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I'm 17 and I was born and raised in Charlotte and I say things like somethin, nothin, goin, etc instead of something, nothing, and going. I also say y'all and "wha" instead of what but I don't have a southern accent.
If you left the south, other people would hear a southern accent. It's the same way with me - even though I was born, raised, and lived my entire life in the south, people in the south think I'm southern. But if I go up north, everyone talks about my accent.
That's unnecessarily harsh. The OP indicated it was slang, which means they know enough to speak properly when the situation warrants. In addition, leaving off the final g IS a trait of a Southern/Appalachian accent; many, many very intelligent people who were born & raised in more rural areas speak like that (Moreso in the past than now). It is less a trait of intelligence than a trait of class. I'm speaking here of class in terms of wealth & pedigree.
Is it slang just because OP says so? I hear people of all varieties dropping the last part of words, or not pronouncing words clearly and correctly.
Definition of SLANG
1
: language peculiar to a particular group: as
a : argot
b : jargon 2
2
: an informal nonstandard vocabulary composed typically of coinages, arbitrarily changed words, and extravagant, forced, or facetious figures of speech
The examples OP gave are just lazy speech, IMHO, and have nothing to do with being Southern, specifically. "Y'all" is the exception. It is certainly Southern slang.
Well, I was always told I didn't have much of a Southern accent. Even did voice overs for commercials and PSAs b/c local producers liked that I didn't sound so Southern.
I moved to the midwest and the second I opened my mouth, in any group, in any setting, folks would ask . . . Oh! What part of the South are you from?
So . . . you may THINK you don't sound "Southern" . . . but . . . I bet you don't sound like you are from New Jersey, New York or the midwest. To others, I am sure you sound like you grew up south of the mason dixon line.
Same here only I've lived here for over 4 years. I tend to pick up local speech patterns unconsciously. When I first got here, people said I had a Spanish accent even though I don't Spanish fluently. But I guess I mimicked the FL accent from Miami and Orlando area. Now when friends/family visit from out of town they said I talk with a Southern accent. I don't hear it at all!
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