# Why don't Floridian have an accent? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 31, 2009, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-floridian-have-an-accent/498253 "2009-05-31T11:21:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2009, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-floridian-have-an-accent/498253/21 "2009-06-01T17:09:44Z")
> [@Candyman74](#): > > Prepare to be horrified, then, because I can’t distinguish between you and Canadians! Ask them both to say “Out and about”. Then you’ll be able to tell. Some Floridians do have southern accents, but many do not have an accent or if it is there it is much more subtle. ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2009, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-floridian-have-an-accent/498253/22 "2009-06-01T17:24:17Z")
Always thought [this map](http://strangemaps.wordpress.com/2007/08/05/162-the-united-states-of-florida/) was more accurate. ---
**Author:** ![YamatoTwinkie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/cc9497/32.png) [@YamatoTwinkie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YamatoTwinkie)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2009, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-floridian-have-an-accent/498253/23 "2009-06-01T17:27:34Z")
> [@Bambi\_Hassenpfeffer](#): > > Except it’s not derogatory when you mean [Florida Cracker](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florida_cracker). I’m still a little confused, how do they differ from the Northern/Southern areas marked in the map? Dialect? Economics? Politics? ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2009, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-floridian-have-an-accent/498253/24 "2009-06-01T17:42:10Z")
> [@ShibbOleth](#): > > Ask them both to say “Out and about”. Then you’ll be able to tell. > > Some Floridians do have southern accents, **but many do not have an accent or if it is there it is much more subtle**. Strictly, all humans speak their language with an accent. How “thick” the accent is will depend largely upon the perception of the listener. For instance, your textbook “unaccented” Floridian will sound very much “accented” on the streets of Kingston, Jamaica, or in a working-class pub in Bimingham, England. ---
**Author:** ![filling\_pages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b9bd4f/32.png) [@filling\_pages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filling_pages)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2009, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-floridian-have-an-accent/498253/25 "2009-06-01T18:12:59Z")
Yep, I’m a third generation Floridia Cracker, born and raised in Tallahassee, and my accent is pretty much purely deep south. Y’all and reckon and yes, ma’am. But once you drop below Gainesville, you tend to head north again. ---
**Author:** ![Sapo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Sapo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sapo)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2009, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-floridian-have-an-accent/498253/26 "2009-06-01T18:57:04Z")
As an interesting aside, Spanish speakers who have lived in Florida for a reasonable length of time tend to lose their native accents too. I had friends from all possible nationalities and they all spoke what we called “Florida Spanish”. It is a more or less neutral but still distinctive accent that sounds like none of the major contributors (Cuban, Mexican, Rican, Venezuela, Colombian). For English, I guess the fact that most cities in South Florida have a heavy influx of people from other regions contributes to mix up the accents to the point where you can no longer spot any of the contributing accents. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2009, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-floridian-have-an-accent/498253/27 "2009-06-01T21:09:48Z")
> [@filling\_pages](#): > > Yep, I’m a third generation Floridia Cracker, born and raised in Tallahassee, and my accent is pretty much purely deep south. Y’all and reckon and yes, ma’am. But once you drop below Gainesville, you tend to head north again. Indeed, in Gainesville itself you can find both crackers (everything west of the Turnpike) and “regular people” (everything east of the Turnpike - mostly around the university). ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2009, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-floridian-have-an-accent/498253/28 "2009-06-01T23:27:02Z")
I have a friend who lives in Gainesville but is originally from a bit further South, and she and her entirely family have a _very_ distinctive Southern accent that even I, a Brit, can differentiate from Texan or Mississipi (though it does sound rather like the accents in Georgia). They were proud Crackers, though - her Dad was a _real cowboy_! Her cousins still ran a ranch, and not the rich Dallas-type one either! (I was thrilled - it was like walking into a movie). So some Floridians definitely have Florida accents. That is, of course, only one family, but it was a very big one. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2009, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-floridian-have-an-accent/498253/29 "2009-06-01T23:37:49Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > It’s really not that complicated, though; as people said above, we’ve got lots of newish residents, who tend to sound like people do wherever they came from… except in the Panhandle, which is unpleasant and doesn’t attract new residents. 😃 Sshhhhhh…we are trying to keep it a secret up here! ---
**Author:** ![PetW](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d2c977/32.png) [@PetW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PetW)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2009, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-floridian-have-an-accent/498253/30 "2009-06-02T02:28:45Z")
> [@bordelond](#): > > Strictly, all humans speak their language with an accent. How “thick” the accent is will depend largely upon the perception of the listener. Yeah, we know, but there’s no real word I can think of to describe what many in the US would consider unaccented. Basically, the standard news anchor accent. Unless you can think of a word? [Peter Jennings](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UwOCVm5rnBQ&feature=related) for instance. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2009, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-floridian-have-an-accent/498253/31 "2009-06-02T03:15:14Z")
> [@PetW](#): > > Yeah, we know, but there’s no real word I can think of to describe what many in the US would consider unaccented. Basically, the standard news anchor accent. Unless you can think of a word? > [Peter Jennings](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UwOCVm5rnBQ&feature=related) for instance. [Midland or Midwestern.](http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A30501730) ---
**Author:** ![Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellis_Aponte_Jr)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2009, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-floridian-have-an-accent/498253/32 "2009-06-02T05:55:36Z")
Peter Jennings was Canadian. No wonder people are confused. ---
**Author:** ![tr0psn4j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@tr0psn4j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tr0psn4j)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2009, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-floridian-have-an-accent/498253/33 "2009-06-02T06:12:22Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > In the panhandle, they tend to have strong Southern accents. Yep, I, as a Californian, noticed that when I went to what I think was called Destin, Florida. ---
**Author:** ![PetW](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d2c977/32.png) [@PetW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PetW)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2009, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-floridian-have-an-accent/498253/34 "2009-06-02T16:40:32Z")
> [@scifisam2009](#): > > [Midland or Midwestern.](http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A30501730) I had no idea, thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Kimmy\_Gibbler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Kimmy\_Gibbler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimmy_Gibbler)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2009, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-floridian-have-an-accent/498253/35 "2009-06-02T16:57:36Z")
> [@PetW](#): > > I had no idea, thanks! It would be more accurate, if perhaps less descriptive, to call it [General American.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_American) Although it originates in a swath of the Midwest, the Northern Cities Vowel Shift (as in Detroit or Chicago) as well as the noted features of Minnesotan speech militate against using “Midwestern” as a description. Moreover, [“Midland”](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midland_American_English) is now divided into two dialects: northern Midland and southern Midland. Although there appears to be some overlap between the region where General American is thought to have originated and the northern Midland region, when one wishes to identify the dialect that American English speakers would not mark as featuring an accent, “General American” is the term most linguists would use. ---
**Author:** ![\_claudia\_4189](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/_/d26b3c/32.png) [@\_claudia\_4189](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/_claudia_4189)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2013, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-floridian-have-an-accent/498253/36 "2013-04-16T05:12:26Z")
Well, not necessarily. I was raised in Florida since I was three years old, before that I lived in Cuba. I think, no I _know_, that we have a certain…slur, I guess you could say, to our words. When we speak, and as we’re talking to someone else we don’t hear it, but if I record myself talking I hear the certain drunken slurring of all my words. I guess it’s just a Miami thing, but I sear this is how we sound here in Miami. 🙂 🙂 🙂 anyways… I’ve _never_ heard a southern sounding Floridian, and I’ve been to like every city in Florida and I drove to Tennessee with my family once so I know how the Northern/Southern Georgia & North/South Carolina accents sound, I’ve never heard a Floridian that sounds anything like that. But I guess it’s cause I live here and I think I’m just used to it… ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2013, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-floridian-have-an-accent/498253/37 "2013-04-16T05:49:38Z")
My post #37 has been reported. It was supposed to be its own thread obviously. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2013, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-floridian-have-an-accent/498253/38 "2013-04-16T07:12:35Z")
nm ---
**Author:** ![FuzzyOgre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@FuzzyOgre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FuzzyOgre)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2013, 9:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-floridian-have-an-accent/498253/39 "2013-04-16T09:00:36Z")
> [@Lust4Life](#): > > I’m English and I can totally assure you that my speech is totally without accent . > Unlike everyone else. Specifically which English accent don’t you have? ---
**Author:** ![Laggard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de053/32.png) [@Laggard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laggard)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2013, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-floridian-have-an-accent/498253/40 "2013-04-16T13:02:45Z")
My cousins are from Jacksonville. They have an obvious accent as does my aunt. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-floridian-have-an-accent/498253.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-floridian-have-an-accent/498253.md?page=3)