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Here's the deal - Tidewater accents supposedly sound a lot like English (as in "from England") USED to sound - around Shakespeare's time. The English accent today isn't what was in place in the 1500s and 1600s in England.
That's how I've always heard it described.
One thing is for sure, the Appalachian and Mid Atlantic regions of the US have some Old English phrases and music that still linger in the language and that are uncommon outside of those regions.
To be honest I can't understand them but they sound American. Maine is quite British.
They don't sound American to most Americans though - most Americans would assume they were British or Canadian unless they were very familiar with that particular sort of speech pattern.
I took a drive up to Maine last week and no one talked like that. I can't understand it either--could he be putting us on?
ETA: Yes, he is making fun of some old people. You can tell, not only by the stupid way he talks (no one in Maine talks that way) but the Yes Sir, Knee High to a Grasshopper, Young Whippersnapper, etc. all refers to what old people supposedly say to kids. And if you still don't believe me, here's what it says if you suffer all the way through to the end of the video:
Uploaded on Jun 21, 2006
Join Pat McQuinn as he gives us a quick tour of Downeast Maine, Machias anyway.
This video is just for fun. He's overplaying the accent (badly) and if he said anything weird it's probably false or just for shock value. To boil it down, it's just kids messing around.
I visit the Southern States often , you don't hear much Southern Drawl anymore, there mostly transit States and retirees from up North , Southern accents dying out from generation to generation now, TV stuff is usually an exaggerated Southern accent
Just like the English northern accent, I can't understand the Southern US accent! (Just joking, though not about the northern English accent part - I genuinely can't understand the northerners!)
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