[WanderingImport]

Originally Posted by Puddy4LyF

You mean... uneducated?

Oh boy....as I've heard it said before; thems fightin' words.

I know that stereotype well and sometimes its hard for me not to believe it myself, but its really not true.

I'm sure you were just joking though, right? ESPECIALLY in an Alabama thread!

[pickleswanson]

While I can't speak for all of AL I know that many of my friends and family there in AL & GA had much more of an accent when I was a child than now. I really don't think that it is completely gone but it certainly isn't as profound as it used to be.

I personally grew up in the ATL area but have moved around considerably since. My first move was down to the SE portion of GA where everyone said I was a yankee (because I grew up north of the gnat line) and spoke too proper. Never really tried to change my lingo but after 9 years there my accent thickened a lot.

From there I moved to Dothan area where it varied greatly from group to group as to whether they felt my accent was mostly yankee or red neck no one could ever make up their mind. Then I moved back to ATL where I certainly had a thicker southern accent than most people in the public but still was very yankified according to close friends and family that grew up there with me.

I have since lived all over the US moving with the Navy with the exception of the NW. After moving around so much and hanging out with so many different kinds of people from all over the world, I believe I have almost completely lost my accent. In fact when asked my accent now most seem to think that I must be European or an Aussie. Even Brits that have been here for a long time ask when I moved to America thinking I might be one of them.

Fortunately though all it takes is for me to get on the phone with friends or family from back south and all these Cali folks look at me like I'm crazy and start wishing that that damn tourist would be quite and get out of their way because once I hear the all familiar "y'all" or "hows ya mama an dem" come from someone on the other line my southern accent comes out in full force.

[Southlander]

Originally Posted by 33458

That's what my husband keeps telling me...

The Yankee, however, wants to say HuntsVILLE.

Never been a Yankee, but I tend to say HUNTS-ville, too.

Decatur has some variations. Du-CAY-tuh for the old money; Deh-CAY-ta for the new money; DEE-cay-turr for our cousins from Lawrence County!

Mun-GUM-reh for native Alabamians. Mont-GUM-ree for imports.

BU-min-hayum for old timers. BIR-min-hayum for out-of-towners.

SHEF-field for outsiders. SHURF-field for local-borns.

This is fun!

[gsp4ever]

Originally Posted by Southlander

Decatur has some variations. Du-CAY-tuh for the old money; Deh-CAY-ta for the new money; DEE-cay-turr for our cousins from Lawrence County!

I had some British folks randomly ask me about directions to
DECK-uh-toor a few years ago. Emphasis was on the first syllable. Took me a few minutes to figure out what they meant.

[southernnaturelover]

There's a little rural area near here called 'Uriah', just about everyone that is not from here pronounces it "yew-RYE-uh". Us locals leave off the "uh" part and just say "yew-RYE".

[matt8325]

Of course the southern slang and accent isn't disappearing in Alabama. That's like saying the northern slang and accent is disappearing in Boston.

[Charles]

Originally Posted by matt8325

That's like saying the northern slang and accent is disappearing in Boston.

If we define disappearing as reduction in the percentage who speak with the local dialect, then it may be true. As more people migrate into a region they reduce the overall percentage of speakers with the native dialect. It's just a matter of analyzing the migration data.

[A&M Bulldawg]

I'm from and live in a small Black Belt town. Y'all know that I'm very country! There are still words that I say that I think is correct! Eg. fishing cork.......fishing coak, drawer.......draw!

[caution]

go live outside the south for a while and come back, you'll see the answer is "No."

-not that there's anything wrong with that :-)

[harry chickpea]

Originally Posted by Southlander

Never been a Yankee, but I tend to say HUNTS-ville, too.

Decatur has some variations. Du-CAY-tuh for the old money; Deh-CAY-ta for the new money; DEE-cay-turr for our cousins from Lawrence County!

Mun-GUM-reh for native Alabamians. Mont-GUM-ree for imports.

BU-min-hayum for old timers. BIR-min-hayum for out-of-towners.

SHEF-field for outsiders. SHURF-field for local-borns.

This is fun!

Duck ate 'er?

Munt GUM rah?

BuHamm or BeeHam.

Imagine the consternation of northern imports, impressed with the genteel Southern Society, when they first hear of someone looking for a bedroom suit. "My goodness, they ARE formal, aren't they?"