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<blockquote data-quote="Mercule" data-source="post: 6982181" data-attributes="member: 5100">Yeah. I went to Iowa State University, which is known for 1) Ag Science and 2) Engineering. Now, most Iowans don't have much of an accent (aside from pronouncing &quot;wash&quot; as &quot;wursh&quot;), but there was a plurality of both groups that sounded like they were about to say, &quot;Here, hold my beer and watch this, y'all.&quot; Many of them were brilliant, though.To your second point, I ended up with with a degree in Political Science (started in chem engineering and did well, just didn't like it). I worked really, really hard to &quot;standardize&quot; my English. I never had much of an accent, but I purged what little I had. Killed the &quot;um...&quot; and &quot;so...&quot; type fillers, too. I imagine it isn't universally true for social sciences, but political science often goes with an interest in debate and public speaking. At the very least, you have to be able to have an &quot;argument&quot; with folks who aren't going to give you a bye on sounding like a hick. I can still add in an accent, even one I wasn't born with, and often do so unconsciously when around others who speak idiomatically. In some cases, I had to work to &quot;dirty up&quot; my language after graduation, because the real world isn't filled with academics.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Mercule, post: 6982181, member: 5100"] Yeah. I went to Iowa State University, which is known for 1) Ag Science and 2) Engineering. Now, most Iowans don't have much of an accent (aside from pronouncing "wash" as "wursh"), but there was a plurality of both groups that sounded like they were about to say, "Here, hold my beer and watch this, y'all." Many of them were brilliant, though. To your second point, I ended up with with a degree in Political Science (started in chem engineering and did well, just didn't like it). I worked really, really hard to "standardize" my English. I never had much of an accent, but I purged what little I had. Killed the "um..." and "so..." type fillers, too. I imagine it isn't universally true for social sciences, but political science often goes with an interest in debate and public speaking. At the very least, you have to be able to have an "argument" with folks who aren't going to give you a bye on sounding like a hick. I can still add in an accent, even one I wasn't born with, and often do so unconsciously when around others who speak idiomatically. In some cases, I had to work to "dirty up" my language after graduation, because the real world isn't filled with academics. [/QUOTE]

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