Southern accent is gone with the wind

Several stories recently caught my eye about a new study from Georgia Tech and University of Georgia researchers about the death of the Southern accent.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and The Wall Street Journal, which are part of my morning media consumption, broke this troubling development in late September. With all the bad news lately, these stories were almost more than I could bear.

I love hearing a natural, unapologetic and sincere Southern accent. I can attest to the accuracy of the UGA researchers findings. This accent is increasingly rare in the wild. 

Code switching is among my many talents/flaws. I have an ear for dialect and an appreciation of Southern speech, so I will often ironically drop into a very Southern accent, much to the annoyance of my lovely wife who absolutely cannot stand it when I talk like that.

I have adopted this accent so frequently that at times it comes out unironically. This is not always helpful in professional situations.

Like the other day when I unintentionally used one of my mother-in-law’s sayings in a conversation with a coworker from upstate New York. It was about a decision we had to make, and I said, “Well, it ain’t no killin’ matter.”

She blinked, leaned in and said, “What do you say?”

I said it again, this time more slowly, realizing I dropped in a Southernism without even realizing it. We both laughed, and I translated: “It’s not a big deal.”

Way back in the 20th century when I was a reporter at The Macon Telegraph, we used a device to talk to our sources called a “telephone.” It was so old fashioned that it was connected to the wall with a cord. Anyway, the newsroom was a grid of low-walled cubicles allowing anyone within arm’s length to hear every word of every conversation. That was when it was first brought to my attention that I had a tendency to adopt the accent of the person I was talking to on the phone.

In Macon, that frequently meant I got real Southern, especially when I was trying to build rapport. I swear it was completely unconscious.

This habit carried over to my personal life and landed me in hot water with my beloved. She noticed on trips to see her family in Sandersville that my accent grew more pronounced. She thought it was exaggerated and mocking and asked me to refrain. I swore I talked that way out of love and appreciation, but in my defense, I pointed out that when someone used correct grammar and spoke with a neutral accent around her daddy he accused them of using “Yankee talk.” I could not abide being characterized thusly. Besides, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

I confess I have a complicated history with Southern accents. I grew up in Dallas-Fort Worth and proudly talked like a Texan. I was from a big city, but it was Texas. When my family moved to rural Central Florida when I was 12, I had a bit of culture shock. My classmates at my new school all had neutral Florida accents, and they made fun of my “redneck accent.” Mind you these were people who had horses, grew oranges and raised cows. The only time I encountered produce was at the grocery store, and I saw horses and cows once a year at the Will Rogers Coliseum at the Fort Worth Rodeo and Fat Stock Show.

I began to actively neutralize my accent, and by the time I went off to college in Alabama, it was largely gone, though it would still emerge in unguarded moments.

Still, it saddens me to think of the Southern accent disappearing. I think it’s why I love “Landon Talks” so much. He’s from Mississippi, which may be the last place on earth the accent will persist.

I don’t mind a Southern affectation to a point, if it’s an appreciative appropriation and not meant to demean. It’s like fingernails on a chalkboard, though, to hear a bad Southern accent on TV or in movies.

The one that sets off Carla quicker than any other is the Foghorn Leghorn/Southern lawyer/politician with a large vocabulary but a slow delivery. Gets her every time.

The accent is disappearing for logical and understandable reasons: people aren’t as regionally isolated and hear other accents more frequently. People move around more and adopt the accent of the place they move to. Negative associations make people more self conscious and like 12-year-old me, they neutralize it.

The Southern accent may be waning, but I’m actively doing my part to preserve the grand Southern lyrical tradition, even at great peril to my professional reputation and my marriage.

Those are risks I’m willing to take.