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Southern Missouri-More Midwestern or Southern?


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I'm just wondering because I passed through the Joplin area about 12 years ago and the people seem very southern in my opinion.

I don't live in southern Missouri but I think overall people in most of southern Missouri have some southern cultural traits. Maybe it's beeter to say a mixture of some southern and some midwestern.

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I don't live in southern Missouri but I think overall people in most of southern Missouri have some southern cultural traits. Maybe it's beeter to say a mixture of some southern and some midwestern.

I think it's more accurate to say that the state is divided as opposed to being a mixture, but of course at some point the two regions do blend.

In my experiences the people from southern Missouri are Southern. For example a lady I know from Southwest Missouri has a slight Southern accent and says "y'all," as many people from that area do. Another example is a woman I know from the Bootheel of Missouri, and she could be confused with someone from Mississippi by the way she talks.

The Ozarks are similar to the Appalachains, and the regions are often grouped together in terms of culture. They were settled by the same types of people. The Midwest is characterized as being a flat region, and so by nature the Ozarks have a distinct culture. Much of Missouri southeast of St. Louis, which is part of the Lower Mississippi Valley, historically associates with the South. That area is also a cotton producing region. As a whole Missouri is of course Midwestern because of the plains in the north and central parts of the state and its association with the North.

The following map shows how the state of Missouri is divided in terms of accents, with a good portion being Southern.

NatMap1.GIF

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The Ozarks are similar to the Appalachains, and the regions are often grouped together in terms of culture.

Hey I don't appreciate you comparing us to them West Virginians... they don't even wear shoes! Just kidding... most of them really do wear shoes. But if you're in West Virginia just don't go taking the "wrong turn". :w00t:

Actually, I really like the map you posted... gives me a good sense of where my roots lie. Although, I've moved around so much that I guess I can be considered a mutt.

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I didn't know that parts of Texas lie in three zones. According to the map most of texas is considered southern, the extreme northern portion of the Panhandle is considered midwestern and western Texas is considered western. I can understand that because there is absolutely nothing southern about El Paso. In fact people out there have more in common with Albuquerque and Phoenix than they do with Dallas or Houston.

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I'm suprised that Southern Florida on that map doesn't have a line around it. Places like Miami and such don't seem real "southern".

Some parts of North and Central Florida seems Southern, but with most of the population being from out of state it's more of a mix of different parts of the country.

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There are some odd aspects to the map as a couple have already mentioned. Of course this map is basically based off of dialect, not southern cultural traits or anything like that. Although I wouldn't necessarily think west Texas had much of a southern accent. And of course southern Florida fits in that category too.

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