What are you talking about Chev? Appalachians are so sexy.

Kidding.

But I have an slightly noticable North Dakotan/Minnesotan accent-It's not of "Fargo" proportions, but I can notice it, especially with my "oh"s. Working on that.

Well, that's the idea. Some people just have difficulty neutralizing their accents.

And linguistically, y'all, American Standard is considered more neutral than Received Pronunciation. Though they are similar.

Thankyou for the... uninteligable symbols, but interesting that you can read international letters.

I can only assume what they mean, but I think the one you lable as 'RP' (whatever that stands for) is quite normal, and much nicer if you ask me.

Funnily enough, it seems mostly to be the American accent which hangs on in singing. other places once singing you cannot catch an accent, but you with Americans.

And how is kænt and dæns more 'neutral' than kahn't and dahnce? If anything, the way British people say it is more open and better for clarity as the one before makes the voice quite thin and nasal.

This shows your intelligence on this topic.

That is a difference between RP and American Standard, is that RP has more open vowels. That "bad" thing about that is the vowels can get mashed and blended.
The use of lateral and nasal vowels adds more variety and specificity to American Standard.

And I want you to be certain that this is just a speech and linguistics debate, not a personal attack.

And to those criticizing the "neutrality" of American Standard dialect, I wonder if you've heard it properly spoken.
Because its not spoken widely, except by some obsessive acting students. Its a stylized dialect mostly used in classical theatre in the states.

Matthew is right in that California has the most neutral dialect, especially in USA. But when spoken casually, often times lateral vowels are even wider and r's are hit with more emphasis, among other things.

Oh I know, it's OK. I openly admit my accent's gross anyway lol

I tend to think that parts of my accent are gross, as well.

I was raised in the American South, and even though I try to speak in American Standard in my daily life, I still slip into some Southern regionalisms when speaking casually. Mostly i-e substitution. It sucks.

True.
tú means you
&
sibh means youse. Not 'you all', youse

Right, I shall never compliment someone on being able to do something I can't again.

I can honestly say that until I was informed of the differences between 'American' and 'Canadian' accents, I could never get the difference. Apparently we have a vowel raise that let's us distinguish between the words 'writer' and 'rider' in common speech. I'm guessing that in the US you have to assume that when someone says they're a night rider that means they don't write prose during late hours.

Even now, I've met a great many more Canadians that pronounce things as though they're from south of the border. Apparently I talk like a Canadian; good for me. I even say eh at the end of sentences...

Is it true Americans say semi like sem-eye? I was always curious about that.