“My son has acquired a Southern accent from somewhere . . .”
Do you think it’s because you’re from the South? I’ll trade you, my son sounds like he’s from the movie Fargo.
Nah, I only pull out the Magnolia-Mouth accent when I'm with my kin from Richmond. I usually speak with a very midwestern, nondescript TV anchor accentless accent. So does the boy's father. He picked this up from his classmates, friends, and the aforementioned kinfolk. This is okay if he can turn it on and off, but dropping his g's and r's, and saying Ah instead of I, is becoming habitual. Substantiates the theory that it's peers who have the most influence on our children, not the parents.
I don't know what a Fargo accent sounds like. Is it anything like Sarah Palin?