What Kind of American Accent do You Have?
Apologies to non-American Ricochet members for this quiz, which is only for Americans. I was surprised by my results, seeing as I did not grow up in the inland north, and in fact have been to the inland north only once, and that only for a weekend.
I once spoke to a professional linguist who astonished me by tracing my accent not only to the Upper West Side, but to the block I grew up on. My family left New York when I was eight years old and moved to Seattle, but apparently you can still hear the imprint.
Unless it was a lucky guess.
I have the sense that accent in America now is not only a factor of geography but of age. Young people speak with a different intonation from their parents, it seems to me. Of course, as a conservative, I disapprove.
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Comments:
Jul '10
Re: What Kind of American Accent do You Have?
"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.
Yer close.
Apr '12
Re: What Kind of American Accent do You Have?
I'm a native New Englander who has lived in the South for the past few years. The results say I don't have an accent. Supposedly I have a good voice for TV and radio, though.
May '10
Re: What Kind of American Accent do You Have?
I show a midland accent, but I know I'm guilty of code-shifting. I switch from flat to drawl almost unconciously depending on whom I'm talking to, but my default is sort of a Texas style.
I once heard a candid tape recording of my older sisters, then teens, made before we moved to Texas. Their speech was was so clipped and precise that it sounded almost stilted.
May '10
Re: What Kind of American Accent do You Have?
They say I'm from Boston. I was born a short distance from Fenway Park, but haven't lived in that area for 40 years.
Dec '10
Re: What Kind of American Accent do You Have?
Inland North. I was born in Chicago and grew up in Cleveland.
Feb '11
Re: What Kind of American Accent do You Have?
I've been away from Yinzerland for enough years that I notice their accent.
Jul '11
Re: What Kind of American Accent do You Have?
The South! BTW-this quiz did a geo IP request on me so maybe it is not as smart as it seems.
Mar '11
Re: What Kind of American Accent do You Have?
I moved from Chicago to the Eastern Seaboard 53 years ago and I'm still pegged as Inland North. There's been some progress, however. I no longer say pop instead of soda and the city's name has lost its caw.
Feb '11
Re: What Kind of American Accent do You Have?
Inland North. I've lived in Buffalo all my life. We are a midwestern border town, with a few hints of Canada thrown in (prior to the post-9/11 bureaucratizing of the border, it was not uncommon to cross to Canada for Chinese food).
This, of course, goes completely over the heads of the ignorant wretches who simply use the word "upstate" to describe anything outside the 5 boroughs of New York City. There really are two different New York States, and I have long advocated secession for the region from Syracuse westward.
May '10
Re: What Kind of American Accent do You Have?
Inland north. Also in Buffalo and dittos to everything Peter G. just said.
All the word combos in the quiz are pronounced differently. We don't have an accent!
Edited on April 16, 2012 at 3:51pmDec '11
Re: What Kind of American Accent do You Have?
Inland north near Rochester.
Hey buffalo folks!
There was another test like this I took once, and it asked what do you call a small stream: Creek or Crick. My grandma always said crick.
Edited on April 16, 2012 at 1:29pmMay '10
Re: What Kind of American Accent do You Have?
The Midland. Hah. Navy brat, born in Hawaii, age 2 months - 2 years in Carmel, CA, age 2-4 Key West, FL (when it was a submarine base, not a gay resort destination), age 4-18 McLean, VA (DC 'burbs), two years of college in SW VA, and ever since I have been in Connecticut. Never lived in the Midland.
Dec '10
Re: What Kind of American Accent do You Have?
Well, I took it even though Claire told me not to. It says I'm from the "Northeast," which I suppose is accurate (several hundred miles North, and several thousand miles East.)
Today, though, I'm going dahntahn to the home of my favorite football team (how baht them Stillers? I'd pay a hunert dowars for a ticket if I had to). On the way home, I'll stop at Eat 'n Park in Little Worshington. Maybe I'll have some chocolate melk while I'm looking at the nice keller pitchers on the menu.
Yinz have a great day!
Edited on April 16, 2012 at 1:32pmRe: What Kind of American Accent do You Have?
It said I was from North Jersey. I'm from the Jersey Shore, which in Jersey subculture is a very different place, but the test still came pretty close.
Jun '10
Re: What Kind of American Accent do You Have?
I test as Midland. I am so Southern that even I wince sometimes.
May '10
Re: What Kind of American Accent do You Have?
It said I'm inland North, though I grew up in Connecticut and have never even been to Wisconsin. The Wisconsin accent cracks me up. I've never said pop instead of soda.
Dec '11
Re: What Kind of American Accent do You Have?
Despite being Canadian I took the quiz. Apparently I have a North Central aka Minnesota accent. It also stated that I probably get tought of as being Canadian alot.
Jul '11
Re: What Kind of American Accent do You Have?
@tommy: if I remember correctly telling a jersey shore boy that he was actually from north jersey was a good way to start a fight. Still so?
Apr '11
Re: What Kind of American Accent do You Have?
An odd blend of Texan and English East Anglian.
Feb '12
Re: What Kind of American Accent do You Have?
Born and raised in the Mountain West. Lived the last 15 years in the South. Both parents from Long Island. My result: Midland. Also, took the quiz as I think my mother would have answered. Result: Northeast.
I would characterize the quiz as a good start. May not be enough items to truly resolve all of the regional accents claimed.