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I am from east TN and have lived in both IN and IA, and have gotten numerous comments all over the place on my heavy accent. I was also raised and spent some time in college in SC, so I have more of a full Southern accent than the average person from east TN.
Especially in IA, people treated me like I was an absolute idiot based on my accent. Sometimes people would lightly tease, but you could easily tell the difference between teasing and condescension. In IN, I get the same treatment, though less severe.
If you're a Southerner with an accent and are living outside the South, do people treat you like you're a buffoon?
People who treat other people like "buffoons", or as being of lesser intelligence solely because of their accent (and I don't care if it's Southern, Northeastern, Midwestern, or neutral)... are only exposing themselves as the real buffoons.
It's one thing if someone speaks with any kind of thick accent, but it's something entirely different if someone uses poor grammar or just says stupid things in general. That's how I've always made those kind of judgement calls. I've known plenty of people over the years who were extremely intelligent and well educated but spoke with some kind of thick accent, and on the flip side I've met some real goons who spoke with little or no accent at all.
If people can't tell the difference then that's on them, not you.
I've never been seriously judged for being a southerner. I'm from the Raleigh/Durham area of North Carolina, and it's not really a stereotypically southern metro. It's not even Deep South, which may be a reason I've never been judged. I have a friend from Alabama, and he hates telling people he's from Alabama because they'll assume he's a redneck racist. I've never had that problem being from North Carolina. I've never lived outside North Carolina, but many northerners have moved into my area. For the most part, they won't judge, at least the northerners I'm friends with. They know they're living in the South, why make fun of the people or the region as a whole? Sometimes I joke around and call my friends "Damn Yankees" and they'll respond with, "We beat you southerners more than 100 years ago!" or something along those lines. So, for the most part, I can't say people treat me like a buffoon. However, I don't travel outside the South very often, usually just stay around North Carolina or Virginia.
Nope, I've never been ridiculed about my southern accent - at least not to my face. When I was a corporate trainer, I taught classes all over the US, and sometimes people in the class would make comments about my southern accent, but they were positive accents. I never minded it - I love having a southern accent and hope I never lose it.
I'm a Texan, and people also respond positively to that - to my face. I have no idea what they say or think otherwise, and I don't care either, as long as they're not rude to me.
I am from east TN and have lived in both IN and IA, and have gotten numerous comments all over the place on my heavy accent. I was also raised and spent some time in college in SC, so I have more of a full Southern accent than the average person from east TN.
Especially in IA, people treated me like I was an absolute idiot based on my accent. Sometimes people would lightly tease, but you could easily tell the difference between teasing and condescension. In IN, I get the same treatment, though less severe.
If you're a Southerner with an accent and are living outside the South, do people treat you like you're a buffoon?
Being from Oklahoma and the South-Central/Southwest region, I've heard comments about my Okie accent, and sayings/mannerisms. In general, most of the comments are not too disparaging (teasing like you mentioned), although it is a little annoying to be pointed out in front of other people from other regions. (I know how transplants feel when they come to Oklahoma and they get called "Yankee" or whatever.)
Areas outside of the South in which I've lived are New England and the West. There were a few idiots from New England who thought I had fallen off the turnip truck. Also, I remember a checkout girl in the West (at a hardware store) who commented on my accent and had the gumption to ask me if it would be hard for her to develop a Southern accent. She asked where I was from and I told her Oklahoma....her response, "Oh, that makes sense."
For what it's worth, the racism (durogatory statements and exclusion) and bigotry were most evident in New England from my experience. That's pretty interesting considering I lived in the Deep South too (right outside the FL panhandle).
There are misinformed idiots in every region. It's unfortunate that the South gets such a bad rap in this regard, however. For the most part, it is unwarranted to single out the South for such things.
Last edited by Bass&Catfish2008; 12-05-2014 at 09:32 AM..
I reckon you're fixen' to go a-fighten them plum rude jaspers? Have you considered you might be using vocabulary they don't understand rather than an accent they don't like?
Not really. I am a Southerner and live in Alabama; I've lived in Massachusetts and Washington DC, and traveled (for months on end) to Maine, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Minnesota, Colorado, and California. I have found my accent (which I don't have) to be beneficial socially. Professionally it didn't matter.
However, I was cursed at several times for opening doors for women in Massachusetts (specifically - men say thanks).
I got broke in back in 1957 after being assigned to Ft Monmouth, NJ. Just a 19 year old Alabama boy who had never been out of the South. My four bunkmates were from NJ, NY and Calif. In the 57 years since then nothing has changed. My son lives in Westchester, County, NY and when I visit, I try to go primed. I know when I open my mouth and speak to a local what their initial response will be. "PARDON"? It never fails. My last incident was at a Home Depot, where I asked one of the clerks where something was located. First he said, "PARDON"? . The next words were, "You sound country".
Occasionally, in the South, I get a little payback.
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She asked where I was from and I told her Oklahoma....her response, "Oh, that makes sense."
