What stereotypes are associated with the accent in each of these excerpts? Are you surprised by any of them? . . .

The articles here show that attitudes towards Americans from the South often centre around stereotypes of lack of intelligence, especially among the women with these accents. It has also been suggested that southern accents in general are associated with "native wit rather than intelligence." However, this is not necessarily true in every country, in England for example the Birmingham accent is associated with villainy and mistrust, to the point where conviction rates are influenced by the accent someone has. We are also shown how the perceptions of an accent change over time, such as in the case of Liverpool. What used to be seen as a savvy, street-wise, witty accent changed in a matter of thirty years or so to an accent associated with a group seen to be "sponging, untrustworthy scallies." Finally, the New York "fast-talking, sleazy, hucksterish and low-brow" and is seen as a very undesirable accent by the vast majority of Americans.