my grandparents are from olkahoma…
They definitely have an accent. All of the R’s that the east coast drops, the folks in my grandmother’s town found…you know, on words like “winder” (window), minner (minnow) etc 
I grew up in the inland Pacific Northwest, and I didn’t realize I had an accent until I met my cousins from California. Most non-Westerners probably wouldn’t hear it, but we found our relative accents rather amusing (they thought I drawled like a cowboy and I thought they were speaking entirely through their noses).
Regional accents are still alive and well in the U.S., though they’re disappearing as TV takes over our speech.
Redwolf
That’s very true.
I’m not denying that there are regions of Oklahoma that have accents, but by and large most of us still pronounce the word accent with three syllables, unlike people with accents.
My favourite weirdness regarding picking up someone else’s accent was when a friend from Hong Kong was talking about the British trying to learn to speak Cantonese. She remarked that the Scottish picked up the language best, and sounded like native speakers. I have no idea why that should be. 
djm
You need t’ add western NC and southwestern VA to that thar list.
You sure? When I lived in Philippines I was always getting took for Russian, or German, or all sorts of things, besides American.
Yes. My mother’s people come from around Hickory, around the turn of the Century, my grandfather was always saying so.
Hi Walden
Reasonably sure, we get enough Germans/ Russians/ etc both living and visiting here, and they seem to like traditional music so we folkies get to recognise regional accents. The Moscow and St Petersburg accents are quite distinct.
As to American accents, you would likely be picked out as American quite quickly and probably the region of the US you come from as well. Some of my fellow session heads, who work or have worked for US companies would probably get State and in some cases city as well.
Come over to Scotland some time, you will be very welcome, and find out for youself.
David
Well, yeah, Scotsmen could tell where I was from. I’m not disputing that.
As I’ve often said, I grew up in Alabama. A bookish, geeky kid, I didn’t fit in well and for those and who knows what other reasons (didn’t want to sound like a redneck?), I lost the distinctive Southern accent quickly and pretty much unconsciously. I sometimes blame my mother (from Birmingham, AL) and her mother (from Indiana), who were both sticklers for correct pronunciation.
But whenever I go back to the South to visit, I also (like the Yorkshire man) must reassume at least the pace and cadence of the local accents. And I still don’t always “pass.” (I tell folks up here that I have to–so I don’t get charged too much at flea markets.)
Izzy, I’d say your husband is wrong, wrong, wrong about not having an accent. Our accents may not be so regionally identifiable as they once were. You might call it the “American Television” accent, if you like. The only way not to have an accent is not to speak at all. And maybe not then! Do people using American Sign Language have “accents” too? I’m willing to bet they do. 
M
There was a great movie a year or two or three ago. . .a gathering at a very posh British estate, complete with the guests bringing their own servants, an American movie mogul (I think), with subplots that were both ‘upstairs’ and ‘downstairs’, and a murder. . .
I found the whole thing VERY difficult to understand at first. The accents moved from a very coarse American accent to Scottish (I can’t place it within Scotland) to what I would think of as Cockney, to an upperclass Brit, to Cornwallian. . .at least a dozen accents from at least 5 countries. My mind couldn’t (at first) make the swap fast enough to figure out what was being said. I had to watch the movie twice in rapid succession to get all the dialogue.
In regard to American accents, we still persist in regional accents. People from Brooklyn will always sound like Brooklyn, and the Maine Downeast accent will persist, as will deep Texas, Tennessee and that wonderful Creole lilt. But there are regions where a LOT of people immigrated: California, Florida, the Midwest cities. They seem to have melded into that generic TV broadcaster accent that defies regionalism.
Me? I still drop and occasional ‘R’ (New England), substitute a ‘Z’ for an ‘S’ (Midwest), and insert a a twang on the long ‘I’ (Texas). Linking this discussion to a previous one about put-on accents, I think I acquire other people’s accents in conversation because it helps to translate in my mind what they’re saying.
Of course I totally agree with you 
Our accents may not be so regionally identifiable as they once were. You might call it the “American Television” accent, if you like.
Now this is a concept that I hadn’t thought of before, but it makes total sense. It’s actually very sad that it has come down to that, when you think about it. I think that regional dialects are a wonderful thing, and I hate that they are disappearing due to the influence of television. I was beginning to think that my undefinable accent was due more to the large amount of moving around I did when I was younger, and then my eventual closeness to the Canadian border. I still think that this could be a factor, for I didn’t watch very much in the way of television when I was young (and we only have a couple of local stations now as it is), but I DID watch movies and things like that. I’m sure that the “Hollywood” American Accent has played a factor.
I’m finding this topic very interesting! Although my husband does contend that according to Webster’s definition, an accent has more to do with putting something on a word that isn’t there when you look at the phonetic pronunciation. And his biggest argument is why do people who sing lose their accents while they are singing (for the most part…I have given him quite a few examples otherwise)? For example, when you listen to Handel’s Messiah, you can’t usually tell if the people who are singing are from America or England or whatever, for they sing without their accent. Does that make sense? And in another genre completely, when David Bowie sings, you can’t usually tell that he’s English…and this holds true for many singers. I have no idea what the answer is for this.
Oh, and DC, you weren’t supposed to tell me to take what your friend said with a big grain of salt! Now I have to tell my husband that I was wrong
Yes, ASL does vary regionally, I’m told. At work I’m always being told to sign it this way here, but that way if you go there. They develop local signs as the need arises. I believe the syntax varies, as well, although with my pidgen sign I wouldn’t be able to tell. I’m lucky if I can sign anything rather than having to spell it out . . .
EVERYbody has an accent! even every region in america puts some dipthongs on some sounds or other: brooklyn, boston, the south, texas, the midwest, chicago, utah, butte montana, seattle . . . then you go across the water and get some more accents which i don’t have enough experience with to even begin to list . . . ever watch My Fair Lady, the beginning where Henry Higgins can place all those people by their speech? It’s true.
I once met some English girls who claimed to “love” my American accent. I found this very strange. They said it was “resonant,” which I didn’t think really fit at all. One of them was quite good at imitating it, from seeing American movies and TV, I think. My sister recently met an English guy, who she says is also very good at an American accent.
I’ve only ever had trouble understanding non-Americans’ speech when they mumble or there’s a lot of ambiant noise(like in a pub session). I can’t “fill in” the bits I missed like I can when Americans mumble.
I’m from California. I don’t have an accent. So there. Just turn on the Teevee and you’ll see. I talk normal.
I suspect that to be a diplomatic way of saying “garish”.
Really, there are some U.S. accents that really grate on my ears, and many happen to be Midwestern.
Weeks, you may sound normal, but I’ve listened to you talking often enough that I’d never dare claim you talk normal (or sing normal, either).
Even when you aren’t a-whoopin’ and a-hollerin’.
Anyway, being from California doesn’t guarantee a lack of odd-sounding accents, even for other Californians. As witness the ever-popular “Valley Girl” stereotype. As a (northern) Californian, I must believe it’s an accent - I have a hard time believing that anyone would sound like that if they had a choice. 
I must admit that I did a pretty mean “Valley Girl” accent back in the '80s, when it was popular. And I further admit that I did it by choice 
I’m sure I could still do it too (and sound just like Moon Unit Zappa in the process), but I would prefer to keep what dignity I still may have intact
That’s an awfully shameful thing to admit in public, Izz. Have you considered a 12 step program to deal with this? 
For non-Californians, I probably need to mention that there is a certain amount of tension/rivalry/name-calling between northern and southern California. I’m from far enough north that back home they think of the SF Bay area as “southern”. But even in the SF Bay area, most local folks think ValSpeak is Just Plain Weird. 
On one of the Prairie Home Companion joke shows, accordionist Phil Cunningham gets to tell jokes (for a change) and at the end of this sound clip, he immitates an American accent. Just makes it all the more funny.
http://prairiehome.publicradio.org/programs/20000401/ra_files/000401_scottishjokes_28.ram
(It’s a Real Audio file, in case you don’t recognize the extension.)
M