P.S. When I was 8 I had never been around Yankees and some people moved to my hometown from Chicago. I literally could not understand half of what they said for the first few weeks. It is an acquired art. In college because so many of my engineering professors were Indian (dot, not feather), I learned to listen with an Indian accent.
Yep, again. Have Indian friends and have learned to listen w/an Indian accent:)
Here's ya an excerpt from a paper our daughter wrote for a Comp class, several years back, on Southern accents and dialects. I wanted to strangle her when she showed it to me! But, she got an A:)
Many are the times which I have been gently chided or even heckled for my use of Southern English. Coming from some who view my accent and dialect as inferior, I have been the butt of their jokes or mocked due to my Southern English. I remember heading out for Sunday school in my youth or to important meetings as an adult, such as a job interview, and my mother telling me, “Watch your grammar.” By this she meant I was to speak absent the Southern dialect or accent. I don’t think that is a feat she could accomplish herself. You see, my mother speaks her own version of Southern English around those closest to her. It is common to hear her make a comment such as, “Now don’t ya go a bein’ mad at yer Pa. He’ll be gone one of these days and your heart will be breaked.” She is actually butchering the English language on purpose. She says, “Well, if the rest of the country makes fun of the way we talk, I can make fun of it even better.” This is part of her own brand of humor and also part of what those closest to her find so endearing and entertaining. She can tell a story or share an anecdote, in her uniqe version of Southern English, where all in attendence listen with rapt attention and feel jovial enough to join the display of feigned linguistic ignorance with glee.