I will never forget my first business trip to Alabama in 1996. My mother, bless her soul, had a Deep South way of speaking; that is, country SW Louisiana--SE Texas. In eastern AL, the women spoke similar, but more melodic. Floor is pronounced Flo-uh and so on.

And when I was in business school, the instructor was from South Carolina and spoke that way. One day, a lad from AR had a little difficulty understanding something he said and a yankee expressed amusement since they were both Southerners. As Southerners all know, there is some remarkable difference between a SE Southern lilt and an Arkansas razorback accent....or a West Texan for that matter.

In high school, I moved from SE Texas to North Texas and students noticed and made fun of my manner of speaking. Must be something like Boston and New York. I cannot tell the difference, but it is huge to yankees. To my ears, a New Orleans accent still sounds Northern. No offense to anyone.