Accent—When you return to TN after a long absence… (Knoxville: how much, school)

[midwesterner guy]

…living far away, do you notice the accent of your Tennessee friends and family? If you stay back in TN for a few weeks, does your own accent kick back in? (Does your spouse complain?)






Or maybe y'all don't know what I'm talkin about because ya don't have an accent.

[TXRyan23]

I moved here in 2000 and when I tried to move back to Florida alot of my old friends made fun of me for my accent. Most people pickup the accent of where ever they are.

[jabogitlu]

I have friends who get made fun of here for their northern accent and get made fun of in their hometown (up north) for having a Southern accent.

[Violett]

Originally Posted by midwesterner guy

…living far away, do you notice the accent of your Tennessee friends and family? If you stay back in TN for a few weeks, does your own accent kick back in? (Does your spouse complain?)

Or maybe y'all don't know what I'm talkin about because ya don't have an accent.

My grandma was from Alabama. She moved to DC and lived there for 40 years and never fully lost her accent. When she went down south to visit family, they accused her of sounding "like a yankee" but when she was in DC, everyone was always asking her where she was from. lol, she couldn't win!

and yes, to answer your question, her accent grew stronger when she went down south. I have two friends from Nawleans and the same thing happens to them. My one friend comes back speaking creole!

[mbmouse]

I was born and raised in the middle of CT, so I had very few words that were accented. I did not Paark my caar in Baar Haaber. But everything was "Wicked". Then I moved to S.E. FL, still not much of a accent. Then I moved to TN. Now I have a strong TN accent..sometimes....when I am not paying attention hahahaha. Everyone is "y'all", I find myself saying "Do what?" instead of "what did you day?" and other similar sayings with the accent. However, I am one of these people that have to be very careful when talking with someone from Great Britain or Australia because I will sub consciously pick up their accent. I never want them to think I am mocking them or insult them so I am very careful to annunciate when speaking to people with strong accents.
My husband is from TN, never lived anywhere else. He has less of a TN accent than I do and picks on me for the way I pronounce some words now LOL.
However, I do pick on him because everything is "in" the floor to my "on" the floor.
He "cuts" off lights, instead of "turn" off lights.
I am never quite sure if he is asking me for a pin or a pen.
And other little phrasings like that.

[Tennesseestorm]

Yeah it does - maybe after a month or so.

My uncle and his family now live in Richmond. He was born here and lived in Bristol for 30 years, Knoxville for about 5, Asheville for about 3 - Richmond since 1990. His wife is from DC and has a northern accent, as do their kids. He has picked up that "mid-Atlantic" accent as well. When they come here, their accent stands out from their east Tennessee family. Sometimes they stay for a week or two, but never seem to get the TN slang.

As far as I can tell, most southeasterners have the same accent - from Arkansas, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, North and South Carolina and the southern parts of Virginia and West Virginia. Texans seem to have more of a "drawl", as do some eastern Kentuckians. Floridians seem to have all types of accents, since it seems most are not native.

Two of my moms best friends are not natives... in their 50s/60s, one is from eastern Kentucky, but she has lived here since the 70s- sounds like a native, but some of her words really have a drawl. Her other best friend is a older lady from Maryland and has lived here since the 70s - I love to hear her talk.... she has not picked up the Tennessee accent, but she lives in SW Virginia

[jabogitlu]

Nooo, Arkansas accents are very disparate from the rest, and if you get east enough in the Carolinas the accent gets VERY "soft" -- almost like a lazy form of Southern (if that's even possible! )

I can always pick out geographic locations from accents. Southern Appalachian (ETN-WNC-SWVA) sounds different than midstate Virginia, WV or Kentucky. Eastern Carolina sounds different than the Piedmont. Deep South too is different, as is SW Mississippi and Louisiana. Texas/OK/Arkansas is much more broad and drawly.

[JoAnn5]

My family moved to Ohio when i was in 2nd grade. I didn't realize how much i missed the Southern accent until a new girl from Kentucky joined my class. Her accent seemed as refreshing as a drink of cool water!! When we moved back to Tennessee, the kids in my school made fun of my Northern accent. Soon I was OVERcompensating with a big Southern drawl that has lasted since then.

One of my good friends lived in NC. I noticed a difference in his accent. For instance, one day he was talking about a "tuna - mint"...??? I couldn't figure out for a good while that he was saying "tournament"...lol

[skinem]

I moved to Oregon for 8 years in the '90s. People there made fun of the way I talked...nicely, but many still did. A lot of girls seemed to like it!

After being there a while, yes, I'd notice my family's accent in Tennessee more.

After moving back, for a while folks here made fun because they said I sounded "yankee", althought to my Oregon friends, I never did stop sounding Southern!

[Capt. Dan]

I have to agree with skinem on this one. When I went to California in the 60's the ladies out there just loved my Southern accent. And loved me alot because of it! The Bob Seger song "Hollywood Nights" could have been written about my first year out there. They never made fun of my accent. They thought it was "sexy."