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Know who doesn't sound Southern? Practically all STL White celebs like John Goodman or Harry Caray. Yet take Mel Kipper or Nancy Pelosi and they sound variably more Southern anyway.
Nice reach, but no. Nancy Pelosi has a generic accent. Also, where does snoop sound like she's from? Where outside of Baltimore does Snoop sound like? I'll wait for video proof.
St. Louis? Southern? We're one of the most liberal cities in America. Take a look at the presidential primary election results. We don't identify with Missouri at all!
Where in the south do you hear Tew? I doesn't sound like anywhere because nobody does it except Baltimore.
The above statement isn't true, but I'm on your side; I voted for St. Louis...
I've never been to STL, and have actually never met any white people from St. Louis----but I've known many, many blacks from there:
-the block I grew up on in VA, my mother was friends with a lady and her husband, both from St. Louis...
-I met the above couple's nephew when he came to spend summers up here from St. Louis...
-I lived in Memphis my 8th grade school year; my best friend and his mother and brother were from St. Louis, and I had several classmates with St. Louis ties...
-I dated a girl in 2013 from St. Louis, who lives in Charlotte, and is currently in St. Louis right now...
-I've had coworkers in Charlotte who were from St. Louis...
-my aunt, uncle, and 3/4 children live there right now; my aunt was raised in Upstate NY/Memphis, my uncle in Chicago/Memphis (although I will say, the kids/my cousins don't sound too Southern; my oldest one was raised in StL and Pennsylvania and goes to college in Mississippi, but she only sounds faintly Southern)...
-my mom herself, who was born in the Delta, raised in Upstate NY, but graduated high school in Memphis, is a former resident of St. Louis, before I was born...
So, being East Coast raised, this is a lot of people I've met from STL. The commonality here is all these people spoke with a Southern drawl--some more pronounced than others--, but the accents fit in, in Carolina and Memphis; not so much in RVA. Besides that, typical southern dishes like soul food predominates the dining tendencies, which on this board is wrongly assumed as something all blacks everywhere mostly eat (when I lived in Upstate New York, soul food restaurants were rare, and in the homes of black Upstaters, while people may have eaten soul food at times, I was introduced to a litany of cooking and meals influenced by whites)...
Listen, I'm not saying my experience speaks for St. Louis as a whole. In hip-hop, St. Louisans have a much more southern sound in beat patterns and lyricism than their Baltimore counterparts...
In contrast, I was raised between Nova/RVA, and I've met probably hundreds of people either from or with Baltimore ties. Baltimorans sound Tidewater mixed with Philly, so while there is noticeable Southern influence in the Baltimore accent, modern-day Tidewater isn't a drawl. I care not for old-ass studies of the Tidewater; it is definitely a Southern accent, no question, but it is light, whereas EVERYONE I've ever known from St. Louis had a drawl. And I'm 27, so I'm speaking on recency and growing up Millennial, not old ass studies of historical accent features...
I'm not sure there is a right or wrong answer here. 8ve been to Baltimore several times. It has southern influence without doubt, but doesn't feel Southern in the modern sense of "southern". It feels Northern with Southern influences. And for all I know, St. Louis feels the same way. But in my experience, at least the black populations of both cities, St. Louis seems to have a "more" Southern identity...
The above statement isn't true, but I'm on your side; I voted for St. Louis...
I've never been to STL, and have actually never met any white people from St. Louis----but I've known many, many blacks from there:
-the block I grew up on in VA, my mother was friends with a lady and her husband, both from St. Louis...
-I met the above couple's nephew when he came to spend summers up here from St. Louis...
-I lived in Memphis my 8th grade school year; my best friend and his mother and brother were from St. Louis, and I had several classmates with St. Louis ties...
-I dated a girl in 2013 from St. Louis, who lives in Charlotte, and is currently in St. Louis right now...
-I've had coworkers in Charlotte who were from St. Louis...
-my aunt, uncle, and 3/4 children live there right now; my aunt was raised in Upstate NY/Memphis, my uncle in Chicago/Memphis (although I will say, the kids/my cousins don't sound too Southern; my oldest one was raised in StL and Pennsylvania and goes to college in Mississippi, but she only sounds faintly Southern)...
-my mom herself, who was born in the Delta, raised in Upstate NY, but graduated high school in Memphis, is a former resident of St. Louis, before I was born...
So, being East Coast raised, this is a lot of people I've met from STL. The commonality here is all these people spoke with a Southern drawl--some more pronounced than others--, but the accents fit in, in Carolina and Memphis; not so much in RVA. Besides that, typical southern dishes like soul food predominates the dining tendencies, which on this board is wrongly assumed as something all blacks everywhere mostly eat (when I lived in Upstate New York, soul food restaurants were rare, and in the homes of black Upstaters, while people may have eaten soul food at times, I was introduced to a litany of cooking and meals influenced by whites)...
Listen, I'm not saying my experience speaks for St. Louis as a whole. In hip-hop, St. Louisans have a much more southern sound in beat patterns and lyricism than their Baltimore counterparts...
In contrast, I was raised between Nova/RVA, and I've met probably hundreds of people either from or with Baltimore ties. Baltimorans sound Tidewater mixed with Philly, so while there is noticeable Southern influence in the Baltimore accent, modern-day Tidewater isn't a drawl. I care not for old-ass studies of the Tidewater; it is definitely a Southern accent, no question, but it is light, whereas EVERYONE I've ever known from St. Louis had a drawl. And I'm 27, so I'm speaking on recency and growing up Millennial, not old ass studies of historical accent features...
I'm not sure there is a right or wrong answer here. 8ve been to Baltimore several times. It has southern influence without doubt, but doesn't feel Southern in the modern sense of "southern". It feels Northern with Southern influences. And for all I know, St. Louis feels the same way. But in my experience, at least the black populations of both cities, St. Louis seems to have a "more" Southern identity...
You're wrong, it's not the South. Blacks may have a Southern drawl, but they also do in Detroit, Chicago, and Cleveland. Basing a city's Southerness on its black population is a load of crap. St. Louis whites speak with a Northern influenced dialect. Baltimore's speech patterns are Southern influenced.
The above statement isn't true, but I'm on your side; I voted for St. Louis...
I've never been to STL, and have actually never met any white people from St. Louis----but I've known many, many blacks from there:
-the block I grew up on in VA, my mother was friends with a lady and her husband, both from St. Louis...
-I met the above couple's nephew when he came to spend summers up here from St. Louis...
-I lived in Memphis my 8th grade school year; my best friend and his mother and brother were from St. Louis, and I had several classmates with St. Louis ties...
-I dated a girl in 2013 from St. Louis, who lives in Charlotte, and is currently in St. Louis right now...
-I've had coworkers in Charlotte who were from St. Louis...
-my aunt, uncle, and 3/4 children live there right now; my aunt was raised in Upstate NY/Memphis, my uncle in Chicago/Memphis (although I will say, the kids/my cousins don't sound too Southern; my oldest one was raised in StL and Pennsylvania and goes to college in Mississippi, but she only sounds faintly Southern)...
-my mom herself, who was born in the Delta, raised in Upstate NY, but graduated high school in Memphis, is a former resident of St. Louis, before I was born...
So, being East Coast raised, this is a lot of people I've met from STL. The commonality here is all these people spoke with a Southern drawl--some more pronounced than others--, but the accents fit in, in Carolina and Memphis; not so much in RVA. Besides that, typical southern dishes like soul food predominates the dining tendencies, which on this board is wrongly assumed as something all blacks everywhere mostly eat (when I lived in Upstate New York, soul food restaurants were rare, and in the homes of black Upstaters, while people may have eaten soul food at times, I was introduced to a litany of cooking and meals influenced by whites)...
Listen, I'm not saying my experience speaks for St. Louis as a whole. In hip-hop, St. Louisans have a much more southern sound in beat patterns and lyricism than their Baltimore counterparts...
In contrast, I was raised between Nova/RVA, and I've met probably hundreds of people either from or with Baltimore ties. Baltimorans sound Tidewater mixed with Philly, so while there is noticeable Southern influence in the Baltimore accent, modern-day Tidewater isn't a drawl. I care not for old-ass studies of the Tidewater; it is definitely a Southern accent, no question, but it is light, whereas EVERYONE I've ever known from St. Louis had a drawl. And I'm 27, so I'm speaking on recency and growing up Millennial, not old ass studies of historical accent features...
I'm not sure there is a right or wrong answer here. 8ve been to Baltimore several times. It has southern influence without doubt, but doesn't feel Southern in the modern sense of "southern". It feels Northern with Southern influences. And for all I know, St. Louis feels the same way. But in my experience, at least the black populations of both cities, St. Louis seems to have a "more" Southern identity...
I agree with a lot of this. The AA's I have known from St. Louis are pretty southern. Many of them were considered "country" in Tidewater VA for their speech patterns and style. In contrast, AA's from Baltimore are much more "eastcoast/mid-atlantic" in their overall demeanor. I admit that I have never met white people from St. Louis, but the blacks from there are much more southern than those in Baltimore. AA's from St. Louis also seem more southern than those in other midwest cities such as Cleveland, Detroit, and Chicago.
OMG, 196 posts on this? So, from what I can gather, no city that's not in the South, wants to sound like the South, because that must be bad. And, why is that bad? I say it's summer, and who cares what people talk like. Seriously, good grief.
@u146, I'm not "basing" St. Louis' supposed southern-Ness on its black population. However, I've admitted that I've never been to St. Louis; it's quite possible that if I actually go to the city, I'd see some things that make me feel differently. Being that I'm not from the Midwest or Missouri, my only point of reference is with St. Louisans I've met--they all just happen to be black. Not my fault...
Also, it's okay for you to call places Southern because of the black residents, but not when someone else does? You're notorious on this board for using blacks as either a sole reason or premium reason a place is Southern...
@kbank, right! In urban VA (Nova/RVA/Tidewater), people from St. Louis both sound and appear very Southern. They don't sound like us, and I know you and I aren't the only Virginians who have noticed this or feel this way. When I was a teen, my neighbor's nephew came a couple summers from the Lou. He was cool, but we definitely noticed he sounded "country" to our ears; the drawl was crazy thick...
Just ran down a list of St. Louis celebrities:
Kimora Lee Simmons, Jeremy Maclin, Bradley Beal, do not sound Southern, so that gives credence to the fact that all black St. Louisans don't sound Southern...
Georgia Frontiere, Randy Orton, the Wallace family, they all do sound Southern, which supports a notion that 'some' white St. Louisans DO sound Southern...
St. Louis may be mostly Northern, but accent-wise, it is extraordinarily mixed, and I think varies based on the specific St. Louisan you speak to...
Georgia Frontiere, Randy Orton, the Wallace family, they all do sound Southern, which supports a notion that 'some' white St. Louisans DO sound Southern...
Randy Orton is originally from Knoxville, TN so that explains that. Who are the Wallace family? Not at all familiar.
@u146, I'm not "basing" St. Louis' supposed southern-Ness on its black population. However, I've admitted that I've never been to St. Louis; it's quite possible that if I actually go to the city, I'd see some things that make me feel differently. Being that I'm not from the Midwest or Missouri, my only point of reference is with St. Louisans I've met--they all just happen to be black. Not my fault...
Also, it's okay for you to call places Southern because of the black residents, but not when someone else does? You're notorious on this board for using blacks as either a sole reason or premium reason a place is Southern...
@kbank, right! In urban VA (Nova/RVA/Tidewater), people from St. Louis both sound and appear very Southern. They don't sound like us, and I know you and I aren't the only Virginians who have noticed this or feel this way. When I was a teen, my neighbor's nephew came a couple summers from the Lou. He was cool, but we definitely noticed he sounded "country" to our ears; the drawl was crazy thick...
Just ran down a list of St. Louis celebrities:
Kimora Lee Simmons, Jeremy Maclin, Bradley Beal, do not sound Southern, so that gives credence to the fact that all black St. Louisans don't sound Southern...
Georgia Frontiere, Randy Orton, the Wallace family, they all do sound Southern, which supports a notion that 'some' white St. Louisans DO sound Southern...
St. Louis may be mostly Northern, but accent-wise, it is extraordinarily mixed, and I think varies based on the specific St. Louisan you speak to...
If we are talking about the Wallace family in NASCAR, they definitely do not sound southern.
I agree with a lot of this. The AA's I have known from St. Louis are pretty southern. Many of them were considered "country" in Tidewater VA for their speech patterns and style. In contrast, AA's from Baltimore are much more "eastcoast/mid-atlantic" in their overall demeanor. I admit that I have never met white people from St. Louis, but the blacks from there are much more southern than those in Baltimore. AA's from St. Louis also seem more southern than those in other midwest cities such as Cleveland, Detroit, and Chicago.
Not true. Chicago, Cleveland, and Detroit blacks are every bit as Southern as St. Louis.
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