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As usual, I'm dedicated to starting random threads just because I can D:

So ever since my last visit to Missouri I've been more and more conscious of accents, especially my own.

In the past I've been honestly asked "How long have you lived here?" or "Is that a yankee I hear?" (my ex-boyfriend's grandma, haha, his family was so southern) and they always act shocked when I reply with "I was born and raised here in Birmingham" My boyfriend and I debated over how strong my mom's accent was, because I would tell how my mom didn't have an accent so she taught me not to have one... well, he's convinced me she does have an accent that before I just didn't pick up on 'cause I'm surrounded by them. I hear it in my friends more... but I'm still hardly picking up on my own. I have one friend who I've noticed when she's talking to her family is distinctly southern, and when she's with her friends it's much less obvious.

I joked about how I was going to get my grandma to teach me how to talk like her, she's so southern... with a slight bit of country (southern and country accents are not the same, I promise)... growing up I would avoid talking to her 'cause I had trouble understanding what she was saying. Then I started trying to talk in a southern accent and to my surprise I could actually do it pretty well. I joked that when I move to Missouri I'm going to use it everywhere and call everyone "baby" and "sweetheart" and use southern phrases like "Well bless your little heart" "Whatever bakes/fries your cornbread" and "butter my butt and call me a biscut" (apparently my boyfriend found that to be hilarious sweatdrop )

And from my experience, southerners have a tendency to call all sodas cokes, at least in my area... however, not all of us do... I switch back and forth, if I'm ordering I say what I want to drink, but if I'm going to get some soda I'll generally just say "I'm picking up some coke".

I had a northerner once at the theater I worked at call it "pop" and for a few minutes I was just like "Pop....corn?" And apparently goobers isn't only a term for peanuts, like I thought... I had somebody try to order some of the candy from me and they were like "Chocolate covered peanuts" so I go "Peanut M&Ms?" they kept saying "No... Chocolate covered peanuts" and I kept saying "Peanut M&Ms?"... I am a blonde and not a fast learner sweatdrop

I have a friend whose boyfriend is from New Jersey and she finds them irresistable, I'm more into the southern accents and scottish/irish/australian accents... I had two customers, one from Australia and one from Germany the other day and I could totally tell the Australian, but I had no clue where the hell the German was from >>; I also could barely understand him... I never hear german accents crying


So... discuss:

4laugh Your accent. Do you have one, do you not have one?
4laugh Local terms for various things... ie "bubbler" (water fountain), "goober peas" (peanuts) kin (family)
4laugh y'all/yenz/yous guys/whatever is common for your area to refer to one or more people.
4laugh If it's not "coke", what the hell is it? Pop? Eww, no.
4laugh Your favorite accents/what accents you find irresistable...
4laugh Anything else you can think of about accents.

I've lived in Massachusetts my whole life. I really don't think I have an accent but I'm sure here and there you'll hear a hint of the Bostonian accent coming from me. Suddenly words like "car" or "park" don't have an R anymore. I think it's only if I'm talking fast, though. I try to stay away from it because I don't like it.
I call water fountains bubblers. I never say "pop" and never ever hear it around here. It's always soda or coke. Um.. I say wicked "something or other" a lot. Like..wicked cool, wicked big, wicked loud, etc. I heard that's an around here thing. I had no idea until someone mentioned it.
I say "you guys" or "yous."
I love the British accent but I don't want to like it. Personal reasons really.

I just found one of those 'You know you're from..blah blah blah' things and thought I'd add some from Massachusetts(concerning accents and words). I only added things that apply to me:
You know what a pocketbook is.
You call chocolate sprinkles "jimmies"
A water fountain is called a bubbler. Say it "bubbla".
You know what they sell at a "packie"
Khakis are something you start the car with.
You don't realize that you walk and talk twice as fast as everyone else.
our favorite adjective is "wicked."

I have to go find one of those for South Carolina now.
I'm moving south in less than a year and I'm pretty nervous about it.
You said you heard "Is that a yankee I hear?"
Haha.. makes me nervous. Maybe you could give some suggestions on what NOT to do when I move south? Things that might be annoying to some people? I know Alabama isn't South Carolina but I know absolutely no one not from New England.

That was longer than I wanted it to be.

I add "wicked" to the begining of a lot of things... but that's partially a distinct way I have of talking... especially when being sarcastic or really happy.

Such as "C'mon, that's totally wicked cool..." or "Yeah, I just spilled sweet tea all over myself, it's pretty wicked awesome...one of the most amazing experiences of my life ever."

My ex's family was very southern, normally people don't say anything to me 'cause I don't have any other accent. So if you don't have much of one it'll be fine, I think she was just a crazy old lady trying to figure out if her southern grandson had brought home a southern belle or not >>;

But people in the south are very, very friendly... my friend's boyfriend moved here from New Jersey and I worked with both of them for awhile. People would pick up on his accent and he'd go off on this speech about New Jersey and they'd be like "Oh, I'm glad you're here" or whatever random nice crap people say to that.

Actually, I think he brought it up half the time >>;

I'm going to start telling people I'm from antartica and see if they believe me.

Oh, and sweet tea is a southern thing, as Will Cross informed me, even though I already knew >>;

My friend moved to Colorado and she and I were in a chat with her friends and she complained about how she asked for sweet tea and they gave her tea with sugar poured it post steeping.... but southern sweet tea has the sugar mixed in while the tea is being steeped and is warm, so that the sugar melts into the tea.

However, I hate tea... which is very un-southern of me... and makes me the freak of my family sweatdrop

lol, I may do another video of me talking and doing my southern accent so people can laugh at me... I'm trying to think of cool stuff to say, first.

Your voice is so cute, and I swear mine is deeper and more manly.

Otherwise I'd have to fall back on plan B, just parading about in my panties and top and babbling.

I'm hoping it won't come to plan B >>;

when I'm with customers my voice gets really high, then I'll turn around and talk even deeper than usual for me to my co-workers.

I don't really know what's up with that.

When I see cute things I squeal... a lot. Or babble about them... I'll be talking to my boyfriend and be like "Yeah, so I...and it's a puppeh and it is so cute and cuddleh and it wants me to snuggle it 'cause it is a puppeh and it is cuuuuuute"

I do too... I say it multiple times a sentence... just like a valley girl.

Luckily, I don't type it.

Watching that vid reminds me of someone . . . argh, this is going to keep me up all night! razz

But seriously, I didn't notice much of an accent myself. Then again, my experience with country/southern accents came from working at a call center for Centennial Wireless and taking calls from Texas, Louisiana (sp?), Michigan (sp?) and Indiana, so I heard mostly stronger accents.

I'm from Texas 3nodding I'm like your friend, I notice my accent is thicker when I'm comfortable around people. (Like the family I've grown up around.) Also, when I'm really pissed my boyfriend has trouble understanding me for it xd
I don't notice mine too much, but I think it's just because I was raised in the south my whole life. I noticed it more when we moved up north to Tennessee. I know what you're thinking, they're both southern, but no talk2hand Tennessee has snow. It's up north. lol xd
I call 'em cokes, as well, which I nearly typed out as cocks o.o I don't know a lot of slang, because I was raised calling certain things certain names. I still find out ever so often that it's not actually called that, but another thing>.> Whenever it happens, I'll come edit my post xd
I knew some people called it Pop, but I still think that's stupid>.>

Accent I can't resist - British, especially Scottish 4laugh Gavin's Scottish 4laugh heart (I bagged me a good'un! twisted )

We say ya'll or you all. I know we, a lot of the time, say something like "Ya'll all.", which doesn't really make sense, since ya'll is 'you all' shortened xd But yeah heart Southern pride! domokun

I'm one of those weirdos, though, that can adapt to other's accents. I think we all can, and probably all do, but I'm like super supple when it comes to other accents gonk I'm so afraid when I meet Gavin (online relationship for 4 years and counting) that he'll think I'm making fun of him sweatdrop