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Don't forget crocs too. I saw someone wearing socks with those once too.

And for the record I have never worn crocs either.

If their at the airport my only guess is removing your shoes while going through security so you don’t get some nasty foot fungus

My wife is from east Texas and was extremely self concious about her accent when she moved out west. She spent years trying to eliminate it and pretty much succeeded, but it comes back with a vengance when we go visit her family.
What's really funny to me is that half her family there have a strong accent, but the other half don't.

Why be self concious? I love the southern accent. But then again I am bias since I live in the south. Its by far one of the friendly sounding accents in the US.

 KTG17 wrote:
Why be self concious? I love the southern accent. But then again I am bias since I live in the south. Its by far one of the friendly sounding accents in the US.

At best, having the accent often gets you made fun of and asked to repeat words for the amusement of others. Its not like a British or French accent where you can whisper sweet nothings and get yourself somewhere with it. I don't recall ever hearing someone ask me to speak to them with my sweet Southern drawl.

At worst, unfortunately, in many parts of the country, having a Southern accent is directly associated with intelligence. Having a Southern accent usually comes with all the stereotypes associated as well, including politics and all the fun stuff that comes with them. "Oh, you have a Southern accent! You must loves Trump, guns, and trucks with big tires and rollin' coal and be a cousin lovin' redneck!" In other words, generally the accent is judged before the person.

IronWarLeg wrote:

 KTG17 wrote:
Why be self concious? I love the southern accent. But then again I am bias since I live in the south. Its by far one of the friendly sounding accents in the US.

At best, having the accent often gets you made fun of and asked to repeat words for the amusement of others. Its not like a British or French accent where you can whisper sweet nothings and get yourself somewhere with it. I don't recall ever hearing someone ask me to speak to them with my sweet Southern drawl.

At worst, unfortunately, in many parts of the country, having a Southern accent is directly associated with intelligence. Having a Southern accent usually comes with all the stereotypes associated as well, including politics and all the fun stuff that comes with them. "Oh, you have a Southern accent! You must loves Trump, guns, and trucks with big tires and rollin' coal and be a cousin lovin' redneck!" In other words, generally the accent is judged before the person.

doesn't every country have places like that though, my corner of rural SW England is generally perceived in much the same way (with Tractors and baffling Right Wing mindsets replacing Trucks and Trump)

 Turnip Jedi wrote:

IronWarLeg wrote:

 KTG17 wrote:
Why be self concious? I love the southern accent. But then again I am bias since I live in the south. Its by far one of the friendly sounding accents in the US.

At best, having the accent often gets you made fun of and asked to repeat words for the amusement of others. Its not like a British or French accent where you can whisper sweet nothings and get yourself somewhere with it. I don't recall ever hearing someone ask me to speak to them with my sweet Southern drawl.

At worst, unfortunately, in many parts of the country, having a Southern accent is directly associated with intelligence. Having a Southern accent usually comes with all the stereotypes associated as well, including politics and all the fun stuff that comes with them. "Oh, you have a Southern accent! You must loves Trump, guns, and trucks with big tires and rollin' coal and be a cousin lovin' redneck!" In other words, generally the accent is judged before the person.

doesn't every country have places like that though, my corner of rural SW England is generally perceived in much the same way (with Tractors and baffling Right Wing mindsets replacing Trucks and Trump)

I am sure they do, I was just answering his question of why someone may wish to suppress their Southern accent when not living in the states where that accent is prevalent.

 Chute82 wrote:
If their at the airport my only guess is removing your shoes while going through security so you don’t get some nasty foot fungus

Maybe, but I see a lot of people sporting that look outside of air ports. Not saying it's neck beards primarily doing it, but I have seen that combination of footwear enough at my LGS that I sorta lump it in with the fedora, trench coat and dirty t-shirt stereotype we gamers get saddled with.

Relapse wrote:
My wife is from east Texas and was extremely self concious about her accent when she moved out west. She spent years trying to eliminate it and pretty much succeeded, but it comes back with a vengance when we go visit her family.
What's really funny to me is that half her family there have a strong accent, but the other half don't.

I remember watching my mum talk to relatives from Northumbria at a family gathering a few years ago. The more she talked to them (and the more wine she had!), her accent slowly travelled down the A1.

 AndrewGPaul wrote:

Relapse wrote:
My wife is from east Texas and was extremely self concious about her accent when she moved out west. She spent years trying to eliminate it and pretty much succeeded, but it comes back with a vengance when we go visit her family.
What's really funny to me is that half her family there have a strong accent, but the other half don't.

I remember watching my mum talk to relatives from Northumbria at a family gathering a few years ago. The more she talked to them (and the more wine she had!), her accent slowly travelled down the A1.

Yup, "code switching" is very commonplace. My mum worked in a university and spoke in a very deliberate way most of the time(not pretentious affected "Morningside Lady" or anything, just what she called "well spoken"), but after five minutes on the phone with my grandad she was a hair away from Broad Scots

 KTG17 wrote:
Don't forget crocs too. I saw someone wearing socks with those once too.

And for the record I have never worn crocs either.

I was in that camp until I went hiking in the Smokies. I passed by 3 groups of other people who had them lashed to the side of their packs and found it entirely strange until I hit the point where I was mid-calf to crotch deep through four streams over the course of a mile or two.

And I've got the superlight minimalist hiking shoes and quick drying wool socks, sure, and they kinda work, but they're still not fun to walk in wet. Maybe it's a lack of fortitude, but sharp rocks just aren't reasonable to walk over barefoot when you have a week of hiking left to go, whereas Crocs weigh almost nothing, retain no water, and are pretty damn comfortable all things considered.

...they're also nice to throw on when you take the dog out.

IronWarLeg wrote:
In regards to the Canadian accent:

I talk to people on the phone most of the day from all over the country, and to me, it seems that people from Minnesota have more of the stereotypical "Canadian" accent that a lot of American's see as how Canadians talk. I have talked to quite a few Canadians here in the Northwest and most sound pretty much like anyone else, except you get the occasional word that catches you and makes you think "there it is".

Honestly, I think it is a rural Ontario accent. Catch is, everyone lives either in Toronto or one of the good parts of Canada. So the steroptypical hoser accent is rare.

As for how to act american, I recommend holding an AR-15 in one hand and a canoe beer in the other, and just seeing what comes to you.