Our accents are recognized all over the English speaking world. In our own home in the US (excluding Alaska, because I didn't find it to be true there) we, the southern states, are known to have the slowest, dumbest sounding accents these parts have ever heard. We say weird phrases ("How y'all doin'?"; "It is fallin' a flood outside!"; "That just burns my biscuits."; "I ain't seen you in a coon's age!" Whatever period of time that may be. I could go on and on.) And some of us put extra syllables or letters in our words ("tha-at" and "warsh"). It just seems nonsensical and a little slow to the rest of these United States. They like to think they're more sophisticated than that. We all know the truth. At any rate, other countries that speak the English language (and Alaska) seem to appreciate these Southern drawls (maybe not so much the Southern twangs and yes there is a difference thank you very much). My experiences in Alaska and Canada taught me that people will approach you rather quickly if you have a Southern accent. They are automatically interested in how and why you wandered so far north, and are always glad to have you there. The Brits also have a solid appreciation for that good ol' Southern drawl (at least the ones that I've met inside the States, since I have never ventured to Britain...yet.)
To sum up the spill about the Southern accent which is running rather long, we have them in a variety of dialects and are proud of them to spite the yankees and to impress the other folks. (And I would like to give a special thanks to the HBO series True Blood for increasing the accent's popularity, although it would help if any of us actually sounded like that.)
Southern pride also comes in the form of football. I don't think this section will take as much explaining. Professional football: The Dallas Cowboys, America's team, who haven't been to the super bowl in muchos años, but whom a large portion of us still root for (and cuss at) every year. (They will rise again.) College football: The SEC. Enough said. High School football: the excitement and autumn pastime of every small town throughout the South which produces events that Hollywood eventually makes movies about because it's just so dang inspirational (The Blind Side, Remember the Titans, Friday Night Lights, etc.) Football pride.
Southern food is a delicacy. Food for the soul. Lots of fresh vegetables that we fry up in grease, because everything's better fried. (No but really.) Add sugar and butter to it and it's good people! Just ask Paula Dean, she's the food representative. (Some of us are now having to cut back on the grease, butter, and sugar for health reasons, but we appreciate it all the same.) One should visit the South to try grits, cornbread, hush puppies, fried catfish, fried okra, biscuits and gravy, turnip greens (I prefer them without sugar), crawfish (a.k.a. mudbugs), jambalaya, and red beans in rice. There are other things of course, but you should visit the Southern state visitor welcome center of your choice for more details. The varieties of BBQ are endless.
Southern hospitality is one of my very favorite things about my Southern home and raisin'. (That's raisin' as in the way in which my parents raised me, not the dried grape variety.) Southerners have in common with the Canadians their approachable and helpful reputation. We really will help if you're lost, we'll invite you in to sit a spell while we get you a glass of extra sweet tea or lemonade, and, if you're in a small town, you're likely to be waved at by everyone who passes you in a car or on the street. (Don't worry, it's not that they know you from somewhere. They wave at EVERYONE. Don't want people to feel left out.) My momma and daddy always told me to be polite, not to sing or smack at the dinner table (that one will get you in trouble), to put my guests first, to keep my commitments no matter how minuscule, and never to invite myself along. (Invitations should come from others.) "Children should be seen and not heard" was kind of on it's way out during my childhood, but I'm thinking about bringing it back. Oh, and to go to church every Sunday to find out why all these things are so important. Other hospitable practices follow suit.
Southern accomplishments....yes, we have a few. Several U.S. presidents have come out of the South, some of them rather popular (Bill), and others rather unpopular (George Jr.) depending on whether you're from Arkansas or Texas. Walmart: You either love it or hate it or love/hate it, but you can't deny that it has pretty much taken over the globe. Two of the best novels ever written and the best movies ever made, To Kill a Mockingbird and Gone With the Wind, were set in and written in the South. (Both written by Southern women I might add.) Law, politics, church, and air conditioning (even though its inventor, Willis Carrier, was from the north east coast) are also some things Southerners pride themselves on. By God, we're even proud of the great struggle and war tactics put up by the Confederacy back during the War of Northern Aggression, er, ah...I mean, the Civil War. (Even though we lost. It's rumored that the South will rise again, although this time hopefully without slaves and with a few more railroads and other transportation methods. We've already got the guns for it, since huntin' is another of our regional pastimes.) Losing in itself, it seems, can be an accomplishment.
Last, but certainly not least, Southerners take great pride in not being born Yankees. With no drawl and no Southern culture, what fun would that be? :-)
*I would like to give a shout out to my yankee friends. I know you appreciate the South and don't take my yankee comments to heart and I thank you for it. You're such good sports.
