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I can imagine what you mean. Could you please give an example of the latter?
Quote:
Originally Posted by cpg35223
Poorly educated Southerners are particularly awful to hear, while a cultured, aristocratic Southerner is a thing of beauty to hear. Especially their women.
I can imagine what you mean. Could you please give an example of the latter?
It's hard to describe. It's a very soft language with almost no sharp edges to it, which is why Southerners are so repelled by harsh, discordant Northern and Midwest accents. Southern accents, like Southern manners, tend to be diffident in nature. What's more, I've found that Southerners (particularly upper class types) have more of a reverence for the language, often using more colorful word choice than your average American. I used to think they were a bunch of rubes. Now I realize how beautiful their approach to the language really is.
That's why Southerners tend to be born writers, much like the Irish. If you read Eudora Welty, Flannery O'Connor, Rick Bragg, or a whole host of others from the midSouth, you come to realize how special their affinity for the language truly is.
Ebonics and Spanglish are not a disgrace to the English language. So many Americans speak improper English that it is ridiculous to pick on two groups.
I get annoyed by the southern accent and words like ya'alls and youse alls drive me batty. I took that quiz that was mentioned above and even though I've lived in MA all my life I came out with having a WESTERN accent! (not all people from MA talk with the Boston accent, but I have only been out west once so I don't know how I got a Western accent.) This discussion is fun and interesting.
I get annoyed by the southern accent and words like ya'alls and youse alls drive me batty. I took that quiz that was mentioned above and even though I've lived in MA all my life I came out with having a WESTERN accent! (not all people from MA talk with the Boston accent, but I have only been out west once so I don't know how I got a Western accent.) This discussion is fun and interesting.
Actually, "y'all" is a nice invention by Southerners, a far less awkward way to express Second Person Plural. Southerners only use "y'all" to speak to a group, and is much more elegant than "You all" or "You guys." I've found it creeping into my own conversations. It's kind of funny.
If your talking British accents then Birmingham, England. They don't say " cup of tea ", they say "kipper tie".
I went into a small souvenir shop in Cambridge and the owner was on a ladder and yelled (Rebecker, Rebecker, we have a customer) to get her assistant to come out of the back room and help me. I said, "I'm looking for a small ceramic owl. My mother collects them from all over the world." The owner climbed down the ladder and said, "You must be from America with that accent." As any mischievous 17 year old would do, I said, "I don't have an accent, but you certainly do, unless her name is spelled R-E-B-E-C-K-E-R." She didn't think I was funny and just rang up my purchase and didn't say anything after that. In general, I think most of the American (newscaster, movie) pronunciation is closer to the actual spelling of words than the British English pronunciation. What do you folks in the old country think about this?
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High school visit to England
