Jane Seymour can do the "Southern Belle" accent perfectly but Sir Michael
Caine as a Southerner? Forget it!
Diane
----- Original Message -----
From: "Melinda Skinner" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Thursday, January 11, 2007 9:49 AM
Subject: Re: [VA-HIST] Speech Patterns
>I am embarrassed to say that my own daughter who is an actress can fool any
>Brit with her British accents but has lost her own Virginia accent and now
>a hard tiime doing a southern accent. She was born and raised in Richmond
>(with a Scottish dad) but-- like many of her generation-- has a more
>indistinguishable accent. She once asked me to send a tape of my mother
>when she had an audition for a part that required a southern voice. I
>couldn't believe that she was having such a hard time getting it back.
> On another note, when working with performers I have noticed that British
> actors can often do a southern accent better than non-southern American
> actors; and, conversely, southern actors have an easier time with British
> accents. Interesting.
>
> --
> Melinda C. P. Skinner
> Writer and Wonderer
>
> -------------- Original message ----------------------
> From: Diane Ethridge <[log in to unmask]>
>> I think that's wonderful! Can't wait to pass that along to my friend who
>> was very insulted at the remark from her speech instructor, lo those many
>> years ago. She did get a few acting jobs, in commercials playing a
>> Southerner, & on stage, off-Broadway, as "Truvy" in "Steel Magnolias"
>> but
>> then came on back to TX to teach school. That's okay though...she had
>> fun!
>>
>> Diane in TX
>>
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "Sunshine49" <[log in to unmask]>
>> To: <[log in to unmask]>
>> Sent: Thursday, January 11, 2007 9:19 AM
>> Subject: Re: [VA-HIST] Speech Patterns
>>
>>
>> > That explanation is the most ridiculous thing I've [almost] ever
>> > heard, and I detect a whiff of that old anti-southern bias. Not one
>> > mention of the ethnic or cultural background of southerners as being
>> > roots for the way we speak. No, it's hot and we're lazy. Geesh. Do
>> > people in the hotter latitudes of, say, India speak slowly? Hawaii?
>> > Cairo? My husband once worked with a guy who had worked in Chicago
>> > for a time. His boss there really didn't like him, and one day told
>> > the guy he spoke slowly because he was southern and all southerners
>> > were stupid. The friend said no, southerners speak slowly because
>> > they like to think first before they open their mouths, so as not to
>> > put their foot in it. The next DAY the boss came in and told the guy
>> > he just realized that that statement had been an insult directed at
>> > him.
>> >
>> > Talk about slow.
>> >
>> > Nancy
>> >
>> > -------
>> > I was never lost, but I was bewildered once for three days.
>> >
>> > --Daniel Boone
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > On Jan 11, 2007, at 8:44 AM, Diane Ethridge wrote:
>> >
>> >> I have a good friend, here in TX, who decided to become an
>> >> actress, so after college, she left to try her luck in New York
>> >> City. After being turned down several times from some small
>> >> acting parts, she finally asked her agent what the problem could
>> >> be & the agent mentioned not being as "marketable" because of her
>> >> Southern accent. Friend enrolled in speech class to try to rid
>> >> herself of the regional sound in her speech pattern. The
>> >> instructor told her that one can never completely lose a Southern
>> >> accent & that it was brought about originally by the warmer climate
>> >> making folks less energetic & causing them to adopt a slower pace.
>> >> This translated into a habit of speaking more slowly & "chewing" on
>> >> their words. That, along with the added habit of also chewing
>> >> tobacco brought about the "drawl" & the different "slower" speech
>> >> patterns of today's Southern folks.
>> >>
>> >> Since there are some famous newscasters from TX, such as Walter
>> >> Cronkite, Dan Rather & Bob Schieffer to name a few, it apparently
>> >> isn't completely impossible to lose the accent but then maybe they
>> >> do still have traces of it & I just don't notice it as readily as
>> >> someone from other areas of the country might do. Recently I
>> >> heard someone on the news pronouncing the word "out" as "oot" & I
>> >> immediately thought, "They must be from Virginia." Turns out,
>> >> they were from Canada.
>> >>
>> >> Diane in TX
>> >>
>> >> To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the
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>> >
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>
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