What inna Sam Hill?
The Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee, which employs more than 4,400, was fixin’ to offer classes on losing a Southern accent until complaints put that horse back in the barn, the Knoxville News Sentinel reported. But dropping drawls can pay off, said Jennifer Adams of Atlanta Accent Management and co-author of “Say Goodbye to Your Southern Accent.”
“We have clients who do business around the country or around the world,” said Adams, who holds a bachelor’s degree in audiology and speech sciences from Michigan State University and a master’s in speech language pathology from the University of Virginia. “They want to be taken seriously.”
Taking the South out of a client’s mouth means shortening vowels, sticking G’s back on the end of verbs and losing colloquialisms like “What in the Sam Hill?”
Adams, a Michigan native who lives in Cobb County, said her goal isn’t to eradicate accents but rather to help clients feel confident. “We never refer to an accent as a problem,” she said.
Former Atlanta Mayor Sam Massell will not be signing up for un-Southern speech class.
“Why would anyone want to give up the advantage that comes with the warmth and hospitable persona that accompanies a Southern accent?” the president of the Buckhead Coalition asked. “Although we welcome newcomers with profiles different from ours, we know they are trying their best to adapt. Buckhead’s population increased 27 percent over the past 20 years, and business is booming.”
Lisa Heiser, an IT consultant who lives in Morningside, put her accent to work during a stint in Boston.
“Amazing what I could get people to do when I laid it on thick,” she said. “Not only work things but they would clean snow off my car because you know we Southerners don’t know how.”
Michele Guilford, who lives in Midtown and works in digital marketing, prefers a neutral tone for work: "I appreciate my Southern heritage, but I hope others appreciate my attempt to celebrate that and proper speech, even if it's mostly for the paycheck."
Kristen Peters, a paralegal who lives in east Cobb and works in Marietta, turns up her twang only around Southerners.
“When I moved to Macon, I learned that a drawl earned points with locals,” the Texas native said. “When I moved to Tampa, the opposite occurred. Whenever a Southern accent appeared, their nasally, strangled reaction was, ‘Oh. You’re from the South.’ I’ll admit, it biases me, too. When I hear a politician with a Southern drawl, I immediately think ‘good ole boy’ and tune out.”
Haisten Willis, a writer who lives in Smyrna, said his Southern accent sometimes sticks out at home.
“I was born and raised here but often get asked, ‘Where are you from?,’” he said. “Overall, I think the accent helps as long as it’s not too thick. People seem to think it’s charming and it gives them something to remember you by.”
Richard Watkins
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