I'm planning to begin a nursing career in the fall of 2007 (accl. BSN program) and was wondering about something. I have a STRONG southern accent. I'm not ashamed of it, I love my accent. I had no idea I even had one until I was 16 and while on a trip to California some people let me know. The question I have is could I anticipate any issues or trouble with my accent? Also, and PLEASE be honest, it won't hurt my feelings (much =) but what would your reaction be if you are from a place where southern accents are not common and heard your nurse have a twang to the voice?
I work in the healthcare industry and deal with RNs, Quality Improvement personnel, Administrators, Drug Reps, etc on a daily basis and most of the ladies (99% of the people I work with are female) don't seem to mind. However, I feel like a few are looking down their respective nose at me while I talk. I even had a person who thought they were on mute one time say to a group I was on a conference call with "this guy from KEN-tucky thinks he's going to teach us something". One of those real sarcastic tones. I rolled my eyes and smiled because I knew they were the ones making an a$$ out of themselves.
I'm already somewhat apprehensive about being a guy in this profession and fighting off sterotypes. I had never given much thought to any preconceived notions about my my voice though. Will I have another sterotype to deal with? Honestly, what do you think when you hear a guy (or a lady) with a southern accent? Please don't think we're dumb....
Any feedback or commentary would be greatly appreciated!
I'm planning to begin a nursing career in the fall of 2007 (accl. BSN program) and was wondering about something. I have a STRONG southern accent. I'm not ashamed of it, I love my accent. I had no idea I even had one until I was 16 and while on a trip to California some people let me know. The question I have is could I anticipate any issues or trouble with my accent? Also, and PLEASE be honest, it won't hurt my feelings (much =) but what would your reaction be if you are from a place where southern accents are not common and heard your nurse have a twang to the voice?
I work in the healthcare industry and deal with RNs, Quality Improvement personnel, Administrators, Drug Reps, etc on a daily basis and most of the ladies (99% of the people I work with are female) don't seem to mind. However, I feel like a few are looking down their respective nose at me while I talk. I even had a person who thought they were on mute one time say to a group I was on a conference call with "this guy from KEN-tucky thinks he's going to teach us something". One of those real sarcastic tones. I rolled my eyes and smiled because I knew they were the ones making an a$$ out of themselves.
I'm already somewhat apprehensive about being a guy in this profession and fighting off sterotypes. I had never given much thought to any preconceived notions about my my voice though. Will I have another sterotype to deal with? Honestly, what do you think when you hear a guy (or a lady) with a southern accent? Please don't think we're dumb....
Any feedback or commentary would be greatly appreciated!
Y'all have a good evening!
I am from the South as well, but do not speak with a Souther accent. Maybe it's because my dad is a northern transplant from Jersey. But, I have seen people that are not from the south react negatively to people with strong Southern accents. It's not right because just because someone has an accent does not mean they're not intelligent. But I know that it happens. But you know, a lot of it is provoked. I say this because I cannot tell you how many times my father asked for directions when in Memphis and someone would say, "So, you're a yankee?". So, it's not just Northerners that can be ignorant. It goes both ways.
I feel there is nothing wrong with a Southern accent. That's where you're from. It's your dialect. Be proud of it. But don't overdue it. I've heard a lot of people speak that I feel are deliberately trying to accentuate their southern accents.
fair or not, many people judge you the way you look and sound. your accent is more on what they associate it with than your inner beauty. they think you are not smart enough even though you are smart. so, project yourself with power. if you think your life will be better by softening your southern accent, there is nothing wrong practicing new pronunciation while you are taking a bath or cooking. however, if you are satisfied and you are not bothered by the way people are treating you because of your accent, just be yourself.
two things:
(1) i have waaaaayyyy too much to do to worry about what joe nameless is thinking of me based on my accent. i would be more worried about dangerously loose pantyhose making a sudden appearance or the potential for a bra strap to slip down my arm. i would be more concerned about the onions i dared to have on my salad than how he/she/it takes a southern accent.
(2) imagine their shock and surprise when they find out i am quite intelligent and pretty well educated; imagine how idiotic they must feel for automatically assuming i'm a dixie dimwit. it's the best "come-uppance" i can think of.
(and yes, i do know better than to end a sentence with a preposition, in case anyone was wondering. )
I was born and raised in Mississippi. My family has lived there ever since they left Scottland in the 18th century. I am a Missisippian 100% and although I have not lived there for 14 years I still make it a point to retain my accent because it is who I am. I've been around Northeners long enough that I could talk like them if I wanted to but it would be a fake accent for me and I have no desire to play along with that "Southern accent means you are stupid" mentality. A Southern accent doesn't mean you are stupid, it means you are from the South. I have a neighbor who is from New York but lived in North Carolina for 14 years. He used to like to talk to me about how much he hated the South, Southern Rednecks, Southern mentality, and about how amazed he was in North Carolina to find that the most educated people there could speak so poorly, i.e., with strong Southern accents. When I speak to him now, I make it a point to thicken my accent and use so many double negatives that he must think I'm straight off the set of Hee Haw. As far as being a nurse with an accent, please dont worry about it. People like to repeat what I have just said often and use a fake, exagerated accent when they do so but I just ignore them. After awhile they stop doing that when they realise I'm not an idiot. When I was in LPN school up here our president was from Alabama. She had such an accent that there was no question from the first word where she was from (actually, she was such a Southern "lady" that I could look at her and tell). She had her docterate in Nursing and was brilliant. No one doubted her one bit and once you show them that you are no fool, they won't doubt you either. If they continue to doubt, to use an old Southern expression, "Dont study 'em" (translation, pay them no mind) !
I was born and raised in Mississippi. My family has lived there ever since they left Scottland in the 18th century. I am a Missisippian 100% and although I have not lived there for 14 years I still make it a point to retain my accent because it is who I am. I've been around Northeners long enough that I could talk like them if I wanted to but it would be a fake accent for me and I have no desire to play along with that "Southern accent means you are stupid" mentality. A Southern accent doesn't mean you are stupid, it means you are from the South. I have a neighbor who is from New York but lived in North Carolina for 14 years. He used to like to talk to me about how much he hated the South, Southern Rednecks, Southern mentality, and about how amazed he was in North Carolina to find that the most educated people there could speak so poorly, i.e., with strong Southern accents. When I speak to him now, I make it a point to thicken my accent and use so many double negatives that he must think I'm straight off the set of Hee Haw. As far as being a nurse with an accent, please dont worry about it. People like to repeat what I have just said often and use a fake, exagerated accent when they do so but I just ignore them. After awhile they stop doing that when they realise I'm not an idiot. When I was in LPN school up here our president was from Alabama. She had such an accent that there was no question from the first word where she was from (actually, she was such a Southern "lady" that I could look at her and tell). She had her docterate in Nursing and was brilliant. No one doubted her one bit and once you show them that you are no fool, they won't doubt you either. If they continue to doubt, to use an old Southern expression, "Dont study 'em" (translation, pay them no mind) !
HAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! YOU GO AND GO AND GO!!!!!! LOVE IT!!!!
When I was a kid, we used to go to Philly all the time (my dad's mom was still alive and his brother lived in Darby). We went up there enought that I was friends with a couple of the girls who lived on my Uncle John's block. Some kid (we were about 11) asked me if when I made a phone call could I make it direct, or did the operator come on the line like on "The Waltons" and place the call for me?!!!
I told him, "No, it's not 1931 where I live - it's 1985, just like it is here. What do YOU think?"
And I was supposed to be the "dumb" one because of my accent???!!!
Two comments. First, there are lots of 'southern' accents. Just like there is a Bah-ston accent and a CHI-cargo accent. In the 'deep' South of plantations (and sadly, slavery) where I was born (Montgomery Ala) people think that 'Mountaineers' are the real dredges of the Southern pot. In the 'real south' one says: Y'all. In the Appalachian South, where I lived for 30yrs and raised my family, one says: You-uns.
Second, all the colors of the rainbow are beautiful and every language in which one can say: "I love you" is a beautiful language.
But the 'deep south' Mississippi (or as I grew us saying: Miss-ippi) and Georgia (Joe-ja) and Alabama dialect? Well, Mark Twain wrote an essay about that accent. He titled it "Southerners Talk Music". Because we grind down the harsh 'Ahrs' and 'Kays' of the English and know how to phrase and slow the cadence of our language for the most poetic sounds.
And btw--my regular speech has been described like this (by a NewEnglander) 'wow, you've really got a mouthful of grits there, doncha buddy?' I almost fell on the floor laughing out loud.
Papaw John
We met a man vacationing from Mississippi who said, "Mithippi". I thought he didn't want to say the entire name of his state because of his lisp. Brilliant, smart, wealthy in dollars and family person.
We had a traveler from Kentucky, a highly skilled critical care nurse, who had a heavy accent.
One night another nurse had a confused, restless patient with the same first name. She would say, "John! What are you doing?"
He answered, "I'm just measuring the output in the Foley bag and chest tube drainage Miss Mary."
He was fun. He had never seen the ocean so a group of us took him to the beach.
He later came out with his family.
I do know a nurse practitioner from Alabama and an RN from the Phillipines who took an accent reduction course. They really sound like TV news readers!
In Texas I was teased, "Okies like you think macaroni and cheese is a vegetable." Having been in California so long I was surprised they knew I was from Oklahoma. Guess the accent came back as Okie when in Texas.
Ehh law, don't pay attention to what people think.. ain't no account anyhow. If anyone comments on my accent, I look really suprised and say "Well, butter my butt and call me a biscuit, I think you may be on to something."
Ehh law, don't pay attention to what people think.. ain't no account anyhow. If anyone comments on my accent, I looked really suprised and say "Well, butter my butt and call me a biscuit, I think you may be on to something."
Ehh law, don't pay attention to what people think.. ain't no account anyhow. If anyone comments on my accent, I looked really suprised and say "Well, butter my butt and call me a biscuit, I think you may be on to something."
Love it, love it, love it!!!! (Butter my butt....):yelclap:
I live in So. central Georgia, a small community at that. So, most of the people I deal with are from this general area. I have a very strong southern twang. I have recently worked with a nurse from Ohio, whose husband was born and raised in this area and wanted to come back here to live. She never indicated she had any trouble understanding what I said.
On the other hand, you have people, who automatically deduct 20 points from your IQ when ever they hear you speak. I just try to prove them wrong. Just be who you are and don't try to change your accent to please those around you.
Won't do any no good anyhow. Some people just don't see how "you guys" is the same as "y'all" or a "soda" is the same a "coke". Anyone from the south knows all soda brands are "coke", unless they are fruit flavored, then, they are called orange drink, or whatever flavor you want.
Anyway, you should do fine in your career, just be yourself.
I'm not from the South - but my greeting has always been "How y'all doin'? " :)
I've never had any problems with accents - personally I find them fascinating: from the nasal Long Island, to the droopy Louisianan, to the oft gutteral Pensylvanian.
As long as you guys don't speak Welsh - jeez, that's hard! I can manage to follow brogue, scot or even scouse.... but Welsh is simply impossible! :)
I do agree with you that ignorant or stupid people can come from any part of "the world" and sloppy accents are certainly not limited to the south. It is the heavy bias of the poster's reply that I quoted in my op that compelled me to write what I did. No, I do not consider Bill Clinton uneducated, and yes he has a southern accent although I am unsure whether I would consider it "heavy". However, I have not heard him botching off consanants or completely omitting or switching vowel sounds in his speech either. Also, jmho, but it is a bit hypocritical of you to say that "anyone who assumes ignorance OR stupidity based on the way someone else speaks REALLY needs to get out more". That is not reality. I think it would be hard to find someone who would not question another's intelligence, especially an adult, who mispronounces words, speaks with flagrant grammar, etc. That is the real world. Most well-educated people are familiar with the most basic rules or english grammar. I will even go as far as to say that most of them do not go around speaking as follows: "He be xxxxxx..." "She be......" "They does...." "He do xxxxxx..." "Are then any coffee in there?!?!"" "Where you at?!?!!" It kills me when people end sentences with prepositions.....
Why is it that when a Southerner drops a consonant it's considered ignorant, but when someone from New England doesn't pronounce their R's it's considered educated?
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:lol2: 
OliveVinesRN
100 Posts
I am from the South as well, but do not speak with a Souther accent. Maybe it's because my dad is a northern transplant from Jersey. But, I have seen people that are not from the south react negatively to people with strong Southern accents. It's not right because just because someone has an accent does not mean they're not intelligent. But I know that it happens. But you know, a lot of it is provoked. I say this because I cannot tell you how many times my father asked for directions when in Memphis and someone would say, "So, you're a yankee?". So, it's not just Northerners that can be ignorant. It goes both ways.
I feel there is nothing wrong with a Southern accent. That's where you're from. It's your dialect. Be proud of it. But don't overdue it. I've heard a lot of people speak that I feel are deliberately trying to accentuate their southern accents.