[HairOfTheDog]

It is because of TV - The dialects aren't isolated any more... we all hear one common speech that is pretty vanilla - accentless.

[Cleburne]

Yes, but not all folks in the South watch TV all the time. Certainly, many do, though it is uncertain how much TV affects speech (I feel that it does), but in rural Southern towns the vast majority of speech is tinged with distinct dialect. And you find it as strong in middle aged and younger folks as you do in the older generation. And with the rise of the Internet, which does not involve much listening, I expect our dialects to be further preserved.

[Clemenza]

It is because of TV - The dialects aren't isolated any more... we all hear one common speech that is pretty vanilla - accentless.

For this New Yorker, the most "vanilla" accent belongs to the people who prounounce "Orange" as OOr-enge, rather than Are-ange, as we in New York (and those in the UK) do. Remember, its not FlOOrida, its FlA-rida.