Posted on 11/25/2011 4:19:03 PM PST by blam
What Kind of American Accent Do You Have?
November 24, 2011
Xavier Kun
To most Americans, an accent is something that only other people have, those other people usually being in New York, Boston, and the South. And of those other people, half of the ones you meet will swear they "don't have an accent."
Well, strictly speaking, the only way to not have an accent is to not speak. If you're from anywhere in the USA you have an accent (which may or may not be the accent of the place you're from). Go through this short quiz and you'll find out just which accent that is.
1. What is your age? Under 18 Years Old 18 to 24 Years Old 25 to 30 Years Old 31 to 40 Years Old 41 to 50 Years Old 51 to 60 Years Old Over 60 Years Old 2. What is your gender? Male Female
3. We're going to start with two ordinary words, "cot" and "caught." Do you think those words sound the same or different? Same Different Same, no wait I mean different, well, I don't know...
4. What about "don" and "dawn"? Same Different Same...ish. Maybe a little different.
5. OK, what about "stock" and "stalk"? Same Different Almost, but not quite, the same
6. Now then how do "collar" and "caller" sound? Same Different Almost, but not quite, the same
7. Do you think the word "on" rhymes with "dawn" or with "don"? dawn don Well, I don't think don and dawn sound any different in the first place so on would obviously rhyme with both
8. Moving on, what do you think about "Mary," "merry," and "marry"? All 3 sound different Mary and merry sound the same but marry is different from them All 3 sound the same
9. Our next word is "horrible." How does that first vowel sound? It's just like in the word "whore." It's the same "o" sound as in "hot." Neither one
10. Now for "pen" and "pin." Don't worry about what others say is correct, just tell us how they come out in an ordinary conversation. Same Different Close. Pen sounds almost, but not quite, like pin.
11. What about "feel" and "fill"? Same Different Well, I think they're different even though they sound very, very similar almost to the point of being the same
12. When you say "about," does the "ou" sound like the "ou" in "loud"? No Yes
13. Last question. When you say "bag" does it rhyme with "vague"? Yes No
It says I speak like I'm from New York;
but it says I've lived in New Mexico my whole life.
Well, I’m from TEX-iz, and I don’t really care what other folks think! 8)
We are tending to change our accents based on the homogenized television accent.
I was in Honduras last week and the guide on my snorkeling trip had never left his island, and yet he spoke english as if he were from NYC.
It was weird....
One thing I’ve noticed here in Michigan is that here in the south we say “up north” but up there a lot of people use the term “downstate”.
Of course things are further confused when we speak of the northern lower peninsula and upper peninsula as up north.
They ought to ask if you call softdrinks “pop,” soda” or “coke.” :)
I’m a southeastern Michigan outlier. I say Pepsi because that’s what I generally drink but I do throw the occasional “soda” in for good measure.
Well, isn't St Louis called the "Gateway to the West"?
I don’t know about this test. I have never lived farther north than North Carolina, born and raised in the south, mostly Georgia.
It says my accent is Philadelphia.
No.
They got my accent correct. Matter of fact, within 25 miles of Philly.
I’m a Texan and grew up calling softdrinks “cold drinks”..now it’s coke, though.
Never have used soda or pop
Rather inaccurate I think. It said midlands for me but I think it is just because the questions it asked don’t differentiate enough. Either that or it assumes people who are “accentless” are from there, not that ones accent is now a compilation (MD/NY/SC).
I’m Canadian, what’s this all aboot, eh?
"with or without profanities?
| What American accent do you have? Your Result: The Midland
"You have a Midland accent" is just another way of saying "you don't have an accent." You probably are from the Midland (Pennsylvania, southern Ohio, southern Indiana, southern Illinois, and Missouri) but then for all we know you could be from Florida or Charleston or one of those big southern cities like Atlanta or Dallas. You have a good voice for TV and radio. |
|
| Philadelphia |
|
| The South |
|
| The Inland North |
|
| The Northeast |
|
| The West |
|
| North Central |
|
| Boston |
|
| What American accent do you have? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz |
|
I’m from Lawn Guyland and I don’t have an axcent you hillbilly doosh-beig. ;)
You may think you speak "Standard English straight out of the dictionary" but when you step away from the Great Lakes you get asked annoying questions like "Are you from Wisconsin?" or "Are you from Chicago?" Chances are you call carbonated drinks "pop."
My comment: Having lived and worked in ACC territory for many years, I'm well aware that there are places where people can tell instantly I ain't from aroun' thayuh.
Also, rural Wisconsin teenage girls pronounce "cute" with the same number of syllables that rural North Carolina males use to pronounce "sh!t".
Yeah, it's bogus. I think it read my IP address. Doesn't mean I was raised here.
Said I have a Boston accent.
Pretty darn close. It says I have a midland accent, so Northern Kentucky comes pretty close.
Awesome. Mine said “Philadelphia,” and I was born and raised an hour nw of there. I have lived all over the country, so I’m rather surprised that it pegged me correctly.
I have to agree with one Freeper who said they can slip into other accents. I am able to do that as well.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.