Oh, y’all are just too funny!!
I grew up right on the Virginia/Tennessee line. I went to school in Virginia. I didn’t realize how strong an accent that I had until I heard myself on television. There are people that live just over the Tennessee line from where I grew up that have a much stronger accent and use words that I have never heard of before. Sometimes I just have to guess what they are saying to me.
My mama grew up in Queens, NY and when she would get tired her old yankee accent would come through. I always like to get her to say “dinosaur”, she would pronounce it di-no-saw, it was kind of cute. My brother moved to Montana a few years ago and was made fun of because of his southern accent. When he calls me now, I detect a slight Montana accent.
I can talk proper English whenever I want or need to, but, it is more fun to talk like a hick. My Mama and Daddy used to argue about whether or not I was half Yankee. I always sided with Daddy on that one.