Again, Bobby, and I just asked my wife "how much, in 10 1/2 years of living in Jacksonville, did we hear "ya'll" from anyone?" and she said "very, very seldom". She also told me, "people seemed to forget just how many years ago they lived someplace. Most likely, Jacksonville has changed since he (you) lived there. We haven't been back to So California/Orange County for 21 years and my sister constantly tells us how much it's changed." Bobby, we were gone from Colorado for 11 1/2 years and can't believe at all how much has changed here................and none of it for the "good" as far as we're concerned. Denver is now a huge city, with the I-25, and other local highways/freeways, looking just like Los Angeles freeway system. Just remember what my wife said............"just how long ago did he live in Jacksonville and Florida?" Sort of like someone who puts a picture of themselves on this forum, or even on Facebook, that is 20+ years old. Not current at all.
Cody…..why are you complaining about accents and how people say things?. I really think it’s you and not someone else banging away at the word ya’ll. I have been all over this world and in all 50 states and not ONE person has ever said anything demeaning to me about how I speak the American language. And again, if someone wants to ask me a question on this forum then let them join this forum and ask me.
And here we go again. Rational people are still try to bring reason into the conversation where clearly it makes no difference, like arguing with a brick. I think we have all been trolled, and for a very long time.
I think it's more of a matter of confidence and appreciation of individuality. I didn't mind being the only male student in high school to have long hair. I liked it, and it didn't seem to me that girls disliked it, and that was all that mattered. That was the important thing. I wore my hair long because I liked it that way. In fact, my most uncomfortable fashion choices were those that were made in an attempt to be stylish; hence, the Nehru shirt and the polka-dotted shirt, both of which I wore in public only once. Had I really liked them, I'd have worn them anyhow. When I was a freshman in high school, I was overly conscious of my stuttering, which had just begun that year. Focused on whether or not people were making fun of me, the problem could only get worse. Fairly early on, I decided that this wasn't something that I was going to be able to stop, so I set aside my worrying about it so much, and the stuttering lessened and nearly went away. I still stutter once in a while, I notice, but not often, and it didn't keep me from working as a youth minister, an interim pastor, a teacher, and on various political campaigns, some of which involved press conferences, testimony as an expert witness, and other media events. Until someone I had just met guessed, twenty years after I had left the UP of Michigan, that I was from either the southern part of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan or northern Wisconsin (I grew up 10 miles from the Wisconsin border), I didn't even realize that I had an accent, and that included twelve years in Southern California and some time in Texas. Since then, I have come across a couple of other people who could place me in the UP, although I haven't lived there since the early 1970s. I cared so little about my accent that I didn't realize that I had one and, unlike you, this has resulted in my being able to live a life free from having to worry about such things. This certainly hasn't set me back. I wear whatever I want to wear, and I have found that this has often resulted in my wearing pretty much what other people in the area were wearing, but not because I wanted to fit in. Availability had something to do with it, but, mostly it was a matter of practicality. There wasn't much need for winter clothing and snow boots in Southern California, and flip-flops would get you hurt in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas, not from people, but because the vegetation fights back. There are also rattlesnakes. Real cowboys didn't wear cowboy boots and large hats in order to impress their friends. As far as regional accents go, some people can be pretty stupid about that kind of thing. Northern snobs might look down on someone with a strong Southern accent as being ignorant, but anyone who has lived in the South knows that's a load of crap, so who's the ignorant one? Someone from New York City might look down on someone with a Midwest accent for similar reasons, and there might be some truth to that. While Midwesterners aren't any dumber than people from New York City, they might indeed be ignorant of a lot of things that someone should know in NYC, like not trying to strike up a conversation with someone on the subway. Conversely, I find people in NYC to be rude. If I were to spend a few years living in NYC, perhaps I'd learn that this is not the case, or that there are reasons for it. Then again, I'm 71 years old so I suppose I can easily live the rest of my life believing that people in NYC are rude. I don't find people in Boston to be rude, if that means anything. Anyhow, I think you're not doing yourself any favors with your focus on what other people think about you. Live your life. If someone doesn't like your cowboy hat, why worry about it? Then again, is a cowboy hat really necessary in New York City? I think y'all need to lighten up?
Well, if you feel that way, simply have Ken kick me out of his forum. It's not that hard to do. However, I did back you up in the discussion concerning medicine and doctors. Guess you don't remember that, huh?
My siblings' friends in Indiana did not understand it when my siblings went back there after moving to Virginia. But that was a long time ago.
Actually, my friends "Okie" accent didn't bother me at all. Sort of funny, she had it, but, because her kids were born in California, they didn't.
I don't go running to Ken to tattle on other posters; he has enough to do without grownup mini-dramas on the forum. (Plus I doubt I could "have" him do anything... that's Michelle's job.) Besides, that would make me look like a whiny little jackass, wouldn't it? I don't keep tabs on whether people agree with me. I am my own person and have opinions of my own regardless of what others think. Back on Ignore; have a nice Christmas.
I happen to LIKE the American language because after all, it’s the only language I excel in. Way back when I was in school, I took various levels of the English language and did okay so I decided to adopt English as my second language and other languages that I’m familiar with go behind the first and second into tiers of proficiency. The thing about my first language, (again, American) is that although we still have to recognize a noun from a verb and all that congeegashun stuff, we can say just about anything that sounds about right and it is not only understood, but accepted. Yes, there are some who are able to look down at their noses at others who they believe to be beneath them because of some unfamiliar colloquial usages but by and large, they are generally those who do not speak American as fluently as others. Now, I won’t go into the “if I am cut do I not bleed” speech because no one has yet tried to cut me for saying coke, ya’ll, pertnear, dang or crick instead of creek. We American speaking people are in a class of our own throughout the world and maybe even the universe. Lord only knows what we’ve been telling those space aliens from all the messages we keep sending up there. Maybe something like, “we’ve got fried chicken and tater salad so ya’ll come and visit for a while”. I doubt seriously if space aliens would understand English which is the reason Americans have been sending the messages. Never know but the bottom line is that the only people who demean those who speak American are those who have only learned to speak English, a language we quit speaking since before we decided to tick off King George.
A crick is a pain that you get in your neck from sleeping the wrong way. As opposed to a pain in the ass which can be some people.