# What American accent do you have?



## Jestjoan (Sep 7, 2010)

http://gotoquiz.com/what_american_accent_do_you_have

Mine came out as Midland which seems about right.

Born and raised in Cleveland OH but now living in the south. We lived in Columbus and Omaha.


----------



## pittle (Sep 7, 2010)

*South*

South - I could have told you that without taking the quiz.  I grew up in the Memphis area before moving to Kansas after graduating from college.  I worked hard to lose a lot of the southern accent, but some of it is still there - especially when I have been on a trip back to visit family.


----------



## stratusnj75 (Sep 7, 2010)

I got Northeast, and since I am from "dirty" Jersey, guess that fits.

Devin


----------



## JoAnn (Sep 7, 2010)

Inland North....born in Chicago, lived in inland North for about half my life.  Then moved to SW Ohio for 30 years.  Guess that's still inland north???


----------



## Rose Pink (Sep 7, 2010)

The West.  The West.  (Because one "the west" was too short for tug to post.)


----------



## Conan (Sep 7, 2010)

It correctly placed me in north Jersey, New York City, Connecticut or Rhode Island


----------



## vacationhopeful (Sep 7, 2010)

Wow, Philadelphia! Or very closeby, like South Jersey.

Hee, Hee, Hee ... less than 3 miles as the crow flies from Philly in South Jersey.  

Results also said that other people unfamiliar with this accent can not place it - just think it sounds weird.  

Experience has shown: that is true, too.


----------



## 3kids4me (Sep 7, 2010)

Does everyone who gets the Northeast get the same ranking of areas underneath?  Mine are below:


_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.


Philadelphia	

The Inland North	

The Midland	

The South	

Boston	

The West	

North Central	
_


----------



## KarenLK (Sep 7, 2010)

Inland North.

Pop, not soda. Crick, not creek. Coo-pons, not kew-pons. Bufflo, not Buffalo. Nigra, not Niagara. 

I have heard it named Great Lakes as well. I speak closer to a Chicagoan that a New Yawker, even though I am in the same state.


----------



## Passepartout (Sep 7, 2010)

Interesting, but doesn't take into consideration accents within geographic areas. Who hasn't heard a Brooklyn accent? Or Baltimore, Hon? Or (with apologies, Rose)what I call 'Utahnics'. 

The quiz nailed me with 'Midwest', but you can't tell me that Wisconsin or Minnesota sounds the same as Michigan or Ohio. 'Taint so.

As one who traveled the ground of the dear 'ol USA for decades and tried to be able to quickly pick up on people's native accent and mimic it, this was fun. Incidentally, for me, the hardest American accent to mimic was coastal mid-Atlantic. Particularly Del-Mar-Va to Tidewater area.

Thanks for posting it.

Jim Ricks


----------



## T_R_Oglodyte (Sep 7, 2010)

Got me correctly as Inland North.

Interesting because most people who profess to know accents often have a hard time deciding whether I'm from the midwest or the west.  

I also know that how I pronounce things has changed over time.  When I answered questions as I spoke when I was in high school, I came out 100% inland north (the red bar was pegged to the right).  When I answered as I speak now, it still had me in the Inland North, but it was no longer a perfect match.  The difference is that a lot of words that I pronounced only slightly differently growing up I now pronounce with a more distinct difference.

When I was in college many of my friends were from the northeast, and I picked up some of their pronunciations.  At that time of my life, for example, I started to pronounce Mary, marry, and merry differently.  Being away from those influences, though, I've reverted to my native pronunciations.

There are some changes that occurred at that time that persist.  I pronounce creek to rhyme with "seek" instead "trick", my "roof" now has the same vowel sound as "swoon" instead being more like a blended between short o and short u (but I still pronounce "hoof" the old way).  And while I still generally pronounce "bury" the same as "berry", if you put "bury" as the last syllable of a word it has the same vowel sound as "furry".


----------



## SueDonJ (Sep 7, 2010)

"Your Result:  Boston.  You definitely have a Boston accent, even if you think you don't."  HAHAHAHA - pegged me!


----------



## pjrose (Sep 7, 2010)

It said Philadelphia.  Interesting, since people who are really FROM Philadelphia sound different to me, and I never lived in Philadelphia.

I'm an Army brat and lived all over the place; my father was from Philadelphia, though he hadn't lived there for probably 20 years by the time I was born.


----------



## rapmarks (Sep 7, 2010)

Inland North

raised in chicago, spend summers in Wisconsin and all my family says I talk differently from them, I have a Wisconsin accent.  Some neighbors in Wisconsin have a very pronounced accent, but it is very warm and comforting sound.


----------



## cotraveller (Sep 7, 2010)

It put me in midland, I guess Denver qualifies since it is not the east or west coast. I've been here for many years after we moved from Nebraska back in school days.

I changed some of my answers trying to figure out what a west accent would be but never did get that result.  One difference I know of is that around here we travel on I-25 for the interstate and Highway 121 for a non-interstate.  In Nevada or California those would be The 25 and The 121.


----------



## rickandcindy23 (Sep 7, 2010)

Denver is definitely west.  Midland would be Nebraska.  I know I am more of a Nebraskan speaker than Denver, because I was born and raised there for a number of years, then moved to Denver as a child but visited Nebraska many weeks of each year.  My grandmother is still in NE, and she is 92 now.  She would definitely be a Nebraska speaker.  

Why do people in the big city never say 'supper' anymore?  What happened to that colloquialism?  I still say it, but my kids always correct me.  Supper used to be a lighter meal than dinner.  Now we use lunch, which is a light meal, and dinner, which is a bigger meal.  

Do y'all say 'supper?'


----------



## SueDonJ (Sep 7, 2010)

I say "supper", and "parlor" instead of "living room", and "cellar" instead of "basement."


----------



## T_R_Oglodyte (Sep 7, 2010)

rickandcindy23 said:


> Why do people in the big city never say 'supper' anymore?  What happened to that colloquialism?  I still say it, but my kids always correct me.  Supper used to be a lighter meal than dinner.  Now we use lunch, which is a light meal, and dinner, which is a bigger meal.



Not the way I learned it!!!! Supper is the evening meal.  Always.  There's breakfast in the morning, lunch near midday, and supper in the evening.  

"Dinner", however, is the principal meal.  So on most days dinner was supper.  But on Sundays, lunch was usually dinner.  

On Holidays, dinner would be whenever the big meal occurred.  If the dinner was a noonish meal, then the dinner was lunch and there would be a light supper near the end of the day.  If holiday dinner was in the evening (as was usually the case in my family on Christmas Eve), then dinner was supper and there would be a light lunch that day.


----------



## dmbrand (Sep 7, 2010)

Inland North

The Don - Dawn question is classic.  I don't know how many times I have been on vacation and someone pronounces my name as Don. 

Most people peg my accent when I say "bag."  Oh well, I haven't had anyone not understand me yet, so I must be doing alright. 

Another telltale WI word:  bubbler, aka water fountain.


----------



## T_R_Oglodyte (Sep 7, 2010)

dmbrand said:


> Another telltale WI word:  bubbler, aka water fountain.



I grew up in Minneapolis - never heard of a "bubbler" until I hung out with a Milwuakee girl in college.

Of course, having grown up in Minneapolis, I know what a rubber binder is, I know what snoos is and I know that snoos is not the same as a snoos.


----------



## rickandcindy23 (Sep 7, 2010)

Supper is also always the evening meal in Nebraska.   But it was usually lighter than dinner, which was the big meal on the farm.  The guys were hungry by dinner.  

There was no such thing as lunch on the farm.  If someone said you were "out to lunch," that meant something entirely different.


----------



## KarenLK (Sep 7, 2010)

I think some of the words, not pronunciations, are familial, and not regional. 

As a child we used supper, not dinner, for the everyday last meal of the day. I always assumed dinner was on Sunday, and it was earlier.

As a child my mother used the word davenport, and now I use couch. I rarely use sofa.

My neighbor, also from here, always talks about the parlor. we use living room. I always associate parlor with a funeral parlor, or my Polish-American friends. 

I eat rolls, and my Canadian friends eat buns.


----------



## pjrose (Sep 7, 2010)

KarenLK said:


> I think some of the words, not pronunciations, are familial, and not regional.



Yes, but also age cohort.

For me, it's Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner.  I have midwest friends who say "evening meal".  
Right now I'm sitting in the living room on my couch.


----------



## rhonda (Sep 7, 2010)

Philadelphia.  Indeed, I attended primary school in NJ not too far from Philly.


----------



## Pens_Fan (Sep 7, 2010)

Inland north.

Given the choices, I guess that was as close as it was going to get.


----------



## lvhmbh (Sep 7, 2010)

Haven't lived in the Philadelphia area in many (39) years but it pegged me as Philadelphia.  Guess it never really goes away.  I have to change my pronunciation of Aunt with some people as I say ant and they say ahnt


----------



## riperoo (Sep 7, 2010)

Damn, inland north, Philly, that is pretty good!!!


----------



## Luanne (Sep 7, 2010)

The West.

Since I was born and raised in California, that's right.


----------



## rickandcindy23 (Sep 7, 2010)

> As a child we used supper, not dinner, for the everyday last meal of the day. I always assumed dinner was on Sunday, and it was earlier.
> 
> As a child my mother used the word davenport, and now I use couch. I rarely use sofa.



Yes, I agree that supper is the last meal of the day, but my kids think I am some kind of hick for saying that.  Maybe they have me pegged.  How ethnocentric of my kids, even on the verge of snobbish.   I don't like being corrected over something so minor.  Rick told our daughter they called it The Last Supper, not The Last Dinner.  

Davenport is definitely midwest.  Is your mom from somewhere other than NY?  Grandma always says davenport.  I should start doing that, too, and drive my kids nuts.   For Denver, it's sofa.  You see sofas advertised, never couches.


----------



## Karen G (Sep 7, 2010)

When it said my accent was Midland, I thought that meant Midland, Texas. That would be pretty close as I grew up in Amarillo, TX.


----------



## Don (Sep 7, 2010)

*Northeast!!!!*

How the heck did I get northeast?  I was born, raised and lived in Virginia until 10 years ago when we moved to FL.  My parents were from Wisconsin and South Carolina.  I say Y'all instead of youse guys.  I am anything but northeast.

Steve, I once knew a girl from CT. who called a water fountain a "water bubbler".


----------



## Passepartout (Sep 7, 2010)

I suspect KeithT will be having a good time with us colonists discussing our differences between our Englishes and the English that was brought to our shores from that other (sort of) English speaking place. 

Jim Ricks


----------



## Ken555 (Sep 7, 2010)

Hmm... I was born and raised in Los Angeles, and I got:



> "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.



Seems like I'm in the wrong business - I need to be on TV!


----------



## laurac260 (Sep 7, 2010)

Thanks for the quiz.  I've always found dialects fascinating, especially after taking a class on regional dialects in college.   Mine was Midland.  No surprise there. 

I grew up in SW OH, which we were always told was Midwest.  And I thought that too, until I spent a year in Kansas City, which also calls itself the midwest.  I found KC and Cincinnati to be very different.   So if KC is the midwest, what is SW OH?  It certainly isn't Northeast, which is how I refer to Cleveland (though someone from NH wouldn't call Cleveland Northeast, what would they call them?), and it isn't south, which is how I refer to Louisville KY, which certainly isn't south if you live in GA!

 My father is from Louisville KY.  KY'ers consider Louisville NOT part of KY!  But he definitely had a southern accent, atleast compared SW OH, and I learned how to speak from him.  As a young 20 something I decided that to warsh your clothes sounded uneducated, so I dropped that quickly.  

I have heard Minnesota referred to as midwest, but the the accent is very strong.  It sounds foreign to my SW OH ears!  You do get a bit of a southern accent from some people here.  Interestingly Cleveland and Cincinnati dialects are so different you would think they were from separate states!

Speaking of Dawn and Don, I don't hear a difference at all when I say those two words.  I'm not even sure how I would go about making them SOUND different.

My husband is from Buffalo, and when I moved there with him I discovered a peculiar habit that Buffalonians have in speaking.  Instead of saying, "Susie got her hair cut."  They instead say, "She got her hair cut, Susie."   or, "She went to the store, Susie."   And I'm looking at them going, huh?  When I would ask my husband about going somewhere, he'd say, "We'll go there after."  The first time I heard him say that I said, "After what?"  and he looked at me curiously, as if I didn't understand plain English!

Recently we invited some friends over for dinner.  They are from Boston.  They declined our invitation for the evening, because they had to do something right after dinner.  The reply was, "I wouldn't want to chew and screw."   At first I didn't understand what she was saying, then I realized it was a very coarse way of saying, "I wouldn't want to eat and run."   When I teased her about it later, she said, "you've never heard that before?"  and I said "No, but once I got out my Boston to Ohio dictionary I realized you meant 'eat and run'."


----------



## laurac260 (Sep 7, 2010)

So, speaking of regions, what region would you consider the following cities?  Answer in relation to where you live, but think about your answer to each city in relation to the other cities listed.  

Cincinnati

Cleveland

Kansas City

St Louis

Denver

Louisville KY

Nashville TN

Tampa FL

Minnesota

Chicago

Buffalo


----------



## KarenLK (Sep 7, 2010)

Laura, I am from Buffalo, and have never heard anyone speak that way. We are talking about Buffalo, NY?? Is he from South Buffalo, because that is a whole other ball of wax.


----------



## caribbeansun (Sep 7, 2010)

Haha, says "Outsiders probably mistake you for a Canadian a lot."  which is a good things since I am Canadian...


----------



## laurac260 (Sep 7, 2010)

KarenLK said:


> Laura, I am from Buffalo, and have never heard anyone speak that way. We are talking about Buffalo, NY?? Is he from South Buffalo, because that is a whole other ball of wax.



No.  Tonawanda.  I lived in Buffalo for 3 1/2 years, and heard it everywhere I went.  Downtown where I worked, Tonawanda, Amherst, North Tonawanda, Cheektowaga.  When I mentioned this to some people we were with a few weeks ago at a get together in Williamsville, they thought about it for a few minutes, then said wow, I never realized we did that!  My husband had never heard it either, till I asked him about it years ago.  

 Interestingly I picked it up too, and catch myself still speaking that way, even though we left the area some 8 or 9 years ago.


----------



## jme (Sep 7, 2010)

*weird?*

mine said Philadelphia at about the 3/4 mark, but south was at the exact same level, with inland north just a smidge behind, and midland just a small bit behind that, etc....

    [************....]    philly
    [************....]    south
    [***********.....]    inland north
    [*********........]    midland
    [****................]    boston
    [****................]    west

so, now I'm having another identity crisis.   Who am I exactly?

I was born and raised in Georgia, and have never lived anywhere else, BUT I do NOT pronounce words in a southern drawl......maybe because of a life-long effort to sound "regular", whatever that means.  I hope I can figure myself out soon....i don't know what to say, or how to say it now.......

Maybe i should live in "south philly", toward the inland side.......jme


----------



## KarenLK (Sep 7, 2010)

Laura, I live in Tonawanda.


----------



## John Cummings (Sep 7, 2010)

Mine is "The West" which doesn't surprise me as I have lived most of my life in the West.

I do pickup accents very easily so mine will vary depending on where I am at.


----------



## w879jr1 (Sep 7, 2010)

*Pardon my intrusion. (or Excuse my intrusion?)*



Passepartout said:


> I suspect KeithT will be having a good time with us colonists discussing our differences between our Englishes and the English that was brought to our shores from that other (sort of) English speaking place.
> 
> Jim Ricks



As an inhabitant of Northern England, in my case the results of this test said that I had an Inland North accent. Close enough I guess. Interestingly I am likely to call carbonated drinks 'pop'.

If I modified my "arnsers" to how I imagined someone from the south of England would respond the result was that a Midland accent was identified. I will be interested to see what KeithT finds if he tries the test. My daughter has "migrated" to KeithT's Gloucestershire (for the better weather) and I know that that the accents of people of that county will differ widely among themselves.

When visiting the US I find that in the East (north and south) I am immediately identified as being English. In the western states people are less certain and try either Australian or English.


----------



## T_R_Oglodyte (Sep 7, 2010)

caribbeansun said:


> Haha, says "Outsiders probably mistake you for a Canadian a lot."  which is a good things since I am Canadian...



Pretty funny, eh?


----------



## cotraveller (Sep 7, 2010)

rickandcindy23 said:


> Denver is definitely west.  Midland would be Nebraska.  I know I am more of a Nebraskan speaker than Denver, because I was born and raised there for a number of years, then moved to Denver as a child but visited Nebraska many weeks of each year.  My grandmother is still in NE, and she is 92 now.  She would definitely be a Nebraska speaker.
> 
> Why do people in the big city never say 'supper' anymore?  What happened to that colloquialism?  I still say it, but my kids always correct me.  Supper used to be a lighter meal than dinner.  Now we use lunch, which is a light meal, and dinner, which is a bigger meal.
> 
> Do y'all say 'supper?'



I grew up in the country in southeast Nebraska in the 1940's and early 1950's.  We had breakfast in the morning and supper was the big meal in the evening.  Except on Sunday, then dinner was the big meal at noon, right after getting home from church.  I carried lunch to school in my lunch box.  I don't know if it was still lunch in the summer or if the adults called it that.

We moved to Denver in 1955. I went to high school and college here and have lived here ever since.  If someone asks where I am from my answer is Denver, although technically that is not correct, we are in Lakewood, a Denver suburb.  About the only time I would answer Nebraska is if someone asked where I was born.  I still have supper which I interchangeably refer to as dinner. Both are now evening meals.  When we go out we go out to lunch for a midday meal or out to dinner in the evening.  Either one could be a big meal, it is the time of day that determines the lunch or dinner name.

Maybe I have a Nebraska accent and don't realize it.  Perhaps it is because I left Nebraska such a long time ago and have had little contact with Nebraskans, but I don't notice a lot of difference in accents from Nebraska west. I couldn't tell you the difference between a Nebraska accent and a Denver one.  Maybe if I heard them side by side I would recognize a difference. The y'all you included is not something I would associate with Nebraska.  I associate that with my relatives from Texas.

I am still at a loss as to what a west accent is (without the Nebraska influence) other than the reference to highways.  If I asked someone for directions to their house in Denver and they told me to take The 25 rather than I-25 I would assume they are from California. I hear that in Nevada also, including on the traffic reports when we go to Las Vegas.


----------



## mbeach89 (Sep 7, 2010)

Midland !   I thought the quiz was too easy and that almost everyone spoke the same.  Nailed it though....lived in Ohio all my life.


----------



## PigsDad (Sep 7, 2010)

rickandcindy23 said:


> Supper is also always the evening meal in Nebraska.   But it was usually lighter than dinner, which was the big meal on the farm.  The guys were hungry by dinner.
> 
> There was no such thing as lunch on the farm.


I grew up on a farm in MN, and we had breakfast, dinner at noon (the large meal), lunch at about 4-5pm (sandwich, etc.), and then supper (light meal) that could be anywhere from 7pm to 11pm, depending on time of year and activities.  For example, during harvest season it was rare to eat supper before 10pm.

BTW, the web site pegged me as "midland".

Kurt


----------



## Blue Skies (Sep 7, 2010)

laurac260 said:


> Speaking of Dawn and Don, I don't hear a difference at all when I say those two words.  I'm not even sure how I would go about making them SOUND different.



In the Inland North accent, Dawn and Don sound very different from each other. 

Out of curiosity, do the words "Dawn" and "lawn" rhyme?  If "Dawn" and "lawn" rhyme, is it logical to assume that "lawn" and "Don" also have the same sound?


----------



## Rose Pink (Sep 7, 2010)

Passepartout said:


> Interesting, but doesn't take into consideration accents within geographic areas. Who hasn't heard a Brooklyn accent? Or Baltimore, Hon? *Or (with apologies, Rose)what I call 'Utahnics'. *
> 
> Jim Ricks


I've heard it said that Utah is the only place where a harpsichord is pronounced horpsicard. (vowels in the first and last syllable being transposed)

And then there is the little town of Hurricane in southern Utah.  It's pronounced _Hercn _but the residents.  

And then there is Tooele. T_wo-illa._


----------



## Rose Pink (Sep 7, 2010)

Blue Skies said:


> In the Inland North accent, Dawn and Don sound very different from each other.
> 
> Out of curiosity, do the words "Dawn" and "lawn" rhyme? If "Dawn" and "lawn" rhyme, is it logical to assume that "lawn" and "Don" also have the same sound?


They do to me.  I am with Laura, I don't even know how to make them sound different.


----------



## rickandcindy23 (Sep 7, 2010)

> The y'all you included is not something I would associate with Nebraska. I associate that with my relatives from Texas.



I said y'all because I know that southerners say supper a lot.  So I was hoping to attract the southern TUG members with that one.


----------



## laurac260 (Sep 7, 2010)

Blue Skies said:


> In the Inland North accent, Dawn and Don sound very different from each other.
> 
> Out of curiosity, do the words "Dawn" and "lawn" rhyme?  If "Dawn" and "lawn" rhyme, is it logical to assume that "lawn" and "Don" also have the same sound?



Yes the words Dawn and lawn rhyme.  Is it logical to assume that lawn and don rhyme?  Well, I don't think logic really applies to a discussion about linguistics.  Some might say your question was all for not, but I am sure you thought it was "not" for "naught"!


----------



## rapmarks (Sep 7, 2010)

now come on ..... Dawn and Don don't sound anything alike.  

How about the word pocketbook, "I love your pocketbook"   I would never thnk of calling it a pocketbook.  

My husband was introduced to a young man who was from Romania who said his wife managed Buffalo Phil's.  My husband is hard of hearing and said where is Buffalo Phe-als?  He got a pretty sharp elbow int he ribs for that.


----------



## T_R_Oglodyte (Sep 7, 2010)

The rine in Spine fahs minely on the pline.


----------



## T_R_Oglodyte (Sep 7, 2010)

When I met my DIL's father-in-law, I struggled to understand what he was saying.  I had to get my ear retrained to work through his thick Chinese accent.

One time I asked him whether he spoke Cantonese or Mandarin as his primary language. His response surprised me; he said "Neither.  English is my first language."

He grew up in the Chinese community in Singapore, and the English that he learned was spoken by people who were native speakers of Chinese with the associated accents.  So to him that heavy Chinese accent is his natural accent.


----------



## 3kids4me (Sep 7, 2010)

rapmarks said:


> now come on ..... Dawn and Don don't sound anything alike.



Except when you're singing "Delta Dawn, what's that flower you have on....".  Then, all of a sudden, it rhymes...lol!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYJzjd8HGMM


----------



## laurac260 (Sep 7, 2010)

3kids4me said:


> Except when you're singing "Delta Dawn, what's that flower you have on....".  Then, all of a sudden, it rhymes...lol!!
> 
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYJzjd8HGMM



That's exactly what I was thinking!  Someone please explain to me, phonetically speaking, how Dawn and Don DON'T rhyme!  I can't figure this one out for the life of me.


----------



## Nickfromct (Sep 7, 2010)

I got The Northeast, which is spot on. 

25 years ago I moved from Westchester County, NY (which is just north of NYC) to Connecticut, which was a total of about 40 miles in distance.  I met my new neighbor for the first time and after I said hello, the first words out of his mouth were "you must be from New York".  I said how could you tell and he said by your accent.  I couldn't get over that from such a small amount of distance, he could pick up a noticeable accent in my voice.


----------



## T_R_Oglodyte (Sep 7, 2010)

laurac260 said:


> That's exactly what I was thinking!  Someone please explain to me, phonetically speaking, how Dawn and Don DON'T rhyme!  I can't figure this one out for the life of me.



The "aw" of dawn is similar to the "augh" sound in "caught".  The "o" in "Don" (or "on") is like the "o" in "top".


----------



## rickandcindy23 (Sep 7, 2010)

T_R_Oglodyte said:


> When I met my DIL's father-in-law,



Aren't you your daughter-in-law's father-in-law?


----------



## laurac260 (Sep 7, 2010)

T_R_Oglodyte said:


> The "aw" of dawn is similar to the "augh" sound in "caught".  The "o" in "Don" (or "on") is like the "o" in "top".



sorry this does not help me!  Because where I come from, caught, don, don and top all sound the same!  But let's have merriam-webster's solve this one for us.  

1don vt \ˈdän\

and

dawn vi \ˈdȯn, ˈdän\

So, while there MAY be more than one way to say a word, dawn and don CAN very well sound exactly the same!


----------



## dmbrand (Sep 7, 2010)

Well, for one, Don and Dawn aren't spelled the same.   The aw rhymes with lawn, fawn, drawn, brawl, yawn, crawl, Paul, etc.  At least, here in the midwest it does.  The O in Don rhymes with cod, pod, rod, nod, etc.

I did check Webster's pronunciation, and it appears that both sounds are acceptable; all depends on where you are from.

There have been times, in social situations, that I have not responded to someone saying my name because I simply did not realize that they were referring to me....it sounded *that* different.  It isn't anything to get to upset about; good conversation banter.


----------



## laurac260 (Sep 7, 2010)

dmbrand said:


> Well, for one, Don and Dawn aren't spelled the same.   The aw rhymes with lawn, fawn, drawn, brawl, yawn, crawl, Paul, etc.  At least, here in the midwest it does.  The O in Don rhymes with cod, pod, rod, nod, etc.
> 
> I did check Webster's pronunciation, and it appears that both sounds are acceptable; all depends on where you are from.
> 
> There have been times, in social situations, that I have not responded to someone saying my name because I simply did not realize that they were referring to me....it sounded *that* different.  It isn't anything to get to upset about; good conversation banter.



I don't think anyone's getting upset, we're just bantering.  I am looking at your list, and I hear the same thing when I say don, dawn, lawn and fawn.  Yawn and crawl have decidedly different sounds compared to each other, to my ears anyway.   I have heard cod sound both like cod and cad, but pod and don and dawn and not sound the same to me.   It's all where you come from I guess!

Unfortunately it's still a mystery to me as to what Dawn sounds like if it doesn't sound just like Don.  Apparently SW OH pronounces it differently than what others are used to hearing.


----------



## laurac260 (Sep 7, 2010)

dmbrand said:


> Well, for one, Don and Dawn aren't spelled the same.


  True, but the dictionary gives us lots of examples of words that are spelled differently but sound the same.


----------



## John Cummings (Sep 7, 2010)

T_R_Oglodyte said:


> The "aw" of dawn is similar to the "augh" sound in "caught".  The "o" in "Don" (or "on") is like the "o" in "top".



That is why they sound the same.


----------



## laurac260 (Sep 7, 2010)

KarenLK said:


> Laura, I live in Tonawanda.



my husband grew up across the street from Green Acres elementary.  His mother still lives there.


----------



## John Cummings (Sep 7, 2010)

dmbrand said:


> Well, for one, Don and Dawn aren't spelled the same.   The aw rhymes with lawn, fawn, drawn, brawl, yawn, crawl, Paul, etc.  At least, here in the midwest it does.  The O in Don rhymes with cod, pod, rod, nod, etc....



Regardless of the spelling, your examples still show that they sound the same.


----------



## sfwilshire (Sep 7, 2010)

Southern according to this, but far from it really. I can put one on if I'm around others with an accent, and some of my family members have one, but 12 years in radio turned my speech into the typical bland Midwestern non-accented.

Sheila


----------



## ricoba (Sep 7, 2010)

I am a true Westerner.

I would have been surprised if I hadn't been since all most all of my life has been lived on the West Coast of the United States and Canada.


----------



## laurac260 (Sep 7, 2010)

definitely an interesting conversation.  I remember back when I took the regional dialects class, watching a short movie showing different people from different regions.  They showed a guy from some coastal city  in the northeast,  laughing as he described a guy from the south and how funny he sounded.  I remember how, had it not been for the subtitles I would not have been able to understand most of what he had said.


----------



## PigsDad (Sep 7, 2010)

T_R_Oglodyte said:


> When I met my DIL's father-in-law...



Wouldn't your daughter-in-law's father-in-law be _you_?   

Kurt


----------



## T_R_Oglodyte (Sep 7, 2010)

PigsDad said:


> Wouldn't your daughter-in-law's father-in-law be _you_?
> 
> Kurt


You think you're confused.  Imagine what it's going to be like for my grandkids!!!!!   

Of course, I meant my DIL's father/DS's FIL.


----------



## heathpack (Sep 7, 2010)

rickandcindy23 said:


> Why do people in the big city never say 'supper' anymore?  What happened to that colloquialism?  I still say it, but my kids always correct me.  Supper used to be a lighter meal than dinner.  Now we use lunch, which is a light meal, and dinner, which is a bigger meal.
> 
> Do y'all say 'supper?'



Never realized this until just now-- we eat dinner but we feed our dogs supper.  I don't know whats up with _that_.

Maybe our dogs just seem like good country folk to us.   

H


----------



## tschwa2 (Sep 7, 2010)

7. Do you think the word "on" rhymes with "dawn" or with "don"?

I had trouble with this one because the way I say on is more like the oin in oink which definately does not rhyme with dawn or don which sound different to me the way I say it.

My family teases me about the way I say glass which has the country twang of an "a" like in at.

I also have the regional Baltimore/DC tendancy to say wooder instead of water and q-pon for coupon.


----------



## Weimaraner (Sep 7, 2010)

It was dead on with me - The Inland North (I'm from Michigan). Even mentions when "when you step away from the Great Lakes..." Wow that's eerie or should I say "Erie"?


----------



## falmouth3 (Sep 7, 2010)

I grew up on Long Island but for some reason never had a LI accent (or much of one).  I went to school in Cortland and thought the accents of the upstaters were hysterical.  Then I moved to Rochester (Roch-ster) and married an upstater.  I was there 21 years.  Moved to New England 12 years ago.  

I was talking to my mother a few years ago and said Boston.  She said what a couple of times and so I said Bawstin.  She said "Oh, Bawstin."  Jeez, even my mother can't understand me.:ignore:  

Although no one else seems to be able to figure out where I'm from, I did get classified as "Northeast".  I guess that's as good a term for my accent as any.


----------



## KarenLK (Sep 7, 2010)

Laura...I live about 2 miles away, and worked at Kenmore East. But I say that dawn and don are two separate pronunciations.


----------



## judyjht (Sep 7, 2010)

Boston. You definitely have a Boston accent, even if you think you don't.

Got me good.  Born & bred!!


----------



## Steve (Sep 8, 2010)

This test was interesting.  I am classified as having "The Midland" accent.  I grew up mostly in Virginia and have also lived in Alabama, Europe, Colorado, Wyoming and now a long time in Utah.  I have never lived in the midwest.  I guess if you combine mid-Atlantic, Southern, and Rocky Mountain, you get "The Midland".

Steve


----------



## jamstew (Sep 8, 2010)

This born & bred Texas got "The Midland." I did live in Utah when I was 4-6 years old and in Mississippi as a young adult, but other than that, the rest of my 64 years have been in Texas, both cities and small towns.


----------



## CarolF (Sep 8, 2010)

The Northeast apparently.

Somehow I think all of you would identify my accent as Australian (except of course when I sing Delta Dawn  )


----------



## timesharejunkie4 (Sep 8, 2010)

Philadelphia for me which is dead on. Never lived more than 40 miles from the city in 57 years!


----------



## Janette (Sep 8, 2010)

I've been around my northeastern friends in Sun City too much. I guess I was thinking of the way they speak when I answered. They would laugh that this very southern lady was described as being from NY.


----------



## rapmarks (Sep 8, 2010)

I remember seeing the young woman who played lewellan's wife (Josh Brolin)in "No country for Old men", she was australian.  I couldn't believe she could play that Texas accent so well.


----------



## M. Henley (Sep 8, 2010)

*Hmmm...*

I must have done something wrong.  Came out Philidelphia and I ain't ever even thar.
A far west Kentucky accent is unlike anything you may have heard, but apparently is somewhat similar to east Texas.


----------



## Rose Pink (Sep 8, 2010)

laurac260 said:


> sorry this does not help me! Because where I come from, caught, don, don and top all sound the same! But let's have merriam-webster's solve this one for us.
> 
> 1don vt \ˈdän\
> 
> ...


I finally went to an on-line dictionary and listened to the pronunciations. Dawn does sound slightly different than don but I cannot replicate it with my speech. It is not a sound I make. Dawn has sort of a long O sound but also something like a o-ah sound. It's like nothing I've ever said and I don't think I've ever heard anyone else say it, either. If I hadn't been listening so closely, I wouldn't have picked out the difference on the dictionary vocal. So, in real speech they still sound the same to me.


----------



## rickandcindy23 (Sep 8, 2010)

We were sitting next to a nice family from Boston during Illuminations at Epcot, and we were enjoying our conversation with them, particularly because our mid-west accents are very different from theirs.  I got a kick out of it when they asked where we were from, and we told them Colorado, and she said she loved our accent!  Rick thought that was hilarious, because they were so Boston in their speech, and he felt they didn't think they had the accent.


----------



## Pens_Fan (Sep 8, 2010)

falmouth3 said:


> I grew up on Long Island but for some reason never had a LI accent (or much of one).  I went to school in Cortland and thought the accents of the upstaters were hysterical.



That's okay.  We always thought that the people from Lon Gisland and the City talked funny too.


----------



## rhonda (Sep 8, 2010)

I've been laughing over the whole "Don/Dawn" topic having just spent the entire month of August weighing a decision involving three people:  *Don* (mgr of my current stable), *Dawn* (mgr of my likely future stable) and *Donna* (seller of my "new" horse).  I learned to enunciate very carefully between Don/Dawn as the two names were frequently used within a single sentence.  I _found_ a way to slip that "w" sound into Dawn w/out drawing the name into two syllables.


----------



## scrapngen (Sep 8, 2010)

What an interesting thread!

I ended up being strong Midland. I guess that means they can't pin me down to a more specific region. 

I lived in Illinois until I was 7, and then grew up in New Mexico. (I guess that is all "Midland") My parents grew up in Southern Michigan. I never thought I had an accent in New Mexico, but when I went to college in Michigan, they thought I talked with an accent, although people couldn't pin it down. (pin, not pen) Finally decided I talked "slower." I actually think I talk quite fast.  

Since then, I've been fascinated with accents, and do pick up phrases and expressions from those around me. I love the differences, and find it a great way to start a conversation. As we are all lovers of travel at this site, it seems apropos.

My father's name is Don. I would never pronounce it the same was as Dawn, a girl's name. (and I have known a Dawn or two) but having heard other people "mix them up," I can see that they are similar.

I am very confused about Mary, merry and marry. They all sound identical to me. I can't even imagine how they could be different?? My sister's name is Mary, and if she married someone and made merry it would all be pronounced the same way to me.  Can anyone help with this?

When I met my in-laws, I had read the word "crick" in books as a small stream. (short i sound, rhymes with flick) I also knew the work "creek" as a small stream. (long e sound, rhymes with leak or cheek) I thought "creeks" were bigger than "cricks." However, I discovered that when my in-laws said "crick" they spelled it "creek" ?? 

It is interesting that some people think Australians and Texans sound similar. Having grown up near the state of Texas and heard many regional Texas accents (even within the state there are variances, but all are still uniquely Texan to my ear)  I find that the Australian accent is to a Queen's British accent  as the Texan accent is to the midwest/reporter's American accent. Either way it is a drawled sound, but I don't think I'd confuse the two. The Australian still has the British style, somehow.  I had a discussion about accents with an Australian woman from Sydney who liked my "gentle" voice and thought hers was harsh. I disagreed, as her voice was charming. I will say that some panhandle Texan accents can be a little harsh to my ear. Also, why in a place as large as Australia, is there only one "Australia" accent? I asked a couple Australians when it came up who agreed there is just the one accent, other than maybe a city vs. country accent. Yet America has generated a huge variety of accents. 

I also find it interesting when people add a consonant to some words:  water is pronounced "war-ter," wash is pronounced "warsh." 

I think accents are part of a person's charm/personality.   Sometimes it adds perspective, as long as it isn't used to stereotype. The phasing from some areas, such as the Connecticut or Northeast "Ayuh" or the Northern Michigan/Canadian lift at the end of a sentence that sounds like a question. Hawaii. Alaska.  
The difference of "Mickey-D's, Mac's, Macchia's or MacDonald's" depending on your region. Those places where "Coke" means any carbonated drink including orange flavors or other brands. "Cajun country." I honestly found some radio stations in Louisiana where, try as I might, I could not understand what was being said.


----------



## Rose Pink (Sep 8, 2010)

rhonda said:


> I _found_ a way to slip that "w" sound into Dawn w/out drawing the name into two syllables.


I am trying but I keep saying "down."  I can't seem to make the "ah" in Dawn go with a w sound without it sounding really weird.


----------



## rhonda (Sep 8, 2010)

Rose Pink said:


> I am trying but I keep saying "down."  I can't seem to make the "ah" in Dawn go with a w sound without it sounding really weird.


To me, 'Dawn' sounds closes to 'gone.'  Other words that helped me find the soft "w" were awning (the second syllable helped me trip less over the 'wn' combo) and the more obvious fawn, lawn and pawn. I use an 'a' (or 'ah' as you suggest) that comes from 'wand.'


----------



## laurac260 (Sep 8, 2010)

rhonda said:


> To me, 'Dawn' sounds closes to 'gone.'  Other words that helped me find the soft "w" were awning (the second syllable helped me trip less over the 'wn' combo) and the more obvious fawn, lawn and pawn. I use an 'a' (or 'ah' as you suggest) that comes from 'wand.'



I agree with that.  Dawn sounds like gone, which also sounds like awning, and fawn, and lawn and pawn.

And they all rhyme with Don!


----------



## rickandcindy23 (Sep 8, 2010)

My sister and I have identical speech impediments, which I believe are caused by our mid-west/ western accents.  And maybe they are just tongue twisters like She sells seashells... and Peter Piper picked a pec...But maybe these phrases are difficult for you too, so try them for me and let me know how it goes:

Rural mail carrier (my sister was telling her husband that she would like to apply for a job as a rural mail carrier, and he said, "If you cannot say it, you should not choose it as a profession."  )

Rear-wheel drive

Rear window (like the movie)

Just the word rural is hard for me.  I sound like a tongue-tied drunk when I say it.


----------



## rhonda (Sep 8, 2010)

laurac260 said:


> I agree with that.  Dawn sounds like gone, which also sounds like awning, and fawn, and lawn and pawn.
> 
> And they all rhyme with Don!


LOL!  Ok ...

To me, Don rhymes with John and the first syllable of 'yonder.'  John does not sound anything like Dawn.


----------



## T_R_Oglodyte (Sep 8, 2010)

rhonda said:


> LOL!  Ok ...
> 
> John does not sound anything like Dawn.



Not until John had his operation. :ignore:


----------



## rhonda (Sep 8, 2010)

T_R_Oglodyte said:


> Not until John had his operation. :ignore:


Thanks, that totally cracked me up!


----------



## dmbrand (Sep 8, 2010)

I think it is rather awesome how far we've come as a country.  Two hundred years ago, many would be speaking different languages.  We would be asking each other from which country we originate.  Now, we have developed*(?) the english language to the point that we can decipher which part of the country we are all from.

*this is a lame attempt, help me with a better vocab word.


----------



## vacationhopeful (Sep 8, 2010)

Dawn -
"evolved"?


----------



## laurac260 (Sep 8, 2010)

vacationhopeful said:


> Dawn -
> "evolved"?




My first thought when I read this was that it was a fragmented comment, meaning, "How evolved can we be if we cannot agree on Dawn?"  

Then I read the thread above it.  Still......


----------



## Zac495 (Sep 8, 2010)

Philadelphia. I said water like this Wood - er


----------



## Rose Pink (Sep 8, 2010)

laurac260 said:


> I agree with that. Dawn sounds like gone, which also sounds like awning, and fawn, and lawn and pawn.
> 
> And they all rhyme with Don!


Same to my ears.


----------



## dmbrand (Sep 8, 2010)

Ellen, I can almost hear you say that   We were in Maine this past July, heard all kinds of accents; the lobstermen really had the most pronounced.

Because I love vacationing in the Northeast; I truly believe that accent is my favorite to hear.


----------



## boyblue (Sep 8, 2010)

Boston Mon!  I guess Bahamians and Bostonians have more in common than our love of "The Fish" - Go Marlins!


----------



## scrapngen (Sep 8, 2010)

My DD's took the test after coming home from school. (I'm Midwest and think Don/Dawn very different) My 10 year old tested as West. Makes sense as both girls were born and have always lived in Washington. However, my 12 year old tested as Midwest. 

We figured out that while my 12 year old and I didn't answer all the questions the same,  it had to do with thinking certain words sounded different while the "West" daughter thought more words sound the same than either of us.

Both girls think Don and Dawn sound the same. Even when I say it! I exaggerated it just a bit, and they thought I sounded weird when saying Dawn. I used the examples throughout this thread and they adamantly clung to the opinion that all the words used as examples sounded the same. lawn, top, awning, etc. To me, my girls' pronunciation is somewhere in the middle, but closer to Dawn. When my 10 year old says top, it does rhyme with lawn and fawn, but the 12 year old thinks top sounds slightly different.  "Curiouser and curiouser," as Alice would say.


----------



## Texasbelle (Sep 9, 2010)

Not sure if it is area or inattention to the word...rural not "rule."  And realtor not "relator."  Nuclear not nucular.  Then there was the teacher who told the students that "pin" and "pen" rhymed!  [And how can Favre be pronounced farve?  Go figure.]  Have heard jaguar pronounced "jag-u-ar" and "jag-wire" on commercials for the sports team and car.


----------



## T_R_Oglodyte (Sep 9, 2010)

Texasbelle said:


> And how can Favre be pronounced farve?  Go figure.



Same way that Worcester can be pronounced "Wooster" and Worcestershire can be pronounced "wurst'-a-sher"


----------



## SunSand (Sep 9, 2010)

Omaha here.  People are surprised by my non-accent... pretty clear and accent-less.  And I can spot a Minnesotan, North Dakotan, and a Iowaeegian, a mile away.


----------



## Zac495 (Sep 9, 2010)

dmbrand said:


> Ellen, I can almost hear you say that   We were in Maine this past July, heard all kinds of accents; the lobstermen really had the most pronounced.
> 
> Because I love vacationing in the Northeast; I truly believe that accent is my favorite to hear.



Haha - when I went to the university of Colorado, people thought when I said water (wooder) I was saying quarter because they said "quaaaaaa ter." it was so confusing. LOL

Very interesting, everyone!! I LOVE meeting  tuggers - done it all over the country - and even Spain. Anyone going to Greece this summer?


----------



## BarCol (Sep 9, 2010)

well I'm a North Central...of course they didn't ask if I automatically put an "eh!" at the end of my sentences..:hysterical:


----------



## Kel (Sep 9, 2010)

The West.


----------



## Jestjoan (Sep 9, 2010)

*SunSand*

We lived in Omaha, too. Lots of telemarking companies because of no accent.


----------



## glypnirsgirl (Sep 10, 2010)

Well I scored "Southern" and I don't believe it. I was born in Dallas and I have lived my entire adult life in Fort Worth (which the natives pronounce as Foat Wuth). 

I was TAUGHT that pin and pen were homonyms. While I was visiting New Jersey last month when I asked for a pen, my host could not understand why I would want a pin and asked me what I needed one for. I told him to write with and he said, "oh a pen" and I said, "that is what I said." He just laughed.

Don and Dawn sound the same to me. 

When I was a kid and went to Oregon, they always wanted me to say, "salt." The way my counsins said salt sounded exactly how I said it to me.

While I was recovering, I was taking Spanish lessons by the Rosette Stone method. And had a heck of a time getting the pronunciation correct. I would sometimes have to do words over and over. I could not even work on it in front of my husband who can hear linguistic distinctions much more easily than I can. 

I do have one advantage over Ian though: I can understand almost everyone. My maternal grandmother was a Cajun, my maternal grandfather was from Mississippi. My paternal grandparents lived most of their childhoods and early adulthoods in North Dakota and then moved to Astoria, Oregon. They were Finnish. My grandfather's Finnish accent was so strong, I thought that he was speaking a foreign language most of the time.

What was almost as surprising to me was that second place was "Midland." I lived in Chicago for two years in my mid-20s. I lived many more years on the West Coast from as far south as San Diego to as far north as Everett, WA. I would have thought that I would have scored "West" in second place. 

Love this thread!

elaine


----------



## T_R_Oglodyte (Sep 10, 2010)

glypnirsgirl said:


> When I was a kid and went to Oregon, they always wanted me to say, "salt." The way my counsins said salt sounded exactly how I said it to me.


One thing that always cracks me up when I travel east (i.e., east of the Rocky Mountains - tho those of us who live on the west coast, east is everything east of Colorado Wyoming, or Montana) is how most people pronounce Oregon.

They almost always pronounce it "Ore-uh-gon", with three distinct syllables and the last syllable stressed.  (For those of us who actually live in or around Oregon, it's pronounced "Oruh-gn", stress on the first syllable, and the middle syllable kind of swallowed into the first syllable.  It sounds almost identical with "organ" except with an elided vowel in the middle.)

Anyway, my family back in Minnesota always says it the eastern way.  On one of my trips my niece, who's almost 40 years old and has spent her whole life on the prairies of western Minnesota, tells me that she's planning a visit to Oregon, and she pronounces it "correctly", i.e., the way an Oregonian does.  I looked at her amazed, and said "how did you learn how to pronounce Oregon?".  Turns out she spent a summer at a horse camp where she bonded with a roommate from Oregon, who taught her how to pronounce it.


----------



## M. Henley (Sep 10, 2010)

*Well!!*

I all'es called it Wor-chester-shire.  Jist typical iggerance I guess. 
:ignore: 



T_R_Oglodyte said:


> Same way that Worcester can be pronounced "Wooster" and Worcestershire can be pronounced "wurst'-a-sher"


----------



## T_R_Oglodyte (Sep 10, 2010)

M. Henley said:


> I all'es called it Wor-chester-shire.  Jist typical iggerance I guess.
> :ignore:


In the course of my life I've learned to pronounce it three different ways.  So I reckon I'm once, twice, three times a hick.

So, for a followon question, do "hick" and "creek" rhyme?


----------



## M. Henley (Sep 10, 2010)

*Nah*

Not a chance whar we be.


----------



## dmbrand (Sep 10, 2010)

A few years ago, when we were on the shuttle to our hotel in New Orleans, our driver instructed us in the correct pronunciation of his city's name:

New Aw'-lins, not hear much of an r sound

In my neck of the woods, I hear it said: New Or-leenz', or New Or'-le-anz.

Going to start practicing the correct one with my family, as a bunch of us are headed there in February.


----------



## T_R_Oglodyte (Sep 10, 2010)

dmbrand said:


> A few years ago, when we were on the shuttle to our hotel in New Orleans, our driver instructed us in the correct pronunciation of his city's name:
> 
> New Aw'-lins, not hear much of an r sound
> 
> ...



People from New Orleans that I know when I was in college pronounced it "Naww'-lins".  No trace at all of either the "ew" or "r".  Also two syllables, but they extended the first syllable a bit.


----------



## cotraveller (Sep 10, 2010)

T_R_Oglodyte said:


> So, for a followon question, do "hick" and "creek" rhyme?



Hick ryhmes with crick, which is either a small stream or something you get in your neck.  Creek, also a small stream, rhymes with cheek.  Or-e-gun (with a long e), or Or-uh-gun is a west coast state.  I can't recall ever hearing it as 2 syllables but I have spent very little time in Oregon.  According my copy of the American Heritage Dictionary Oregon is three syllables.  The dictionary was obviously written by one of us easterners.  

A pin could be a short sharp wire with a head on it, a writing instrument (pen), or something you keep the pigs in (pigpen).  A hin (hen), which lays the eggs for breakfast, is not kept in a pin. The hins lay their eggs in nests in the chicken coop.

You say tomayto, I say tomahto, you say potayto, I say potahto . . . .


----------



## Passepartout (Sep 10, 2010)

And while we're in the geography aisle, it's Boy-see Idaho, not Boy-zee. Coeur d'Alene is Core-duh-Lane, and Pend Oreille is Ponderay, Malad is said like m'Lad. With our Native American and French explorer history some of our place names can be difficult for the uninitiated.

Water can flow down a crick or creek interchangeably, but a hick, like a tick is best left alone.

Jim Ricks


----------



## Rose Pink (Sep 10, 2010)

Passepartout said:


> And while we're in the geography aisle, it's Boy-see Idaho, not Boy-zee. Coeur d'Alene is Core-duh-Lane, and Pend Oreille is Ponderay, Malad is said like m'Lad. With our Native American and French explorer history some of our place names can be difficult for the uninitiated.
> 
> Water can flow down a crick or creek interchangeably, but a hick, like a tick is best left alone.
> 
> Jim Ricks


What he said.  And Pocatello is not pronounced po-CAH-tell-o.  It's poc-a-TELL-o.  Or just plain Poky.


----------



## T_R_Oglodyte (Sep 11, 2010)

Rose Pink said:


> What he said.  And Pocatello is not pronounced po-CAH-tell-o.  It's poc-a-TELL-o.  Or just plain Poky.



or "POKE-uh TELL-uh"


----------



## geoand (Sep 11, 2010)

*??????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!*

What American accent do you have?
Your Result: Boston

You definitely have a Boston accent, even if you think you don't. Of course, that doesn't mean you are from the Boston area, you may also be from New Hampshire or Maine.
The West	

The Midland	

North Central	

Philadelphia	

The Northeast	

The Inland North	

The South	


The red line is just short of the right hand side of chart on The West and the Midland then curves to almost no red on the South.

There must be something that I don't know about this test.  I have lived the past 57 years in Tacoma, Seattle, and Bothell, WA.  First 3 years in Japan, short of a year in Fort Dix NJ and the rest as mentioned.  I better read the rest of this thread to see what's up.


----------



## DaveNV (Sep 11, 2010)

Mine said The West.  Hmm.  How can that be?  I was born in California, raised on the west coast, and currently live in Washington state.  I can't believe I could possibly have a western accent.  :hysterical: 

Now, for you wordsmiths:  When referring to a soft drink, do you say "soda" or "pop?"  I've met midwest folks who say "Do you want a pop?" and southeasterners who say "Do you want a soda?"  How do you say it?

Dave


----------



## Nickfromct (Sep 11, 2010)

BMWguynw said:


> Mine said The West.  Hmm.  How can that be?  I was born in California, raised on the west coast, and currently live in Washington state.  I can't believe I could possibly have a western accent.  :hysterical:
> 
> Now, for you wordsmiths:  When referring to a soft drink, do you say "soda" or "pop?"  I've met midwest folks who say "Do you want a pop?" and southeasterners who say "Do you want a soda?"  How do you say it?
> 
> Dave



soda in the northeast


----------



## Rose Pink (Sep 11, 2010)

BMWguynw said:


> Now, for you wordsmiths: When referring to a soft drink, do you say "soda" or "pop?" I've met midwest folks who say "Do you want a pop?" and southeasterners who say "Do you want a soda?" How do you say it?
> 
> Dave


I grew up saying "pop" but changed to "soda" in college because I had a roommate who said "soda" and I thought it sounded better.  For clarification I say "soda pop" or "soft drink."  Usually, though, I just ask for it by brand name or variety such as Coke or root beer.


----------



## Rose Pink (Sep 11, 2010)

T_R_Oglodyte said:


> or "POKE-uh TELL-uh"


Some people say it that way but I was born and raised there.  I say it with an "o" at the end.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W73naRLHJOo


----------



## T_R_Oglodyte (Sep 11, 2010)

BMWguynw said:


> Mine said The West.  Hmm.  How can that be?  I was born in California, raised on the west coast, and currently live in Washington state.  I can't believe I could possibly have a western accent.  :hysterical:
> 
> Now, for you wordsmiths:  When referring to a soft drink, do you say "soda" or "pop?"  I've met midwest folks who say "Do you want a pop?" and southeasterners who say "Do you want a soda?"  How do you say it?
> 
> Dave





Nickfromct said:


> soda in the northeast





Rose Pink said:


> I grew up saying "pop" but changed to "soda" in college because I had a roommate who said "soda" and I thought it sounded better.  For clarification I say "soda pop" or "soft drink."  Usually, though, I just ask for it by brand name or variety such as Coke or root beer.


Some people say "pop", some say "soda", some say "soda pop", some say "coke", some say "soft drink".  






Here's a link to a survey page where you can enter your own preferences: The _Pop_ vs.  _Soda_ Page


----------



## DaveNV (Sep 11, 2010)

Holey crap.  Steve, is there anything you DON'T know?  :hysterical: 

Dave


----------



## Jaybee (Sep 11, 2010)

Mine couldn't be much further off-base. I was born and raised in So. Calif., but my "accent" came out as Northeast.  Go figure!


----------



## Karen G (Sep 11, 2010)

Steve, that chart is really fascinating. I grew up in Amarillo, TX, and always used to use the word "Coke" for all kinds of soft drinks. I see that most of Texas uses that, too.

Now, I just say "Would you like something to drink?" rather than saying "Would you like a Coke?" since there are many other choices.


----------



## Linda74 (Sep 12, 2010)

Hm-m....I was rated Inland North but was born and raised in Ct......my folks were from Nebraska.....so I guess I just have a different accent than my neighbors


----------



## John Cummings (Sep 12, 2010)

BMWguynw said:


> Mine said The West.  Hmm.  How can that be?  I was born in California, raised on the west coast, and currently live in Washington state.  I can't believe I could possibly have a western accent.  :hysterical:
> 
> Now, for you wordsmiths:  When referring to a soft drink, do you say "soda" or "pop?"  I've met midwest folks who say "Do you want a pop?" and southeasterners who say "Do you want a soda?"  How do you say it?
> 
> Dave



I say soda. All my Canadian relatives from Western Canada say pop.


----------



## Rose Pink (Sep 12, 2010)

My family (brother, two sisters, SIL and mother) took a vote.  Don and Dawn sound the same.  They were as surprised as I that to some people, there is a difference.  We tried making it sound different and the results were rather, well, uncomfortable. I wish I could hear how some of you make it sound then maybe I could understand it better.

Now pop and soda definitely don't sound the same.


----------



## Karen G (Sep 12, 2010)

Rose Pink said:


> My family (brother, two sisters, SIL and mother) took a vote.  Don and Dawn sound the same.  They were as surprised as I that to some people, there is a difference.  . . I wish I could hear how some of you make it sound then maybe I could understand it better.



For me, here's how it sounds:  "Don" has the sound of AHH in the middle. "Dawn" has the sound of AWE in the middle.


----------



## billymach4 (Sep 12, 2010)

I don't need a stinking survey to find out what kind of accent I have.


----------



## Rose Pink (Sep 12, 2010)

Karen G said:


> For me, here's how it sounds: "Don" has the sound of AHH in the middle. "Dawn" has the sound of AWE in the middle.


Ahh and awe sound the same to me.  Karen, the  next time I am in Las Vegas, I may need to stop in and listen to you say "dawn."


----------



## Jaybee (Sep 12, 2010)

Karen, that's a perfect description.  




Karen G said:


> For me, here's how it sounds:  "Don" has the sound of AHH in the middle. "Dawn" has the sound of AWE in the middle.


----------



## CarolF (Sep 12, 2010)

21 accents by Amy Walker is clever.  There are 2 Australian accents, I think they are only passable.  Keen to hear if your accent is there and if she does it well. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UgpfSp2t6k

This one has all Australian accents (except for the first few seconds).  Lots of examples of the highly recognisable and entertaining (or aggravating, depending on your point of view) "broad" or "queensland" accent (think Paul Hogan, Steve Irwin) and John Clarke has subtitles  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOnx21oL9zo


----------



## CarolF (Sep 13, 2010)

Rose Pink said:


> I wish I could hear how some of you make it sound then maybe I could understand it better.



The worldwide accent project sounds like fun:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8VTuM129HA&feature=watch_response


----------



## Rose Pink (Sep 13, 2010)

CarolF said:


> The worldwide accent project sounds like fun:
> 
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8VTuM129HA&feature=watch_response


 
Neat idea! Wish the script had Don and Dawn.


----------



## Karen G (Sep 13, 2010)

Rose Pink said:


> Ahh and awe sound the same to me.  Karen, the  next time I am in Las Vegas, I may need to stop in and listen to you say "dawn."


That would be great--I'd love to get together and "talk."

I just realized that the middle of the word "talk" is the same sound as the middle of "Dawn" and the middle of the
work "tock" is the middle of the word "Don" to my ears.


----------



## Rose Pink (Sep 13, 2010)

Karen G said:


> That would be great--I'd love to get together and "talk."
> 
> I just realized that the middle of the word "talk" is the same sound as the middle of "Dawn" and the middle of the
> work "tock" is the middle of the word "Don" to my ears.


And talk and tock sound the same to mine. Guess there's just not as much variety in my sounds.


----------



## rickandcindy23 (Sep 13, 2010)

Rose Pink said:


> Ahh and awe sound the same to me.  Karen, the  next time I am in Las Vegas, I may need to stop in and listen to you say "dawn."



Me, too.


----------



## SueDonJ (Sep 13, 2010)

T_R_Oglodyte said:


> Some people say "pop", some say "soda", some say "soda pop", some say "coke", some say "soft drink". ...



Some of us say "tonic."     Is it just a New England thing?


----------



## rickandcindy23 (Sep 13, 2010)

Karen G said:


> Steve, that chart is really fascinating. I grew up in Amarillo, TX, and always used to use the word "Coke" for all kinds of soft drinks. I see that most of Texas uses that, too.
> 
> Now, I just say "Would you like something to drink?" rather than saying "Would you like a Coke?" since there are many other choices.



I realized years ago that this was very regional.  I tried to order a "pop" while at a restaurant in Texas, and the server just looked at me.  

I asked, "What kind of pop do you have?"  He had no clue what I was talking about.  I basically got a blank stare from the guy.  This was about 20 years ago.  

So I said, "I would like a soft drink," and he said, "Tea, then?  Sweet or un-sweet?"  

Then I said, "Do you have a coke?"  He said, "Sure, what kind of coke do you want?"  My answer was, "Hmmm..., I will take an actual coke."  

It was the strangest conversation I have ever had in my life about pop.  I basically never went anywhere East of Nebraska, south of Kansas until that trip.  

I had been to Arizona, California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, but that was basically our region for travel (lots to see, very little cost to travel), until we decided to see the country via the brand new conversion van we bought for the sole purpose of seeing the country.  

Best traveling of my life, with three excited kids.  I miss those road trips.  Kids don't get how much they are missed, when they are in their 20's and 30's.  I miss everything about those vacations.


----------



## skulipeg (Sep 13, 2010)

Properly pegged me as Canadian (or as close as it gets), but I still think the "Fargo" characters sounded strange.

Washroom/bathroom/restroom and bag/sack are other words that the usage varies depending on where you are.  I'll never forget the first time I bought something at a store and someone asked me if I wanted a sack for that.  My initial response was "a what??"  Kind of like the response a store clerk had when I asked where the washroom was.  "The what??  You mean the restroom??"

I also recall a time we were at the playground at a timeshare resort, and I was telling my daughter to "sit down on your bum" when she was going down the slide.  Another mom said to me "isn't that such a cute word that you just used, I've never heard that before!"  I didn't realize that "bum" wasn't used by everyone!


----------



## bankr63 (Sep 13, 2010)

The Midland.

Probably should have pegged me as Canadian.  Does the Midland include Canada, eh?

What's that all aboot anyways?


----------



## rickandcindy23 (Sep 14, 2010)

I didn't think awe and dawn sounded different at all, until I talked to a good friend from Jersey today.  

He said, "That game was awesome."  And I said, "Say dawn."  He said it, and he definitely made those two sound very different.  

How odd.  :rofl: He almost puts more of an "O" sound for the "A" at the beginning of awesome, but not really.  Just so different from how I say both words.  I know about regional differences but don't think too much about it most of the time.


----------



## Debbyd57 (Sep 14, 2010)

T_R_Oglodyte said:


> I grew up in Minneapolis - never heard of a "bubbler" until I hung out with a Milwuakee girl in college.
> 
> Of course, having grown up in Minneapolis, I know what a rubber binder is, I know what snoos is and I know that snoos is not the same as a snoos.



I think it is interesting that you grew up in Minneapolis.  So did we.  We also just moved from the Seattle area after living there for 20 years.  I never heard rubber binder in Mpls or snoos. (unless you are talking about a nap  ).  I haven't ever heard of a bubbler either.


----------



## Debbyd57 (Sep 14, 2010)

Mine came out West.  I lived in MN for 30 years, WA state for 20 years and now are currently (temporarily :hysterical:  ) residing in MS.  They, (the Southerners who don't like Yankees),  all tell me I talk like I am from MN.  Anyway, I have always said pop.  DD who grew up in WA, calls it soda, but now that she lives in MS, she calls it "coke".  I ate breakfast in the am, lunch at noon and supper at night.  Dinner was reserved for "nice suppers",  Sunday noon and holidays.  We had a davenport in our living room but a sofa sleeper in our den and ate rolls for our bread.  DD says Nevaaahhhda.  I say Nevada.  I will never forget the time we first moved to the West coast and went into a bakery and asked for a long john.   They couldn't figure out what I was asking for until I finally pointed at the "chocolate and maple bars".    It would be interesting to hear my son take the test as he lives in Wy but lived in WA for about 18-20 years and MN for his first 3 years.


----------



## vkrn (Sep 14, 2010)

*The Southern dialect*

Why do the Wisemen in southern Nativity scenes wear fire helmets?

Because the bible says the Wisemen came from afar! 

HeHeHe


----------

