Anyone know any born'n'bred Ohioans with a very strong Southern accent? (Portsmouth: living in, area)

[grmasterb]

Originally Posted by Trimac20

Yes, it seems there is certainly a southern element in some parts of Ohio, a state that borders Canada.

I suppose it borders Canada to the extent that the international border runs across Lake Erie. To cross by road, however, you have to go to Detroit.

Many of us in the lower Midwest have some southern background. A lot of people from southern states migrated here in search of work during the early 20th century.

[Orwelleaut]

Originally Posted by Trimac20

Interesting...in this documentary, I think it was a bit slanted...they were portraying these people are rednecks with a racial prejudice against black people. A lot of them said they wouldn't vote for him for no other reason than he was black, even if he was probably the better bet to improve their ailing town. I forgot the name of the town, but it was very small and very rundown, almost on the Kentucky border.

Shame on the media for portraying Southern Ohio that way. These days, there is a lot more prejudice against whites from blacks in areas like inner city Cleveland or Youngstown than against blacks in small towns. A black person can walk the streets of virtually any small town in Ohio these days in total safety, yet a white person cannot do the same in the inner cities. Why can't the media just be honest???If they were Pinnochio, their nose would be like 50 feet long, LOL!!!!

[Trimac20]

Originally Posted by Orwelleaut

Shame on the media for portraying Southern Ohio that way. These days, there is a lot more prejudice against whites from blacks in areas like inner city Cleveland or Youngstown than against blacks in small towns. A black person can walk the streets of virtually any small town in Ohio these days in total safety, yet a white person cannot do the same in the inner cities. Why can't the media just be honest???If they were Pinnochio, their nose would be like 50 feet long, LOL!!!!

Which is why I always take what they say with a pile of salt, lol

[Buzzweiser]

As Ohio shifted into war production for WWII many folks came here to work from West Virginia and Kentucky. Some came even farther but the majority came from those 2 states. Many settled permanently here in SW Ohio but kept their southern roots and ideas. Many still have relatives in the southern states as well. With southeast Ohio many people came there from W. Virginia for the coal mines. Some of these people settled in as well and moved into different industry as Ohio's coal mines closed up. I was born in Sandusky but have lived in SW. Ohio for many years. I have also lived in Tenn. and Louisiana so my accent is quite southern. If I go up north for any length of time though it changes back quite quickly.

[htlong]

roy rogers had a southern accent

[WeSoHood]

Southeast Ohio is a state of it's own

[Zoya]

Originally Posted by Trimac20

Saw this documentary about the election set in the Ohio River valley of SE Ohio and they had extremely strong Appalachian accents; surprised me, actually. Do any of y'all know folk like that?

I grew up in Northern Ohio right on Lake Erie...and I can always tell when someone is from Southern Ohio by their accent. It's distinctly different and rather Southern.

Northern and Southern Ohio may be the same state.....but they might as well be in different ones. Drastically different in not only accent but many other things as well.

[NorthPoleMarathoner]

I grew up in South Eastern Ohio. We always thought we had Midwestern accents.

Moved to Toledo when I was 18. Everyone there said I had a Southern accent.

I live in Tennessee now and everyone here says I have a Yankee accent.

I was in South Eastern Ohio last summer to visit and everyone said I picked up a Southern accent.

When I go to California to visit people either ask me where in the Mid West I am from or what part of the South I am from.

Anyone else as confused as I am.

[tsimmu]

I think what happens sometimes is people confuse a country accent with a southern accent.

[Colts]

Originally Posted by HuskerDu

You will find an extremely guttural (many say trashy) variant of the southern accent in just about any Ohio city where manufacturing has been prevalent during the past century. Unemployed masses continuously migrated north from West Virginia and Kentucky to find low wage factory jobs during this time. Once the need for their services disappeared (for instance, they don't make steel bumpers for cars any longer) many families fell into poverty and now the second and third generations mostly continue that cycle. In large urban centers of Ohio, the most recent generations have adapted their own interpretation of African American-speak due to proximity and constant low-end media exposure (Jerry Springer, Rikki Lake etc.) which creates a linguistic nightmare or dream depending on who you ask in this particular field of study.

I just had to reply to this.

This is very spot-on, from my observation. You can find a similar pattern in the other industrial Upper Midwestern states of Indiana and Michigan.