Are regional accents dying out in the US?

[Cave Savage]

As for New York, I believe that the stereotypical Paulie Walnuts accent was never the way all New Yorkers talked, that was just uneducated, outer borough whites (who are becoming less and less of a thing as they die or move out). There really isn't a single New York accent in my opinion, the city is way too diverse for that. But still, I find that young people born in New York have a less distinct accent than before. The modern accent is more neutral sounding, and only certain things are a dead giveaway, like pronouncing coffee as "cawfee" instead of "cahfee".

With Southerners, it seems like the Southern accent is declining too. I've met Charleston, SC natives with no discernible Southern accent. I think AAs and rural whites are keeping the Southern accent alive, but overall it still seems to be declining to some extent.

And slang is becoming less regional. Because of music and social media, black slang is used throughout the country. Now there are people in Colorado and Idaho saying "facts" and "deadass".

 

[WaveMolecules]

met a guy at a bar in midtown (nyc) from new orleans last week. wouldve NEVER guessed he was from NO. had ZERO accent.

 

[MoveForward]

You may be on to something... I get, " You don't sound like you're from Atlanta" all the time.

 

[010101]

nyc is made up of folks from everywhere

accents get weird

it's a nyc caribbean african southern alien accent on my side

*

 

[Cave Savage]

met a guy at a bar in midtown (nyc) from new orleans last week. wouldve NEVER guessed he was from NO. had ZERO accent.

Yep, I went to NO recently and didn't find that the natives (especially whites) had much of an accent.

 

[CouldntBeMeTho]

Go to the south then get back to me..

 

[Cave Savage]

nyc is made up of folks from everywhere

accents get weird

it's a nyc caribbean african southern alien accent on my side

*

That's so true. Keep in mind I'm only talking about people born in NYC, and I still hear a lot of different accents.

Like I hear Mexicans that sound like they could be from LA, white people that sound like they could be from the Midwest, West Indians that sound like AAs,

 

[Cave Savage]

Go to the south then get back to me..

Do white people in Texas cities even have accents?

I know a lot of Texas Mexicans use black slang heavily, but do they really have Southern accents?

 

[UberEatsDriver]

As for New York, I believe that the stereotypical Paulie Walnuts accent was never the way all New Yorkers talked, that was just uneducated, outer borough whites (who are becoming less and less of a thing as they die or move out). There really isn't a single New York accent in my opinion, the city is way too diverse for that. But still, I find that young people born in New York have a less distinct accent than before. The modern accent is more neutral sounding, and only certain things are a dead giveaway, like pronouncing coffee as "cawfee" instead of "cahfee".

With Southerners, it seems like the Southern accent is declining too. I've met Charleston, SC natives with no discernible Southern accent. I think AAs and rural whites are keeping the Southern accent alive, but overall it still seems to be declining to some extent.

And slang is becoming less regional. Because of music and social media, black slang is used throughout the country. Now there are people in Colorado and Idaho saying "facts" and "deadass".

Accents are still here. But there are general words now that we all share like Facts (north), dead ass (north), thot (Chicago), turnt up (south), trap (south)

Colorado and Idaho don’t even have much black people for me to even think they have their own legit accent unless it’s a city like Denver. So yes I would assume states like those probably get all their slang from hip hop or social media.

 

[hayesc0]

Lol regional accents have always been somewhat overemphasized

 

[Mike_Pipeson]

No.
Accents are very apparent still. People from New England still don't have a "r" in their alphabet.

 

[UberEatsDriver]

I don’t think the south accent is declining. Maybe in the cities? But I couldn’t imagine the south accent declining in rural or far out areas.

My good friend who was born and raised in Charleston, SC has no accent whatsoever. He literally fits in comfortably in Harlem.

I know last general African american New Yorkers who sound more southern than him. He is also very very educated. Idk if that has something to do with it but it is what it is.

 

[hayesc0]

Edit: delete on account of not reading lol.

 

[Cave Savage]

Accents are still here. But there are general words now that we all share like Facts (north), dead ass (north), thot (Chicago), turnt up (south), trap (south)

Colorado and Idaho don’t even have much black people for me to even think they have their own legit accent unless it’s a city like Denver. So yes I would assume states like those probably get all their slang from hip hop or social media.

Yeah there are still accents but I think the differences are becoming less pronounced. Think of the younger native whites you've met in NYC, do any of them have that exaggerated mafioso type accent that New Yorkers are stereotyped as having? Plus there are a lot of Latinos and Asians that don't ave anything resembling a "classic" NYC accent. Many of the NY born Mexicans, Ecuadorians, and Colombians totally sound like they could be from LA.

I think many Latinos in flyover areas copy slang from hip hop and black social media lol.

 

[Gold]

I can tell a Katrina transplant from a dallas native within seconds.

Some accents are still as strong as ever