[johnco]

i work within a 100-150 mile area east, north and west of my home. every little town has it's own accent slightly different from the next. I can usually tell where someone's from just by listening to them speak. any more south and I'd be standing in the Gulf of Mexico. to me, anything north of Baton Rouge (90 miles) sounds yankee, east of New Orleans (90 miles) sounds redneck, and anything much more west of Lafayette (70 miles) sounds like Texans. I usually have to translate the cajun accent to my northern friends. Mais, we all talk like dis (French accent). it's quite common to hear people start a conversation in English and switch to French and back to English. I don't speak French though. since I've dated women from all over the states, my accent is different than most of my friends. now I have an English gitrlfriend and it's changing again.