Talk about getting touchy, a friend of mine years ago from Baltimore-way would always pronounce water as "wooter" -- not to rhyme with scooter but like wood-er.) So when I asked him why he spoke it that way and explained that "wat" is never spoken as "woot", he became annoyed and refused to discuss it (nor update his pronunciation...)

When I moved from NC to Cali in the 80s, I de-programmed most of my Southern accent before I got there. Since I was a radio DJ, once I started work in radio in CA, my on-air-personality co-workers ripped me apart, making fun of every minscule remaining shard of my old accent. Didn't bother me. Helped me finish that task. But now that I am back in NC, I can slip in and out of the two dialects easily.