Do Oklahomans typically have a Southern or Midwestern accent?

[MrJester]

I just moved to OKC from California. My very first trip to the South was a couple summers ago when I interned in the New Orleans/Mississippi Gulf Coast area. From that point on, "The South" meant bayous, pine forests, swamps, spanish moss, muggy summers, and towns that look like Forrest Gump's hometown.

I have never been to the Great Lakes area, other than Toronto, but to me, OKC seems more Midwestern, as I imagine the Midwest to be. But I can see why many are calling OKC a mini-Dallas. I guess Dallas does have some Midwestern elements thrown in with its Southerness.

So far, there are just as many people speaking with Southern accents in OKC as there were on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Still, Mississippi and even the Northshore suburbs of New Orleans feel more redneck than OKC.

[Ivory Lee Spurlock]

I think alot of Southerners and Midwesterners settled in Oklahoma. It borders Kansas and Missouri, so there's bound to be a fairly large Midwestern population living there. If Oklahoma had been a state during the Civil War, it probably would have been a border state, in the same vein as Missouri.

Oklahoma is the only state I can think of that can lay claim to 4 separate US regions: the South, the Midwest, the Southwest, and the West.

[eddie gein]

Originally Posted by MrJester

So far, there are just as many people speaking with Southern accents in OKC as there were on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Still, Mississippi and even the Northshore suburbs of New Orleans feel more redneck than OKC.

Although I grew up here I have had the experience of living in the west and in the southeast. When I lived in the west and came back to Oklahoma I heard the southern accent more than I did when I lived here (or do now that I've been here again).

However, when I lived in the southeast I would come back to Oklahoma and I didn't notice the southern accent near as much in Oklahoma. And for sure, the Oklahoma southern accent wasn't as thick or as frequent as it was in the south.

It would be interesting for you to live in OKC for a while and then go back down south and see what happens in terms of how you hear the accents. It's pretty fascinating.

[MrJester]

Originally Posted by Ivory Lee Spurlock

I think alot of Southerners and Midwesterners settled in Oklahoma. It borders Kansas and Missouri, so there's bound to be a fairly large Midwestern population living there. If Oklahoma had been a state during the Civil War, it probably would have been a border state, in the same vein as Missouri.

Oklahoma is the only state I can think of that can lay claim to 4 separate US regions: the South, the Midwest, the Southwest, and the West.

The Southwest is part of the West, though.

Texas is part of the South and the Southwest, but too far south to have any true Midwestern elements.

[Oklahomie87]

Like most metropolitan areas there are a ton of transplants and younger kids/adults influenced by pop culture or hip hop. So you’ll hear the southern accent less in those places. As a whole it’s a southern state and outside of those areas (OKC & Tulsa) it’s mostly a southern accent. Either way, the state is friendly and no one will care about your Minnesota accent.