3 ms·

I can think of one example of coming across someone with a very heavy "southern" accent, and what immediately struck me in this instance was the incongruence of

I can think of one example of coming across someone with a very heavy "southern" accent, and what immediately struck me in this instance was the incongruence of his accent juxtaposed with his obvious competence and expertise. It was like being lectured on the finer points of computer science by a cast member of "Moonshiners". That was probably 20 years ago. Now what strikes me is that this is the only example I can think of. That is to say, there was this one guy with a strong southern accent, but how many others were overlooked? Hard to say. That being said, I myself have a slight southern accent, which I was amazed to discover when someone pointed it out. I was like, "wait, what? I have southern accent? No I don't!". But, upon listening to recordings of myself..., yeah, I kind of do. D'oh.

TulliusCicero 6y ago
Regional accents in America aren't very common among certain sectors of society. I went to BYU for college, which draws mormons from all over the country, and I could rarely tell where anyone was from. Now I work at Google, and among Americans (well, those actually raised in the states) I can virtually never detect a regional accent.
chromatin 6y ago
I think you only perceive “incongruence” because of internalized biases you hold. With respect to other examples, listen to recordings of NASA flight control, especially from the early days of the Space program. I acknowledge that a lot of what you will hear is Texan and not strictly “Southern,” although that itself can be broken down regionally as well. Recordings of engineers at Huntsville US Space and Rocket center also feature Alabaman and other Southern accents.
xsmasher 6y ago
I have the same feeling when listening to Feynman, who has a strong New York accent. He sounds like a cab driver, not a physicist! The city vs country accent has a long historical precedent. In the time of Lysistrata, the Spartan accent was the backward sheep-shagging accent. Many english translations replaced the Spartan accent with a Scots accent. In the US it would undoubtedly be a southern accent.

TulliusCicero 6y ago

Regional accents in America aren't very common among certain sectors of society. I went to BYU for college, which draws mormons from all over the country, and I could rarely tell where anyone was from. Now I work at Google, and among Americans (well, those actually raised in the states) I can virtually never detect a regional accent.

chromatin 6y ago

I think you only perceive “incongruence” because of internalized biases you hold. With respect to other examples, listen to recordings of NASA flight control, especially from the early days of the Space program. I acknowledge that a lot of what you will hear is Texan and not strictly “Southern,” although that itself can be broken down regionally as well. Recordings of engineers at Huntsville US Space and Rocket center also feature Alabaman and other Southern accents.

xsmasher 6y ago

I have the same feeling when listening to Feynman, who has a strong New York accent. He sounds like a cab driver, not a physicist! The city vs country accent has a long historical precedent. In the time of Lysistrata, the Spartan accent was the backward sheep-shagging accent. Many english translations replaced the Spartan accent with a Scots accent. In the US it would undoubtedly be a southern accent.