mmhmm
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It's a great pity the right of free speech isn't based on the obligation to say something sensible.
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Post by mmhmm on Dec 24, 2013 23:22:01 GMT -5
Pretty cool, Tenn. Thanks. I've heard the word "wash" pronounced as "warsh". I've also heard the word "creek" pronounced "crick". Dialects fascinate me. If I'd known more about it I might have studied linguistics.
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Sunnyday
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Post by Sunnyday on Dec 25, 2013 0:04:09 GMT -5
For the people who got way off answers, perhaps you moved, travel a lot or are exposed to a lot of people from different regions.
This is the case for me, so I answered all the questions as my high school self. I took the test twice and they had slightly different questions each time, and in both cases, it pegged my three cities within an hour or so from where I actually grew up.
Spooky accurate.
So I asked my DH who speaks English fluently, but for whom English is his third language, to take the test and it placed him in Boston, OK city and Honolulu. lol. The quiz had no idea what to do with him!
Fun test! thanks for sharing.
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Sum Dum Gai
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Post by Sum Dum Gai on Dec 25, 2013 0:07:33 GMT -5
It put me in the bay area. I guess I've lived here long enough to lose anything I picked up growing up in Arizona and my time in the service.
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Opti
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Post by Opti on Dec 25, 2013 4:02:01 GMT -5
Looks like I'll have to try this quiz at the library as my computer and the one at work have out of date browsers. I'm rather curious to see if my experience might be like Simser's as I'm seeing terms I recognize like feeder roads and service roads and I'm wondering how that will fit into the quiz.
"I'm pegged for DC, NY and Newark. Ok DC and NY I get; both are transient cities with people from everywhere. "
And you think Newark isn't? I'm a transplant to NJ and we have people from all over the world who live here just like NYC. Personally I avoid Newark because I feel it has black holes much like Chicago, except not growing up here I don't know the areas to avoid or ones you might want to run red lights through.
Newark is one of the biggest cities in NJ located within easy commuting distance of NYC. Home of the NJPAC and the Ironbound section known for its restaurants.
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Malarky
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Post by Malarky on Dec 25, 2013 8:59:46 GMT -5
I got Boston and Worcester which is spot on since I live between the two.
Interestingly enough, people who hear me speak sometimes ask where I'm from. Although I use the terminology, I don't have the accent.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 25, 2013 9:36:27 GMT -5
It always suprises me that my accent is first identified as Australian, I have had very few people get it right the first time. Can anyone elaborate on that, if you have an English friend do we sound Australian. I have to say I am used to the American accent but when I go home and hear and American show, it cracks me up as it really is strong when I don't hear it all the time.
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Tennesseer
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Post by Tennesseer on Dec 25, 2013 9:40:40 GMT -5
Looks like I'll have to try this quiz at the library as my computer and the one at work have out of date browsers. I'm rather curious to see if my experience might be like Simser's as I'm seeing terms I recognize like feeder roads and service roads and I'm wondering how that will fit into the quiz.
"I'm pegged for DC, NY and Newark. Ok DC and NY I get; both are transient cities with people from everywhere. "
And you think Newark isn't? I'm a transplant to NJ and we have people from all over the world who live here just like NYC. Personally I avoid Newark because I feel it has black holes much like Chicago, except not growing up here I don't know the areas to avoid or ones you might want to run red lights through.
Newark is one of the biggest cities in NJ located within easy commuting distance of NYC. Home of the NJPAC and the Ironbound section known for its restaurants. Ironbound-the best Spanish and Portuguese restaurants and an ìnteresting neighborhood.
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violagirl
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Post by violagirl on Dec 25, 2013 10:40:48 GMT -5
I've never lived in the US, but it pegged me as Buffalo and north eastern US which is as close to where I am from as the test allows. I find languages and dialects to be very interesting. I remember the first time I heard a South African dialect in person, I knew it wasn't English and wasn't Australian, but I couldn't peg it. Once they told me where they were from it made sense. I don't think I could tell a New Zealander from an Australian, but in my area, I could tell exactly where you are from whether from north or west or south, there is even a small place, not even a village that if you are from there it is a very distinct accent - I can immediately tell they are from "up river".
Does anyone know where the Southern drawl comes from? I mean, most of the settlers in US/Canada were English/Irish/Scots etc..where do they get the drawl? And why are there pockets, like in the above place I mentioned, where they also have a similar style?
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Tennesseer
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Post by Tennesseer on Dec 25, 2013 10:52:36 GMT -5
I've never lived in the US, but it pegged me as Buffalo and north eastern US which is as close to where I am from as the test allows. I find languages and dialects to be very interesting. I remember the first time I heard a South African dialect in person, I knew it wasn't English and wasn't Australian, but I couldn't peg it. Once they told me where they were from it made sense. I don't think I could tell a New Zealander from an Australian, but in my area, I could tell exactly where you are from whether from north or west or south, there is even a small place, not even a village that if you are from there it is a very distinct accent - I can immediately tell they are from "up river". Does anyone know where the Southern drawl comes from? I mean, most of the settlers in US/Canada were English/Irish/Scots etc..where do they get the drawl? And why are there pockets, like in the above place I mentioned, where they also have a similar style? This may help explain a bit.
The Dialects of American English
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Apple
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Post by Apple on Dec 25, 2013 11:30:20 GMT -5
Y'all is one I picked up when I was very young, and according to the map, it is very southern. My dad said/says it all the time, and his mom grew up in Tennessee, so that may be how it got to me. If I don't say y'all, I say "you guys", girls included. I'm glad everyone has had fun with the quiz As for that bit of grass on a sidewalk, I know I've heard it called something when I was little, but nothing on the test looked like the right term. It may have just been "sidewalk lawn" or "sidewalk grass".
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Tennesseer
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Post by Tennesseer on Dec 25, 2013 11:49:53 GMT -5
Y'all is one I picked up when I was very young, and according to the map, it is very southern. My dad said/says it all the time, and his mom grew up in Tennessee, so that may be how it got to me. If I don't say y'all, I say "you guys", girls included. I'm glad everyone has had fun with the quiz As for that bit of grass on a sidewalk, I know I've heard it called something when I was little, but nothing on the test looked like the right term. It may have just been "sidewalk lawn" or "sidewalk grass". I just call ìt more friggin lawn to mow.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 25, 2013 11:51:19 GMT -5
I got Boston, Worcester and Providence, Rhode Island. My most distinctive answer was rotary. Around here it is actually the traffic circle of hell but they didn't give that as an option. Too bad as I have about 8 of them in a 20 mile radius. I hate rotaries.
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TheOtherMe
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Post by TheOtherMe on Dec 25, 2013 12:06:12 GMT -5
Took this last night and it nailed the city where I grew up.
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violagirl
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Post by violagirl on Dec 25, 2013 12:18:37 GMT -5
Thanks for the link Tennesseer, that was very interesting. I found it interesting that Appalachian English is closer to Elizabethean English in many ways than modern English. Where I live, that is the case with Acadian French. They still use many archaic words.
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mollyanna58
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Post by mollyanna58 on Dec 25, 2013 12:54:34 GMT -5
I got Newark/Paterson, Philadelphia, and Baltimore. I've always lived within 25 miles on Newark.
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chiver78
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Post by chiver78 on Dec 25, 2013 18:49:43 GMT -5
thanks for that link, Tenn. I'm absolutely fascinated by this sort of stuff I've taken this quiz a few times, and depending on the questions I get, I've gotten completely different answers. I travel a lot as an adult, and grew up speaking Acadian French alongside my Boston English....and then my dad's BFF's wife is from Northern Ireland, she moved here as an adult. so there's yet another influence to my speech. the result I just got now was Boston/Providence/Worcester - and the questions included the absolutely local tell answers of rotary, tonic, and sneakers. I've lived in Providence, currently live just outside of Worcester, and was born and raised along the Marathon route in the Boston area. I've somehow managed to get New Orleans, Raleigh, and somewhere in Ohio for some of the more out-there locations. the only thing I can reason is that the Acadian has given me some Cajun tells - since the Cajuns originated in Acadia.
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Miss Tequila
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Post by Miss Tequila on Dec 25, 2013 21:48:57 GMT -5
I got Philly (duh), Baltimore, and Newark/Paterson, NJ. I got Pittsburgh, Philly and Newark/Patterson.
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Opti
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Post by Opti on Dec 25, 2013 22:41:23 GMT -5
"My most distinctive answer was rotary. Around here it is actually the traffic circle of hell but they didn't give that as an option. " Hey I have one of those. I have various names for it including (Traffic) Circle of Certain Death mainly because it sounds cooler than (Traffic) Circle of Bad accidents. Traffic Circles are somewhat common in NJ. Depending on the layout and size they can be not so bad to avoid at bad traffic times/bad weather. You probably would have enjoyed my trip into Flemington once where I had to navigate three traffic circles in a row.
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Nazgul Girl
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Post by Nazgul Girl on Dec 26, 2013 9:12:52 GMT -5
I got pegged with " devils' night ", which is surely a Detroit area term. The map put me between Toledo, Detroit, and Grand Rapids. I spent seven years in New England as an adult, but although I knew what pop and sodas are called in N.E., I don't usually use those terms, so didn't choose them.
Great fun !
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Nazgul Girl
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Post by Nazgul Girl on Dec 26, 2013 9:16:06 GMT -5
My mother was raised in Michigan, but her mother was from the Deep South, so I recognized some of the terms that both she and my grandmother used. It was a fun trip down memory lane. Neither one of them would have been caught dead using " you guys."
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Nazgul Girl
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Post by Nazgul Girl on Dec 26, 2013 9:17:22 GMT -5
What are your local terms for what's known as a " Michigan right ? " ( Turning left at a turn lane in a four-lane boulevard, usually with high traffic ).
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Post by Deleted on Dec 26, 2013 9:47:30 GMT -5
Isn't it just a left turn. What is unusual about it? I also noticed they didn't have interstate, I used I95 or I75 etc.
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Nazgul Girl
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Post by Nazgul Girl on Dec 26, 2013 10:01:56 GMT -5
Yes, it's a left turn, but around here it has a special term. We (first husband & I ) used to be good friends with some nuns from MA who used to come out here to sell their books ( their main support of their order ), and they had never seen such a thing as the classic Michigan right. Sorry, I mislabled it the first time in my previous post.
The next, the elderly 4'11" nun who was the driver ( think two telephone books underneath her to prop her up ) proudly told us that she could do Michigan rights with the best of us.
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Nazgul Girl
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Post by Nazgul Girl on Dec 26, 2013 10:03:20 GMT -5
We are getting rotaries ( known locally as traffic circles ) around here, and they're being received with absolute horror.
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Sunnyday
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Post by Sunnyday on Dec 26, 2013 15:13:15 GMT -5
I don't understand what people don't get about traffic circles, rotaries or whatever else you call them.
They keep traffic moving. You don't have to stop if there are no cars, and you don't have the right of way.
They are safer than your regular intersection because if there is a collision, it is at a slower speed and therefore safer. There are only more collisions because people don't know how to use them.
I hate getting stuck behind people who freak out when they see one.
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The Captain
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Post by The Captain on Dec 26, 2013 15:22:56 GMT -5
It pegged me to the Madison, Aurora, Rockford area. Pretty darn scary! BTW chiver78 - you've refered to Acadian French a few times, how is that different linguistically from Canadian French or, well, the French spoken in France?
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chiver78
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Post by chiver78 on Dec 26, 2013 15:49:53 GMT -5
Acadian French is spoken mostly in Maritime Canada (NB, NS, Newfy & Labrador) and some other pockets in QC I think. my family's from NB. accent-wise, it's closer to what's spoken in France than "regular" Canadian dialects of French. the vocab and grammar is what's different. I don't want to call it "Frenglish" but that's kind of what it's evolved into in the area where my dad grew up. the sentence structure isn't completely Romance language, but it isn't entirely Germanic either. it's hard to explain. also, because the area is almost completely bilingual, many people are totally comfortable slipping back and forth between French and English. for example - my cousin welcomed us to her wedding reception by saying "I hope que vous avez fun ce soir!" and yes, I know that's a totally Germanic sentence. I'll look for a better link, but this wiki one is actually a pretty decent start. hope that helps! link
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swamp
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Post by swamp on Dec 26, 2013 15:55:12 GMT -5
Acadian French is spoken mostly in Maritime Canada (NB, NS, Newfy & Labrador) and some other pockets in QC I think. my family's from NB. accent-wise, it's closer to what's spoken in France than "regular" Canadian dialects of French. the vocab and grammar is what's different. I don't want to call it "Frenglish" but that's kind of what it's evolved into in the area where my dad grew up. the sentence structure isn't completely Romance language, but it isn't entirely Germanic either. it's hard to explain. also, because the area is almost completely bilingual, many people are totally comfortable slipping back and forth between French and English. for example - my cousin welcomed us to her wedding reception by saying "I hope que vous avez fun ce soir!" and yes, I know that's a totally Germanic sentence. I'll look for a better link, but this wiki one is actually a pretty decent start. hope that helps! linkEverything c'est tout fuckee.
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chiver78
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Post by chiver78 on Dec 26, 2013 15:58:48 GMT -5
Acadian French is spoken mostly in Maritime Canada (NB, NS, Newfy & Labrador) and some other pockets in QC I think. my family's from NB. accent-wise, it's closer to what's spoken in France than "regular" Canadian dialects of French. the vocab and grammar is what's different. I don't want to call it "Frenglish" but that's kind of what it's evolved into in the area where my dad grew up. the sentence structure isn't completely Romance language, but it isn't entirely Germanic either. it's hard to explain. also, because the area is almost completely bilingual, many people are totally comfortable slipping back and forth between French and English. for example - my cousin welcomed us to her wedding reception by saying "I hope que vous avez fun ce soir!" and yes, I know that's a totally Germanic sentence. I'll look for a better link, but this wiki one is actually a pretty decent start. hope that helps! linkEverything c'est tout fuckee. oui, j'pense so....
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Tennesseer
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Post by Tennesseer on Dec 26, 2013 16:06:01 GMT -5
Everything c'est tout fuckee. oui, j'pense so.... How many folks know about Saint Pierre and Miquelon islands?
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