What American accent do you have?

[goldenboy]

http://www.gotoquiz.com/what_american_accent_do_you_have

Obviously, this is pretty useless for folks outside the States (but it could be interesting, lol).

Your Result: The Inland North

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."
It pegged me exactly right. I am from Wisconsin.

[N4H]

That's kind of scary. I thought I'd trick them because I'm Canadian. This is what they said.

Outsiders probably mistake you for a Canadian a lot.

It is possible BS though. Site owners can get a fix on your location without using a quiz. I'd like to hear from someone who recently moved to another state.

[goldenboy]

I live in Minnesota at the moment. That state's accent has a more Scandinavian flavor to it.

Inland Northern American English
A distinctive speech pattern is centered on the Great Lakes region. This is the Inland North dialect - the "standard Midwestern" speech that was the basis for General American in the mid-20th Century, though it has been recently modified by the northern cities vowel shift.

This area consists of western New York State (Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse), parts of Michigan's Lower Peninsula (Detroit, Ann Arbor, etc.), Cleveland, Chicago, Gary, and Southeastern Wisconsin (Milwaukee, Racine).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_English_regional_differences

I'm from Madison, 70 miles due west of Milwaukee.

[Angels baby101]

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.

lol cant say nothing i am from ohio so lol

[Vilandra]

"Your result: The West. Your accent is the lowest common denominator of American speech. Unless you're a SoCal surfer, no one thinks you have an accent. And really, you may not even be from the West at all, you could easily be from Florida or one of those big Southern cities like Dallas or Atlanta."

Okay, so since I've always lived in the Northeast...meanwhile people think I have an Irish accent so that makes even less sense. :D

[Old Master]

Your Result: Philadelphia


Your accent is as Philadelphian as a cheesesteak! If you're not from Philadelphia, then you're from someplace near there like south Jersey, Baltimore, or Wilmington. if you've ever journeyed to some far off place where people don't know that Philly has an accent, someone may have thought you talked a little weird even though they didn't have a clue what accent it was they heard.


Oooh, that's amazing..........I was born and raised in the South Bronx, ya chucklehead! :p

[N4H]

They seem to be having problems with the Northeast, and New York in particular. I wonder why that is.

[Miffed67]

It says I have a Midland accent, but I'm from Texas. I think it's partially correct, tho, because altho I do have a southern drawl, my dad is from Illinois and my mom's Puerto Rican, so I learned the speak with those speech patterns rather than the speech patterns native to the South.

[goldenboy]

Huh. That wiki piece breaks up Midland into two bits.

The Midland
West of the Appalachian Mountains begins the broad zone of what is generally called "Midland" speech. This is divided into two discrete subdivisions, the North Midland that begins north of the Ohio River valley area, and the South Midland speech; sometimes the former is designated simply Midland and the latter is reckoned as Highland Southern. The North Midland speech continues to expand westward until it becomes the closely related speech of California, although in the immediate San Francisco area the speech more closely resembles that of the mid-Atlantic region.

The South Midland dialect follows the Ohio River in a generally southwesterly direction, moves across Arkansas and Oklahoma west of the Mississippi, and peters out in West Texas.

[prydain]

I got "The Midland". Which is wrong.

I live in Mississippi. But then again I do try NOT to speak with an accent.

[Black Eye Guy]

He he funny, I did it too for the laugh:

Judging by how you talk you are probably from north Jersey, New York City, Connecticut or Rhode Island. Chances are, if you are from New York City (and not those other places) people would probably be able to tell if they actually heard you speak.

I was in a meeting with the school guidance counsellor a while ago and I said that I didn't do Irish, and she said "Oh yeah, cuz your American?" Which I'm not, but she said I had an American accent, and then someone else said it to me like 3 weeks later - I think it's from watching American TV, lol.

[goldenboy]

That's interesting that you got the one you did though. New York had lots of Irish immigrants, obviously. Same with New Orleans. Apparently, some New York accents and the New Orleanian accent are similar.

[Gollanth]

I thought I'd have a go to see if it worked for non-Americans. I'm not sure that it does, as it tells me I'm from the North East and "probably" from New York.

Well, in a way, it's not entirely wrong, as I am from the East of England although it isn't particularly North. I do have a weird accent though, as Norfolk - where I was born - has a v-e-r-y strong accent, but I've lived in London since I was five years old and now have a mixture of the two.

I've been asked if I was Canadian before now, as my Norfolk twang makes "about" (which many Londoners would pronounce as "abaht") sound like "aboowt", which is apparently how a lot of Candians pronounce the word. Search me, I've never knowingly met a Canadian. :)

[Mr Pointy]

Judging by how you talk you are probably from north Jersey, New York City, Connecticut or Rhode Island. Chances are, if you are from New York City (and not those other places) people would probably be able to tell if they actually heard you speak
Which is odd, as a few people in those areas thought I was Australian...but I suppose some of the New England accents I've heard, especially the posh ones, do sound closer to an English accent...

[N4H]

Are Epo and Joamna out there? I want to see what happens when they try this.

So funny...in my mind I just see black smoke pouring out of the translator machine as everything overloads, and shorts out. What part of America are 2 Swedish girls from based on their accents? :D

[Gollanth]

Which is odd, as a few people in those areas thought I was Australian...but I suppose some of the New England accents I've heard, especially the posh ones, do sound closer to an English accent...

Actually, that never happened to me while I was on the East coast. I thought that New Yorkers probably heard enough English accents, with all the business people there, to work out the difference. When I was on the West coast, it happened enough times for it to become irritating though. The other thing that became a little tiresome was people who would ask me "Could you say that again please? Your accent is soooo cute! (I've been called a lot of things in my life, but "cute" has never been one of them!) :)

Are Epo and Joamna out there? I want to see what happens when they try this.

So funny...in my mind I just see black smoke pouring out of the translator machine as everything overloads, and shorts out. What part of America are 2 Swedish girls from based on their accents? :D

Most of the Swedes I've met don't have a particularly noticeable accent.....

[N4H]

Most of the Swedes I've met don't have a particularly noticeable accent.....

These podcasts are pretty cool, so I don't think they'll mind me linking to them. Tell me what part of America you figure these girls are from.

http://smarterthanme.blogspot.com/

You do know I'm just joking about the accents right? Actually the reason I know these girls aren't from America is because their English is too good. :)

(Kind of cute too.)

[Gollanth]

These podcasts are pretty cool, so I don't think they'll mind me linking to them. Tell me what part of America you figure these girls are from.

Have just tried to access this at work (I'm sooo bored here today :sleeping3 ) but the stupid effing software has blocked the site. It probably means I'll have to be taken out and left in the stocks for an hour, as I had the affront to try to access a non-work site. If only they knew..... :)

I'll have a look at home this evening.

[goldenboy]

Are Epo and Joamna out there? I want to see what happens when they try this.

So funny...in my mind I just see black smoke pouring out of the translator machine as everything overloads, and shorts out. What part of America are 2 Swedish girls from based on their accents? :D

Heh. I'm betting their best match would be Minnesota, maybe North Dakota. Although, I think Seattle-Tacoma had lots of Swedish settlers too.

[Miffed67]

I was in a meeting with the school guidance counsellor a while ago and I said that I didn't do Irish, and she said "Oh yeah, cuz your American?" Which I'm not, but she said I had an American accent, and then someone else said it to me like 3 weeks later - I think it's from watching American TV, lol.

Speaking of that, is Irish a required course, or can you just take it if you want to? I wonder, too, how many families speak Irish at home, but the kids are taught in English......is that very common?

[Black Eye Guy]

Speaking of that, is Irish a required course, or can you just take it if you want to? I wonder, too, how many families speak Irish at home, but the kids are taught in English......is that very common?

No you have to do Irish, every college has Maths, English and Irish as a basic requirement to get in, so you have to do all three. Unless you have an exemption from Irish, which you can only get if you weren’t living in the country before you started secondary school, or if your Dyslexic (Like me!!) - Then you don't have to do Irish and it isn't a requirement for Collage but for everyone else it is!

I wouldn't know how many families speak Irish at home, I would say very very few. And you probably would only find it in the country not in the cities!

[Sin]

Your Result: The Inland North

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."

born and raised in Michigan...and yes, i drink pop

[Rose Tyler]

I decided to take it anyway even though i'm Scottish to see what my accent sounds like. Although when I was in New York some people thought I was English, others Irish because I guess I talk fast.

My results:

Judging by how you talk you are probably from north Jersey, New York City, Connecticut or Rhode Island. Chances are, if you are from New York City (and not those other places) people would probably be able to tell if they actually heard you speak.

[NIX]

NorthEast
North Jersey
New York City
Conneticut
Rhode Island
BUT prob from NYC

Lmao

[Mr Pointy]

It seems that we Brits and Irish are mostly being pegged as from NY, NJ or New England doesn't it?

[Rose Tyler]

Well the questions are all about pronunciation so it depends on how harsh or soft you speak.

[NIX]

It seems that we Brits and Irish are mostly being pegged as from NY, NJ or New England doesn't it?

it sure does sweetie:star2:

[Velvet Sky]

Western all the way *L* but then that kind of makes sense, seeing as I was born and raised in California, and have spent limited time outside my home state. *L* I've spent a couple holidays on the east coast, New England/New York/New Jersey areas, and Texas a couple times. And I don't know if everyone's little bars are different, but apparently I'm least like the northeasterners. But I'm sure I do sound so 'Californian' that if you plunked me down in New York, I'd stick out like a sore thumb. *L* I think almost every one of those 'does this and this sound the same', do. *L* Exept for I don't think bag and vague rhyme, and feel and fill aren't quite the same. And wow, what a horrible whore it is. *LOL*

[goldenboy]

Found another one:

Are You a Yankee or a Rebel? - alphaDictionary * Southern Accent Test (http://www.alphadictionary.com/articles/yankeetest.html)

26% Dixie. You are a dandy Yankee Doodle.

#15...interesting. I thought maybe "bubbler" was unique to Wisconsin.

[Mr Pointy]

36% Dixie. You are definitely a Yankee
Which backs up my result in the previous test :)

[Sin]

46% Dixie. Barely in Yankeedom.


I have no idea what that means.

[eponinethen]

In case you didn't know, I'm from Philadelphia. Here's what they tell me:

"Your Result: The Northeast
Judging by how you talk you are probably from north Jersey, New York City, Connecticut or Rhode Island. Chances are, if you are from New York City (and not those other places) people would probably be able to tell if they actually heard you speak."

Mhm :)

[Midnight]

Just did this test and I also got that I have The Northeast accent... Well, well... :rolleyes:

[VisionGuy]

For the first quiz, I got the Midland Accent which means I have no accent. Which is true. The second quiz I got 34% Dixie. I am definitely a Yankee.

What's a Yankee??

[goldenboy]

You mean, like, originally? "Yankee" was a British insult for Americans. Going back to Revolutionary War times. Don't know how it started. Now Yankee's just an (American) Northerner.

[edit]

Wiki says it may have been derived from the Dutch first names "Jan" and "Kees".