Quote:
Originally Posted by stargazingboi
OK...sooo I've been told I have an accent. I've been told it's abrasive *shrugs* I don't see it...do you?
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To say someone's accent is "abrasive" seems oppressive to me. Maybe classist, definitely regionalist. Some accents are "deeper," in my opinion, than others—more thoroughly immersed in the way of speaking in a certain region. Why is that a bad thing? An "abrasive" thing?
My dad had a different accent than I do. He had a masculine, upbeat, Texan twang. He was the only person in my world with that accent. I can still hear it. I channel his encouraging words.
I went to an Ivy League graduate school and there, for the first time in my life, people corrected my pronunciation of certain words (for example, I would say IN-sur-ance, not in-SUR-ance) and grammar. Some constructions, like "lay" and "lie" will never come naturally to me, but I know how to do it right.
When I'm with my sister, I don't bother self-correcting.