Southern accents, thanks Saint Mark! (Atlanta, Marietta: transplants, how much, home)

[suprascooby22]

I apologize in advance for cutting and pasting Saint Marks reply from another post but I found it to be very compelling. His reply touches on several things that have been discussed at length in regards to natives versus transplants and the cultural divide between the south and the rest of the country so I wont rehash that.

His comment about a northern transplant taunting his friend for his southern accent is something that really irks me and EVERY other native I know of not only this state but the south in general. I travel quite a bit and when I am in New York I would never imagine commenting on their accent in a negative way same goes for Chicago. Yet I have had it happen to me in the workplace on more than one occasion. I try not to be rude but commenting on the way I talk in the city that I grew up in is tacky to say the least. My wife finds it to be outright disrespectful and has heard it many more times than I as her accent is a bit more pronounced. Many more examples could be given but you see my point. Does this happen in other parts of the country? Have you had your regions accent ridiculed by someone not from there? Is this just unique to the southern accent? Lastly why would someone feel that it is appropiate to comment of someone elses accent in a negative way?

Originally Posted by Saintmarks
One of the big issues southerners as a whole have had to deal with (and this subject has been discussed in numerous ways in several other threads) is transplants moving to the south and then bashing the local culture. If the area was worth an uproot and a move, should not the area as a whole be seen as one to conform to instead of change? I remember a friend in Marietta being taunted on his southern accent by a native of Pennsylvania (it was our pastor actually) and his reply, "well the last time I checked, this was still the south. What accent am I supposed to have?"

I know this is not directly related to the OP, but this does play into a little of the tension between Atlanta and other parts of the state. Transplants still see Atlanta as too southern while non Atlantans feel their capital city is no longer southern. The truth is somewhere in the middle.

Again, this point has been made in many other threads, but if transplants like the south enough to move there, then they should accept the culture and embrace as many aspects of it as they can comfortably manage. To come into someone else's back yard and then denigrate it generally does not lead one to be fawned over.

[shiva1963]

i love southern accents

[aries4118]

Originally Posted by suprascooby22

I apologize in advance for cutting and pasting Saint Marks reply from another post but I found it to be very compelling. His reply touches on several things that have been discussed at length in regards to natives versus transplants and the cultural divide between the south and the rest of the country so I wont rehash that.

His comment about a northern transplant taunting his friend for his southern accent is something that really irks me and EVERY other native I know of not only this state but the south in general. I travel quite a bit and when I am in New York I would never imagine commenting on their accent in a negative way same goes for Chicago. Yet I have had it happen to me in the workplace on more than one occasion. I try not to be rude but commenting on the way I talk in the city that I grew up in is tacky to say the least. My wife finds it to be outright disrespectful and has heard it many more times than I as her accent is a bit more pronounced. Many more examples could be given but you see my point. Does this happen in other parts of the country? Have you had your regions accent ridiculed by someone not from there? Is this just unique to the southern accent? Lastly why would someone feel that it is appropiate to comment of someone elses accent in a negative way?

Originally Posted by Saintmarks
One of the big issues southerners as a whole have had to deal with (and this subject has been discussed in numerous ways in several other threads) is transplants moving to the south and then bashing the local culture. If the area was worth an uproot and a move, should not the area as a whole be seen as one to conform to instead of change? I remember a friend in Marietta being taunted on his southern accent by a native of Pennsylvania (it was our pastor actually) and his reply, "well the last time I checked, this was still the south. What accent am I supposed to have?"

I know this is not directly related to the OP, but this does play into a little of the tension between Atlanta and other parts of the state. Transplants still see Atlanta as too southern while non Atlantans feel their capital city is no longer southern. The truth is somewhere in the middle.

Again, this point has been made in many other threads, but if transplants like the south enough to move there, then they should accept the culture and embrace as many aspects of it as they can comfortably manage. To come into someone else's back yard and then denigrate it generally does not lead one to be fawned over.

Good post...

The fact is that in the U.S., Southern Culture is now the only culture where it is still acceptable to "make fun of", "put down", etc...

It is very unfortunate...and shows the rest of country's hypocritical and duplicitous nature.

I've always believed that the South/Southerners (black+white, of course) should circle the wagons and come together to protect and promote our culture, cuisine, accents, dialects, etc.

When you travel, it's amazing how much contempt the rest of the country has for the beautiful South.

[gaflsc]

Originally Posted by aries4118

Good post...


I've always believed that the South/Southerners (black+white, of course) should circle the wagons and come together to protect and promote our culture, cuisine, accents, dialects, etc.

When you travel, it's amazing how much contempt the rest of the country has for the beautiful South.

Agreed. Which, yet again, raises the age old question:

"If it's so darn bad down here, why do y'all keep moving here?"

Give me a nice Southern accent anyday over the nasally upper midwest (minne-wis-cago) accent, or the harsh Boston/NYC/L.I. accents anyday!

[suprascooby22]

Originally Posted by aries4118

Good post...

The fact is that in the U.S., Southern Culture is now the only culture where it is still acceptable to "make fun of", "put down", etc...

It is very unfortunate...and shows the rest of country's hypocritical and duplicitous nature.

I've always believed that the South/Southerners (black+white, of course) should circle the wagons and come together to protect and promote our culture, cuisine, accents, dialects, etc.

When you travel, it's amazing how much contempt the rest of the country has for the beautiful South.

Or that they all think we are from Texas! LOL Seriously I was in Dublin, Ireland and everyone there could tell I had a different accent from most "yanks". They ALL thought I was from Texas, I had to explain to them that there were many other southern states with similar accents. When I told them I was from Atlanta there responses were even funnier. They all wanted to know if I knew Outkast, Usher, Ludacris, etc.. and they all wanted to know how many guns I owned and how many people I had seen shot! LOL I never knew that they got American CNN and saw our school shootings, car chases, etc... We in the US would have to have a certain package to access say Skynews in the UK or someother European news outlet.

[RainyRainyDay]

Just curious, but comparing with posts on other threads, like this one http://www.city-data.com/forum/8184452-post58.html - do different parts of the metro area foster different native accents, or what?

[suprascooby22]

Originally Posted by RainyRainyDay

Just curious, but comparing with posts on other threads, like this one http://www.city-data.com/forum/8184452-post58.html - do different parts of the metro area foster different native accents, or what?

You will probably get different responses for this question. My response would be yes. Georgia accent's are very similar unless you are talking about someone VERY country or rural and someone that isnt yet the accent is basically the same meaning city vs country or the thickness of the drawl. Now those of us that can tell the difference can pick up on the slight differences in say an Alabama accent or a Louisianna accent. The two I can pick up on the most are a southern Alabama accent and an accent from the Northern Carolinas.

[neil0311]

I agree it's rude to taunt or make fun of anyone for their accent, no matter where they're from and no matter where you live.

I am a two time transplant, having moved here in the early 80s for college, staying a while, and then moving back north before relocating back to Atlanta in 2007. I have never made fun of anyone for their southern accent nor have I heard any other transplants in Atlanta do so, although I'm sure it probably happens.

I honestly think that some southerners have an inferiority complex and worry much more about things like regional differences and regional culture than most other areas of the country. When I lived and worked in the Boston area, there were some folks who worked with me that were up from Austin, TX, and they generated no special interest, other than some of the men commenting that they like women with southern accents.

I don't think folks in the northeast pay as much attention to that kind of regional stuff, whereas some people in the south are still into that civil war and civil rights era conflict. It's one of those things you can't really understand unless you didn't grow up in the south.

[blueeyes30]

That happened ALOT when I lived in Florida. I lived in an area with alot of northerners and people made fun of southern accents all of the time. My mother had it rough because her accent was more pronunced. I grew very wary of a southern accent and even hated my own accent for a while.

Now that I am back in Tennessee, the native southerners outnumber the transplants but every once in a while, someone will make a comment about my accent. Most of the time they mean no harm but it does get annoying. Now if I were up North, then yes, I would expect it.

When I visit my in-laws in Wisconsin, I wouldn't dare make fun of the accents of the people I'm around. Some of my in-laws did just that when they visited Tennessee and it took a while for me to warm up to them because they had to compare everything to back home. Since they are relatives, I just grin and bear it but it does get annoying. Like I said before, I wouldn't do that if I were in their home territory.

[suprascooby22]

Originally Posted by blueeyes30

That happened ALOT when I lived in Florida. I lived in an area with alot of northerners and people made fun of southern accents all of the time. My mother had it rough because her accent was more pronunced. I grew very wary of a southern accent and even hated my own accent for a while.

Now that I am back in Tennessee, the native southerners outnumber the transplants but every once in a while, someone will make a comment about my accent. Most of the time they mean no harm but it does get annoying. Now if I were up North, then yes, I would expect it.

When I visit my in-laws in Wisconsin, I wouldn't dare make fun of the accents of the people I'm around. Some of my in-laws did just that when they visited Tennessee and it took a while for me to warm up to them because they had to compare everything to back home. Since they are relatives, I just grin and bear it but it does get annoying. Like I said before, I wouldn't do that if I were in their home territory.

It all boils down to class in my opinion. I would never travel to a different region of the US or another country and talk about how great things are back home whether I was thinking it or not. It just seems to me that allot of transplants cant shut up for a second about how great their hometown is and that gets very tiresome. In my opinion if you miss your hometown so much Delta is ready when you are!