haha no offense to firefly I just had to come up with an attention grabbing title.
I love my southern accent and wouldn't change it for the world. However, a good portion of my family lives in Philadelphia and the surrounding Bucks County area so when I go to visit them I get constant backlash about it. My sister has lived there for over fourteen years and still has her thick accent. I can only imagine the ridiculousness she faces on a daily basis.
I can't go anywhere up there without someone commenting on my accent. The first 4 times it happens I can let it ride but when you can't ask a question without getting grilled about where you are from, it gets annoying. My grandmother is from Possum Holler NC and she has lived in PA for the last 53 years. She now has that thick yankee accent but I make sure to let others know when they say something to us and not to her.
Grandma's summer home is in New Jersey where I take the most ribbing. I absolutely love Jersey! I love everything about it, the accents, the attitudes, the big hair, the over accesesorizing, the spandex, the open shirted hairy chested men, the boardwalk, etc. But you don't see me confronting people with Jersey hair and making fun of that do you?
I guess its just a matter of how we are raised and how we are taught to tolerate differences. While 'yes ma'am' gets on firefly's nerves, it makes me feel like I've encountered a kindred spirit. A joy to encounter in such a fast paced, overly obnoxious society that we seem to be raising these days.
6 comments:
Ok....I thought after I posted it I might be taken the wrong way. Let me try again....I think that manners are sorely lacking in the modern world, and I don't mind if somebody says yes, ma'am. What I'm talking about is those who seem to be trying to sound like a yokel and draw out the nasal sounds ad nauseum. I wasn't making fun of Southern drawls in general.
I also have an accent (or so I'm told.) For some reason people often mistake me for being from Georgia, though I've never been there. I've been told several times by strangers that I sound a lot like Brett Butler.
I know what it's like to be made fun of for your accent and where you're from. When I visited LA I could see the visible wince when I told people I was from the Ozarks.
So in short,I didn't mean to make fun of Southern accents, or the South in general. I think you understood, but I wanted to make sure :)
Well, here is a different take on this subject. I think that when people use ma'am, it makes me feel old. And I am only 32. However, this is only my opinion. I will say that no one, and I mean no one can beat the south when it comes to hospitality. Wouldn't you agree?
Firefly I knew exactly what you were talking about but I was inspired to write you back and instead of doing it in a very long comment I decided to blog it. I'm good for that. I don't exactly know where the Ozarks are but I do know that all regions have their own dialect.
(ps. it's RHETT Butler not Brett, yep you definitely aren't from the south! tee hee)
No, I really meant "Brett" Butler, she's a woman. I think she was on a sitcom several years ago, "Grace Under Fire" or something like that. I don't watch much regular TV, but I think I watched it once after people told me about her voice. And she did kinda sound like me, I'm a little nasal because of allergies and I think she must be allergic too.
The Ozarks are in SW Missouri and NW Arkansas, I'm in the Missouri part. Many people consider the Ozarks to be the South but I don't. We were on the line between North and South in the War Between the States, and that's where I still consider us to be.
Oh firefly, sorry about that! I am an old soul and basically immediatly think of the nostalgic before the present. I do remember Brett Butler and her show. I was not fond of it and it would appear that the Reba Show is a rip off of Grace Under Fire now that you mention it.
Thank you for enlightening me as to the whereabouts of the Ozarks. I always wanted to know but was afraid to ask because it seems like something I should know.
I would make fun of someone with Jersey hair, but I would never make fun of anyone's accent. Here in Boston we are really not in a position to do that. Accent Sample ;)
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