Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > General U.S.
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
 
Old 12-29-2015, 04:43 AM
 
144 posts, read 269,068 times
Reputation: 131

Advertisements

Ironically the place I felt most self conscious about my southern accent was in Florida. I moved to Brevard County with my family from Georgia because my father accepted a job with NASA. This was the mid 1990's.

I had somewhat of a thick southern accent and I was made fun of constantly. Most of my classmates were from the northeast and midwest originally. My teacher thought I had a reading disability, but it was determined that I did not. However it was suggested by the reading specialist that I work on reducing my accent. I know that children at that age can be cruel, but I was more surprised when the adults insulted me.

Some of my father's co-workers asked if he owned a pair of shoes, participated in incest, and ever been part of a KKK rally. These people were from places like Philadelphia and New York. My father never thought about the north vs. south until we moved to Florida. That's where his attitude started to change. He became anti-northern for a little bit because of his experience in Florida. He's mellowed out since then.

I now live in Huntsville, AL. There are quite a few transplants here as well, but I am older now and I don't let ignorant comments bother me anymore. When I worked in customer service, I had to call all over the country and it was funny when some people starting talking S L O W L Y because they thought I was too stupid to solve their problem. My part of Georgia now has tons of transplants from all over too. It is strange going back to my hometown and not hearing many southern accents, but things change and it was for the better.

But I think when northerners move south, they tend to retain their accents more because even today, a northern accent is the preferred accent.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 12-29-2015, 05:21 AM
 
Location: Warren, OH
2,744 posts, read 4,208,130 times
Reputation: 6503
Quote:
Originally Posted by rvabread22 View Post
Maybe some times. But in general. When Southerners move North, its amazing how quickly they can lose their accents . But you hear Northerners living in Georgia or TN and they still talk like Yankees. And they've lived there for years. You'd think living there their accents would at least soften up a bit. I hear people in Colonial Williamsburg. The Northern accents from the retirees there always jump out like a sore thumb. The worst part is they still seem think they speak better than Southerners. Its kind of insulting. But they don't understand how bad they sound to our ears. Why is this?
Standard American English is Northern based. No, I don't mean Brooklynese (which is dying out anyway) . "Southern" is a regional accent.


Most people want to speak SAE - not a regional accent. Standard American English is the gold standard. It's how people are taught to speak when they want to work in broadcasting or become actors. It's how people on TV speak. Does that hurt your ears?

The use of the word "Yankee" gave me all the info I needed.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-29-2015, 05:54 AM
 
Location: Floribama
18,924 posts, read 43,225,958 times
Reputation: 18722
Quote:
Originally Posted by warren zee View Post
Standard American English is Northern based. No, I don't mean Brooklynese (which is dying out anyway) . "Southern" is a regional accent.


Most people want to speak SAE - not a regional accent. Standard American English is the gold standard. It's how people are taught to speak when they want to work in broadcasting or become actors. It's how people on TV speak. Does that hurt your ears?

The use of the word "Yankee" gave me all the info I needed.
It would be a very bland country if everyone sounded like a news broadcaster.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-29-2015, 06:12 AM
 
Location: Warren, OH
2,744 posts, read 4,208,130 times
Reputation: 6503
Quote:
Originally Posted by southernnaturelover View Post
It would be a very bland country if everyone sounded like a news broadcaster.
No. Actually it would not. Regional accents are dying out.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-29-2015, 12:15 PM
 
1,437 posts, read 2,553,307 times
Reputation: 1190
Quote:
Originally Posted by southernnaturelover View Post
It would be a very bland country if everyone sounded like a news broadcaster.
I love hearing different accents that people have. Its funny how many people think they do not have an accent until they move to another part of the country. I saw an article once that Michigan had the highest percentage of people who think they have "no accent". I can tell Michigan accent from a mile away, its distinctive to my ears. ( I am from the Jersey Shore but my mom is from Northern Florida, my native accent is closer to Philadelphia than Brooklyn as is most of NJ... but with lots of Southern influence,e spcailly after living 25+ years here in northern Florida)

You can also tell not only where a person is from, but where their parents are from many times.

I know a woman who moved from Peru to Jacksonville, Florida in high school, she lost her Spanish accent but her sister a year older still has one. She said she watched TV and mimicked the accents she saw to get rid of her accent.

I agree with other posters y'all will be picked up by transplants to the South, its such a handy word. And y'all is never used for singular, some will say they have experienced it and they do on TV shows like Family Guy. If y'all is used towards an individual, that individual represents a larger group( ie if you ask the clerk at a store " where is y'all's bathroom"... that clerk represents a larger group.)

AS far as faking accents, like actors do. Most people over-do the accent. I am really impressed with a lot of the Australian actors who do a great job sounding American ( ie Toni Collette)
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-29-2015, 07:39 PM
 
Location: Wonderland
67,666 posts, read 60,197,371 times
Reputation: 100994
Quote:
Originally Posted by warren zee View Post
No. Actually it would not. Regional accents are dying out.
Well, I think that's a shame.

I like regional accents and regional differences.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-30-2015, 01:34 AM
 
Location: Appalachian New York, Formerly Louisiana
4,409 posts, read 6,485,051 times
Reputation: 6253
Quote:
Originally Posted by memberX View Post
Ironically the place I felt most self conscious about my southern accent was in Florida. I moved to Brevard County with my family from Georgia because my father accepted a job with NASA. This was the mid 1990's.

I had somewhat of a thick southern accent and I was made fun of constantly. Most of my classmates were from the northeast and midwest originally. My teacher thought I had a reading disability, but it was determined that I did not. However it was suggested by the reading specialist that I work on reducing my accent. I know that children at that age can be cruel, but I was more surprised when the adults insulted me.

Some of my father's co-workers asked if he owned a pair of shoes, participated in incest, and ever been part of a KKK rally. These people were from places like Philadelphia and New York. My father never thought about the north vs. south until we moved to Florida. That's where his attitude started to change. He became anti-northern for a little bit because of his experience in Florida. He's mellowed out since then.

I now live in Huntsville, AL. There are quite a few transplants here as well, but I am older now and I don't let ignorant comments bother me anymore. When I worked in customer service, I had to call all over the country and it was funny when some people starting talking S L O W L Y because they thought I was too stupid to solve their problem. My part of Georgia now has tons of transplants from all over too. It is strange going back to my hometown and not hearing many southern accents, but things change and it was for the better.

But I think when northerners move south, they tend to retain their accents more because even today, a northern accent is the preferred accent.
That sucks that people were like that towards your family. By no means were they in the right to do so.

I do remind you though, that the type of northerner that moves to Florida is typically the type who has the money to move to Florida. Meaning, well to do families. Money and status often bring with them a certain cruelty and rudeness that even a southerner can fall prey to.

Those people barely represent the core working population of the north.

It's a shame that those are the people who travel to the south more often (because they have the money to do so) because they are honestly not a good representation of their home region.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-30-2015, 03:32 PM
 
1,437 posts, read 2,553,307 times
Reputation: 1190
Quote:
Originally Posted by memberX View Post
Ironically the place I felt most self conscious about my southern accent was in Florida. I moved to Brevard County with my family from Georgia because my father accepted a job with NASA. This was the mid 1990's.

I had somewhat of a thick southern accent and I was made fun of constantly. Most of my classmates were from the northeast and midwest originally. My teacher thought I had a reading disability, but it was determined that I did not. However it was suggested by the reading specialist that I work on reducing my accent. I know that children at that age can be cruel, but I was more surprised when the adults insulted me.

Some of my father's co-workers asked if he owned a pair of shoes, participated in incest, and ever been part of a KKK rally. These people were from places like Philadelphia and New York. My father never thought about the north vs. south until we moved to Florida. That's where his attitude started to change. He became anti-northern for a little bit because of his experience in Florida. He's mellowed out since then.

I now live in Huntsville, AL. There are quite a few transplants here as well, but I am older now and I don't let ignorant comments bother me anymore. When I worked in customer service, I had to call all over the country and it was funny when some people starting talking S L O W L Y because they thought I was too stupid to solve their problem. My part of Georgia now has tons of transplants from all over too. It is strange going back to my hometown and not hearing many southern accents, but things change and it was for the better.

But I think when northerners move south, they tend to retain their accents more because even today, a northern accent is the preferred accent.
There was a talk show host named Barry Farber years ago. He was Jewish but grew up in North Carolina so he had a thick Southern accent, even after living many years on the upper East side of Manhattan (He was very well educated and he had a great ear for languages, he claimed to be able to speak at some level like 40 languages.) He had a show about people from the South being treated as idiots/morons for their accent. Several people called and said they moved as children from Appalachia to Ohio, Michigan or Indiana and being put in remedial classes, told they were retarded etc...

Like we don't have AC in our homes and public buildings, movies will show what is supposed to be modern day Mississippi or Alabama court rooms with ceiling fans and and hand fans... we have AC now even in Mississippi LOL
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-31-2015, 12:06 AM
 
Location: Edina, MN, USA
7,572 posts, read 8,979,494 times
Reputation: 17937
I also ove regional accents and don't understand why anyone would want to change theirs.


One thing I noticed when I spent a couple weeks in NC - someone would speak to me in a rather heavy Southern accent and when I answered in my MN accent (we really don't have accents) they would then respond in a Northern accent. Huh????? Why?/???? Just don't get it.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-31-2015, 01:53 AM
 
Location: Appalachian New York, Formerly Louisiana
4,409 posts, read 6,485,051 times
Reputation: 6253
Quote:
Originally Posted by Umbria View Post
I also ove regional accents and don't understand why anyone would want to change theirs.


One thing I noticed when I spent a couple weeks in NC - someone would speak to me in a rather heavy Southern accent and when I answered in my MN accent (we really don't have accents) they would then respond in a Northern accent. Huh????? Why?/???? Just don't get it.
Everybody has an accent. Everybody in the entire world. There is no such thing as "no accent".
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > General U.S.

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top