UMbrella and INsurance

Here in Tulsa, we are getting used to a variety of accents. There's the long, southern drawl. The twang of our neighbors to our south and the unaccented and spread vowels of our neighbors to the north (midwest) makes for an interesting combo!

Also, they place the wrong emPHAsis on the wrong sylLAble! Like UMbrella and INsurance.

And in addition to "y'all" and "ma'am" you hear things like "'n' course" or "o course" in lieu of "of course". And also "them thar", "new fangled", and "high falutin'".

Which brings me to my new southern catch-phrase for all thing troubling:
"hateful"! As in "Joan Rivers is just hateful to those celebrities on the red carpet." 'N' course you hafta enlongate and bend the "ae" in haaaeeetefuhl. I am gathering it that folks use it here instead of the B-word.

Now, to be fair...not every Tulsa speaks in this manner. Just like not ever California says "duuude!" or "for reals" or "like ya know" for every other word. But one does encouter it enough to take notice...especially when you hear it on the TV news.