They want her to sound out the words, but when “cat” comes out of her mouth as a soft sweetly spoken slightly drawn out southern belle rendition of “ca-yut”….it makes it…ah…interesting…lol.

Which reminds me of a lovely young woman I used to work with. She worked up in Chicago for a time, and when she came back to North Carolina she had a yankee fiance in tow.

We were chatting one day and he described how word got around in the office they worked in that there was a southern girl with a really strong accent that had been hired.

Apparently, it was the fodder for a lot of jokes – until the men actually heard her speak.

Her fiance described how it was like bees to honey immediately afterwards as every guy in the office took a sudden intense interest in her.

Didn’t sound like the other ladies in the office were too happy about it….

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UgpfSp2t6k&feature=fvw

Of course it’s stereotypical, but her characterization of the New yorker accent underlines the thought that it’s not just pronunciation, it’s speech and thought patterns that can be strongly regional. Those underlying patterns are harder to change than mere pronunciation and enunciation.

I like the concept of different accents, but some of them just hurt my ears. For one, “forest” should never rhyme with “far west”.

Regarding Surellin’s observation of the lack of a Southern accent in Florida – keep in mind that Florida has for decades been the prime destination for retirees from locations wayyyyy north.

I work with a native Floridian, and her accent definitely ain’t northern or generic.

Regarding northern accents – I typically don’t object to the accent so much as to what’s being communicated.

Usually very loudly and at a rapid pace.

In meeting folks from all over the planet, northerners have usually been the only ones who seemed to assume that just because you talked slow, you were also mentally slow.

Which ties into the earlier observation someone else made regarding Hollywood stereotypes.

For the longest time it seemed that you could always tell who the dummy/racist/villain was by their accent….which so often was Southern.

In general, the Anglicans don’t look the way you expect them to look, except in Virginia, and perhaps Fairfield County, Connecticut.

Born and raised in S Colorado and N New Mexico, I naturally have a rather neutral – and precise – accent. But, since my parents were southerners and imitating the Beatles was a youthful pastime, I have found that I can, with a little effort, imitate most accents I hear.

The two most useful are the dripping, somewhat poisonous sweetness of the slow southern and the clipped barbs of the slightly British.

Of course, I’d never overdo either of them.

(But I’ve always wished for fonts that could conjure them.)

Anglican = Episcopal. Anglo Catholic = small minority of the worldwide Anglican community which adheres more to the Roman Catholic side of things. That was not an entirely accurate use of the link.

I find regional accents fascinating, and I regret their passing.

Do others reading this find their accent different in their ears from when they hear themselves recorded?