Posted on 08/02/2014 7:32:12 AM PDT by CharlesOConnell
I was born in Tennessee.
And even though I’ve lived in New York City for the past decade, I still take my tea sweet, my chicken fried and my biscuits buttered. I’m proud to call myself a gun-toting, Bible-clinging Tennessee Volunteer.
So you can imagine my befuddlement when I learned the Oak Ridge National Laboratory wanted to crack down on workers who have Southern accents by holding a “Southern Accent Reduction” course.
In other words, them government folks want to learn us rednecks how to talk right. Bless their hearts.
(Excerpt) Read more at en.actu.net ...
I’m going on 15 happy years in beautiful, middle-Tennessee after life in the southwest and DC.
Recently, I asked a visiting friend from way northern Illinois, who speaks with a funny accent, if she thought I had an accent. “Yes.” “How does it sound?,” I asked. “Southern,” she answered.
One of the happiest days of my life!
I grew up in (near,actually) Boston yet strangers have asked me for decades if I'm from New York City.I can't explain why!
I was not born in Tennessee, but my mama was....I was born and raised in SoCal and got teased a lot for using words such as “over yonder”, “y’all” and “warsh”. So.....I moved to Texas, and while I don’t naturally have a southern accent, my vocabulary fits right in. If you don’t know what “far ain’ts” and “awl” are, you ain’t from around here. Howdy, neighbor!
I went to visit a pal, who went to school in Boston. It took me a bit to figure out that when people said “let’s go potty” it meant go out and live it up, as opposed to a break to the bathroom ;)
My youngest daughter was born in South Carolina...
I did my best to help her not learn “Charlestonese” and was successful..
but when we moved to TN when she was 7, she picked up the accent seemingly overnight..
LOL
“Bless their hearts” is right. :(
Same here. 4th generation Texas, but have heard the remark; ‘You’re not from Texas, are you’?
Kinda hurts my feelings in a way.
Texas-—>Texan
I’d sue them for linguistic discrimination and tell them I’m going to a Redneck Pride Parade and do they want to contribute/participate or are they racist bigots? I thought diversity is our strength (rolls eyes).
UPDATE: Y’all Keep Talking: Lab Scratches ‘Southern Accent Reduction’ Course
"Ceterum censeo 0bama esse delendam."
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LonePalm, le Républicain du verre cassé (The Broken Glass Republican)
Y’all want to hear a funny accent go to NYC. :-) Its all relative.
And I mean All Y'all!
You wanta have fun? Get on an elevator in any large northeast city. Once the doors close, try to make eye contact with the folks ridding with you. They’ll cringe in a corner before they’ll look you in the eye. Strange lot, they are.
Those little Southern Ladies can turn the world upside down, with a smile.
She left Bill Cosby speechless.
I do believe that you might be wanting "fine singing" he'ah as sign language warn't an art in them there days!
Strange that this comes up today as just last night there was a thread on the late, great Southern humorist, Lewis Grizzard and I know he would have had a field day with that. After all, he worked for a while at the Chicago Sun Times and you just know that they had a translation problem there. Check his speaking on this clip of one of his comedy pieces (College Football Rivalries!)
I was raised and schooled in New England. i have worked with all folks from all points of the compass.
Having said that, once I moved to Louisiana, OI VAY!!!!
“They” take the cake for slaughtering the English language! Getting through NYC kids attempting to conquer ‘ebonics’, (at least it wasn’t Esperanto), sounds kinder on the ear.
Now, having said that, I have had dealings with Cajun folks, not in the New Orleans area. It took me a few minutes, but ‘we’ did get things done, ‘and remained friends’ in the process.
Seriously, a Southern accent gets people’s attention and holds it. It is used frequently in seminars. One of the best Southern accents I have ever heard was from a guy who had spent his life in Boston. He took a course to get it down. A hosed down Savannah accent. It was perfect.
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