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A very wise mother! She was right that some people see Southern dialects as "backward" even in very well-educated people.

To my mind some regionalisms add color and interest to Southern speech, and I enjoying hearing them: e.g., double modules like "might could" ("I might could do that"). But Northerners can hear that locution and see it not as a dialect but as a sign that you don't know English grammar.

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Janice Harayda
Janice Harayda

Written by Janice Harayda

Critic, novelist, award-winning journalist. Former book editor of the Plain Dealer and book columnist for Glamour. Words in NYT, WSJ, and other major media.

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