Why can't people understand us "southern folks" when we speak?

Question

Do we really seem to speak another language?? I find it interesting...... but really annoying when I'm out of town and attempt to order from a menu.

I'm from Southern Virginia... Tennessee area... Just to answer the "Where you are from" question.

Answer 1

I grew up in Boston, but my grandparents were from the south. Reasons it's hard:
1) You talk slowly. Would seem to make it easier, but it is different, therefore hard.
2) You use different words and phrases. Pop, tonic, soda; Y'all; etc.
3) You simply sound different. Just like when a foreigner speaks English with an Indian, Mexican, Japanese accent. The listener is predicting/expecting certain sounds and yours don't match. Extra processing has to go on to "translate."

Answer 2

I can understand you ;) But I'm in Texas.

Everyone grows up with a diffrent accent. I can't understand people from NY to well. The closest english we have that comes to a Standart English is from Chicago. If you listen to British it sounds even more diffrent.

I am half german. And I grew up in germany. I grew up in the state of Bavaria. Fuerth to be exact. Which is North Bavaria. In 8th grade my class went on a trip to south Bavaria into the Alps. While there my friends and I got lost. We asked a kid for directions. I only understood every 7th word he said. And we were from the same state!!! Also of note, Germany is half the size of Texas.

So don't feel bad about people not understanding your accent. Just speak a bit slower when you are out of town so that they can understand you better.

Answer 3

I am from the south, North Carolina. I have always liked the way I talk. I was made fun of when I moved to Illinois,
now in Indiana. I love the way we southerns sound and you respect it more after you leave the area. Hopefully this year I will be coming home to the beautiful North Carolina are once again to be my home state.

Answer 4

I am from Alabama, and I am Southern but NOT COUNTRY! There is a huge difference! I do think Boston and New York accents are terrible! I can't hardly stand to hear it! Just the really thick accents! Look how far Matthew McConahay has gotton with his Texan accent! He is awesome!

Answer 5

Well it depends were in the south you're from. I think that it seems as though some southerners drag words out allot. Also some speak really slow. Well that's what it's like here in NC.

Answer 6

I just have trouble understanding certain words, like you guys have your own 'dialect' in that you have different words for the same thing, like I'm in pittsburgh and I call it a rubber band whereas some people will say gum band, at first I didn't know what they meant, and thats the same thing with some southern folks

Answer 7

for me personally, the drastic change from what i usually hear being a Cali girl to a southern drawl kind of puts me in a trance where I listen to how you speak rather than to what you are saying. So it doesn't all fit together when you are done...leaving me with the response "huh?" Also, you do use different everyday expressions.

Answer 8

I had the sweetest neighbor about 7 years ago and she had a southern accent..... So adorable........ And though this is not what you want to hear, when she said "BANK" it was the cutest thing.... I felt so bad that I could not understand what she said,, " I have to go to the Bank." I said " What?" About 3 or 4 times of her trying to tell me, I got it and we both laughed hysterically.... ♥

Answer 9

Actually, it depends on what part of the Nation your from...

I have heard some people from South Carolina speak good english with no inflections..

I have heard people from Tennesee who speak with such a "drawl" that you couldnt understand them and thought they were from another planet!!

People from Lousiana have that Southern Drawl bad, but some places you can understand them, and some, you cant.

I love Texan accent, its a singsong type of speaking, with that texan drawl :)

I wish you well..

Jesse

Answer 10

I don't really get the..I can't understand you.....but more of the ..."you're not from around here are you...." phrase.. We don't speak a different language but we seem to pronounce things differently and have different customs or ways of doing things.....people just might say that we speak a different language because they are jealous..or just find us too weird for their liking....:)