Are you interested in dropping your southern accent? (page 3)

Here in the U.K there is an accent called Queens English or Received Pronunciation, this is a most peculiar way of speaking to the ear of the average British person, who speaks in one of a myriad of regional accents.

The problem is that here people judge you by the way you speak, I guess it is obviously the same in the U.S, and probably the world over.

Here you seem to gain more respect, and even get better service, if you are "well spoken", by which they mean something approaching Q.E or R.P, the kind of accent used by Hooray Henrys.

In years gone by anyone working in the Media had to lose their regional accent, and speak in clipped BBC approved tones, which now sound archaic if you listen to a recording of just 30 or 40 years ago.

It is a shame, but I think that people here still are prejudiced against certain accents, and make assumptions based upon them. "Upper Class Twit" or "Country Yokel" are assumed for two different accents, both judgements may be very wrong.

Fortunately Mrs Phizzy and I speak English as she should be spoke, and with regard to the Q.E/R.P Upper Class Twit type accent, I agree with Mrs Phizzy's observation, "They weren't born speaking like that".

Band on the Run

Southern accents drive me crazy! I must drive them crazy. My exposure was to the likes of George Wallace and other segregationist public officials. Andie MacDowell, the actress and super model, became famous outside of fashion for a red neck version in a Calvin Klein jeans commercial. I would storm out of the room and not return to the commercial ended. It was painful for me. I met her in the course of real life. Her normal accent is one of the most refined in the South. I had no idea she was the Calvin Klein model. She took intensive speech lessons to acquire a Midwestern accent.

I studied broadcast speech for a few weeks. They want a Midwestern accent. The same is true of France. A Parisian accent is considered vulgar/ Being able to speak in a variety of accents is good for income purposes. The Eastern prep school accents are not considered the best. There are common elements that exist in country after country. I forget why they are chosen as preferable.

I never heard Barbara Walter's accent prob. b/c I share some characteristics.

The Civil War was a long time ago. I believe Southern accents are more acceptable than in my youth. Ebonics opened my eyes. I thought they were lazy. The teachers did not know how to teach them to pronounce the words. We called it housing project English. Clicking on wikiipedia links, I discovered that the students were speaking correctly for a Western African culture. I wonder how they felt constantly being corrected for what they heard at home and at church. My parents' speech was mocked by a teacher in front of the entire class.

backformore

Ladies especially, pease don't ever lose that southern accent. Trust me when I say, it's something the boys love.

James Brown

The southern accent has improved a lot over the years.

My mother was born in Atlanta in the 30's and you and I could not understand my

mother or her family my aunts uncles and grand parents.

I was born in Cleveland Ohio, where we don't have an accent.

Clevelanders talked in the 60's like the national news casters or professional broadcasters.

But nowdays people from Atlanta speak pretty good, well.

I asked my aunt how she learned to talk.

She said we had to learn to speak to get good jobs dealing with the public.

A southern accent is cool, but it is a detriment to many kinds of 21st century employment opportunities.

You are not going to call a call center and talk to someone with a southern accent.

Call centers are the 21st centuries answer to automobile manufacturing and manufacturing in general.

Its where the bulk of modern jobs are in the USA.

Having a southern accent and getting a good job is like trying to sell insurance covered with tatoos.

Balaamsass2

The Mrs and I LOVE that Southern Coastal d r a w l . I had an old boss at a Bond brokerage who used his Charleston accent to close multi-million deals to Silicon Valley millionaires. Very effective and charming.

On the other hand my father worked hard to loose his Appalchian accent in College so he could move up in a west coast corporation.

I LOVE variety and have found it is very foolish to guess IQ based on accent.

jgnat

None of you have a southern accent when I read your posts. You all sound generically mid-western to me.

LisaRose

My mother grew up in Texas, then moved to California in the late forties. This was not long after the dust bowl when lots of people from Arkansas, Texas, Oklahoma moved west, so if you had an accent you were looked down upon. She was ashamed and quickly lost the accent, but I could still hear a bit of Texan in my dad's speech, he would say Hep for help, for example.

I love accents, I think it's a shame we are losing our regional accents.

Apognophos

jgnat: As do you. Why, I haven't seen you end a single post in "eh?"!

jam

In grade shool when I first came to Calif. I would say

Ding it, my curse word..The kids would laugh when I curse.

50 years later an old class mate, Jam do still say ding it when

you curse? Me: no I learn to curse properly, thanks to you guys..

Are you interested in dropping your southern accent?

tornapart

Phizzy