Potay-to Potah-to

January 18, 2007 4:11 PM

What American accent do you have?
posted by Methylviolet (203 comments total)

Inspired by this.
posted by Methylviolet at 4:12 PM on January 18, 2007

It says that I speak ANSI C++ with a slight Microsoft accent.
posted by b1tr0t at 4:15 PM on January 18, 2007 [1 favorite]

Solid Midwestern accent. Where's my radio contract?
posted by Shecky at 4:15 PM on January 18, 2007

I'm solidly a yank, yet this says my accent is midland north. :(
posted by splatta at 4:17 PM on January 18, 2007

Midwestern accent here. Grew up in rural Arkansas, though. Goes to show how being raised on TV will change the way you talk.
posted by zardoz at 4:17 PM on January 18, 2007

It's not an accent. It's a lazy apostrophe.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 4:17 PM on January 18, 2007

The Northeast. I'm British, so I assume northeast is closest to how we pronounce things?
posted by Lotto at 4:17 PM on January 18, 2007

I'm from the Inland Empire.
posted by Falconetti at 4:18 PM on January 18, 2007

Rockin the Midland, about 95%. I have a good voice for radio or television! Hot damn!
posted by stenseng at 4:19 PM on January 18, 2007

Oh, and I'm from Olympia Washington...
posted by stenseng at 4:19 PM on January 18, 2007

I'm Scottish, I've been to New England a lot, and, contrary to what this website thinks, I don't sound like them.
posted by imperium at 4:20 PM on January 18, 2007

Another Scot who would fit in well in Boston, allegedly.
posted by thparkth at 4:21 PM on January 18, 2007

Wrong. I have a distinct California accent, which they would have known, if they'd let me answer that Mary sounds like marry, but not merry.
posted by muddgirl at 4:21 PM on January 18, 2007 [2 favorites]

Apparently I'm from The Northeast.
posted by chrismear at 4:21 PM on January 18, 2007

Same with me splatta.

Has anyone else found that wherever you go in America, many people have no discernible accent except for cops?
posted by SBMike at 4:22 PM on January 18, 2007

Lotto: "I'm British, so I assume northeast is closest to how we pronounce things?"

Well, yes. Sort of. A little more nasal, I believe, but they have a similar habit of playing with r's in funny ways.
posted by koeselitz at 4:23 PM on January 18, 2007

The Midland
posted by nola at 4:23 PM on January 18, 2007

The Inland North. This is not funny because I was raised by New Yorkers in Berkeley, CA. Maybe if it was a vocal test then we'd be getting different results. I did not realize I even had an accent until I started working in radio in England. Boy, did I hear the accent there.
posted by parmanparman at 4:24 PM on January 18, 2007

merry doesn't sound like marry?
posted by basicchannel at 4:26 PM on January 18, 2007

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.

Well I took it with a very plummy fake French accent but somehow the quiz figured it out, it must be because I have to be very careful not to pronounce the word dog, dawg.
posted by Divine_Wino at 4:27 PM on January 18, 2007

Midland, and I'm a left-coaster. Well, my accent has been mangled by years of living among Ozzies and Brits in southeast Asia. Quiz could have been more comprehensive.
posted by squirrel at 4:27 PM on January 18, 2007

Fah!
I'm not from bawlmore.
I'm not from phihhlly.
I don't like heauugies or pereauugies.
I'm from Indiana, fer crine out loud.
posted by nj_subgenius at 4:28 PM on January 18, 2007

I pronounce almost all those words exactly the same way. It was once shocking to learn that some people didn't, as a different pronunciation for "pen" and "pin" is not something you notice unless the words are juxtaposed... and maybe repeated.
posted by grouse at 4:28 PM on January 18, 2007

Much like my British neighbours, I too am from The Northeast!
posted by TwoWordReview at 4:30 PM on January 18, 2007

This test guessed my accent (northern NJ) perfectly - and my West-coast bred husband's, too! It's funny because we bicker about the dawn/don thing once in a while. They're completely different to me, and the same to him.
posted by katie at 4:31 PM on January 18, 2007

Oh, I'm SOOO happy! After decades spent battling the residue of my San Diego "Oh. My. GAWD. No WAAAY!" beach girl adolescent accent... I now have "no accent & would do well in television or radio."

I'm, like, so stoked! That's, like, totally rad. Omigod you guys! ::smacks gum::
posted by miss lynnster at 4:31 PM on January 18, 2007

The NorthEast. Which is funny, because I'm a New Zealander.
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 4:33 PM on January 18, 2007

"If you're from anywhere in the USA you have an accent...

'You have a Midland accent' is just another way of saying 'you don't have an accent.'"

Brilliant.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 4:33 PM on January 18, 2007

Says I'm Inland North, but I was born and grew up in Southern California and northeast Florida, lived as an adult for ten years in Portland, OR, and bounced around (NY, GA, CA, OR, WA) in the past couple of years. Seems bollocks to me. Thirteen questions? Nix.
posted by cgc373 at 4:34 PM on January 18, 2007

If you click around on that site, every single survey starts with "How old are you?" and "What is your gender?" Even the ones about your favorite animals, etc...

Those of you that care about that sort of stuff may want to turn off your cookies. Those that don't, ignore this post...
posted by neustile at 4:35 PM on January 18, 2007

Despite the fact that I am a white suburbanite who has lived in the midwest for most of my life, I speak with a rich Jamaican accent. I do this because it annoys my co-workers.

Mon.
posted by quin at 4:36 PM on January 18, 2007 [1 favorite]

It was the "What are you wearing?" question that creeped me out.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 4:37 PM on January 18, 2007 [1 favorite]

I'm from the proto-city and you can project any dream, language, lifestyle or culture on my persona and it will be accurate.
posted by Burhanistan at 4:37 PM on January 18, 2007

Midland - straight TV newscaster.
posted by Liosliath at 4:38 PM on January 18, 2007

I got the same as Divine_Wino (Northeast). I actually grew up in the Netherlands with my father being from Birmingham, England.
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 4:39 PM on January 18, 2007

I don't have an accent. You do, though.
posted by veggieboy at 4:39 PM on January 18, 2007

Also, as far as the last questions goes - whoever rhymes "bag" with "vague"? I get the other ones, but that's just saying "vag", no?
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 4:40 PM on January 18, 2007

Odd. It says I have a Boston accent. That doesn't seem entirely sensible, since I was born and raised entirely in northern VA. At the same time, it doesn't seem totally beyond the realm of possibility, since both parents and my extended family are all Bostonians.
posted by killdevil at 4:43 PM on January 18, 2007

"...whoever rhymes 'bag' with 'vague'?"

Tayxans.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 4:43 PM on January 18, 2007

I remember when I was in LA on holidays there was a family from Oklahoma staying in our hotel. We were all sitting in the pool chatting away and their young son said to us in a thick southern accent - "I like your accent." to which I said "Ah cheers, yours is cool too!" The kid looked confused and replied "I ain't got no accent!" It always amazed me that he genuinely didn't think he had a discernible accent. I'm now amazed that this perception isn't limited to young children from Oklahoma!
posted by TwoWordReview at 4:43 PM on January 18, 2007

This is odd - I took this a few weeks ago when it was on Digg or Fazed or one of those and got northeast/New York. I've since moved from North Jersey to philly. I took it again just now, answering with the same answers, and it's telling me dead-on Philadelphia. Could this thing be broad-brushing it with your answers, then fudging the top answer via IP geo-location? I'm not normally one for conspiracies but this seems fishy.
posted by datacenter refugee at 4:44 PM on January 18, 2007

And also, I lived there for six years as an adult, but I had supposed that one's speech patterns were mostly frozen past the age of 15 or so.
posted by killdevil at 4:44 PM on January 18, 2007

Wrong. I have a distinct California accent, which they would have known, if they'd let me answer that Mary sounds like marry, but not merry.

Seriously. I've been in SoCal my whole life, but I got pegged as Boston. "The West" came in a close second, but I really didn't know what to put for that Mary/merry/marry thing.
posted by LionIndex at 4:46 PM on January 18, 2007

A very bad one.
My English accent is pretty good though.
posted by NaturalScinema at 4:47 PM on January 18, 2007

I have never been to Philadelphia in my life. I'm not sure I even know anyone from Philadelphia. Weird.
posted by padraigin at 4:48 PM on January 18, 2007

Inland Northeast. New Yorkers laugh when I say "room" and "broom," because I use the same "oo" sound as in "book" (they use "oo" as in "food").
posted by gubo at 4:48 PM on January 18, 2007

Philly. It guessed right. The last time I took a quiz like this is what the dialect project or something like that, with 200+ questions - creek/crick. Anybody remember that? "I have no word for this..."
posted by fixedgear at 4:49 PM on January 18, 2007

This Australian would apparently fit in well at least with the way I talk in the 'North East', like lots of other foreigners here.
posted by Jelreyn at 4:50 PM on January 18, 2007

I'm from Philly (and apparently have the accent to prove it) and I agree about the Mary/merry/marry question. Mary and marry sound alike. Merry rhymes with berry.
posted by jrossi4r at 4:51 PM on January 18, 2007

goodnewsfortheinsane: I think that 'bag' == 'vague' in wisconsin, at least. and it's the other way around -- 'bag' as in 'bagel.'
posted by JohnFredra at 4:53 PM on January 18, 2007

Midland,

Born and raised in central California.

Go Fresno?
posted by The Power Nap at 4:53 PM on January 18, 2007

Accent? I ain't go no stinkin' accent!
posted by caddis at 4:54 PM on January 18, 2007

Born in New York and lived there for seven years, then my family settled in Virginia, but apparently my accent is pure Philly.
posted by emelenjr at 4:54 PM on January 18, 2007

Somehow I knew my results page was going to include the word "Fargo." Assholes.
posted by MillMan at 4:55 PM on January 18, 2007

Lived in Texas from birth until 28 yrs old, been in Arizona for 1 1/2 yrs... It says I'm "Inland North."

Oh well.
posted by papakwanz at 5:01 PM on January 18, 2007

I'm from Biloxi, MS and people always tell me I sound like I'm from New York. This quiz did as well.
posted by GavinR at 5:01 PM on January 18, 2007

im from the west coast. got that right.

ive met a few people here in washington who say "Baig" instead of "bag" and "torlet" instead of "toilet" and "motah' erl" instead of motor oil. where are these people from??
posted by Tryptophan-5ht at 5:02 PM on January 18, 2007

Midland: "You have a good voice for TV and radio."

Fair enough. I'm Canadian, and one of the reasons why Canadians do well in the American news game is that many of us have the accent that American broadcast-journalism schools will try to teach you. (See, for example, Jennings, John Roberts, Ashleigh Banfield, etc.)

(Except for that "aboot" thing, which honest to god I cannot hear.)
posted by gompa at 5:03 PM on January 18, 2007

Lynnwood.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 5:03 PM on January 18, 2007 [1 favorite]

'What-do-you-sound-like-when-you-Chat-Filter'.
posted by dash_slot- at 5:03 PM on January 18, 2007

My accent? Pure Howard Katzenberg from Philadelphia. (mmm, about 4:12...)

...don't see it that way, Jeff. Let me tell you what I think we're dealing with here, a potentially positive learning experience to get inside...
posted by toma at 5:06 PM on January 18, 2007

(Except for that "aboot" thing, which honest to god I cannot hear.)

I actually hear it as "a boat". Much less extreme with some speakers than others.
posted by LionIndex at 5:06 PM on January 18, 2007

It says I'm Midland, though I was born and bred in Boston. I honestly don't know how I escaped the accent there, as my father is a seriously old school Bostonian who says things like "baath" for bath, "kWAttah" for quarter, "biddAYduhs" for potatoes, "AHHSShole", etc. I wish I DID have the accent, I love it.
posted by tristeza at 5:06 PM on January 18, 2007

My answer for #8 is not represented...
posted by brundlefly at 5:07 PM on January 18, 2007

Philly? Whiskey Tango Foxtrot?!?

I work with a ton of expats, and they always tell me I have no accent at all until I slip into a Ya'll Drawl that I've picked up from 22 years in Texas.

OK, getting past the initial shock, Philly comes out ahead The South, Inland North and Midwest, which were all pretty much neck-in-neck. But still, Philly?!?

(Although I was craving a cheesesteak sandwhich on the way home from work today. But the only decent place I know of closed. So I had sushi instead.)

Their football team has nice cheerleaders. That's something, I guess.
posted by Cyrano at 5:07 PM on January 18, 2007

Well, using my Generic Impersonated American Accent, it guessed "The Midlands, or accentless". I'm actually British, though.

Gompa - since you're from the west, your "about" is probably much closer to "aboat" than "aboot".
posted by Jon Mitchell at 5:09 PM on January 18, 2007

What about "up-talking"?
posted by potsmokinghippieoverlord at 5:09 PM on January 18, 2007

It says I have a Midland accent, but some friends tell me I have a hint of Yat.
posted by brundlefly at 5:14 PM on January 18, 2007

Wait a minute, it's telling me I have a good face for radio!
posted by lekvar at 5:16 PM on January 18, 2007

It thinks I'm Wisconsin/Chicago (Inland North), but I've never been either place. I did 22 years in Rhode Island, and 15 years in Texas.

Most of what remains of my Rhode Island accent is the word "motherfucker".
posted by popechunk at 5:16 PM on January 18, 2007

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot?!?

Yay, Cyrano.
posted by toma at 5:17 PM on January 18, 2007

Says I've got a Boston accent.
Born and raised in southeast Idaho. Been living in southwest Oregon for about 5 years now.
I want some potato chowdah!
posted by bstreep at 5:18 PM on January 18, 2007

Hmm, I got Northeast too, and I'm Australian. Must be a catchall.
posted by b33j at 5:18 PM on January 18, 2007

also having mary/merry/marry problems. norcal though.
posted by bam at 5:20 PM on January 18, 2007

Midwestern "non accent" here.
posted by delmoi at 5:21 PM on January 18, 2007

Am I the only one who ended up in 'the West?'
posted by toma at 5:22 PM on January 18, 2007

Huh. I've lived in CT since I was 6 and I got 'The West', while 'The Northeast' was dead last. I always thought Californians sounded just like Connecticutters talking at 1/2 speed.

What about "up-talking"?

Oh yeah, and in CT, up-talking is considered a symptom of traumatic brain injury, while in California, it seems like every 3rd person or so does it. Not that those two
posted by boaz at 5:25 PM on January 18, 2007

fixedgear: a search for that phrase gives this.

I too had to leave one blank because I say Mary and marry the same, but merry different. I'm from Western Mass, and on the test from this thread I got "Boston." To my ear and those of my friends (even from other regions) I sound much closer to the generic midwestern TV accent than Bostonians, as do most of the people around here who aren't old-school townies. I don't know if having an option to answer that question right would make the difference or what, but yeah, subjectively, pretty inaccurate.
posted by abcde at 5:27 PM on January 18, 2007 [1 favorite]

Wrong. I have a distinct California accent, which they would have known, if they'd let me answer that Mary sounds like marry, but not merry.
I agree... that's how I wanted to answer that too & I'm from California. Then I said it over a bunch and realized that I do hold the R a little harder in marry than in Mary, so I just put they're all different.
posted by miss lynnster at 5:27 PM on January 18, 2007

hmm pretty good. "Midland" ie PA. I'm from MD but not Bawlmer. Nice.
posted by evilelvis at 5:34 PM on January 18, 2007

I've seen this particular quiz before... I scored this time the same as I did then: despite being raised in Massachusetts and Maine, I apparently talk like I'm from the west coast. Hmmm....

Also, "Mary" and "marry" sound the same when I speak, but "merry" is different. That's not an option on the quiz though.
posted by inoculatedcities at 5:36 PM on January 18, 2007

if they'd let me answer that Mary sounds like marry, but not merry.

I'm from RI and got a corresponding accent result, but that ticked me off so much too! I don't know how they couldn't have thought of that.
posted by CitrusFreak12 at 5:36 PM on January 18, 2007

GavinR, I'm from Ocean Springs and have always been told my accent is faintly Bostonian.

The quiz says I have a midland accent.

And I too would have said Mary=marry=!merry.
posted by solotoro at 5:36 PM on January 18, 2007

Another Californian with a New York accent, here. To be fair, my parents are from NY and NJ.
posted by expialidocious at 5:36 PM on January 18, 2007

Wrong. I have a distinct California accent, which they would have known, if they'd let me answer that Mary sounds like marry, but not merry.

Yup, me too. I'm Canadian, and apparently people will often mistake me for a Canadian.
posted by jimmythefish at 5:38 PM on January 18, 2007

Oh, me too, tristeza, I wish I had a Boston accent. My grandmother had one, but my dad lost his when he went to Boston College in the 1960s. Seriously.

And this fucker test tells me I'm from the New York area. Ugh.
posted by ibmcginty at 5:42 PM on January 18, 2007

I've taken this twice (a few weeks apart) and have wound up as Californian and Minnesotan. Damn. All this time I thought I was in Toronto.
posted by rosemere at 5:43 PM on January 18, 2007

Midland, but I'm not entirely familiar with that term. I grew up in the DC area, which meant that southerners think I sound northern and northerners think I sound southern.
posted by bardic at 5:48 PM on January 18, 2007

I had a long conversation about this once. I had been under the same impression that the author of this piece was: that all speakers of English have accents.

I was corrected by someone that I considered to be an authority, although I don't remember who it was anymore. He or she told me that this wasn't true... that California English was considered 'accentless'. Per that source, California English is the the true pronunciation, and the other accents are different dialects.

I found that very odd, especially considering that California is probably the youngest of any of the English-speaking areas in the world, but I haven't found strong evidence either way. I've been treating it as true ever since, although I'm still rather uncomfortable with the idea.

Figured I'd toss it out there.... maybe the collective MeFi wisdom will slap my long-forgotten authority around some. :)

Even the author of this piece seems to sort of agree with this idea, as I got back these results:

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.
posted by Malor at 5:56 PM on January 18, 2007

Gompa - since you're from the west, your "about" is probably much closer to "aboat" than "aboot".

To clarify, it's not quite that simple: I'm a child of Nova Scotian and Ottawa Valley parents (strong and mild regional accents, respectively), and I've lived about a dozen years in Ontario, a few in New Brunswick, and a couple in the US Midwest in addition to aboat ten in Alberta. And I still don't hear that aboot thing even from, for example, Northern Ontarians. It rhymes with shout almost coast to coast, as far as my ears can tell.

Incidentally, I have an aunt born and raised in smalltown Nova Scotia who has lived most of her adult life in New Hampshire, and her accent would totally break that website.
posted by gompa at 5:56 PM on January 18, 2007

I don't have an American accent, but thank you for asking.

Surely 13 questions is too few?
posted by Coaticass at 5:59 PM on January 18, 2007

Malor: People in California speak the same way as I do, and other people all over the Midwest.
posted by delmoi at 6:02 PM on January 18, 2007

I found that very odd, especially considering that California is probably the youngest of any of the English-speaking areas in the world

Californians aren't autochthonus. They came from somewhere else to the east, for the most part (in droves during the 1930's and 1940's, along with their baseball franchises).
posted by bardic at 6:03 PM on January 18, 2007 [1 favorite]

Abcde:

My dialect is 50% popular!
I answered 122 out of 122 questions, with 76 out of 122 (62%) answers the same as the United States' most popular answers, according to a Harvard dialect survey. This is a 50% weighted average (taking the percentage of survey respondents who pick each answer into consideration).See my answers, or take the poll yourself
Well that was useless.
posted by CitrusFreak12 at 6:08 PM on January 18, 2007

gompa writes "I've lived about a dozen years in Ontario [...] in addition to aboat ten in Alberta". Emphasis mine.

Please tell me that was intentional.
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 6:12 PM on January 18, 2007

Hmm. Inland North? That's a considerable distance from my actual coordinates. Apparently, I talk their talk.

Only while at college did I become aware that those of us from the islands had an accent identifiable by others, even when we were refraining from the use of pidgin. Except, they could never really tell us what was different about the way we spoke. I think it has to do with shortening the vowel sounds.

But fo' real, dis test is juice. No mo' even places off da mainland. Plus, Waianae pidgin stay choke different den Big Island kine, so gotta add dat too. Latahs fo' dis. Good ting I can talk like one kotonk.
posted by krippledkonscious at 6:13 PM on January 18, 2007

"Are you from Wisconsin?" or "Are you from Chicago?"

Correct (the latter, I mean) I don't know how accurate others find it, but it was dead on for me.
posted by eriko at 6:15 PM on January 18, 2007

"You probably get mistaken for a Canadian a lot"

Funny, because I am Canadian. Ha.
posted by tehloki at 6:15 PM on January 18, 2007

Norteast cuz I growed up on fukin' Staten Islan, New Yawk.



*Wot the fu'k yoo lookin at? Whadda yoo a fag?*
posted by Skygazer at 6:16 PM on January 18, 2007

Apprently I'm from Connecticut by way of New Jersey, with a stint in upstate New York. Spooky.
posted by ZenMasterThis at 6:20 PM on January 18, 2007

Northeast, of course--i like the quizzes that mix pronunciation with common phrases--they're more exact (like "Do you wait on line or in line?" , etc)
posted by amberglow at 6:23 PM on January 18, 2007

He or she told me that this wasn't true... that California English was considered 'accentless'. Per that source, California English is the the true pronunciation, and the other accents are different dialects.

I've always been taught that the Midwest is the accentless standard American English, and that's why most newscasters are from there (Nebraska especially)
posted by amberglow at 6:24 PM on January 18, 2007

Because Americans are more peripatetic than many other nationalities, I think it's more interesting to compare regional terminology. (I mean, what the hell's a New Yorker or a Los Angelino anyways, but someone whose family moved their within the last 50 years?)

Soda, pop, or coke? (as opposed to Coke)
Subs, grinders, heroes, or hoagies?
posted by bardic at 6:26 PM on January 18, 2007

Amberglow beat me to it.
posted by bardic at 6:27 PM on January 18, 2007

I had some serious speech training for the theater when I was younger so all those words sound different to me. I was taught to speak with a "mid-Atlantic " accent. Sounds somewhat British to American ears but a good jumping off place to most American accents.

This nonsense phrase came to mind:
He talks detox, walks the wok.
posted by pointilist at 6:29 PM on January 18, 2007

Born and raised in New Orleans, Southern accent with a little Philly thrown in.

Mary and merry sound the same to me, marry is waaay different.
posted by JujuB at 6:31 PM on January 18, 2007

Bardic, we always have coke with our "po'boys".
posted by JujuB at 6:32 PM on January 18, 2007

Filleh, y'seh thin? Ach, I'll no hae the warrrrl' lichtly me! An' doan' nun a' yeh goan bou' hae the warrrrl' winna trrrribble itsel aboot meh sae muckle as e'en to lichtly meh!
posted by Smart Dalek at 6:40 PM on January 18, 2007

There's also this test, which determines whether or not you're a "Yank or Rebel." A bit dated, but also pretty informative.
posted by landedjentry at 6:45 PM on January 18, 2007

Is there a .wav file somewhere so I can here Mary, marry, and merry pronounced differently? Someone upthread said merry rhymes with berry, but to me Mary and marry also rhyme with berry. I fell into the 100% West slot, which is totally accurate, and I am really just curious. All the other examples made sense to me - like I say cot and caught the same, but I am well aware of how those words are very distinct to other speakers/listeners, and I have heard them pronounced differently.

As for this: Unless you're a SoCal surfer, no one thinks you have an accent. My friend, like me a lifelong Portlander, visited another friend in Manhattan, and several people asked if she was from the Texas, or commented on her "Southern drawl." She was not pleased.
posted by peep at 6:56 PM on January 18, 2007

Arg. replace here with hear.
posted by peep at 6:57 PM on January 18, 2007

Northeastern here, too, and I live in the same country as joe's spleen (/waves)

Mary and merry are pretty much the same (maybe a slightly emphasised 'a' on Mary, but there's not much in it). Marry, however, is completely different. Which is how it should be be for proper talkage and wotnot.
posted by Sparx at 7:06 PM on January 18, 2007

Though, thinking about it....when I went to New York, they had a hard time understanding 'water' (wor-ter) vs what appeared to be wah-ta. Thankfully vino is the same in both dialects.
posted by Sparx at 7:08 PM on January 18, 2007

I could take my accent and hold it against a grinding stone for a week and it wouldn't dull the Philly twang even a little bit.
posted by The Straightener at 7:10 PM on January 18, 2007

Dammit, I got The West! Gotta get back 'ome, h'Alberta's messin' wit' me Newf'n'lan' h'accent sumpn offul!
posted by hangashore at 7:11 PM on January 18, 2007

I'm solidly a yank, yet this says my accent is midland north. :(
posted by splatta at 7:17 PM EST on January 18

Same with me splatta.


Has anyone else found that wherever you go in America, many people have no discernible accent except for cops?
posted by SBMike at 7:22 PM EST on January 18


It says I'm Midland, though I was born and bred in Boston. I honestly don't know how I escaped the accent there, as my father is a seriously old school Bostonian who says things like "baath" for bath, "kWAttah" for quarter, "biddAYduhs" for potatoes, "AHHSShole", etc. I wish I DID have the accent, I love it.

Etc...

A few things. I'm a French Canadian/English/Italian/Irish/German New Englander, Massachusetts born, raised, and currently living, in fact. Half of my family lives in MA or CT, the other in VT or just across the Canadian border. Yet, I somehow wind up as Midwestern?

Bottom line, no 10 question test can tell shit about the intricacies of language. I think most all reasonable folks could figure that. I do find fascinating some of the consistent failures of the test though.

I'll page/re-page languagehat to the thread, as well as my grandma. She says "SOder" for soda, "gurRARGE" for garage, and definitely rocks "biddAYduhs" for potatoes. A more extensive test with more accented locals would be great. One not US-centered would be even better!
posted by rollbiz at 7:12 PM on January 18, 2007

"...whoever rhymes 'bag' with 'vague'?"

If you're speaking French, they rhyme.
posted by vhsiv at 7:12 PM on January 18, 2007

They say Midland. People who've actually heard me talk would never mistaken me for someone from southern Ohio.

I think they need a linguistics lesson.
posted by QIbHom at 7:15 PM on January 18, 2007

This Canadian is apparently from the South. Who knew they say 'aboot' there?
posted by evadery at 7:15 PM on January 18, 2007

Another New Zealander from the northeast here.
posted by gaspode at 7:23 PM on January 18, 2007

amberglow-- who the hell waits "on" line?

Other than the lead singer of Mr. Big, I mean.
posted by ibmcginty at 7:28 PM on January 18, 2007

My beautiful mid-atlantic accent is no more.

You durned gothamites have corrupted me.
posted by jason's_planet at 7:32 PM on January 18, 2007

we do here in NYC, ibm--we've always waited on line for everything, or avoided having to wait on line. : >

(it's weirder now that there actually is an "on line" that exists)

Though, thinking about it....when I went to New York, they had a hard time understanding 'water' (wor-ter) vs what appeared to be wah-ta.
no--it's wawter or wawtah. (most things are "aw" here--cawfee, wawtah, etc--Boston (Bawston) is "ah", i think)
posted by amberglow at 7:35 PM on January 18, 2007

worter reminds me of that Pennsylvanian accent--with "warsh" and stuff.
posted by amberglow at 7:36 PM on January 18, 2007

Midland accent? Dammit, I protest! All these years I've prided myself on my solidly Western accent. grr, I guess all those years living in the Midwest after high school really did rub off.... *grumble*
posted by scody at 7:42 PM on January 18, 2007

I've lived 44 years in Montana and Alaska, spending a total of two weeks below the Mason-Dixon line.

It said I was a Southerner.

I DO drink a lot.
posted by Whistlepig at 7:43 PM on January 18, 2007

"Aboot" is Tidewater Virginia; "motuh erl" is Tidewater Maryland.

The test pegged me squarely as a Boston accent. I assume it keyed on a few articulate pronuniciations I absorbed from my native Bostonian parents and have kept even after over 30 years in North Florida. I can easily "do" a *real* Boston accent but my normal speaking accent would never be taken for a Boston accent because no Bostonian ever says "y'all."
posted by rdone at 7:52 PM on January 18, 2007

Just because I speak proper English and differentiate the sound of my words is no reason to go and insult me by labeling me a Philadelphian. I suppose I should just go and submit to the nasaly ass Minny-soh-tahn yah shure u betcha I've been trying to avoid for the past 25 years.
posted by DonnieSticks at 8:14 PM on January 18, 2007

As a Marylander who has spent about a fourth of his life most recently in upstate New York I'd have to concur with everyone else that says this test is lame.

For one, it said I was a Philly/Baltimore type, which is so wrong it's not even funny. I am so far away from a Baltimore accent. I don't put "ahliv ool" on my salad, I don't drink "wooter" and I pronounce "hello" without dipthongs. (I think).

Now and then when I miss the sound of Baltimore speakers (like my family) and I can't call them, I'll watch a John Waters flick.
posted by bugmuncher at 8:19 PM on January 18, 2007

Fuckin peeple. Y'know, I ackchually kinna have meye oan sortav acksent, liek sum psycho bastadization of the New York ant-eye-rhoticness via Minnesota (which is natchrul, seein as how I grew up theahr, Minnesota). Eye also have this we-id Califoinya thing where I do a bit of uptalk, but moestly it all sounds liek I'm deadpanning every-THing.

It sounds very standard (and I did radio for a few years) when I pay attention, but if I get self-conscious or start talking fast it slips into this god-knows-what-the-fuck-it-is-"northern" pastiche that goes from east to west with no regard for tradition. That's what you get from too much fuckin TV.
posted by saysthis at 8:28 PM on January 18, 2007

Another Canadian who has an "American" accent that would probably get them mistaken for Canadian.

That works.
posted by aclevername at 8:34 PM on January 18, 2007

Fuckin uptalking is the worst. There's a 40yr old in my program who uptalks like a SoCal surfer/valley girl. Drives me up the goddamn wall.
posted by papakwanz at 8:38 PM on January 18, 2007

it says i have a midland accent, even though i live in michigan ... however the town i grew up in had a lot of midlanders and southerners in it and i don't think inland north and midland are that far apart, except that michigan "r"s are worthy of pirates
posted by pyramid termite at 8:49 PM on January 18, 2007

Well it said Philly, and I'm from Jersey so i guess that's close enough.
posted by octothorpe at 8:52 PM on January 18, 2007

Third kiwi supposedly sounding like the northwest. Except that I have a friend from Philly and I really don't sound like her, so there's something wrong there. I listed them all as different, as they should be, but maybe my different pronounciations are different to a Phildelphian's different pronounciations.
posted by shelleycat at 8:55 PM on January 18, 2007

The Midland and I live in St. Louis so I guess it got it straight considering thats about as mid as you can get.
posted by rfbjames at 8:55 PM on January 18, 2007

It says I have a Midland accent... but I'm from Western New York. We either sound nasally or pretentious. Silly quiz.
posted by Verdandi at 8:56 PM on January 18, 2007

shelleycat: spot on. The reason we kiwis keep showing up as north east, despite not sounding anything like americans, is that while we distinguish the vowel sounds in those words in the quiz, we say them differently.

New Zealand vowels are collapsing in a different way. Eg, I pronounce beer/bear, here/hair differently, whereas my daughter pronounces them with the same vowel.
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 9:15 PM on January 18, 2007

Neat, my first result was Philadelphia and that's the closest major city to me. "Midland accent".
posted by hypervenom at 9:15 PM on January 18, 2007

This test and this thread suck without audio.

It would be interesting to hear you all speak a test sentence and compare the demographics.

Unfortunately 'media-induced second language mish mash' is not an outcome of the test. Nor is 'dutch euro trash'
posted by jouke at 9:24 PM on January 18, 2007

Has there ever been a mefi conference call? Skype or something?
posted by jouke at 9:36 PM on January 18, 2007

It would be interesting to hear you all speak a test sentence and compare the demographics.

I agree, that would be cool. Of course I'd be laughing at your funny accents but I won't record that bit.
posted by shelleycat at 9:40 PM on January 18, 2007

It pegged me as a Chicagoan (Inland North), but then so does everyone I talk to. I also pronounce bear/beer/bare exactly the same. Don't know if that's typical or not.
posted by maryh at 9:47 PM on January 18, 2007

Uptalking? May be a very California thing? But I have a friend? Who, like me, is a born and raised Los Angeleno? But does something more irritating -- falling intonation at every phrase. I don't know where that comes from but it cries out for mockery even more than uptalking, which, of course is completely ordinary here?
posted by Methylviolet at 9:52 PM on January 18, 2007

That thing was totally accurate for me.
posted by blaneyphoto at 10:03 PM on January 18, 2007

You probably are from the Midland (Pennsylvania, southern Ohio, southern Indiana, southern Illinois, and Missouri)

Heh. I'm actually from both PA and MO.

Trippy.
posted by Afroblanco at 10:12 PM on January 18, 2007

Weird. The quiz says I've a midland accent, but according to friends I sound like the voice track to The Sopranos.
posted by FunkyHelix at 10:17 PM on January 18, 2007

Cripes. What is this, LiveJournal? I saw this quiz there years ago.

(It says I don't have an accent. This is sort of true. Other people would tell you I have a vague Midwestern accent. Odd as I am from the North East, but my mom's family is all in Minnesota, so maybe it's genetic.)
posted by grapefruitmoon at 10:22 PM on January 18, 2007

Raised in Philly, and pegged me as Northeast first, Philly second. Not bad.

Wife raised all over, but most time in Utah. Said she was midland, which is apparently accentless, but she's often told she has an odd accent. So not sure about that one.
posted by saladpants at 10:52 PM on January 18, 2007

I'm totally rockin the Midland non-accent accent. (But most western Pennsylvanians do not have this accent at all.)
posted by Dreama at 10:55 PM on January 18, 2007

I'm not going to form any opinion of this quiz until we hear from Languagehat.
posted by AsYouKnow Bob at 11:02 PM on January 18, 2007

I got The West.

Given that I grew up in San Diego and was so regional I worked hard to get rid of my surfer accent during college, at least they got that right.

Dudes, merry-mary-marry all sound the same.
posted by vacapinta at 11:06 PM on January 18, 2007

Oh, all right.
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 11:37 PM on January 18, 2007

Very interesting thread.

This Brit is apparently from The Northeast (which is true, but the wrong country).

CitrusFreak12's poll showed me that I use a lot of Americanisms. Probably too much TV.

I originally heard Upspeak (the 'high rising whine') as an Australian phenomenon.
posted by No Mutant Enemy at 1:13 AM on January 19, 2007

Midland north, as should be expected. However, I don't always speak the same. My accents change with mood and desire. When really pissed, I sound Brooklyn. When making effort to be especially polite, I sound British. Often, this happens without any deliberate effort.

As a teen, I found I could not talk to non-Americans for very long before my speach would stumble, as my accent rearranged itself to their own. When I was in Italy, at 17, the English-speaking Italians liked me because they understood me better than most Americans. No surprise, as I spoke English like they did.

Funny enough, I don't seem to pick up much accent here in South Africa. Not because they lack one, but maybe because there are too many different ones! Afrikaaners, Xhosa and those others who speak English as their native language. Maybe a bit of Xhosa accent creeps in, dealing with the domestic help.
posted by Goofyy at 1:34 AM on January 19, 2007

There are places in the US where "on" can rhyme with "dawn" but not "don"? If those places secede from the union, this time you should let them go.

This might sound a little crazy to folks, but one of my favourite things about European accents is being able to spot elements of what would become typically American speech. Sometimes if you close your eyes and listen to the Dutch speak English you can really ear it. Elements of Scots & Irish speech can be obvious when you hear them, and I suppose the Dutch connection speaks for itself too.

I dunno when I picked this habit up. I suppose the general assumption when I lived elsewhere that some of the colloquiallisms of my local area (Yorkshire, West Riding dialect) were actually Americanisms made me really notice. The more I've read in this area since then, the more I realise that just about everything the British would regard as an American corruption of our beautiful language is actually British in origin and it is British English which has changed over the last few hundred years.

Anyhoo, this thinks I'm from Philadelphia. I like steak and I like cheese, but actually I'm from Bradford in the north of England.
posted by vbfg at 2:28 AM on January 19, 2007

My result was: The Midland. And that more or less pegs it.

When I moved from central Illinois to Southern California in middle school and told people I was from the Midwest, several people asked me, "Then why don't you have an accent?"
posted by Curry at 3:19 AM on January 19, 2007

This reminds me of a headline from The Onion:

Southerner Either Looking For 'Pawn Shop' Or 'Porn Shop'

Being neither American nor in America, I am somewhat pleased to be told that I "don't have an accent", yet in my lifetime, I have, on occasion, been vehemently accused of sounding Canadian, though having never been away from these deep bowels of Southeast Asia, I have no idea what they mean!
posted by Lush at 3:24 AM on January 19, 2007

Solid Northeast... who could have figured.

This was very funny on a personal level:

8. Moving on, what do you think about "Mary," "merry," and "marry"?

My wife, raised in Seattle, insists they are all pronounced the same. Being raised in Connecticut, I know better.
posted by psmealey at 3:28 AM on January 19, 2007

"Will you marry Mary?"

"Not until she merries herself."
posted by vbfg at 4:04 AM on January 19, 2007

Can someone clue me in on how they are pronounced different?
I pronounce them all MEH-ree.
posted by vacapinta at 4:14 AM on January 19, 2007

"My wife, raised in Seattle, insists they are all pronounced the same. Being raised in Connecticut, I know better."

Your wife is correct. I was also raised in Seattle, so I know. :)

I got North Central on the test which is funny because when I lived in Minneapolis for 6 months everyone told me I had an accent. But I think the Pacific Northwest accent west of the Cascades is trending toward Canadian more than it used to. We also have a lot of people who rhyme "bag" with "vague" but it's not universal.
posted by litlnemo at 4:20 AM on January 19, 2007

I'm another British person with a North Eastern American accent. I wonder if it's possible for a British person to get another result. Maybe an extreme Northern Irish accent would do it.

I dunno when I picked this habit up. I suppose the general assumption when I lived elsewhere that some of the colloquiallisms of my local area (Yorkshire, West Riding dialect) were actually Americanisms made me really notice.

I do the same thing, and started noticing when my saying 'mom' instead of 'mum' (due to having Brummie parents) and peppering sentences with 'like' (due to being from Merseyside) were assumed to be Americanisms.
posted by jack_mo at 4:25 AM on January 19, 2007

well, mine came up Midland except I'm Irish

and vacapinta all three of those sound different to me
MAY-ree, (Mary) MEH-ree (Merry) and MAH-ree ( marry) is how I pronounce them
posted by Wilder at 4:29 AM on January 19, 2007

Being neither American nor in America, I am somewhat pleased to be told that I "don't have an accent"

I know people may be joking but this test is completely invalid for non USA people. There are all sorts of other questions it doesnt ask because it already assumes you speak with a characteristic "American" accent. Then this quiz is just trying to narrow down which one...

That is, nobody in the U.S. will say "Hey! you have a North Eastern accent!" if you're from the UK. These little dialect indicators are completely swamped by something else.
posted by vacapinta at 4:32 AM on January 19, 2007

Although I should further qualify that and say, given the provenance of this quiz, it shouldnt be given much more weight than a quiz like "Which Lord of the Rings character am I?"
posted by vacapinta at 4:41 AM on January 19, 2007

Can someone clue me in on how they are pronounced different?
I pronounce them all MEH-ree.

Marry - really short 'a'. Mah-ree

Merry - really short 'e'. Meh-ree.

Mary - almost but not quite the same as merry, but the first vowel sound is more drawn out.
posted by vbfg at 4:50 AM on January 19, 2007

I do the same thing, and started noticing when my saying 'mom' instead of 'mum' (due to having Brummie parents) and peppering sentences with 'like' (due to being from Merseyside) were assumed to be Americanisms.

It was referring to my 'trousers' as 'pants' that did it for me. Pants seems to be a contraction of underpants just about everywhere else. To me, underpants go under yer pants. At least they would if I didn't call them 'kecks'.

The first person to pick me up on this whilst I was at Uni I soon discovered referred to her kecks as 'panties', which to me was as blatant an Americanism as you could get away with. I still think that was her being embarrassed by the word 'knickers' though rather being a colloquialsm of Lemington Spa or wherever it was she came from.
posted by vbfg at 4:59 AM on January 19, 2007

Mary = mayree (a as in acorn)
marry = mahree (a as in apple)
merry = mehree (e as in elephant)
posted by emelenjr at 4:59 AM on January 19, 2007

GavinR, I'm from Ocean Springs and have always been told my accent is faintly Bostonian.

The quiz says I have a midland accent.

And I too would have said Mary=marry=!merry.

solotoro, if you're still following this thread, I went to school in Ocean Springs when I was a kid! I've lived in other areas in the States and Canada, and English isn't my first language, but I consider the English I speak now to be based heavily on what I learned there.

The quiz tells me I also have a midland accent, and Mary=marry=merry to me also.
posted by misozaki at 5:22 AM on January 19, 2007

Can someone clue me in on how they are pronounced different?

As another data point, I say them like this (Mary, merry, marry). I'm a Londoner and went to a private school, wot wot.

...referred to her kecks as 'panties', which to me was as blatant an Americanism as you could get away with. I still think that was her being embarrassed by the word 'knickers' though

It could also be that 'panties' are cute and hold sexy promise, while 'knickers' are merely functional and ooh er missus.
posted by chrismear at 5:37 AM on January 19, 2007

WOW! It pinpointed the city I was born in, which is Philadelphia. Thing is I wasn't raised there and I don't really even know what a Philadelphia accent is. I've always thought of my accent as neutral.
posted by zorro astor at 5:55 AM on January 19, 2007

As another data point, I say them like this (Mary, merry, marry). I'm a Londoner and went to a private school, wot wot.

Ah cool. I'd make a sound file but it is basically your first sound repeated three times.
posted by vacapinta at 6:00 AM on January 19, 2007

"Outsiders probably mistake you for a Canadian a lot."

That would explain a lot.
posted by GuyZero at 6:52 AM on January 19, 2007

Meh.

Another Californian, born and bred labeled as "Mid Land." There is a huge difference-- I can always tell when my mom has gotten off the phone with her sister from Chicago.

I do NOT uptalk. I swear. Ok, maybe sometimes when I'm like, with a bunch of adolescent girls and we're, like, kicking back, and she, like, goes "He is sooooo cute?"

Both my NC husband and I say Mary, Merry, Marry exactly the same...although we are different in our sameness.
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 7:36 AM on January 19, 2007

Mary = mayree (a as in acorn)
marry = mahree (a as in apple)
merry = mehree (e as in elephant)

yup, except Mary is maybe more like mare,e (as in the horse, with an e like in eager at the end)
posted by amberglow at 7:55 AM on January 19, 2007

I'm a Brit in the US so I answered the test imagining I was one of my friends. Northeast, esp NJ, NY, etc was the answer which is very accurate.
posted by ob at 8:06 AM on January 19, 2007

Damn, having now read the thread I went back and answered it for myself in my accent and I got the same answer. So yeah, I don't think it's possible for a Brit to get another answer on this...
posted by ob at 8:10 AM on January 19, 2007

Mary = mayree (a as in acorn) mahree (a as in apple)
marry = mahree (a as in apple)
merry = mehree (e as in elephant) mahree (a as in apple)

There, corrected that for you.
posted by caddis at 8:18 AM on January 19, 2007

tristeza, I wish I had that accent, too. My mom has it. The quiz still knew I had a Boston accent even though I do say my Rs, unless I'm really tired (tie-yid).
posted by jdl at 8:25 AM on January 19, 2007

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.

Yep. I don't think I have an accent at all. And they nailed the Dallas thing.

But I wish I did have an accent. Every time I have to go to Court with someone with a country accent from the small towns in Texas, I feel like I have a disadvantage. Same with British accents. People just prefer to listen to someone with an interesting accent ramble on moreso than someone with no accent.
posted by dios at 8:25 AM on January 19, 2007

"Your accent is as Philadelphian as a cheesesteak!"

It's funny, though, because there are two Philly accents, as far as I can tell. There's the one I seem to have (Philly/Wilmington/Baltimore), then there's the OTHER one, which... well, it's hard to explain, but if you've ever been to this area and/or have heard David Cross's bit on the non-regional "redneck accent," just imagine a special sub-set of the non-regional accent. Rumor has it it's a long, long, distanced bastardization of cockney.

I see people slip in and out of it or try to fight it, but a lot of people just give in completely.
posted by SmileyChewtrain at 8:50 AM on January 19, 2007

People have mentioned having their accents changed by moving to a new region, but has anyone mentioned the phenomenon of people temporarily returning to their previous accent when talking to other people from their hometown? It's a funny thing to witness.
posted by TechnoLustLuddite at 8:53 AM on January 19, 2007

Mary Mac's mother's making Mary Mac marry me,
My mother's making me marry Mary Mac,
I'm goin' to marry Mary for my Mary to take care o' me;
We'll all be feelin' merry when I marry Mary Mac.

posted by kirkaracha at 9:14 AM on January 19, 2007

I got Southern. I'm surprised how few people here did too. I guess it's accurate, I'm from DC suburbs but my parents are from southern Virginia and I have lived ten years in Tennessee and (non-New Orleans) Louisiana. Of course, like bardic said, people down there say I've got a Northern accent.

ive met a few people here in washington who say "Baig" instead of "bag" and "torlet" instead of "toilet" and "motah' erl" instead of motor oil. where are these people from??

Baltimore?
posted by and hosted from Uranus at 9:24 AM on January 19, 2007

Apparently languagehat ignored this one ...

I think the test could have been a bit longer for better accuracy, although some of the questions are classic markers of accent like the don/dawn thing. The one I didn't get at all was bag/vague, but apparently that's a Maritime Canadian thing. (Googling around, both them seem to come pretty close to rhyming with "egg".)

Nor did the quiz -- to my notice -- account for the Northern Cities Vowel Shift, a linguistic process which fascinates me to no end. I grew up in Wisconsin, and my parents are from Chicago; I really don't think I have more than a smidgen of that shift (which really got going in the 1960s), but it's also really hard for me to hear it as a different accent than Midwest, although there are bits of it that I hear in a Wisconsin accent. I've long maintained that there's greater similarity between the accents in Southern Wisconsin and the stereotypical "Fargo" (Minnesotan) accent than there is with a Chicago accent, and linguistic maps seem to bear this out. I hear differences in Chicago, New York, and Detroit accents (with which I'm all familiar enough) that contradict what I'm told, that all of those are experiencing the shift.

I do think Mayor Daley is an example. Anyway, it would have been interesting for a question to point that out to people because it's less well-known but almost certainly more important and more noticeable in the future.
posted by dhartung at 9:37 AM on January 19, 2007

I was born and raised in Southern California. I don't have an accent! The quiz calls "The West" the lowest common denominator of American speech.
posted by snowjoe at 9:52 AM on January 19, 2007

I have central-upstate New York / French Canadian relatives who pronounce "bag" as "bayy-egg"--"vague" but slightly drawn out.

Quiz says I'm Midland, which isn't right: I grew up in Southern/Appalachian-accented western Virginia and my family and close friends are a mix of Virginia, Connecticut, Florida, North Carolina, and north Jersey. I don't sound generic, I just cherrypick my pronounciations.

I'd be interested to see speech quizzes for class in the South and for the burroughs of New York City.
posted by hippugeek at 9:52 AM on January 19, 2007

A born and bred Northeasterner, I got the Northeastern accent.
posted by londontube at 10:24 AM on January 19, 2007

It nailed me, accurately, for Philly, too. But it could've dispensed with all the other questions and simply asked:
Do water and wooder sound alike?
posted by sixpack at 10:30 AM on January 19, 2007

"As a teen, I found I could not talk to non-Americans for very long before my speach would stumble, as my accent rearranged itself to their own"

I was like this too Goofy - probably because we travelled so much when I was a kid (Hong Kong, Borneo). When we finally did settle down on the east coast, I was accused of having a European accent.

I took a college trip to Africa and one of my classmates changed his entire accent in one week trying to sound more African. Drove us up the wall.

And also - I had a lot of friends from the Baltimore area in college and they all used to make fun of an accent from Dundauk (dundolk). Any Baltimoreans know what I am talking about?
posted by vronsky at 10:37 AM on January 19, 2007

Apparently languagehat ignored this one ...

Yeah, if only we had the IMG tag.
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 11:01 AM on January 19, 2007

I think its interesting that all you Brits keep getting 'Northeast'. That perhaps sheds a bit of light on my own accent, which is more or less unaccented (the quiz gave me 'Midlands', which isn't completely off base.) with just a hint of New England. I spent my earliest years in Connecticut though I've lived in Atlanta most of my life. You'd never guess I was from Georgia though. Anyways, the upshot of all this is that some people think I'm English the first time I speak to them, which has always baffled me. I wouldn't say this happens frequently but certainly often enough to really puzzle me. Does anyone have a clue as to why some people might think I sound English?
posted by GalaxieFiveHundred at 11:06 AM on January 19, 2007

As for myself: Americans regularly assume I'm British(/English), no questions asked. Non-native English speaking (i.e. continental) Europeans tend to get confused, and ask me where I'm from. Brits often notice quickly that I'm not from the Isles, and make amusing guesses as to my upbringing: New Zealand? South Africa?

Myself, I like to think that I speak a more British variety of English, but I seldom drop my Rs and tend to throw in a substantial smattering of Americanisms and slang. I call it Atlantic English. :)
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 11:22 AM on January 19, 2007

I got Northeast, which is really surprising to me. I lived in New York City for five years, but I grew up in South Carolina and live in Atlanta. Freaky.
posted by reallymadcow at 11:48 AM on January 19, 2007

How did this thing know I am from Southern Illinois/ Missouri? Also, it fails to account for the stereotypical "St. Louis" accent, which my parents and my boyfriend's parents all have... Carn instead of Corn...Melk instead of Milk...of course, everyone's favorite highway ... Fardy...instead of Forty. I guess it's a generational thing, because no one my age really talks like this.
posted by Green Eyed Monster at 12:18 PM on January 19, 2007

Eh, it got me as Inland North from Chicago or Wisconsin, so nailed me in one -- despite seven years in California and a concentrated effort to pronounce "roof" and "milk" differently.

Speaking of that...

Also, it fails to account for the stereotypical "St. Louis" accent, which my parents and my boyfriend's parents all have... Carn instead of Corn...Melk instead of Milk...

I'm Chicago born-and-raised, and I (like everyone I grew up with) pronounced Milk "Melk". Not just a St. Louis thing, that one.
posted by davejay at 12:48 PM on January 19, 2007

Not accurate, but funny.
posted by ssklyar at 1:19 PM on January 19, 2007

It said I speak like a Pakistani who moved to London for a few years and somehow ended up in Southern Ohio. That sounds about right.
posted by micayetoca at 1:44 PM on January 19, 2007

Midland...Southern Indiana....Atlanta.

Why yes, the latter, then the former.
posted by Cyclopsis Raptor at 1:44 PM on January 19, 2007

Please call Stella.
posted by jjg at 5:06 PM on January 19, 2007

Hey Stella!! .wav




*Gives jjg secret IA handshake.*
posted by Skygazer at 9:21 AM on January 20, 2007

Oh Christ, I totally forgot - if anyone still reads this, this is the Ultimate And Infallible Rendering (real) of "Please Call Stella". (Photo, blurb in Dutch)

Skip ahead a minute to bypass the nonsense preceding the reading (which in itself is more nonsense).
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 4:29 PM on January 20, 2007