I am originally from Delaware, considered neither north or south, but a "mid-Atlantic" state. People from where I grew up definitely have accents. Some are decidedly southern, some are more typical north-eastern (think New Jersey/New York/New England). Some are not really that defineable, but they are definitely present. I would say that the rest of my family have variations of a southern accent, but I do not.
I don't say this just from my own judgement, but when I moved to Indiana for college, I noticed the Mid-western and Northern accents, but no one could ever guess where I was from, and then when I would tell them, they would always say that I didn't have an accent. My husband agrees.
So when I found this little quiz, I decided to take it and see how accurate it was. It was quick and I found it to be right on the mark. Take it for yourself at the link below and see how you rank. It only takes a couple minutes. I posted my results below the link.
Have fun.
http://www.gotoquiz.com/what_american_accent_do_you_have
My Results:
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.
7 comments:
I am midland also.
AAAHHH!! I'm from the west!
I was born and raised in Ohio. Here are my results;
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."
Chris,
I knew you would be midland, but that also makes perfect sense.
Bekah, I can't figure you out because I don't think you have an accent.
Janice...never heard you speak, but I will say that before I moved to Indiana for college, I had never heard of soda referred to only as "pop". It used to drive me nuts. I've gotten used to hearing it, but I still don't say it. I still call it soda or more likely, by it's name (ex. Coke, Sprite...)
Interesting.
OOOh - I say pop! And Christina, I just want you to know this generated quite a conversation yesterday between a couple of us at work. We talked about all kinds of words!
It told me I'm Midland, with the West in close second place. So I changed the cot/caught question to be the same sound (which it's not quite), and it finally said I'm from the West.
I don't think their questions factored in the truly subtle differences that a person might notice--as opposed to the big differences like "don" is one syllable and "dawn" is two (that would be in Brooklyn).
Fun quiz, though. I love quizzes like this!
On the "soda" vs. "pop" question, out here in the West, we never say either one. If you use those words, it means you're a transplant. It's a "Coke machine." Or at a restaurant, you ask, "What soft drinks to you have?"
OK. I've finished the culture lesson for the day.
Post a Comment