Where does the South start? I find some folk with what I'd guess was a but Southern ish not to far in from Canada.
Hollywood "Southern" accents
- Thread starter ClubmanRob
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My wife has relatives from both northern and southern Kentucky. Those in northern Ky talk like Yankees, those in the southern part sound like southerners.
Kyra Sedgwick in "The Closer".....terrible, although finding a Southern accent these days in Atlanta where her character's from is getting harder and harder.
I caught part of an episode of HBO's "True Blood" over at a friend's house one evening....all the accents I heard were bad.
There's actually many, many Southern accents. My family's roots are in the Western North Carolina mountains although I was raised in Georgia; my cousins & I sound very different. Don't even get me started on my wife's family from the South Carolina Lowcountry. Even in my home state, folks from the North Georgia mountains sound a whole lot different than folks from Vidalia, and Savannah's a different one altogether.
I caught part of an episode of HBO's "True Blood" over at a friend's house one evening....all the accents I heard were bad.
There's actually many, many Southern accents. My family's roots are in the Western North Carolina mountains although I was raised in Georgia; my cousins & I sound very different. Don't even get me started on my wife's family from the South Carolina Lowcountry. Even in my home state, folks from the North Georgia mountains sound a whole lot different than folks from Vidalia, and Savannah's a different one altogether.
What? No kitty pictures, Rob?
Well here in the Metro Detroit area, Canada is the South, so what's your point?
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- #25
As mentioned it is nearly impossible to define what a "southern" accent is because there are so many regional variations. Add to that the blending from increased mass media, movement of populations, and the effect of education and you'd be hard pressed to find even an extremely blurry line.
Hell, even what constitutes the "south" is a matter of contention. Is it the states that seceded and joined the confederacy? Slave states as of the civil war? Areas south of the historic Mason-Dixon line and or the Missouri Compromise line? Or is it more cultural than geographic?
You want to hear accents that really hurt your ears? Try being Australian and watching Hollywood actors play Aussies. "A dingo stole my baybee!"
Talk about fake accents that really hurt your ears, try listening to a New Zealander trying to play a West Virginian as in the movie "A Beautiful Mind."
Edit: Any move I've seen referencing West Virginia has never got even close to any West Virgina Accent (and there are many, I can tell which part of the state any West Virginian I talk to is from just by their accent), including but not limited to: We Are Marshall, the whole Silence of the Lambs series, The Mothman Prophecies, the Wrong Turn movies, and October Sky.
Edit 2: For accuracy.
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- #28
Not really. I'm not a master of dialect or anything but I think it's pretty easy to figure out what part of the country someone is from based on the way they speak (in most cases). I've lived all over the world, but I still sound like I'm from North Carolina.
The Southern states reach as far north as Virginia and Kentucky and as far west as Texas and Oklahoma. There are some people in the border states like Maryland, Missouri and West Virginia that identify culturally with the South, but you'd be hard pressed to call those states "Southern".
+1 ... And in addition to this, I can't speak for the other states, but the folks of West Virginia, though some of the folks may identify culturally with the South and maybe some with the North, I believe the majority identify with the lifestyle/region/history of Appalachia. Appalachia, to me, is it's own world.
If you are referring to Russell Crowe, he's from NZ. A bit different!
Quite liked Val Kilmer in Tombstone. "Ah have not yet begun to defile mahself"
You want to hear accents that really hurt your ears? Try being Australian and watching Hollywood actors play Aussies. "A dingo stole my baybee!"
Buggar!
As for the OP, Anthony Hopkins in The World's Fastest Indian had a painful Kiwi accent...
I have to give Hugh Laurie credits, he can do an American accent well!
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- #31
Very true.
Does he? I can't hack it. After growing up with Hugh and his beautiful work in Blackadder, the American accent grates.
The Aussies doing US TV appear to do a very good job, but of course i'm not familiar with the different accents and how well they're actually doing.
Let's not get too insular about the deep south - virtually all actors trying to do accents bomb badly. I was in the US recently and watched Burn Notice - the godawful pantomime Irish accents were not even believable to Americans. I could do better and I'm from Manchester.
Zellwegger may have sucked in Cold Mountain, but her English accent in Bridget Jones was very good.
Fixed!
I find these accent posts quite hilarious. There is so much variation it is almost impossible to really pin something down as Southern to most people. It is much like the complaints about British and Irish accents in movies. Each area produces a unique sound if you listen for it. My favourite Southern accent comes from eldery folk in Virginia. Yes, you can get the "cornpone" accent from Virginians(just like some here in Kansas do) but there is a certain accent from that state which reminds me of my friend from Statford on Avon England. They are not identical of course but the sound is similar. Very rythmic and gentle sounding with a lot of emphasis and accent on the ending of the words. Jeanne would relate the story of her childhood dog being run over by a lorry(delivery truck). She would say it; "Oh my poor dog. He ran into the street and was ran over by a lawwrrry". Very extended ending of the word. This is how the elder Virginians sound to me. It is a gorgeous way of speaking.
As for the OP. Sorry for the off topic so here goes with an answer. Kenneth Brannagh as a southern barrister. He made an admirable attempt but the accent dissapeared at times. Sorry, can't remember the name of the movie.
Regards, Todd
As for the OP. Sorry for the off topic so here goes with an answer. Kenneth Brannagh as a southern barrister. He made an admirable attempt but the accent dissapeared at times. Sorry, can't remember the name of the movie.
Regards, Todd
Not really. I'm not a master of dialect or anything but I think it's pretty easy to figure out what part of the country someone is from based on the way they speak (in most cases). I've lived all over the world, but I still sound like I'm from North Carolina.
Well sure, as mentioned there are a ton of regional dialects. There is just no such thing as a definable "southern" accent. Your NC accent is far different than a New Orleans accent, and neither sounds much at all like a southern Georgia accent.
Why include 1 border state (Kentucky) but not the others? I look at it from an historical standpoint: the "south" is the former confederate states. So use your definition but exclude Kentucky (didn't secede) and Oklahoma (wasn't a state). West Virginia gets excluded because of its weird role in the war, but most of it is south of the Mason-Dixon line so it could go either way.
because they never get out of town. case in point, the creators of HeeHaw was actually in Hollywood, but the joke writers could not capture the flair of a good country joke. They called Nashville and found out that a retired comedian would be the man to contact. They did and he sold him his joke file for a reported one million bucks. that was in the 60's, so it was a bit of money.
The many came from DeSoto MO...just about twenty minuters from where i am sitting.
But hollywood is about money, not historical accurate films. That is done on accident. somebody from maine or idaho doesn;t know how a southerner sounds anyway....
I didn't now an Native American knew how to speak english when I was a kid, I thought they just said "Ug and How!" Now they say "Welcome to our Casino...we hope you enjoy yourselves."
Quite liked Val Kilmer in Tombstone. "Ah have not yet begun to defile mahself"
You want to hear accents that really hurt your ears? Try being Australian and watching Hollywood actors play Aussies. "A dingo stole my baybee!"
I think that Val Kilmer quote was more about being totally wasted... I've heard Southerners sound much more ridiculous when drunk
West Virginia has its own special variety of Southern Accent
Not really. I'm not a master of dialect or anything but I think it's pretty easy to figure out what part of the country someone is from based on the way they speak (in most cases). I've lived all over the world, but I still sound like I'm from North Carolina.
The Southern states reach as far north as Virginia and Kentucky and as far west as Texas and Oklahoma. There are some people in the border states like Maryland, Missouri and West Virginia that identify culturally with the South, but you'd be hard pressed to call those states "Southern".
This reminds me of the best example of Hollywood Southern Accents... Matthew McConaughey does the best stoner/Southerner ever
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My thoughts exactly. I cannot watch this show because her voice grates my ears.
A southern accent is dying in southern metropolitan places like Atlanta and Nashville. This may be why Reese Witherspoon, from Nashville, wasn't totally believable with her accent. To be fair, she spent most of her childhood on movie sets. She did enough to win an Oscar though!
A real treat though, is to strike up a conversation with an elderly man, 70+. That slow, soothing drawl makes you melt!
I thought he sounded pretty funny.
Even the Southern actors do bad accents. Of course, many Southerners do their best to hide their accents, as if they are ashamed of it or soemthing. In the end they come out sounding...well...like idiots. 
What's even funnier though, is listening to these Carpetbaggers trying to put on a Southern accent so the rest of us will forget they're Yankees. LOL, like we're that stupid!
What's even funnier though, is listening to these Carpetbaggers trying to put on a Southern accent so the rest of us will forget they're Yankees. LOL, like we're that stupid!
