Was there a time when Cincinnati was less "southern?"

[EddieOlSkool]

Originally Posted by ram2

Yes there is. Or course, most do not speak with a southern accent. After having lived in Detroit since 1988, I notice southern accents when I visit Cincinnati restaurants.

What you are hearing is not a Southern accent. It is a Midland accent with Southern characteristics. But, because it doesn't have what is officially called the Southern Shift, nor the Southern drawl, it isn't an official Southern accent. To someone from Detroit or NYC, Cincy would sound Southern. To someone from Georgia or South Carolina, they wouldn't. And to someone from most of Pennsylvania, most of Jersey, and from Indiana, Missouri, or Kansas, they'd sound like they had no distinct or easy to recognize accent. It's all perception. When I go to Louisville I meet some Cincy natives and while they sound alike, the Cincy person sounds more "neutral". Even in Louisville the Southern accent isn't very strong. It's there but it sounds more Midwestern at times. But someone with a full Louisville accent does sound Southern, whereas someone from Cincy sounds more mixed. Little Northern here (like in the way they say their a's), little Southern here (like the way a phone is a "feown"). It's sort of a transitional accent.

[Selby]

I grew up in Northern Ohio and had family from Cincinnati to deep into the South. Between the Northern accents and the Southern accents that I was accustomed to, Cincinnatians have always sounded neutral to me.

[EddieOlSkool]

Originally Posted by Selby

I grew up in Northern Ohio and had family from Cincinnati to deep into the South. Between the Northern accents and the Southern accents that I was accustomed to, Cincinnatians have always sounded neutral to me.

Yup. Cincy has its quirks, but not enough to place it surely in one accent Northern or Southern category. Just like Pittsburgh or St. Louis. They're not overly Northern or Southern, just...American sounding. I guess you could say a Cincy accent sounds sort of like what would happen if someone from Tennessee moved to New York and lived there a few years.