Communication is the glue that holds relationships and communities together. It enables cooperation, progress, culture, and connection. Language is essentially the basis for all our shared ideas. It allows us to pass on knowledge, record our history, and perpetuate cultural anchors like dialect. The Southern dialects, for example, have a rich tradition. Often mocked as a sign of ignorance or slowness, many people don't recognize that modern Southern dialects harken back to the beginnings of this country.
A YouTube video titled A Quick Lesson on Southern Linguistics explains the history of Southern accents and where they originated. The narrator, Judy Whitney-Davis, is a tour guide at a former plantation, Houmas House, in New Orleans, Louisiana. She also works as a voice-over actress and singer, where she showcases her remarkable ability to highlight the sound and expression of different speech patterns. In the video, she slowly connects the well-known Southern tone to its originating British and even French inflection.
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What makes this video all the more fun is Davis' immense talent. She expertly moves from one accent to the next. It's a beautiful art form and well worth the listen.
It's a Moonlight Magnolia Drawl
Harry Connick Jr. singing. media1.giphy.com
The Magnolia is a slow southern drawl you've probably heard spoken by celebrities like Harry Connick Jr. or Sandra Bullock. In the video, Davis describes the foundation of this general, southern accent as being linked to British roots. "The average southerner tends to sound like... what we call 'Moonlight Magnolia Drawl,' because if you speed up that southern drawl, over time it rapidly becomes a British accent. Most people don’t realize that people that came here from Europe were largely from the United Kingdom. So, when they got here, this was more along the lines of their speaking tones, but that’s the first and second generations coming off the boats, not their children. By the third and fourth generations, the kids don’t sound quite like mum and dad anymore, because they’re starting to develop a slight elongation in the way they talk."
The Cajun/Creole Accent
Some cajun seasoning. media2.giphy.com
Louisiana is known for its rich, spicy food and even richer accent. In the video, Davis shares, "But people don’t realize that in most cases in Louisiana, many of the native speakers don’t sound like that. Dey tend t’ sound like dis, I garontee. Speshlee round d’bayous. Cuz you speed up dat Southern Louisiana Cajun/Creole accent, over time it becomes en français — French."
The video goes on to explain, "With, of course, certain exceptions in New Orleans which tend to sound more like New Yorkers because of the Irish and the Sicilian Italian influence...And people tend to get a lil’ bit confused cuz they think 'What, ya from New York?' 'Nah, I’m from N’AWLINS. Why?'”
The differences in Southern accents
That's an Australian accent. media3.giphy.com
You can't just coin one type of accent and say it belongs specifically to this place. People move about and aren't locked in just because there's a state line. An article on southern accents presented in Southern Living explained that there are two significant types of accents: coastal and inland.
The coastal accent features dropping out the 'r' in words. So a "jar" would be expressed as "jah." The classic Southern has more long vowels and the habit of breaking a vowel into two words. Examples include the word "fine" expressed as "faaahn" or "nice" as "naaahs." Examples of breaking up the vowels would be "bed" as "bay-uhd" or "mail" as "May-yuhl."
The Southern accent is disappearing
Map of Europe and southern couple with a horse.Image via Canva - Photos by WikiImages and JulieanneBirch
As traveling and relocating become easier across the country, the southern accent is slowly being pushed out. An article from the Associated Press published in May of 2025 reported that almost six million people moved into the South in the 2020s. That's four times as many as any of the other regions in the United States. The southern accent peaked with Baby Boomers, started dropping with Gen X, and, largely, Gen Z is starting to sound like Californians. Georgia Tech linguist Lelia Glass stated, "Young people today, especially educated young people, they don't want to sound too much like they are from a specific hometown. They want to sound more kind of, nonlocal and geographically mobile."
Sounding different doesn't make you stupid
One of the main points in the video was encouraging people to look a little deeper before they criticize others based on how they speak. A study posted in 2024 by Oxford Academic on accent bias found that accent-based discrimination is a built-in for most Americans. The video seems to confirm this, suggesting people's assumptions are based on a lack of information and understanding, stating, "... You have to realize that, at the end of the day, southern speakers, like I said: we’re not ignorant, as it’s often been assumed, but we simply sound like the ancestors that came here so many years ago."
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21 products that are gaslighting us into thinking they’re essential when they’re not
Some things in life are actually necessary—clean water, decent healthcare, basic human decency. But then there are the things that feel like they’re gaslighting us. The things we’re told we can’t live without, even though we survived just fine before they existed. Things like "smart" fridges, lawn fertilizer services, and yes—whole body deodorant.
Recently, our sister-site Upworthy asked their Facebook audience the question: What's a product or service that feels like it's gaslighting all of us into thinking it's necessary? More than 8,000 responses poured in. The answers were passionate, funny, and surprisingly unified.
Here are 21 products, services, and systems people called out for pretending to be essential—when they might actually be optional, overpriced, or flat-out invented.
1. Whole body deodorant
"Take a shower," said Shannon H.
“How did we ever manage all those years without it!! 😂😵💫” added Karen R.
Others noted it may help people with medical conditions—but for the average person, it's definitely a marketing creation.
2. Health insurance
It topped the list. Erica L. explained: “My doctor prescribes, the pharmacist issues meds, nurses care for people, surgeons do surgery—Health Insurance stands between health care and patients and says no, exclusively on whether they think it’s financially effective to treat you.”
Important note: Health insurance can provide life-saving access for many—but what people are frustrated by here is the profit-first system, not care itself.
3. The wedding industry
Multiple people slammed the high cost of modern weddings.
JoElla B. put it plainly: “We spend too much time and money planning one day, and not enough thought on how to blend two lives in a mutually beneficial one.”
Others called out expensive dresses, venues, and pressure to perform for social media.
4. Bottled water
Carole D. said: “Water in plastic bottles! Get a cup!”
While bottled water has value in emergencies, it’s often just filtered tap water—sold for profit in plastic.
5. Baby product overload
“Most baby products,” wrote Kelli O. “They really aren’t as needy and complicated as companies want us to think.”
6. Fabric softener
“It’s bad for clothes, bad for the Earth, bad for the wallet, and totally unnecessary,” said Gail H.
Some experts agree—many softeners contain chemicals that can reduce fabric lifespan and irritate skin.
7. Smart appliances
“Adding ‘phone controls’ to every appliance instead of making them last as long as they used to,” wrote Sherry S.
When your fridge needs a software update, something’s gone off the rails.
8. Makeup and anti-aging products
“Anything anti-aging,” said Melissa T., “Please just let me age into the gargoyle I was meant to become.”
Others questioned products designed to “fix” eyelashes, eyebrows, pores, and graying hair.
April S. added, “Products that women are convinced they MUST have in order to be ‘beautiful’ and therefore ‘loved.’”
9. Cosmetic surgery
Ron P. called out the industry as a whole. And while body autonomy matters, many commenters questioned whether insecurities are being commodified and sold back to us.
10. Ticketmaster and “convenience fees”
“Let’s go back to waiting in line at a record store,” wrote Nicole C.
Zaida B. added: “Convenience fee for online purchases—then charging $10 more at the actual event.”
11. Engagement rings
James P. didn’t mince words: “Engagement rings.”
The diamond industry has long been criticized for manufactured scarcity and marketing-fueled necessity.
12. Lawn chemicals and services
“Plant native grasses and you don’t have the pests or need for constant watering,” wrote Jamie B.
Environmental groups have raised similar concerns over runoff and unnecessary pesticide use.
13. AI and generative tech
“This stuff squeezes the lifeblood and individuality out of the human experience,” said Teresa L.
Saskia D. and others echoed skepticism about its necessity, even as many of us are being pushed to use it.
14. Funeral services
Amy W. shared: “My parents both have already paid to have themselves cremated and are very adamant that they do not want anything big done for them. In their words, ‘I won’t care, I’m dead.’”
Of course, some families find comfort in tradition—but the cost and pressure can feel overwhelming and predatory.
15. Rinse and repeat
Amy D. nailed it: “It’s just to sell more. Not even sure you need it at all.”
16. Credit Card Surcharges
Shawn S. took aim at the extra fees popping up at checkout: “That is the cost of doing business and shouldn’t be the burden of the purchaser.”
Many questioned why customers are increasingly being asked to pay extra simply for the convenience of using a card.
17. Constant phone upgrades
“Apple are notorious for releasing the same shit every year,” said Steph S.
Diana H. added, “Needing to upgrade our phones so frequently.”
Built-in obsolescence and marketing cycles drive most of the demand.
18. Vitamins and supplements
“If I took every supplement they say I NEED I wouldn’t need food. Nor could I afford it,” said Tausha L.
19. Fake pockets on women’s pants
Jessica W. said, “I have to buy men’s pants for work because women’s pants would just get torn up too fast!”
Form over function, and then they charge more for it.
20. Disposable everything
“The ‘convenience’ of disposable everything,” said Rick R.
It’s killing the planet—and draining wallets.
21. Tipping
“I’m sick of supplementing for corporations that refuse to pay a living wage,” wrote Susan V.
Tipping culture has evolved into something far removed from its original intent, and for many, it now feels like a burden shifted onto the customer.
The bigger picture
People aren’t saying all these things should vanish tomorrow. But when we start seeing convenience sold as necessity, and insecurity turned into billion-dollar markets, it's worth asking: who benefits from all of this?
And more importantly—who pays?
This article originally appeared earlier this year.