One popular theory dates back to the American Civil War. Before the Civil War, the South did not have nearly as much linguistic variation as it does today. Back then, the Southern accent was heavily ...

Talk about pillow talk. A new survey ranking the sexiest American accents suggests the fastest way to someone’s heart might just be through their vocal cords — and the results may surprise you.

Whether it’s Julia Garner’s foul-mouthed Missouri twang in “Ozark” or Dolly Parton’s soft yet (fittingly) steely drawl in “Steel Magnolias,” the Southern accent is as variable as it is recognizable.

Accents center on the pronunciation of words, while dialects encompass pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar. Here, the subjects of Grant Wood's American Gothic channel speaking styles popular in ...