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Since we haven't been to Lexington/Louisville yet, I was wondering if the people who live there have southern or midwestern accents. Just curious.
As I have emphasized before, Louisville and Lexington are much different. First, Louisville is so much bigger that it is going to have more northern transplants. In Louisville, especially on the east side, it is not rare to find lots of Midwestern accents, and a Midwestern attitude. Lexington, on the other hand, has that more "genteel southern city" vibe nearly all over and its residents show it, even the wealthy ones. Also, Lexington sees a lot of people move there from the eastern KY mountains, where accents are very thick. There are also lots of southern accents in Louisville, especially in the SW part of the county, but Louisville's strong Catholic status, river city location, and suburbs in Indiana make it much more "Midwestern" on the scale. Overall, I would say Lexington is 100% southern and is proud of it. I would say Louisville is more like 70% southern.
If you're from the midwest, you will notice a definite southern accent throughout the entire state, including Louisville and Lexington. Most midwesterners even notice a more southern twang to start near Indianapolis in Indiana and just south of Columbus in Ohio. It is different than true deep south accents (like Mississippi) or Georgia and the coastal south. As you move across the state from east to west, it changes a lot, too. Western Kentucky is more like Missouri, and Eastern KY has that Appalachian sound (a unique accent in its own right). As you move into the city areas, the accents are less pronounced than in rural counties, but still every once in a while you will hear a really strong one that will make you smile (if you can understand it lol). And of course, lots of "y'all's" and asking if you want a "Coke" when midwesterners would ask if you want a "pop".
i.e. "Hey there - want a coke?"
"Yeah!"
"Ok, what kind? We got Pepsi, Sprite, Big Red, Mello Yellow"
And you get some "I'm fixin to fix your drink" and even the once in a while "I reckon I should get to the Kroger and get me another buggy full of cokes!"
We go to Louisville every winter and being from the north I will admit the KY accent/slang (in the Louisville area anyways) is VERY different from what I've heard in any other state......probably the reason why we visit once a year...LOVE the KY accents...keeps me coming back!!
LOL on the coke thing. My kids will get a kick out of that
I'm a little surprised by what stx said -- that Lexington is 100% "Southern" but Louisville has more of the midwestern feel in some parts. Given the university I would have thought there would be a lot of midwestern (and east coast, and west coast, etc.) transplants.
There are a lot of transplants from all over. I know transplants from all over the US; from CA to NY to LA to TX to UT, etc., etc. and from many different countries. Obviously with the university here there are people from all walks of life.
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Definitely
