States that aren't firmly set in a region

[tcave360]

Originally Posted by hobbesdj

Neither does the northeast, south, west, or Midwest, pacific northwest, southwest, deep south, and so forth. It all depends on who you ask. If anything the mid-Atlantic is more precise than most of these. Ask someone from Baltimore, Wilmington, or Philadelphia if they live in the Mid-Atlantic. There is no confusion here.



So all of those guys in Philadelphia must be trying hard to not identify with the south? Give me a break.

This.

Also, you know you're in the Mid-Atlantic if there's a WaWa's nearby LOL, thanks Philly

[cwa1984]

Originally Posted by tcave360

This.

Also, you know you're in the Mid-Atlantic if there's a WaWa's nearby LOL, thanks Philly

I prefer Sheetz myself.

[Craziaskowboi]

Originally Posted by modernrebel

West Virginia. It looks northern on a map, but seems oddly southern in culture.

Northern West Virginia is not.

[TexasReb]

=BadgerFilms;39016591]West Virginia is the hardest one to really nail down, I guess I'd call it "Mid-Atlantic" which also includes Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and New York. Maybee Virginia and DC. To me "Northeast" is too vague a term, because it lumps New England with states southwest of it. New England is an independent region on it's own. I wouldn't call West Virginia southern at all, even though they got the accent, because it's too far north to be called southern. Montanans have an accent similar to Texans but no one's calling them part of the southern US anytime soon!

I have never seen nor heard anyone from Montana that sounds like a native Texan. And never seen them placed in the same dialect region. The commonly considered "Texas accent" is just one of many sub-varieties of what is more broadly known as Southern American English. Here are a couple of good articles and excerpts on the subject:

Do You Speak American . Sea to Shining Sea . American Varieties . Texan | PBS

As the settlement history suggests, TXE is a form of Southern American English and thus includes many of the lexical, grammatical, and phonological features of Southern American English.


Do You Speak American . Sea to Shining Sea . American Varieties . Texan . Drawl | PBS

The most basic explanation of a Texas accent is that it’s a Southern accent with a twist,” said Professor Bailey, who has determined that the twang is not only spreading but also changing. “It’s the twist that we’re interested in.”...The broadly defined “Texas accent” began to form...when two populations merged here in the mid-nineteenth century. Settlers who migrated from Louisiana, Alabama, and Mississippi brought with them what would later become the Lower South Dialect (its drawl left an imprint on East Texas), while settlers from Tennessee and Kentucky brought with them the South Midland Dialect (its twang had a greater influence in West Texas). What distinguishes a Texas accent the most is the confluence of its influences...

And a larger color coded map of the whole country:

http://aschmann.net/AmEng/#SmallMapUnitedStates

I also consider Texas to be exclusively southwestern, as do Oklahoma. When I think of "Southern" I think of the southeast. Lots of trees, swamps, humidity. While parts of Texas resemble Louisiana and Mississippi, most of it is distinct. It's dryer here. There's cacti all around me. I'm not in the desert yet, but I'm in the plains.

We will have to agree to disagree. While Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Arizona can all be properly called "Southwestern, I submit that the basic history and culture of the former two differ considerably from the latter pair. The (geographic) twins did not influence each other to any degree, and extensive studies in regional self-identity clearly show that a decided majority of Texans and Oklahomans believe they live in the South and think of themselves as Southerners, the same is decidedly not true in the latter. Again, here is a great link concerning that particular topic, and the actual overall results of the 14 year study:

UNC-CH surveys reveal where the ‘real’ South lies

Percent who say their community is in the South (percentage base per poll in parentheses)

Alabama 98 (717) South Carolina 98 (553) Louisiana 97 (606) Mississippi 97 (431) Georgia 97 (1017) Tennessee 97 (838) North Carolina 93 (1292) Arkansas 92 (400) Florida 90 (1792) Texas 84 (2050) Virginia 82 (1014) Kentucky 79 (582) Oklahoma 69 (411)

West Virginia 45 (82) Maryland 40 (173) Missouri 23 (177) Delaware 14 (21) D.C. 7 (15)

Percent who say they are Southerners (percentage base per poll in parentheses)

Mississippi 90 (432) Louisiana 89 (606) Alabama 88 (716) Tennessee 84 (838) South Carolina 82 (553) Arkansas 81 (399) Georgia 81 (1017) North Carolina 80 (1290) Texas 68 (2053) Kentucky 68 (584) Virginia 60 (1012) Oklahoma 53 (410) Florida 51 (1791)

West Virginia 25 (84) Maryland 19 (192) Missouri 15 (197) New Mexico 13 (68) Delaware 12 (25) D.C. 12 (16) Utah 11 (70) Indiana 10 (208) Illinois 9 (362) Ohio 8 (396) Arizona 7 (117) Michigan 6 (336)

The southern accents have a different sound here than in states to the east and it just has that "frontier" feel.

See above on the accent aspect, but contrary to Hollywood stereotypes, a "Southern accent" is not limited to that "moonlight and magnolias" imagery of "Gone With the Wind" fame. People from South Carolina do not "sound" like people from Mississippi, who do not sound like people from Tennessee and so on. But what all of them have (Texas included in most ways) is a certain dialect and idiom pattern and commonalities that easily distinguish them from the type of English spoken in the Northeast, Midwest or Far West (ie. the Rocky Mountain states and interior SW) or the Pacific Coast.

And of course Texas has a "frontier feel". that is largely why (IMO) the best description for it is what Raymond Gastil labeled a subregion of the larger South dubbed the "western South".

Anyway, so far as grouping states by geography alone, we will again just have to agree to disagree. Of course, in some cases that is very valid, such as for convenience, topographical, climate, etc. features. But in others I believe it ignores the much deeper and more important aspects that gave/give a region its unique history, culture, and color.

But really, there is no "right" answer on thread topics like this, anyway. On topics like this, people are always going to disagree bases on their own outlooks, experiences, readings, studies, etc. And nothing wrong at all with that.