# 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:** 6\ **Page:** 3
**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:** [April 16, 2013, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-floridian-have-an-accent/498253/41 "2013-04-16T13:08:45Z")
> [@\_claudia\_4189](#): > > 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… You’ve been to Jacksonville and never heard anyone who sounds like they’re from Georgia? Try Clay County. ---
**Author:** ![ombre12](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/d26b3c/32.png) [@ombre12](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ombre12)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2013, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-floridian-have-an-accent/498253/42 "2013-04-16T13:27:02Z")
I went to high school in Orlando in the late fifties, and the native Floridians definitely had a particular southern accent, a little bit like a Georgian accent, but distinctive in its own way and very pleasing to hear…at least I thought so. Orlando was a dinky little town back then. Not like today at all. There were a few kids like me who came from out of state, but most were native Floridians. Never hear that accent when visiting Orlando today. I do miss it. ---
**Author:** ![Flander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8c91f0/32.png) [@Flander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flander)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2013, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-floridian-have-an-accent/498253/43 "2013-04-16T17:21:36Z")
Born in Stuart, FL (about 2 hours north of Miami) and lived in FL my entire life. I do not have any accent relative to general american speach. My father is from Detroit and my mother from Stuart (I think) and the only thing between them that sounds weird is my mother’s pronounciation of the word “water” as “war-ter”. ---
**Author:** ![Obnoxious\_Hood\_Ornament](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3be4f8/32.png) [@Obnoxious\_Hood\_Ornament](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Obnoxious_Hood_Ornament)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2013, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-floridian-have-an-accent/498253/44 "2013-04-16T17:23:59Z")
> [@](#): > > It would be more accurate, if perhaps less descriptive, to call it General American. And often colloquially referred to as “Newscaster Voice.” I grew up in Tampa and traveled all over the US East coast. There’s a fascinating variety of dialects, especially when you wander into Louisiana. :eek: The panhandle is very rural, like “Deep South” rural. Central Florida is rather metro. South Florida is not guaranteed to speak English… heh. ---
**Author:** ![dstarfire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dstarfire/32/5762_2.png) [@dstarfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dstarfire)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2013, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-floridian-have-an-accent/498253/45 "2013-04-16T20:15:39Z")
> [@Lust4Life](#): > > I’m English and I can totally assure you that my speech is totally without accent . > Unlike everyone else. Of course you do. EVERYBODY has an accent, even folks who use speech synthesizers (like Stephen Hawking). Language changes in different ways at different locations. Travel to an area where the langugage changed differently from where you live and your accent becomes apparent. Heck, even different generations growing up in the same area will have different accents. I know you’re you’re just joking, but it’s an old/bad joke and encourages misunderstanding of what an accent really is. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2013, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-floridian-have-an-accent/498253/46 "2013-04-16T22:04:28Z")
> [@Bambi\_Hassenpfeffer](#): > > I’ve made and previously referenced a handy [map of the cultures of Florida](http://www.flickr.com/photos/miketurk/2239810074/sizes/o/). We can argue around the borders, but IMO it’s pretty close. You forgot to make Key West fluorescent pink. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-floridian-have-an-accent/498253.md?page=2)