Do South Dakotans Have An Accent?
A lot of people, (mostly South Dakotans, or former residents) claim that we South Dakotans do indeed have an accent. But when they say this, it almost always is compared to a Minnesota or North Dakota style accent.
In my opinion, it is pretty rare that you'll hear a South Dakotan utter the phrase, "Fer sure, ya you betcha!". A Minnesotan, yes, but a South Dakotan? Not unless they're making fun of a Minnesotan!
However, several online forums disagree including numerous contributors on the website City Data. The original poster posed the question for some reason as to whether South Dakotans had an accent. They had seen the movie Fargo and wondered if South Dakotans had a similarly heavy accent.
Of course, the answer is no and the movie Fargo, while supposedly taking place in North Dakota, had its primary characters using an extremely exaggerated version of a Minnesotan dialect. (Dontcha know?)
One South Dakotan poster who identified himself as "Chris 19" said that he thought East River people had a heavier accent than West River folk and also commented;
Yah, yu bettcha, you know. We gonna goh fishin in the lake to find some wahleye. I agree that South Dakotans have a light northern accent. Even my friend from Nebraska and my friends and relatives commented on it. I find it amusing that others think that South Dakotans have an accent. I sometimes exaggerate it, especially with those darn Ole and Lena jokes."
There were other people who said they'd been told they had a Minnesota, Nebraska, Wisconsin, or North Dakota accent.
While I understand that people from other countries think all Americans have some kind of accent, what I find truly interesting is that no one can really nail down what constitutes a South Dakota accent.
I guess we'll just keep talking until someone figures it out!
Source: City Data
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