Ask anyone what the most flattering feature of a southern belle is, and the first thing they’ll tell you is that it’s a thick, drawn southern belle. It’s like he’s very cute. When I pass out, people tell me my southern accent is so beautiful. People at home will be surprised that I don’t have an accent. What makes me wonder if people in the north only hear a southern-living accent because they know I live in the south, or if those who come down here think I don’t have an accent mark because it’s not their leader.
My oldest daughter likes to pretend she has a southern accent. For the head he will say “Rhat” for the right and the head. Those who think about this to be worshiped; but when I ask her to speak properly, she does. He only talks Southern because he likes the attention attached to him, not because he talks like that.
Personally, I’m not a fan of the southern drawl–it makes people sound ignorant. While the other girls in high school were putting on their thickest southern accents in the boys’ study, I was busy practicing my pronunciation–hoping their dialect wouldn’t rub off on me. And I’m still convinced that the southern accent was created by southerners to make themselves more personable. These people are used to talking perfectly, but they don’t want to do it, because no one is used to talking on their lips. It just amazes me how at the beginning of a conversation he will have a slight southern drawl – and then forget that the words have a vowel.
Don’t get me wrong, there are so many good things around the south. This is the land before the porch and the sweet tea; time slows down, people drive each other in traffic–no longer stored or hospitalized. I just don’t see why anyone would find a southern accent so endearing. I just don’t see why Southerners can’t just talk about the way they’re supposed to at least prove they’re passing the fifth grade—and keep pretending they’re really talking like that. The dialect isn’t real, ya’ll!
I believe people speak like southerners on the road because it’s so different from how they speak, mostly in that I like to hear British and Australian accents. I also do as people from Boston say, “I’m going to walk my dog and get some coffee”. There was this guy I knew in college (I went first) who said “joke” instead of “throw. I’m not going to tell you how I know that. If you’re one of those people who “oohs” and “aahs” over a midday accent; well, this is yours. it’s–but I get to myself every time someone comments on mine.
