers other than myself who remember "Dallas", what did you think of the accents of Larry Hagman, Victoria Principal, et al?

I've heard they were horrendous, but I dont' really know how they're SUPPOSED to sound!

I'm no Texan, but I am a native Noo Yawker who's been adopted by Texas -- Larry Hagman's a native of Weatherford (his momma's the late Broadway actress Mary Martin), and so is a gen-u-wine Texan by birth. Victoria Principal was born in Japan; don't recall where she grew up at.

Some other famous Texans in film, music and TV:

Sissy Spacek - Quitman (her cousin is Elmer Rual Torn, Jr. - better known as actor Rip Torn, from Temple)
Sandy Duncan - Henderson
Angie Harmon - Highland Park
Morgan Fairchild - Highland Park (birth name: Patsy McClenny)
Farrah Fawcett - Beaumont (?)
Janis Joplin - Port Arthur

For more info on the Dallas actors and actresses, check out http://www.ultimatedallas.com/ . (BTW, I live 5 miles from Southfork Ranch and it's not all that's cracked up to be! )

[Winterbloom]

I have one of the wierdest accents ever. English, while my most fluent language, was my second, and I learned it between Baltimore, MD and Houston, TX. I have the oddest drawl and pronounciation, and unless I'm imitating another accent consciously, there is no hope of me loosing it. I've had two voice coaches give up on me, and one simply try to teach me to be British. That was funny.

All that being said, I have a real ear for English. Generally, I can place people in their state and region from around the Eastern Seaboard, throughout Texas, and in most of Britain. I can also place people by their French. There's a lot to be said for learning multiple languages growing up. Even if I can't loose my Baltimore/Houston accent.

[juniorgrrl]

As for the "Louisiana" accent thing - if its a drawl, its north Louisiana.

And when I say North Louisiana, I mean anything north of Hammond, a little town about halfway to Baton Rouge from Lake Ponchartrain (the lake "in" New Orleans).

There's also the Lafayette/cajun accent.

People from New Orleans don't have a drawl. I don't have one. I don't have the "n'awlins" accent either. Think Brooklyn. There's a variation of that

South Louisiana (at least by my standards) doesn't have the southern drawl that people think of as a "southern accent."

[AlphaSigOU]

For those 'yats' who hail from Orleans Parish and surroundings, here's a site for ya: http://www.southernyatclub.com/home.html .

[aggieAXO]

Farrah Fawcett was from Corpus Christi I believe.
Larry Hagman is from Texas and had an authentic Texas accent.
I also though the woman that played his wife Sue Ellen did a good job-not sure where she is originally from.

[carnation]

What bugged me about Larry Hagman's "Dallas" accent was that it wasn't his real one. His real one doesn't sound too Texasy and he probably spent a lot of his youth in California and New York anyway.

But it was like the producers said,"Okay, Larry, you just don't sound like what the public expects Texas to sound like, camp it up!"

[AlphaSigOU]

Originally posted by carnation
What bugged me about Larry Hagman's "Dallas" accent was that it wasn't his real one. His real one doesn't sound too Texasy and he probably spent a lot of his youth in California and New York anyway.

But it was like the producers said,"Okay, Larry, you just don't sound like what the public expects Texas to sound like, camp it up!"

You're right 'bout that... Larry spent time in California and Noo Yawk, and as part of his training as an actor had to disguise or eliminate his Texican accent, as do many actors and actresses nowadays.

[PSUSigKap]

i lived in texas on and off for twelve years and can definately tell the texas accents from other southern accents. i made the mistake of going to school in pennsylvania and always get sh*t for sayin things like "fixin" and ya'll. my northern friends just don't understand why "coke" can mean any kind of "soda or pop". i'm lucky that 3 of my best friends in the sorority are southerners too. georgia, kentucky and southern virginia. we all comisserate together!

on a totally different rant, you can't get decent barbeque or a good glass of iced tea in the north either!

[Eirene_DGP]

Originally posted by KillarneyRose
I have a friend from Lancaster, SC. Is that near you? She once said something about a "spodder" and it took me the longest time to figure out that she meant "spider"! She sounds absolutely adorable though! (is it insulting to refer to a 35 year old mother of two as adorable???)

Yeah, Lancaster is like 45 mins from me. I was just thinking about southern/mountain dialect. I was at Applebees in Asheville and the server asked my mom if she wanted Izz. We were sitting there like what the hell, she meant Ice. Here are some common southern things I was thinking off the top of my head.

Whatcha
Howya
Prezidant-president
Bap'tiz-Baptist
Go' en-going
Izz-Ice
Cher-chair
Bizcuts-biscuits
Ant-Aunt
colige-college
muror-mirror
stove-oven
demercrats-democrats
cloff-cloth
deener-dinner
der-deer
squirl-squirrel
squitters-mosqitos
lawn mo- lawn mower

[juniorgrrl]

Originally posted by AlphaSigOU
For those 'yats' who hail from Orleans Parish and surroundings, here's a site for ya: http://www.southernyatclub.com/home.html .

Actually, its more St. Bernard parish than Orleans.

There's a distinct accent from different parts of NOLA actually - I can tell an uptown accent from Carrolton, etc.