I’m from Texas but you would never know it in normal conversation. But it will come out when speaking with relatives. It’s like a dial that you can turn up and down at will, but my normal state is to have it turned off entirely. Except for y’all. That one gets used at work

Y’all is just a great word though, I grew up in the southwest and my family was from the Midwest, but I use y’all. It’s just fun to say!

I grew up in rural Mississippi. A few years back, a few coworkers pointed out that sometimes my accent weirdly sneaks out when I’m particularly deep in talking about tech that I love and know well.

But yeah, most of the time, people are like “Mississippi? You don’t have any accent!”

y'all won't turn heads anywhere anymore, but fixin will.

With "you guys" out of favor "y'all" is one of the common substitutes.

I speak differently when I speak with different folks. For an obvious example, I simplify the vocabulary when speaking to kids. When I'm around coworkers, I speak in our own jargon. When I speak to people who are not native english speakers, I avoid alliterations to pop culture they are likely unfamiliar with.

I do this with family too.

Our natural accent is a mix of the many places our family has lived and a fair few words that have stayed with us that most people don't use. It's ours and we love it. But I don't expect other people to know that.

When on the phone or a zoom with everyone, we'll drop into the natural accent. It's especially bad when we get drunk and do so. My SO has had a time learning 'us', and we've added some of their familys' ticks too. I guess it evolves with each person that comes in.

I had a friend in college from Boston's South Side and when he was drunk and on the phone back home, he was unintelligible.

I agree with calling this 'code switching', but to me (and maybe I'm alone here) that sounds a bit, I dunno, negative. Like I'm being forced to speak in a manner that I don't want to because of money. That's not it.

I speak with my family in a way that is a bit more private. We have our own little thing that outsiders aren't a part of. It's not exclusive by any means, but we're not worried about being understood. I think my family understands that a more common form of communication is needed for the rest of the world.

Actually, you know, we do call the form of English we use at work 'Cash English'. So, I'm full of BS here, maybe.