that's pretty much the only prejudice still allowed in politically
correct America- that, and the one against overweight people.
Whenever a tv show or movie wants to depict someone stupid, who do
you see, what do you hear? A southerner. Evidently there are no
stupid people in Kansas, Vermont or Oregon.
Nancy
-------
I was never lost, but I was bewildered once for three days.
--Daniel Boone
On Jan 10, 2007, at 11:31 AM, Debra Jackson/Harold Forsythe wrote:
> I am astounded at how true this myth is outside the South: that a
> southern
> accent connotes ignorance and stupidity. At either an OAH or AHA
> meeting in
> Atlanta, Eric Foner was able to prevail on former President Jimmy
> Carter to
> come speak to a general meeting. The thing I remember that so
> struck me was
> that Carter said that the press just presumed that he was stupid
> because he
> spoke with a Georgia accent.
>
> But then, I think back to a Japanese undergraduate I went to
> college with.
> He was the son of a famous inventor and came from Osaka. His
> girlfriend was
> from Tokyo. These cities are about 300 miles apart on the island
> of Honshu.
> When she was really angry at him, she would tell him that he
> sounded stupid
> because he spoke with an Osaka accent.
>
> Sayonara, y'all.
>
> Harold S. Forsythe
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Sunshine49" <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Wednesday, January 10, 2007 10:04 AM
> Subject: Re: Speech patterns
>
>
>> Well you're on to us. Women in the south can lay on the honey if they
>> want to, especially with men from the north who seem to eat it up. My
>> daughter and I once did, I must confess, at a restaurant. And
>> Southerners have been known to lay on the IQ- lowering speech factor
>> to others, just to have a bit of fun with 'em, since to many a
>> southern accent automatically lowers your IQ 20 points. So we let 'em
>> think we're stupid. It's the slow-talking, drawling Southern lawyer
>> of myth who is only pulling your leg, he's really smart as a whip.
>>
>> Nancy
>>
>> -------
>> I was never lost, but I was bewildered once for three days.
>>
>> --Daniel Boone
>>
>>
>>
>> On Jan 7, 2007, at 5:40 PM, Diane Ethridge wrote:
>>
>>> I have noticed that many Southern folks talk differently around
>>> their own or
>>> in what would be considered "casual" conversation with trusted
>>> friends. In
>>> this type of conversing, what would ordinarily be labeled incorrect
>>> grammar
>>> becomes the norm. As mentioned earlier, I've never lived out of
>>> the state
>>> of TX, but other relatives & in-laws, from the deep South, can
>>> switch back &
>>> forth with ease & their "business/formal" language will sound
>>> nothing like
>>> how they speak when they are in familiar company. Even Larry
>>> King on CNN
>>> uses the word "ain't" often in certain situations & of all people,
>>> he knows
>>> better...and he's from Noo Yawk.
>>>
>>> Diane E.
>>>
>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>> From: <[log in to unmask]>
>>> To: <[log in to unmask]>
>>> Sent: Sunday, January 07, 2007 12:55 PM
>>> Subject: Re: [VA-HIST] Speech patterns
>>>
>>>
>>>> Something that always amused me was the way Oldtimers, and I mean
>>>> "literate"
>>>> ones; educated ones.... fine ladies and gentlemen, even, would say
>>>> "Don't"
>>>> when the sentence they were using called for "Doesn't".
>>>> For instance, "She don't know...."; "He don't care...."
>>>> And those same people also would not hesitate to say "Ain't".
>>>> To our over-educated ears that may seem like an abomination but I'm
>>>> talking
>>>> about people who truly knew better, who were very, very well
>>>> educated
>>>> (some
>>>> had even gone off to some fine Yankee schools so we KNOW they were
>>>> better
>>>> educated:) but they persisted in using idioms and figures of
>>>> speech that
>>>> broke all the rules of usage. Now, they didn't WRITE that way and
>>>> when
>>>> they
>>>> were in a more formal, social setting they didn't always talk like
>>>> that,
>>>> but
>>>> amongst themselves they did.
>>>> I've thought about this a lot and I've decided that it has a bit
>>>> to do
>>>> with
>>>> the old-timey way of thinking in which it was really, really bad
>>>> taste to
>>>> try to speak, act, behave, conduct oneself as though one was,
>>>> somehow,
>>>> "better" than others; or better educated; or knew more; or had
>>>> been to
>>>> more
>>>> places or seen more of the world.
>>>> That attitude which is fading fast also reflected itself in the
>>>> notion
>>>> that
>>>> the very worst thing a person could ever do was to show up
>>>> overdressed for
>>>> the occasion. It could be a mortifying experience for someone to
>>>> arrive at
>>>> a
>>>> function overdressed. Far better to be way under-dressed than
>>>> overdressed
>>>> which could be perceived as showing off one's finery or, God
>>>> forbid!
>>>> drawing
>>>> attention to oneself.
>>>> I'm not all THAT old (I'm in my 50's) but I can well recall that
>>>> attitude
>>>> of
>>>> trying to be understated in the way one dressed and lived. The
>>>> theory of
>>>> Conspicuous Consumption began to rear its hideous head in the
>>>> 1980's at
>>>> which time we Americans latched onto it and have never let go,
>>>> in my
>>>> opinion.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>>> From: "Diane Ethridge" <[log in to unmask]>
>>>> To: <[log in to unmask]>
>>>> Sent: Sunday, January 07, 2007 11:28 AM
>>>> Subject: Speech patterns
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> My ex in-laws were from E. AL with their grandparents from SC & one
>>>> generation earlier, VA. They often used terms of speech & words
>>>> that were
>>>> a
>>>> complete mystery to me. I'm born & bred in TX, not exactly
>>>> Boston in
>>>> speech patterns, but had never heard some of the strange (to me)
>>>> words
>>>> used
>>>> by those folks. They would say, "I was daresent" to go/do/
>>>> whatever,
>>>> which
>>>> I assumed was a form of "dared not" or another one was that
>>>> something
>>>> wasn't
>>>> "approcrut" (appropriate). I would become so interested in
>>>> listening to
>>>> their strange form of speaking, that I would lose track of the
>>>> subject
>>>> matter.
>>>>
>>>> Diane in TX
>>>>
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