Are Americans losing their accents?

Regional accents seem to be merging, creating a more standard "American" accent, instead of a New York accent, Midwest accent, etc. Mo Rocca reports on what's happening to accents in the U.S.

[@erinnab8335]

Here in Ireland we have a whole generation of little Irish kids, teenagers and early twenties speaking like they're American due to how much American media content were exposed to. They literally sound like Americans, not Irish people. It's terrible as the Irish accent was so unique, musical and varied.

[@elias7748]

Sad..

[@greenmachine5600]

Tragedy

[@ElectrostatiCrow]

That's a world wide thing. It's a slw but noticeable shift to American English.

[@jeanrodriguez2078]

do you see an american accent as a plain accent?

[@MassachusettsTrainVideos1136]

Speak Irish not English

[@strawberrygirlpanics7775]

pretty sure the internet is a huge factor, it unites us by presenting the same media to the whole world simultaneously.

[@lilypippili]

dude... come to boston... these accents arent going away anytime soon

[@GreatIntellect13]

Shame. They really should. Much too harsh.

[@ethankeller1526]

I wouldn't be too sure...

[@fqoff4654]

SoV21 Sorry guy but that intense jealousy you have going is gonna eat you alive....

[@tunabeans]

Mr. Peanutbutter that's literally one of my favourite accents ever, my dad has a really nice Boston accent that's not too thick and it sounds really smooth

[@edwardmiessner6502]

I heard it is disappearing ... you won't find it in the city or in Cambridge or Somerville ... but go out into the suburbs and it's there

[@bigslorbsofkyrgyzstan5541]

Watching this is highkey depressing. That professor’s right, accents and dialects are what helps make us human. I really hope we all don’t become globalized.

[@supahjadi8944]

Too late. This is what the elites want.

[@greenmachine5600]

Friggin tragic

[@tamnickyle]

american accents are disgusting. who cares?

[@donbeck8835]

I guess this explains why every teen and early 20s girl from my town in Ohio sounds like a Valley Girl now. I swear a lot seems to do with the media

[@davidmacphee3549]

That was really strong In Toronto hear .. here .. a while back and I really had to speak up and tell those girls how bad it was. They actually understood me I guess because it stopped abruptly

[@DP-hy4vh]

Radio, television, movies and the internet are making accents disappear.

[@davidmacphee3549]

At least we still have Arnold

[@sasmas1545]

It's because of TV. They use standard pronunciations so that it doesn't seem like you're hearing an accent.

[@Rolando_Cueva]

Not only about that. There’s also the intonation.

[@rbiolden]

I actually really like the Southern accent.

[@kcalhoun8944]

Ashley Martin there dead to us younger guys don't have them most of us don't

[@dylangregory9855]

Well then howdy

[@chrismoon4374]

Ashley Martin North Mississippi have such a strong drawl I couldn’t imagine it gone

[@deadheadwsp705]

Haha how y’all doin

[@tonygabashvili8357]

I'm pretty sure the Midwestern accent has gone extinct, I've maybe heard 3 people speak with it the entire time I've lived there.

[@ethanschoof7989]

I'm from rural MN and the accent is alive and well where I"m from. It's the cities that kill it.

[@BadgerCheese94]

What? I live in Minneapolis and Midwestern accents are alive and well doooncha knooow?

[@dickturpin4786]

Sad they are fading, but it's happening in the UK too, particularly in England. The rural vowley accents with the rolling "R's" in the south east of England have all but gone and replaced with a generic Londonish accent even as far north as south Lincolnshire with some young people. And have you noticed with people under the age of 40 that both Americans and Brits are going up in tone at the end of a sentence like the Aussies do as if the'er asking a question, they never used to do that in either the USA or Britain. Love the old NYC accent though, Kojak..... "Hey you bozzo, gid outta here"

[@davidmacphee3549]

Are you serious? Brits are getting to talk like boring Torontonians?

[@Mykaininekkkkkahajw]

Really sad to see parts of people’s cultures fade away like this

[@angelwrapper1003]

Ralph macchio who plays daniel in karate kid and cobra Kai did lose his accent as he got older! Because when you move out of New York and live in another state your more likely to lose your New York accent because you talk differently than before!

[@ShawnGaming11]

It's weird because even though most of my family has a southern accent, I just naturally had the general American accent, I don't know why, but I just don't sound like my family

[@greatestaxolotl4933]

Same bro

[@greatestaxolotl4933]

Arjel Dela Peña lol why would they want to speak in an accent that is not theirs?

[@dylangregory9855]

Well mine is still pretty thick

[@erinnab8335]

It's due to listening to mainsteam accents on TV, movies and entertainment.

[@deadheadwsp705]

I got family from north and south, but grew up in the south. I remember when I was younger I would always try and have more of a northern accent after I’d visit family and friends up north and hearing them trash on “dumb rednecks”. I’m glad that I was unsuccessful when I was younger and have kept my accent

[@danylo9360]

It even affects Ireland, I sound Irish but my younger sister sounds american it’s so cringey. Thankfully Irish people aren’t that tolerant of “yank talk” so hopefully she’ll lose it.

[@TheCaliforniaboy1]

I lost my Australian accent when i moved to America. I still have specific words I say and drinking brings it back too but in the natural sense, it's gone and I regret to this day. Especially now that Hollywood is showing more Aussies on TV.

[@Chris_T_3rd_Ward_504]

I mean, your name is literally “California boy”. So, there’s that.

[@TheCerealluvr]

This is SOOO wonderful. What a gem of a KZbin video:)

[@howdoifixmyspacebar]

0:48 *talking about nyc accent* *cuts to north jersey actor doing north jersey accent* glad they did a "high tider" accent though, closest accent to general Early Modern English you can find outside of the West Country. Though it's really not a homogeneous accent at all, accents people would label "hoi toider" change pretty drastically all along the east coast from the Carolinas to the PA border, e.g. in MD and VA the watermen have noticeably different accents county by county. It's really just relatively isolated maritime communities descended from 17th century British colonists that retain a lot of Early Modern English features, so of course differences in regional dialects/accents of the 17th century would impact the communities differently.

[@mkfanforever58]

I have never heard of Chi-cah-go. I've always said Chi-caw-go, and I'm from the area.

[@midnightfirefly100]

Now that i hear my self out loud i do hear my self saying Chi-caw-go ^_^

[@midnightfirefly100]

But im from New England and i say Ca-fee

[@36isnotold]

I'm from the area and I say shicawgo

[@Arkayem]

I always went Shukago

[@Steven84629]

I knew a chicago family and they said chi cah go.

[@lalakuma9]

"People want to be connected, to places, to traditions, and accents are the strongest indication of that." This makes me sad, because English is my primary, but actually my 2nd learned language. I learned English from a mix of American, British, Canadian, Australian, New Zealander, and Filipino teachers, and a lot of my friends also speak English as a "second" language. I don't have an accent, not even really from my 1st language. Or rather, I pronounce some words with one accent, and some other words in another accent, and often I don't say the same words with a consistent pronunciation. I think the loss of accent indicates that people are more globalized and better connected to people from other places, thus their cultural distinctions get diluted. But at the same time, I do realize that I have much less connection to regional culture and tradition than most people. It feels kind of lonely, and confusing at times. It seems really nice to have that cultural connection to other people.

[@greatestaxolotl4933]

I don’t really care for accents. I don’t mind them but they are not overly important to me, and I’m not sad that I don’t have an accent like my family does. Does anyone else feel this as well?

[@Mindraker1]

Transportation, communication, and education all are factors in the decline of accents. They mentioned Asheville. It's blurred a lot.

[@vadimtaranov3041]

Yes English has many accents around the world. For instance all Russia speak only two-three accents, such a big country and same accent everywhere. Do you know why? Because of the army that mix people from different regions. So conclusion is that mobility kills accent.

[@ichbineinegluhbirne4141]

I'm from MN and I cam say it hasn't gone away. If anything it sounds a bit more Canadian....

[@ethanschoof7989]

Fellow Minnesotan here, I agree.

[@bettierusso5410]

The Southern accent should be held near and dear. I have seen our accent's dying all over the country. The only people that have a true accent are the older generations. The internet and air travel have destroyed our regional accents. They have been replaced with an obnoxious combination of the airhead "valley girl" sing-song inflection at the end of every sentence as if it is a question & speech from a person with an incredible sinus infection and NO air conduction in nasal passages at all. It is truly hard to listen to the Millenial generation and it is spreading all over our country and replacing our accents. It is so sad. Our freedoms, our accents, and our patriotism are being stripped away from them and they haven't got a clue it is happening. Technology has NOT helped it as they live inside a computer-"phone" that is seldom ever used as a phone.

[@lindawolffkashmir2768]

It's very funny how these accent divisions manifest themselves, also. The Chicago accent seems to spread along I-94 through Michigan to Detroit, and Toledo, however just south of Michigan, in the Fort Wayne, Northern Indiana area, we do not have the accent, at least as of yet. Then south of Indianapolis, you begin to hear a more southern touch to the accent.

[@Tripps2564]

Indiana is a widely diverse state that represents the North, Great Lakes and Upper South all in one state linguistically.

[@kaylacampbell1835]

Come to Pennsylvania accents are alive and well. Philadelphia vs. Lancaster

[@xxIluvyouguysxx]

THANK YOU FOR PRONOUNCING “APPALACHIA” correctly

[@nathangale7702]

Accents are only disappearing among elite, cosmopolitan, urbane types. Go outside your bubble a little and you'll find there are a wide variety of accents in continuous development all across the continent.

[@ruzzelladrian907]

In New York City, the younger generation don’t speak with an accent anymore. It’s more neutral. There are still accents spoken by the younger generation, but it isn’t as common as it used to.

[@ccmanize]

I still notice strong regional accents when I travel to the United States. We don't have much in the way of regional accents in my country, except a little bit in the eastern part.

[@HughBurgessSinger]

everyone in the uk sounds more american thanks to the tv. cheers usa

[@zacarribuffet8882]

No way bro. I’ve just met some Royal Marines last week. Still very British dudes.

[@TheBiggestMoronYouKnow]

Yw 😌

[@x97s]

Netflix

[@happygilmore5948]

If anything, British accents today are a lot more distinct than they used to be back when they colonized North America. The British accents of today are a result of the industrial revolution.

[@lelmdrWHO]

i love accents and i love how they show diversity. but my own ( a mix of southern and appalachian) is really faded. i can look back in my family and the older the relative the more accent they have. i love hearing my grandmother speak. she grew up in east texas and didnt really go anywhere else util her 40s. its so rich and wonderful. but the more americans are able to travel and move and the more media we listen to the more different american accents disapear. look at politicians and news anchors. the more nuetral thier accent is the more people accept them so many intentional try to loose thier accents and they are who we listen to

[@CJColvin]

Go to the Ozarks in Missouri or Arkansas they sound pure Southern.

[@BlueFlame414mdftw]

Nobody’s losing theirs in Springfield, SC

[@stuckonaslide]

i think its from kids hearing so many general american accents through media.

[@lana4u1]

I'll never lose my Greenpoint, Brooklyn ole skool accent. I've lived in Los Angeles since 1977 but I communicate with my people every month.

[@joshuaram100]

The south hasn’t , especially the black southern accent

[@joshuaram100]

@Aaron9 I can see that. Lol my sister in law grew up in the urban south and some how has a valley girl accent.

[@MeadeSkeltonMusic]

Richmond, VA had a distinct accent. Tidewater Virginia and you dont heart it from anyone under 70. Northern accents on the other hand, are still alive and well.

[@MeadeSkeltonMusic]

Janet Kidd No, it is distinctly Southern. Look up "a very richmond phone call" Nothing like New England. Polar opposite, but I supposed to the untrained ear it may sound that way. People say that of Charleston dialect as well, but I can hear the difference. New England accent very harsh and nasal sounding. Tidewater is soft and lilting.

[@MeadeSkeltonMusic]

Janet Kidd Yes, its a true Virginian accent. The oot and aboot feature is heard in Canada as well, but to me its more Southern in my mind. Though I would never confuse the Virginian accent for New England.

[@MeadeSkeltonMusic]

Janet Kidd Not sure, could be. I just turned 35 so I'm on the cusp. I think Virginia Beach area sounds mostly like Cali/Midwest sound with maybe a touch of Southern drawl. NOVA also is this way. I noticed traveling all over the Deep South and even down there I didnt hear any true Southern accents. So like the clip says, I think its dying. Hampton Roads and NOVA are both very transient areas with people from all over- so they are probably the least representative of the native dialect.

[@TheBeautyofMy2Eyes]

+Meade Skelton Why do people give a damn about accents?? I'm Canadian & we've NEVER had a "Canadian accent" (except in quebec). And I couldn't care less! But yes, in my eyes, americans ARE losing their accents. They're sounding more & more Canadian all the time!

[@MeadeSkeltonMusic]

SnowbirdFlock Its not important.

[@laurabrooks8824]

I moves to York, PA in 1972 from Chicago. I fell in love with the dialect and "Dutch" accent. I hope it never dies

[@robintst]

I live in Uniontown in the southwest of Pennsylvania, it's a small town about an hour's drive from Pittsburgh... a lot of people have heard about "Pittsburgh-ese" and the dialect specific to that area but when you come down our way, it's a little more tortured. Being closer to the border of West Virginia our dialect and accent gets blended with a slight tinge of a southern drawl. Not all of us have it, but you'll hear it frequently out in public. Words like tire and tower are both pronounced "tire." Wash is "wush" or "warsh." Iron sounds like "ire'n." Downtown is "dahntahn." Creek is somehow "crick." And the most notorious of our exclusive slang, "younz" and "yinz," which are synonyms for "you all." As in "where are you all going?" which becomes "Where're yinz goin'?" Eloquence defined.

[@Tubewelder154]

I also live in Uniontown and you are spot on. When you get around Smithfield and Fairchance everyone still talks Pittsburgh-ese but with a faint West Virginia accent.

[@VanuOfMILF]

As a military kid, I resent having my General American accent called boring.

[@nathangale7702]

True, it is a little mean-spirited. It's never too late to adapt a little to your surroundings though. I've gradually adopted lots of pronunciations I like from the people around me.

[@greenmachine5600]

@@nathangale7702 exactly. You can adopt an accent a bit. Most don't realize this.

[@BadgerCheese94]

@@nathangale7702 Yea I grew up in Miami and as a kid I had a noticeable Miami accent (you can hear it on VHS tapes from back then) but I spent most my adult life in Minnesota and I sound more Minnesotan than Floridian.

[@rmadrid6119]

I had a Texas accent as a child, and people would laugh at me in Denver. I chose to learn a new accent. 😳

[@fazbell]

Anyone who thinks accents are going away, should go to Alabama. You will need a translator. I am FROM Alabama and sometimes I have to ask people to repeat themselves.

[@melaninqueen2413]

Well I'm originally from Michigan, even though I live in the south. I think that I still have an inland-midland northern accent! They're some people that can tell that I'm not from here.

[@norma6464]

First regional architecture disappeared and now accents...sad.

[@genebigs]

I am a Long Islander in my 50s, with the classic Brooklyn/Long Island accent. My kids make fun of me, and none of their early 20s friends have an accent either. Everybody sounds like they're from California! Booorrriiiing!

[@logicalconceptofficial]

The idea they don't have accents is nonsense they just have a "media accent" that many people have. It seems to have evolved into an androgynous mix of Midwest newscaster and Valley Girl...listen to the way the one guy says "it's gone" at the end...it's like omg it's gone...that's an accent, just one that makes you sound like you live in West Hollywood and need a new pair of knee pads for Christmas...

[@edwardmiessner6502]

Except he also has that annoying nasality that you hear only in the greater Boston and Upper Midwest (Great Lakes/Minnesota) areas.

[@jeffcreps5531]

I hate how everyone is trying to have a geto accent nowadays

[@tsjoey25]

1:10 - 1:15 wtf did he say??? Like was there actual words coming out his mouth???

[@PrincessTS01]

thanks to television we will all sound alike in a hundred years

[@unigamehead]

I lost my accent when i was nine. I guess it happened between my time between Boston and the Bronx. I originally had a New Orleans accent and now i have what my friends call the "white" accent. I call it the non standard accent. Sometimes people pick up certain things i say to try to figure out where im from. When i write people ask if im British because i use certain spellings. I like hearing their guesses.

[@QuietFries]

Im from New York and when he said New York He did not say it right. He fucked that up

[@QuietFries]

New York accents haven't disappeared there less common, but you still get kids with New York accents. Im 14 and I have one.

[@bostonanut]

I was raised outside of Boston in the same house my dad grew up in. He and all his childhood friends have very thick Boston accents, but I don't no one I know who's my age does either. Not sure if it's bc of being raised on television, or our teachers, or gentrification, or what, but the difference between just a single generation is stark.

[@Futuresoldier121]

Don't nobody down here in the south talk like in gone with the wind anymore

[@omarduncan4904]

@@greco-romano9852 😀😂

[@soulflower666]

The Ocracoke brogue reminds me a bit of the Newfie (Newfoundland) accent.

[@eclipseRz]

reminds me of my grandma talking to her sister

[@trancestimuli]

I work for a major phone company and handle calls from all around America... I can definitely tell that everyone has an accent depending on where they're from, even if it's miniscule. Statistically speaking, I have the most "average" American accent (it's in Akron, Ohio and I'm about an hour south of there so the same accent) but everyone has one. It's an important part of culture :)

[@rs72098]

True, I worked in tech support and could totally tell where people were from on calls, however the vast majority were still Standard American. I had almost no brooklyn, Wisconsin, or Boston accents. Plenty of southern accents. If they were from India, China or another forign country I could tell right away.

[@aikidragonpiper71]

I have a strong Arkansas accent and I keep my accent strong. Rural areas in the south are still strong but many cities are more mild because of the generic fake tv American accent.

[@Laztana28]

This is sad. As a plain speaking midwesterner with zero dialect or accent, I always wish I had one. I love listening to them.

[@9175rock]

Midwesterners have accents. At least in Michigan they're are a few different accents.

[@haroldmerewether1224]

2 14, sounds like it has a Bristolian or Cornish twang from the UK.

[@mortenb3606]

It crazy for me as a Norwegian that people actually want to loose their dialects! If you drive anywhere from 5-20 minutes you can already start to here noticeable differences in the way people talk here. Its the big pride here!

[@GinaBlythe]

Just found this...4 years later! As a Navy BRAT, I learned how to disguise my Southern accent to sound "Yankee". Big mistake. I have just recently started using my normal accent and people don't know what to do! I say don't like my accent? Too bad.

[@CloudsCoverTheSun]

Actually there are, but it's just more rare nowadays

[@masterjabberwocky]

Gahhh what did that guy say at 1:14-1:15?

[@pinangjawa]

As a foreigner, I can only differenciate three different accents in America - urban, black and countryside American.

[@jondoes8222]

We did not need to lose our British accents.

[@JasMcKenzie]

The British accents have changed as least as much as ours have. Check out videos about original pronunciation for Shakespeare. Much more rhotic than most modern British accents.

[@codysparks1454]

Accents are always evolving. This is nothing new. But if one accent (like the Californian accent) starts spreading everywhere than that’s not good

[@dvg4536]

The thing is, nobody ever talked like that in Manhattan. Or at least it was less common to have thick an accent, there was a more refined snot nosed tone that still persists today just a bit broader.

[@aivars9579]

for me as a non native speaker of English it's good. Sometimes I can't understand some British accents and some American ones. General American accent is what I like :)

[@Kingofspaids]

Yeah but it's sad. These accents are incredibly unique and tell us history

[@Obamaisterrorist]

I've lost my regional dialect. Which I regret now.

[@energydragon1147]

i been told my accent is weird by one of my friends

[@harveyepstein8256]

in 2021 everyone has that generic california youtuber accent.

[@rs72098]

I still can't really hear a Chicago accent.

[@greenmachine5600]

Yes, or rather everyone is now using the generic American accent/the general north American accent.

[@nathan1507]

As a foreigner, nowadays I can only notice 3 accents: black, southern, and valley girl.

[@underground9260]

Everyone is going to sound like The Kardashian’s soon!

[@anthonyarcanumsanctumregnu9551]

As an Italian American New Yorker born in 46 from Howard Beach Queens Mob capital of America I first noticed our accent was becoming a thing of the past when I was 30 I was dating a gal 8 years younger she was 22 and still had the accent but her younger brothers sounded like regular white folks. Then instarted paying attention and was saddened its bad now.

[@TheInkPitOx]

Accents help identify where you're from. If a neutral American accent becomes universal, we all sound alike and can't tell eachother apart.

[@Polksalad615]

I lived in the college area of North Carolina.

[@rauleyshar3635]

African american accent?

[@ShidaiTaino]

Rauley Shar it’s not an accent. It’s a dialect

[@xxIluvyouguysxx]

And it’s so true about North Carolina. We have so many accents lol

[@northof-62]

Ocracoke accent reminds me of some UK old speech.

[@mousc460]

Charlie to his female assistants: "Don't mind me, I'm just nekkid."

[@vaughnpeterson3162]

Yorktown VA 😃

[@jrainey94]

My friend Bryan Docherty has lived in my country of Scotland for a full 17 years but somehow he speaks in an American accent

[@nevergettoeatdatpussy4453]

I live in Buffalo, but I feel that people that live in Rochester and Syracuse sound wierd.

[@WCBXTV]

It's ultimately a result of the media, mostly television. We hear a lot more General American now because of television than we would have a while back when everyone was isolated. I think dialects and accents will live on but not be strictly limited to geography. Different people from different classes and personalities speak differently even if they're from the same place.

[@Rolando_Cueva]

Americans are sounding more and more Californian!

[@JohnnyKings4]

I live in the Bronx NY and I never had the accent that is there

[@JasnoGT]

Im from Dallas and when I call up north for business they assume Im from the north based on me sounding just like them.. They are shocked to learn Im born and raised here. Stereotypes..smh lol

[@mr.tabares4484]

Funny Charlie Rose would choose the word naked.......

[@dalubwikaan161]

I agree to revive all accents/ However, learning an accent is harder than a dialect.

[@Heizler]

Interesting to watch this. I can say that here in Hungary accents have already died (95%). Everyone from every part of the country being younger than 60 speak the same way as we do here in Budapest. What I see is that we have lots of negative associations about accents. Children make fun of their mates who speak accents (there are few of them and they try to avoid it as much as possible). Adults consider it uneducated. Maybe it's sad, maybe it's the destiny of all languages. USA is a bigger country so this process will be slower there. Really interesting to watch this video, because until now I thought USA is the country where there are lots of accents, and where they still speak them, and where they don't give a shit about others' accents when judging each other. What I've experienced so far is that in the USA people can be cool despite having different accents. In Hungarian mostly those people have accents who live in the Hungarian communities in the neighbouring countries. They were isolated from Hungary in the socialist times, and they watched less Hungarian TV. Nowadays they're also loosing their accents.

[@Polksalad615]

They hate me in some small towns!

[@atribecalledjudah5436]

Listen to Joey Diaz podcast “The Church Of What’s Happening” you’ll get a true New York Accent.

[@austinhill5825]

They're talking about the New York accent and they're playing a show from NJ?

[@raulantunez4228]

Diversity is our strength! The United States is almost as big as Europe when it comes to land area. And it’s the third largest country in the world when it comes to population. It’s sad that every year, states are looking more and more alike and one day, we’ll be one big country filled with cities that speak the sane way.

[@jarrengabaldon]

They're so many different "southern accents"

[@kmca1495]

jarren gabaldon no their isn't they don't exist their allmost dead

[@thezzqueen7564]

Does Stl have an accent?! I don't think we do.

[@BadgerCheese94]

Oh you guys def do. Listen to Kathleen Madigan. Great example of a St. Louis accent.

[@dwcarkuff]

It's pretty sad to me that we are losing the various American dialects. I met some people from Texas a while back - they sounded exactly like me and I'm from New York.

[@swee2251]

I knew a Texan at school during the early 1990s. When I went to Texas a few years ago, I didn't meet anyone who spoke like him.

[@rs72098]

Very true, my cousins lived in Texas their whole life and sound like they're from California. Times are changing I guess.

[@SomeRandomHobo44]

@@rs72098 if i had to venture a guess, id imagine its partly due to TV / media in relatively recent history with some media stations wanting their folk to have "normal" American accents and not their regional accents. ie people from my generation born in the 90's mostly having "standard" American accents compared to someone in Bernie Sanders' generation

[@saintdenis11]

New Yorkers still have strong accents, just not white New Yorkers. Most white people in New York nowadays are hipsters that moved to New York from elsewhere. Its rare to find homegrown white New Yorkers except in State Island or some parts of Brooklyn and Queens. Blacks and Latinos still have strong New York accents especially uptown like Harlem, Washington Heights, and the Bronx

[@BadgerCheese94]

I grew up in Miami and all the white NY transplants I met had thick accents lol I used to think this dude in my class was cute. Irish guy from Brooklyn with a thick sexy Brooklyn accent

[@aikidragonpiper71]

We still have plenty of an accent in rural Arkansas. But yes television and the internet is trying to make everyone sound like the boring TV accent. No matter where you are keep your accent strong,never change it . Wear it like badge of honor proudly.

[@EWHhaha]

Growing up in Arkansas, I never had the Southern accent, but I had the Ozark accent. When I moved to Russellville for college, I worked all summer to train myself to speak without my accent. Now, I have been told by teachers and colleagues (from every part of the country) that I don't have an accent now. Thinking back to my small town in Arkansas, I realize that many of us have done this to get rid of stigmas against us.

[@polishherowitoldpilecki5521]

I’m from the Midwest, I have no accent.

[@thegigadykid1]

Yes you do you people sound weird asf

[@9175rock]

@@thegigadykid1 🙄