Speaking Southern (American or British accent)

[horryboi]

it aint mellowed much, i pegged you was appalation from thi git go

[mailgilbs]

Dude, why are you giving your whole genealogy? Anyway, most of us Southerners do not speak as you have demonstrated. You are demonstrating a sort of Southern accent, but mostly you demonstrate incorrect pronunciations--solecisms--inc­orrect speech. I think you conflate poor education with significant tradition.

[tacoma200]

@mailgilbs I speak the way my grandmother taught me, which has mellowed due to the fact that I have lived in many parts of the country. Of course the pronunciations are incorrect if you judge them by how most Americans speak. I find your your grammar odd, as if trying too hard to sound intelligent. I have studied with people from all 50 states (and Canada) and usually came out in the top 10% of the classes. This was just a casual video I made never expecting anyone to watch.

[mailgilbs]

@tacoma200

Sorry I was a jerk. Nobody in my family speaks as Southerners are supposed to speak. We are from Eufala, Alabma and Albany, Georgia and Pensacola, Florida and, again, none of us speaks like that. I am interested, though, in how other Southerners speak.

[tacoma200]

@mailgilbs No problem, many rural people in Kentucky and Tennessee have a much thicker accent than I do, they actually think I speak proper. The accents are very think in the Southern Appalachians.

[espiperlondon]

Very interesting Topic and I think you might be right about the Southern accent dying out somewhat in certain Southern states and surviving in others. I am not a fan of the neutral American accent so really enjoy hearing thick Southern, Boston, NYC distinctive accents no matter who is doing the talking. Accents vary a great deal in the UK (except maybe South East England which is becoming neutral) and in Ireland especially due to the Parochial nature of people there. Southern Accents are cool

[tacoma200]

@espiperlondon I agree, I enjoy all the accents you listed. A distinctive accent seems to give a person character. A standard American accent seems bland in comparison.

[lissalives1]

In Texas, we still say "soda water!" (not pop or soft drink)

[2cOthers]

My nephews who are from Georgia say soda & are amused to hear it called pop by people in the Midwestern USA. I mostly drink water or ice tea. I try to pronounce the letter T in water but frequently slip up & say wadder.

[bogzini]

Enjoyed this, English has so many dialects, do not where you grew up, but you sound TN or KY, I have family in Ky that really have the accent, which is really part of our culture, my family moved on so I miss out on talking like where my family came from. But I realize they are how my grandparents talked, very proud of those that stayed in that area, my culture

[tacoma200]

@bogzini HI yes I spent most of my life in Central Tennessee and near the border in Kentucky. I was raised isolated so my Grandmothers voice was what I picked up on in my early years. She was raised in a river town upstream from Nashville. Logs and tobacco went down river and supplies came back up on steam boats. Most of my ancestors were English and Scots Irish that came through the Cumberland Gap from North Carolina and Virginia. We can trace our family back to Jamestown, VA

[Jordanisful]

:D watch my video about American and English accents. I'm American.

[jonfun84]

Really enjoyed that,quite interesting. I live in the west midlands UK, and we call coke, pepsi or any other fizzy drinks pop. Like glass of pop or bottle of pop, wierd.

[superfastjam]

OMG uk take the mick out of america u prick america think we speak cockney all the time i punched a tourist from america coz when i talked he thought i was american coz i talked normal no i live under london so i not cockney

[IndestructibleDV]

Everyone spoke southern in the cowboy days why do people get so pissy??

[Kissing12Roses]

I really like your accent/way of talking. I'm like fallin asleep listenin to your southern accent, it's pretty soothing (not to sound creepy) lol

[tacoma200]

@Kissing12Roses That's fine, I get that a lot. I am often told that I am very soft spoken. :)

[ChristopherEstrada]

Thank you for doing these videos! I'm an actor from the north, and I'm working on a character who is a nice southern boy. I find your videos extremely helpful, both with the accent and your stories about your grandmother and the south. Thank you so much!!!

[aNewZealander]

You have a nice voice, you appeared relaxed and and you DO have an accent ! whether it is a full accent or not, it is real nice - kinda warm and homely if that makes sense lol. Have you heard a NZ accent ? We're a small country but we still have accents from one end of the country to the other. And me? well, Im a Southerner from the deep south of South Island, NZ in the Southern Hemisphere... now you can't get more Southern than that !!!! :-))

[tacoma200]

@aNewZealander I did meet one lady from New Zealand but I mistook her accent for some sort of British accent because I hadn't heard it before. I really liked it. :)

[sparta784]

Not bad, lol. I'm from Texas, born and raised here. I have a heavy southern accent. ^_^

[jimboogie]

BWAHAHAHA... OMG you sound like BRUCE from FAMILY GUY LOOOOOOOOOOOL!

[S5ate99lit3e]

@bluephoenixeggs Wow, that's quite a compliment! :)

[lman147]

thats so funny cuz i swear 2 u i live in a town called Hale lol

[firestormrex]

....You've convinced me to stop trying to suppress my southern accent lol

[jaegerhund]

I'm from South Louisiana and the accents around here are fairly unique for the South. We have Cajun accents (of various types), New Orleans accents (which can be like North-east big city accents), and other French influenced southern accents. North Louisiana has more standard southern accents but there is some overlap between the two regions. Southern Louisiana is like another country in many ways ---- many of my friend's parents spoke French when I was a kid.

[lauradoestheastro]

I know what you mean about the accent disappearing. I've lived in Nashville my whole life, both my parents (especially my mom) have pretty heavy southern accents, and I hardly have any - I don't think I do at least. They say it's because I was raised watching more TV than them, where people mostly have "neutral" accents. The only thing I really notice myself doing is saying "ah" instead of "eye" for the word "I". If that makes any sense.

[RebelofVirginia]

MURKA, FUCK YEAR!

[WillExposeYou]

I am from Nashville and those terms are specific to "mountain" or "country" type people. I smile and speak up with my Southern Drawl , but I do not say things like ....mondee , fridee , etc. Spring has srung in the south ...its purt near time for the flars to turn all yeller ..like isss and like att.

[tacoma200]

Well I was raised up in what they call the Upper Cumberland area which is up river from Nashville. Not in the mountains but close to the foothills of the Cumberland Mountains. I do hears some of the terms you mentioned though. Lots of different accents in just the state of Tennessee. Memphis sounds quite different from Nashville to me. Thanks for your input :) My grandmother told me many stories of steam boats coming up the river from Nashville.

[WestHam3Millwall1]

You will be suprised how diffrent the accents are in the UK. if your from london or down south and trying to understand someone from like newcastle ( North UK ) is exteremly hard.

[Paulp51d]

Hi Lance,

I am from England and have always enjoyed southern American accents. You do still do definitely have one, but I can hear that it has been smoothed-over somewhat.

I think that it's a shame that you felt that it was necessary to try to lose it in order to be accepted on equal terms. In my opinion a southern accent is as good as any out there.

[SciFiLebra89]

Yay, Texas! I've lived In Tx, Tn and Ky and they are quite different!

[frodosmummy]

I think Texan accents are very sexy and adorable. (I'm a female, from the UK!)

[UnusualTastes]

Interesting video. I'm from western Mass and we have "hollows" up here too. They seem fairly common in New England, us being the northern end of the Appalachians in the US. And yeah, our schools, on average might be better, but we're not inherently smarter than any of you. And we have our share of crumby schools too. I'm lucky to have been educated in the suburbs but the city of Springfield MA is notorious for it's bad school system.

[reddysoxxy34]

@UnusualTastes agreed completely. i live in mass as well and it seems we almost have some southern aspects in our speech as well due to the fact that the appalachians run right through us.

[Krogager111]

Hey :)

Thanks for the video. My teacher gave me an assignment in class today, and it was to read and tell about a text and speak with a south-american accent :)

I love speaking with the british accent as well as south-american, so thankyou for uploading this video on to Youtube!

Cheers :)

[wmstephanie]

i just wanna say that i can totally relate. i, myself, am in chicago in et a-school for the navy, and EVERYONE comments on my accent. none have been negative *knock on wood* i am from louisiana and am take great pride in my accent :) i truly believe: American by birth.....southern by the Grace of God :D

[tacoma200]

They were kind of hard on me at first at ET school but they quickly warmed up after they got to know me. My accent provided lots of jokes and amusement for them (in a good way) but I really had to prove myself in class. As far as I can remember I never misdiagnosed a troubleshooting problem on radar, communications, etc. My accent was good for morale I guess. Good luck with school.

[funnyhuuny90]

i can't see how people knock the southern accent. its very calming actually

[08metalmama]

haha i talk alot like u, i'm southern and the older generation is more thick around here but i use alot of the words u mentioned. u should love ur accent i think guys in real life that are from the city sound gayish i don't know why... i'm from Appalachia btw and our schools are not or never were that bad in my opinion but they have built a huge school here its supposed to be biggest in the state so they are working on it.

[annzup57]

"Bless her heart" is also a manner of negative gossip. I reckon if you don't LIKE her and she's "got a hurtin in her lights" then one may say, "Bless her heart." Our schools are horrible, but right on brother, we "hain't shamed" of talkin, "Amarkan" ;) In NC we have about 6 different accents. And words: "Dingbat" comes from OBX. Right on about Texas: THERE IS NO "STANDARD" USA accent. Thank you for enlightening those who would marginalize those of us who speak with different abilities:-)

[1234567loading]

boring

[gettingmygrooveback4]

I love the accent.

[S5ate99lit3e]

Your southern accent is so cute - I love it! This is coming from a northerner mind you, with a New York accent that could peel paint! I don't mind it though, but it's a dead giveaway to where I'm from. People here me talk and they instantly know I'm a New Yorker. However your southern accent sounds sweet, and very easy to understand, which is refreshing :)

[tacoma200]

Thanks, I never expected this many people to watch or comment on my videos. I have met some very nice and interesting people when I have been in New York (and NYC). I like the New York and even the Philly accent. Lots of character. :)

[funnyhuuny90]

don't be ashamed of your south american accent. its lovely. im living in the south of england and people say that those living in my county are dumb. just ignore them!!!!!

[tacoma200]

Thanks to you and all that have commented. I am humbled by the responses I have received.

[DrunkunMonKeys]

lol u sound like bill clinton lol

[tacoma200]

Ha, never been accused of that before. ;)

[SuperAsha1234]

you still have an acsent. im austalian so your acsent really stands out

[MSfeller]

I'm still trying to define what my Southern accent is. I was raised in North Mississippi and South Louisiana, so a got a bit of both. Anyways, where I come from, there ain't no pop, everything is coke. What outsiders call "lunch", we call dinner. What they call "dinner" is supper to us. Reckon, fixin', dern tootin', over yonder, etc., is widely used. Again, there ain't no single Southern accent, of course. Generally, the Deep Southern accent derived from West Country and Appalachian from Scots.

[ziggy6848]

CHECKOUT AN ENGLISH - GEORDIE ACCENT. its mind blowing!

[rythmmaniac]

I hope that Southern accent doesn`t disappear, I mean- it`s all about diversity! Unification of a language is not a good thing, it means boredom, and flatness and you lose so much, when you do that... And guys speaking southern are cute too :)

[wchngliu81]

there is a huge distinction between people in the south of america speaking and sounding differently to us southerners in england.

american accents vary a lot, as british accents.

arguably the most common southern accent here in england is the cockney, posh london one.

[cjdlos]

Im from the Coast of North Carolina and love my accent

[cjdlos]

Im from the coast of North Carolina and it is true about what you say. I traveled to Britain and when I spoke they thought it was cool that I had a different accent. And there are some similarities between Appalachian and Coastal Plains accent. Keep posting

[andrewbarrett42]

I love American accents.

[SOUTHERNGuiTaRGOD]

The South is the best place to live in my opinion lol. all my family is frommere (deep south mainly) and i got family members here n there (its weird). I'm here in South Carolina and i can't stand New England accents. listenin to you is very homey and welcoming and oh-so familar.

Florida's been Yankified and aint even considered south no more.

but hey, we're all different. cool video.

[Tim733733]

Interesting how this works. I'm from York, Yorkshire, northern England (middle of the UK) and I find southern US accents are very cool. And yes, loads of variations on accents in the UK. For instance, there's large variations of the Yorkshire accent between York, Leeds, Hull and Sheffield. If you drive 10 miles east out of York you will notice the accent change (and that is crazy). Don't know if you can search a Yorkshire accent without it being some comedy show where it's overdone.

[tacoma200]

You usually have to travel 100 miles or kilometers to see very much change here. It is amazing that the different accents in Great Briton are so close in proximity. But the South is huge stretching from Texas,to Virgina, to Florida. There are exceptions though.

[gabster2411]

I live in south east georgia. My grandmother is from England. She moved here in 1945 and ever since has tried to put a "southern" accent in her British accent...

[chevyls1camaro]

yeah tabfort you'll find that in the Appalachian areas. Those words come from the Scots-Irish.

Alot of people don't know that there is a big difference between Appalachian and Southern. "Southern" is a bit more proper and comes from the English accent whereas Appalachian comes from the Ulster Scots or Northern Ireland and the Scotish Lowlands speech.

Even though much of Appalachia lies within the south the 2 dialects are very different.

[amuzeany1l8tly]

i find the southern accent amazing....

its very unique unique....

amazing to hear that their so many accents in America ...

[analusouza]

diversity is what makes this country, and many others in the world. One day, maybe people will understand that sharing what you have is much more enriching than having everybody else as a fake shadow of what you are. People are different in many ways, including the way they express their way of living in their spoken language. :-)

[DevonSaysChannel]

i love this, lol i wouldnt really care to hear a southern accent but i guess because half of my family is from the south and half in the north that we sort of find humor in the southern accent because its sort of hard to understand from certain people. like the patterns of speaking. like the person said over yander instead of over there.

[Tabfort]

I'm from southwest Va. just north of the Tenn. line near Bristol and I grew up saying Library as Liburry also some of the older people around here refer to paper bags as pokes and cantaloupes as mush melons and instead of hollow we say holler. Yeah it's really thick around here. O and another one is, instead of over yonder sometimes people say over yander. Yes A as in at. lol

[Snakeeyes0101]

hey man I like the southern accent. I'm from the Pennsylvannia and my cousins are from Minnesota. They laugh at me whenever I say soda instead of pop, but anyway, everyone has an accent no matter what.

[hhhh1962]

I'm neither British nor blond, but I find the southern accents amazing also from a linguistic point of view. I know several people from the South,from different states, and they all have a slightly different accent. The 'melody' and the pace and some other features( like diphthongs)are much alike though. When I hear people speaking English here in Europe I can pick a person 'speaking southern' from a long distance even if I can't hear out the words, simply based on the 'rythm' of their speech.

[letranger1217]

F^ck the neutral accent. I'm Californian and I love that charming southern speech. Don't let anyone convince you otherwise. It's a tragedy that the American accent is becoming so homogenized. You guys must preserve it and be proud.

[HuntingdonStud89]

@letranger1217 Thats really relieving to hear from a non-southerner. Im from Alabama. So its been an issue. Thanks!

[heresy01]

I am a small blond from England, and trust me us English find the southern American accent pretty amazing.. I was over in St Louis a few months ago, and I hated to order food.. The waitress kept asking me to repeat was I was saying. Yet us English understand you guys perfectly...

[SalandFindles]

Wow really? I know a man from Wales. I can understand him pretty well. Slang words are the biggest enemy in understanding American and British accents.

[holistichealerca]

I'm an American girl from Chicago...I think that southern accents on guys are awesome! lol. I love men from the south :D even though generally southern men have bad tempers...at least the ones I've met lol. But I love the southern accent : ) Thanks for the vid!

[anakin1949]

Fuck the world. When some dumbass northerner tries to call you a dumb hick from his laptop in a starbucks you need to tell him to eat one. He needs to realize where the cotton for his shirt came from, or the tobacco in his cigarettes, or the metal his seat is made from. America was built on the backs of farmers. People need to wake up and stop being ignorant. Yes there are dumb hicks in the world, but I can garantee I could walk into the ghetto of any big city and find someone just as dumb.

[deanrps]

@anakin1949 having an accent doesn't make you dumb even here in Michigan there are a few different accents the people in the upper peninsula talk like Canadians we have alot of baqck woods hicks here too and u also have the wigger accent or ebonix white people that adopted black slaing and now its part of the vocabulary like yo baby mama and nigga pleazz who gives a fuck if other folks make fun of the way you talk i think its funny as hell

[anakin1949]

my friends all tease me because I Speak a very traditional midwestern accent (Cincinnati) but My families appalachian dialogue and twang flares up on certain words like "Mountain dew" or "guitar." I also say the "ja" words, didja wouldja couldja. Take pride in where your from. Where would america be without coal and farmers?

[ytpawpaw]

Excellent & personable.

[tranurse]

you sound like my daddy. he was from shelbyville, tennessee.

[bryanfsmith]

Very informative and positive representation of Southern accents

[XiongmaoSimba]

Have you heard the Belfast Northern Ireland accent? I think it's awful.

I adore the Southern States accents. <3

[tacoma200]

I am learning to distinguish the different accents in Great Britain, but the variety of accents there has taken me by surprise. Especially for such a small area compared to the U.S. Thanks for taking time to watch.

[eldictator1]

The variety is even more extensive than people think. Take yorkshire, in the north of england, Most brits think of one accent for this but the west and south parts are different and certain towns have a different sound. all within say a 20 mile distance in some cases

[Iscariot13]

I think the southern accents are great! Rednecks always get bad press. I've always loved the southern drawl; It has Character. I think you shouldn't minimise it - it's cool! I'm from New Zealand but live in the UK now (Bristol), so my Kiwi accent has changed a little. Most NZ's get annoyed at being confused with Australians, as to us, we sound completely different. I don't agree with barbarash at all; southern accents are cool! Don't lose it!

[anakin1949]

never call a kiwi a koala, haha!

[barbarash]

Southern accents unfortunely are awful... it makes people sound like complete gormless dumbasses.

[catmad27]

I'm from the west country in England. We talk like pirates/bumpkins. :L But I don't care because it makes you who you are!

[graceygrumble]

Howay marra, divvent fash yersel aboorit! ( ran out of characters)

This means..

Come on friend, don't worry yourself about it!

[tacoma200]

I would love to hear you speak. I'm just now starting to be able to distinguish the different accents of Great Britain. I find all these accents facinating. I'm not worried, but I do acknowledge that Southerners (American) are stereotyped as you are. I am surprised by the positive way my videos have been received. Thank you!

[Lenax7]

How aware is the average american that there are a lot of different races in britain? Do many americans know that there are also black, indian and chinese people here? Would americans find it strange to hear a black person with a british accent?

[tacoma200]

Most Americans are not very well informed about the cultures and diversity of Great Britain or Europe. I'm interested in Geography and different cultures so I'm aware of this. There are plenty of movies from England that feature blacks and other races and this is where Americans seem to get their information. But yes the diversity would surprise most Americans. We as a whole know even less about mainland Europe because the information isn't readily available. I have lot's of European friends

[tranurse]

i always think it is pretty cool. i live in the south, and i love it. i get sick and tired of having to defend myself. i am not ashamed of being southern, just get sick of having to justify every single idiot who has ever come from here. as i tell people, i'm southern, not dumb.

[SalandFindles]

The way you spelled that makes it seem like not even any kind of English. What is it exactly?

[graceygrumble]

It's Geordie.

The English spoken where I live is pronounced in a totally different way.

If you watch the X-Factor from England you will see Cheryl Cole, one of the judges, who speaks with a Geordie accent. However, she doesn't use the dialect so she's easy to understand.

Have a listen!

[graceygrumble]

I'm from the North-East of England. I'm a Geordie. Geordieland as we call it. A nation set apart! I write in English so you'll have no problem understanding me, but many of my fellow Englishmen find our accent, coupled with our dialect totally incomprehensible. The shame is, it's being watered down because of the derogatory remarks made by others in England. Children, myself included, are told to speak 'correctly'!

A pox on all their houses!

Howay marra, divvent fash yersel!

[amoreena42]

Don't worry about comments like that...most of us don't judge that way!

[bellofthedesert]

southern - sounds much more like redneck to this American...can't fool mama boy :)

[HitodamaKyrie]

Hey, great video. I can certainly attest to the differences in southern accents that you mentioned. I was born and raised in southeastern Alabama, and while I'd say I don't have a paticulary strong southern accent I can note many similaritys to a few of the words you mentioned.

It seems that the "southern accent" is likely going to homogenize pretty quickly witht he rest of the U.S.

Also, where I come from, we mainly call it coke. If not coke, then soda. Pop is alien and unheard of.

[mammasooki01]

I'm from Alabama and most people around here say words similarly to you with the exception of the long "i" words. People tend to accentuate the "i." For example, "briiiight." Oh, and most people around here call soft drinks "soda." I've heard that a lot of Southerners call all soft drinks "coke," but I personally don't know too many who do.

[americanaccents]

I have a friend in Georgia who was talking to me about "soda" tonight! I'm Canadian so that was all news to me!

[aikiuke]

yeah I call everything either soda or pop [usually pop] I'm from central il and think I have a pretty "typical" American accent though it might be a little bit on the northern side for some people down south.

[thePROBLEM233]

I'm from the northeast US and yes you do have an accent but thats awesome brother! Be proud of that accent it makes you who you are, especially in America. We all have different accents depending on where you live but that makes us a nation of one. We stand together no matter how you sound when you talk.

[AliasAnnie]

I agree. I didn't realize what a thick accent I had until I arrived in California. And - boy, people make a fuss over the way I talk!

[Tracymmo]

I'm a Midwestern American, and I enjoyed your video. I love learning about accents here and in other countries too. Just as you recently learned about the many English, Irish, etc. accents, I've only recently learned how many US Southern ones there are. Yours is lovely. When I've been in the UK, people trying to imitate an American accent often do a (bad) Southern one. BTW: if you don't think Southern accents can be sexy on a guy, watch Georgia native Josh Holloway on the show Lost!

[tacoma200]

Thank you for your encouragement and kind words.

[crispiegee1]

We call it "pop" in Buffalo too. I had always heard that southerners call everything a "Coke."

I thought you sounded fine when you "library."

Your video rambled a bit at first, but overall, this was a nice video. You're very self-aware and you balance pride in your heritage with humility. Southern people are just fine in my book and I enjoy all the variations on southern accents. It keeps life interesting, you know? (And yeah, it sounds cuter on a girl... lol.) ;-)

Cheers. :-)

[tacoma200]

Yes I guess growing up we used the term "coke" for all soft drinks no matter what brand. I should take more time getting my video's ready than just turning on the cam and starting to talk so I guess I did ramble a bit. Thanks for the fair (unbiased) assessment of the video.

[YossiUK]

Be proud of your accent, it sounds great.

I'm English (from the South) and love the Southern US accents, although my favourite is the New York / Brooklyn accent.

I agree the diversity of accents and dialects in English is great, and makes it such a wonderful language to listen to.