Southern Culture of America and English

Most things seem wierd and bizarre at first. You just need to find enough like minded souls to form a group that can't be ignored.

Hmm.

I found some history about the state of Maryland and its flag. Apparently, Maryland was occupied by Northern trrops, but many of the stats' inhabitants went to fight for the Northern Virginian Army. So, I would say that Maryland was a Southern, Confederate state.

Here is a link to the flag of Maryland and a bit of history:

http://www.fotw.net/flags/us-md.html

i don't find southern american culture to be european at all. in fact, the american south is more, uh, "american" than many places that still have strong ties to europe, at least culturally or linguistically. also note that you'll almost never hear a southern american hyphenate his nationality.

i don't consider the confederate flag to be a racist symbol, i had quite a few ancestors who died in the confederacy and i think it's a fine show of respect for the dead, even if i now think that their goals (ie an independant south) were misguided.

I disagree with you, hp20. Yes, the American South is very distinctly American; but if it were not for the British, there would be no Southern culture as we know it today. I say "Euro-American" because that is what they are; descendents of Europeans. And their culture is a descnedent of European culture. Now, it is distinctly American. I have never heard a Southern-American (hee-hee) hyphenate their nationality. I have spent some time in Oklahoma, which is technically in the South (the people consider themselves that way anyway), and never once have I heard them "hyphenate" themselves (the same goes for Texas).

Once again, I would consider Southerners to be Euro-American in origin and in culture. But their culture has evolved into an "American culture."

I have a question for people who are not from the South, but have heard Southern accents before:

Do you think that it is hard to understand anyone from the South?

Yes I think it's hard to understand the southern accent.

One similarity between the British and the Southerners is the expression "I reckon...." Here in the North, it's rare to hear this expression, but one often hears Britons or Southerners say this.

This is a pretty minute detail, but it's something I've noticed.

Australians also use that expression frequently, eg. "do you reckon it's because...".

I have noticed that one as well, mjd.

Does anyone know of other languages spoken by the ancestors of the Southerners? I read once about Gaelic being the language of a nmber of people in the Carolinas, but no where. else. I think a majority of the people in the South are the descendents of English-speaking people, and few other ethnicities (minus some people from Louisiana and Florida).

you can find a few germans in the mix, as well.

No wonder I had never heard of the use the "I reckon" until I came back to Hong Kong (British English is the default form of English here).

clark- there are some aspects of southern american culture that come from europe, but i would say it's more of a scotch-irish heritage that of what most people consider to be british culture. even at that, it does not reflect much of europe nowadays...it's not like southern american culture is british culture with a little grits and black people thrown in. it is entirely different.

anyways, you can say they're european-american because their ancestors came from europe years and years ago, but unlike yourself most americans do not feel a tie with europe--in fact, most southerners either hold europe in contempt or at best as some remote and very foreign place. they're the last white americans that i would refer to as even somewhat european.

I am not talking in a nationality sense, I am talking mainly about origin (ethnicity). But their culture has evolved into what it is today, and it evolved from British (English, Scottish, Irish, etc.) culture.

i wasn't talking about nationality either, i was talking about cultural remnants. while you're at it, why don't you include the native american and black cultures?