<p>I had a science teacher in high school who talked about “doplins” and “poi poises” but I don’t think accent was her problem.</p>
<p>OK, I have always said the-ate-er.
We say “cain’t” more often than “can’t”. My parents always said “si-reen”.
All of our “aunts” were “Aint Mary or Jane or Sarah”. </p>
<p>We called my grandmother “Grandmama”. Called my parents Mama and Daddy
My kids say “Grandma firstname” but since they only have one grandfather, they call him PawPaw.</p>
<p>I had a great aunt who taught in the same high school for forty years and lived into her ninetys. She was practically a saint. I have her 1918 Guilford College diploma on my wall.
Everybody knew and referred to her as Miss Deborah until the day she died. </p>
<p>We would get a hard look if we didn’t always say “sir” and “mam” when we were growing up.<br>
If I neglected to add it when answering "yes or “no” to an adult, my mama or daddy would quickly say “yes,what?” DH and I both still say “sir” and “mam” to elderly people.</p>
<p>We live in a different part of the state than where we were raised.
It’s near a city so most of my kids’ friends are from far flung states. Their accent is not as strong as ours.
I have lived in NC my entire life.</p>
<p>When I first moved to the south, I wasn’t used to how some of the locals spoke, so when the pool contractor was digging the hole in our backyard, he asked me where I wanted them to put the “dart.” (with a very soft “t” sound - really more like - dar). I had no idea what he was asking me. I didn’t want to be rude, but I was clueless. I finally had to say, I am so sorry, but I don’t know what you’re asking me. My H and I still chuckle about that.</p>
<p>In California, we always said, “Ant” for Aunt, but my SIL from New Hampshire says “Awent.” When I moved to the South, some here say “Awent,” too.</p>
<p>This is all reminding me of the movie, “My Cousin Vinny,” where Joe Pesci calls youths, “yutes,” and the judge had no idea what he was talking about. LOL</p>