US Southern Accent: Is it difficult

miamimike says on Jan 31, 2005, 19:07:

You aren't Alone !! I went to a College in N.Carolina and had a very difficult time understanding some of the locals in outlying small towns.One day my neighbor told me _I'm going to change my "Ahl" today and I said, what the hell is "AHL"??--he responded "AHL"--you know that Black stuff in your car's motor.I said, you mean "OIL" he said, Heyall(for hell) yea, the "AHL"-everone knows what "AHL" is--well when we both were on the same page I understood.I found this type of accent pervasive throught the states like the Carolinas,Miss.Ga Alabama-they probably thought likewise of my accent from Pa-NY-Canada.They say the same thing here in Miami about the Cuban's accent with their Spanish.

"Wait a minute. What did you just say? You're predicting $4-a-gallon gas? That's interesting. I hadn't heard that." -- Feb. 28, 2008 --George W. Bush, Washington, D.C.

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cshires says on Jan 31, 2005, 19:11:

Yes. Sometimes it is There are many people in the Southeast US that do speak with a strong accent that at times, can be very hard to understand. Because of this, some of the normal words in english are pronounced very different and are sometimes abreviated or used in a type of slang which can be hard to understand unless you have heard it before, or have grown up around it. It just takes time to get adjusted to the language and the way people speak.

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Raleigh1590 says on Jan 31, 2005, 19:45:

Hey Rash, how are you?
I've lived in the South all my life (TX & LA) and you're completely right, in the smaller towns it's really hard to understand what people are saying! Even for me & English is my first language. Funny story, just today I was at a drugstore in the middle of New Orleans & I told the lady to keep the receipt and then she said something inquisitive in a really strong Southern accent. I had to ask her to repeat it twice but still didn't understand, so I smiled nodded and left!

It must be really annoying for you to try to catch that southern drawl. But hey, move to any big city and you'll be fine most of the time. Is it like that in Colombia with people having different ways of speaking?

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utopiacowboy says on Jan 31, 2005, 19:51:

Everybody everywhere speaks with some kind of an accent. I have lived all over the US and Canada and I don't find Texans any harder to understand than anyone else. You ought to go to back woods towns in northern New Hampshire or Maine and try to understand those guys. They can be darn near undecipherable. Or when someone from South Boston asks you if you want a fork, you'll think he must be somebody's pimp.

Disclaimer: any comment I make is inane and is not to be taken seriously, and is so patently ridiculous that no one should take it seriously, even as an insult.

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Lionheart says on Jan 31, 2005, 20:03:

or urban blacks no matter how hard I try, I can't understand them

From what I have been told, they developed their own slang on purpose, but trying to talk to them you think they forgot how to speak English.

I like the Southern drawl, especially from women, even if I don't understand much either. New Orleans ... wouldn't they add Cajun to that, like some French stuff?

But be happy that German isn't the #1 language we have to deal with here now. For a country the size of California North to South, you have more dialects there than square miles. And they don't understand each other either. Not to mention Austrian or Swiss dialects. Arnold cracks me up.

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Raleigh1590 says on Jan 31, 2005, 20:26:

DOn't get me started on that Arnold, he is hilarious to watch. New Orleans always has a little cajun in there ;-) I agree that Urban African Americans are especially hard to understand, so when I don't catch it the first few times, I pretend I don't understand because I speak German... but now that I'm learning Spanish, I can pretend to speak that too!

I love global languages & dialects...

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Gomezman5 says on Jan 31, 2005, 20:27:

UT you are right, but........... While certain parts of the US have theri distinct accents, some parts are clearly more pronounced from others. For example, I am a Chicagoan, and I have a typical midwestern accent (to the extent there is one). But their there are some locales that are not region specific but are in fact city specific. For example, is there really any accent anywhere in the country that is like a New Yorker's?? Or like someone from Boston??? I think not. But I can assure you, that if I travel anywhere in this country, and I do travel a lot, nobody has ever said to me, "You sound like you are a Chicagoan." Nobody.

Southerners have accents, but by and large it varies depending on education. If you are from the back hills of Kentucky, your accent is going to have a lot more of a "drawl" then someone from Louiville.

Latinos in general will have a harder time understanding southerners because, they don't learn English that sounds even remotely similar to that. It is exactly the reason why gringos have a much harder time understanding coastal people then interior people from Colombia.
Understanding people from Barranquilla or Cartagena is very hard for Gringos. Colombians understand them, but gringos do not.

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N2Aquatix says on Feb 1, 2005, 04:07:

Yup The accent can be hard to understand. I live in AL where the accent is really thick. I'm originally from the southeast, but I've lived all over the USA, so I don't really have an accent. Education and travelling erased it for the most part. I did notice also, that my fiancee's Barranquillan dialect is different from the spanish that I was taught in college, but after a few months of talking on the phone with her I don't have any problem understanding it now.

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jack73534 says on Feb 1, 2005, 05:43:

its funny some people don,t think they have a accent. The only people I have heard speak proper English live in Nebrasaka and I know they or from Nebraska because they don,t have a accent. I live on a dilect line in south Oklahoma , i don,t sound like a Texan totally ,but you can tell I am from the southwest. I have a masters degree so I take offence anyone saying someone with accent not being educated. I had a English teacher in high School from boston she thought she was superior because she didn,t speak with a accent, right John F. kennedy didn,t have a accent either.In my county I can probaly tell you which town you are from when you speak. Example If you say worsh for wash you or from Comanche if you say purrrdy for pretty you are from Loco . Which leaves me with the end of this conversation which I believe to be pretty Loco.

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Chevere33 says on Feb 1, 2005, 07:13:

understanding "accents" Yes, I think southern accents are more difficult to understand, but that's because I'm from Michigan. I think the reason more people find them hard to understand is that we're not accustomed to it. Folks hear the accents that are on the news or television, and their ear is accustomed to it (or that's how they themselves speak). With exposure, you'll begin to "hear Southern".

Constancia

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Mr. Hollywood says on Feb 1, 2005, 07:27:

Southern = Costeño Yes, it's harder to understand unless it's what you learned first. I assume that exchange students to Mississippi and Alabama learn southern English and then have a hard time understanding people from California or Illinois.

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thegoodbyestare says on Feb 1, 2005, 20:46:

Dont worry your not alone! I live in Florida and for the most part I have lived here most of my life. Depending on where you some people are just incredibly hard to understand even for me. My friend is from Georgia, and only after I sit and think about what she is saying can I actually figure it out. However, it does seem that the more educated a person is down here the more the accent goes away. That's just something I have noticed. And anyone in Florida will point out a northern accent, but deny to their death that they actually have one as well.

Hius Enauk

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william_andrew_channell says on Feb 2, 2005, 11:11:

I'm from Alabama. I think everybody is just a little confused. We don't speak with an accent. We speak normal. It's everybody else that speaks with an accent. I also used to have trouble understanding them yankees (anybody that is not from the South) when I was a kid. Another thing: Florida is not part of the South, neither is Texas. To me, a Southern accent is just more relaxed. We always used to make fun of kids from the north in school because when they talked it seemed like they were just exaggerating everything and making way too much effort to pronounce things. I tend to agree with the idea that Southern English is similar to Caribbean Spanish; more relaxed.

For all you Costeños, just think about the way Cachacos speak Spanish and you will know how Northern English sounds to us Southerners.

Another thing that just popped into my mind. I just found out the other day that people in the north think that a toboggan is some kind of sled. It's a freaking hat, for crying out loud.

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lpdiver says on Feb 2, 2005, 15:33:

Super salad I am a cajun with a slow drawl. While in Longbeach, California the waitress asked me if I wanted one of their super salads to which I replied yes. She paused looked at me puzzled and asked again, "Would you like one of our super salads?" I again replies in the affirmative.

Mama steped in at this point and told the young waitress that she needed to speak slllloooowwwww as I was from the south. Mama then asked me if I preferred soup or salad with my entree. Also this was my introduction to the cheering valley gorl waitress. You make an order and get a peppy GOOD CHOICE!!!! reply.

Gotta love the world.


antony

"cook some rice!"

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utopiacowboy says on Feb 2, 2005, 15:37:

I must agree with you, william_andrew. Texas is just a whole different animal.

Disclaimer: any comment I make is inane and is not to be taken seriously, and is so patently ridiculous that no one should take it seriously, even as an insult.

Disclaimer: any comment I make is inane and is not to be taken seriously, and is so patently ridiculous that no one should take it seriously, even as an insult.

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N2Aquatix says on Feb 3, 2005, 06:13:

Uhhh Yeah Down ere in Alabamy wer my kin is from, I'll be danged if I understan ese folks anymore. I reckon at's jus the way it is. I'll be havin ta move down ta the coast with ma lil brown senorita cause they's too many wite sheets up in ese woods!!!

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Raleigh1590 says on Feb 3, 2005, 12:23:

N2Aquatix OMG.... TOOO DAMN FUNNY!

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Lionheart says on Feb 3, 2005, 13:43:

Texan fixin' to fix the fixin's

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N2Aquatix says on Feb 4, 2005, 05:14:

LOL "Fixin to." LOL!!! My czeckoslovakian boss loves that phrase! He always says, "Fixin to...does that mean getting ready to?"

Jay

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Chevere33 says on Feb 4, 2005, 05:29:

finna I think "finna" is even better than "fixin' to".

As in, "Um finna go take me a bath."

Constancia

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N2Aquatix says on Feb 4, 2005, 05:41:

Fitna "Finna" is more of an ethno-centric slaughtering of the english language. It falls right in there with it's synonym, "Fitna." ;-)

Jay

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bramafear says on Feb 4, 2005, 06:10:

Hey, Batwanna! U tink me goes yonder? Hehehheheheee

I was totally shocked once while I was living in Miami. Yes, I grew up in East Tennessee near the Smoky Mountains, and I had a sliiiiiight drawl, you might say.

Anyway, somebody asked me, "Where are UUUUUUUU from?" I looked at them all dazed & confused and muttered, "How dare you ask me that question! You are more South than I was..." Well, I didn't know at the time that Miami was nothing more than a Southern Annex of New York City.

Hehehehheheeeee

When can we pack our bags?

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Chevere33 says on Feb 4, 2005, 06:41:

fitna warsh I think "fitna" is closer to the original "fixing to"---so I guess I like the way the "ultra-slaughtered" version sounds.

I also chuckle at the word "warsh". You know where they get the R from in warsh, doncha? It's leftover from those who drop their Rs and say "wonda" instead of wonder.

~~~~~~~~~

We have so much fog that our "fog delay" turned into no school here, and I have been on the computer all morning. Better get in gear. No . . . I'm finna get off.

Constancia, who still loves "finna"

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Lionheart says on Feb 4, 2005, 12:25:

3 meanings fixin t' fix d' fixin's

1 2 3

1 = getting ready to do something ... may never happen ... hollered from recliner or rocking chair on porch while holding a Rolling Rock, as reply to "What are you doing, honey?"

2= to prepare, repair, make, do, whatever

3= normally the side dishes (potatoes, veggies, gravy), or food in general

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william_andrew_channell says on Feb 4, 2005, 12:53:

Don't forget Double Modals For example:

"You might should go to the doctor."
"I may can go to your party, let me check my calendar."
"I used to could play baseball real good."

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deathb4disco says on Feb 5, 2005, 21:50:

I was born and raised in Georgia, which is where I still live. I live in a fairly small town, and the accents here are quite thick. I have a long, lax Southern drawl, and despite my accent, my Colombiano has really no trouble understanding me. Just like in any other country or state within the U.S., there are going to be differences in the accents. A redneck is going to sound much different than let’s say a “Southern Belle� or a “Southern Gentlemen�. The only trouble I have with my accent is the fact that I have Southern U.S. drawl, even when I speak Spanish.

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