[engi_nerd]

I don't know about that. I had difficulty understanding people from different parts of my own home state (Kentucky). I grew up in the Louisville area, and had difficulty understanding people from the eastern part of the state.

I have also had severe difficulty understanding some of my wife's family, who are from Maine.

And now I work with many people from the UK. I tend to find that if the person is from the south, I have few problems understanding them. The further north someone is from, the more difficulty I have with them. Some of my Scottish coworkers are, for me, almost impossible to understand.

[Kalium]

I've had similar experiences. I once encountered a somewhat drunk Acadian man when I was in Texas. It was several minutes before I figured out that he was, in fact, speaking English.