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On Accents

Nov 12, 2006 by Kim Werker

Know what's really fun about the internets? Meeting people through one common like, and then discovering bizarrely consistent preferences for other things. Like all the crafty bloggers around who can recite the dialog from The Princess Bride backwards and forwards (I can, can you?), and stuff like that.

Wow. Know what's also funny? That I just wrote that paragraph up there because I thought it was related to what I'm about to write, but now that I've written it I have NO idea what I was thinking. Do I need more coffee this morning, or less?

Anyway. Oh! I remember. I've met bunches of crafty bloggers who've told me they're chameleon-like with their dialect: if they spend three hours in Atlanta they end up talking like a Southerner. Certainly this isn't a universal thing. It's also possible (probable?) that only two or three people have told me this, and I'm exaggerating the trend for my own writing purposes.

At any rate, I thought I'd write some commentary to go along with my results from from the dialect quiz that's been circling around:

What American accent do you have?
Your Result: The Inland North

You may think you speak "Standard English straight out of the dictionary" but when you step away from the Great Lakes you get asked annoying questions like "Are you from Wisconsin?" or "Are you from Chicago?" Chances are you call carbonated drinks "pop."
The Northeast
Philadelphia
The South
The Midland
North Central
Boston
The West
What American accent do you have?
Take More Quizzes

I believe that in my case, “Midland North” would be more accurate as, “Not Quite Canadian.” My results break down into me being overwhelmingly Northeast, with Philadelphia a close second. Why? Because I lived in northern Delaware for four years before moving out here (and N. DE is like one big suburb of Philly). To me, Delaware was like the South, as compared to New York. It messed with my dialect, big-time. Then I moved to western Canada, where the accent is less hoser than the stereotype might lead you to believe. After 4 1/2 years living here, Americans think I totally sound like a Canadian. Vancouverites, however, think I just talk a little funny, and after a few minutes figure out that I'm American - but not that I'm from New York.

And that, my friends, is what I have to say this grey and rainy Sunday morning. Discuss.

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Comments

 
Norah wrote
on Nov 12, 2006 11:43 AM

I got The Inland North too. I did grow up in Michigan, but I've been in Seattle for over 25 years so you would have thought I'd have picked something up by now.

Chloe wrote
on Nov 12, 2006 12:38 PM
I thought I was like that with all accents, but after moving to the UK, I realise I am really only like that with certain accents.

The big 4 are: Inner-city US accents, certain Irish accents, London/Essex/etc.-type accents (of which I am the most susceptible BY FAR), posh UK accents. I'd probably pick up the Sydney accent (and maybe a few other Oz ones, too) if I hung around there..

I took that test and got Midland, Mark, who is from the West Midlands, UK, got Philadelphia. In Portland, loads of people asked me if I was either Canadian or British. In Glasgow, everyone knows I'm American, but they seem to think Mark is, as well. Good thing, too. Scots hate the English.

I've been married to an Englishman for 7 years and have no trace of his accent. I've been in Glasgow for 10 months and have only picked up a few bits and pieces (everyone i knew thought I'd have a thick native-Glaswegian accent within 2 weeks of moving here).

Blah blah blah. I'll shut up now. (I could talk about accents for hours, can you tell?)

Annette wrote
on Nov 12, 2006 1:40 PM
This was too fun not to try. My result: the Northeast. And it's true. Sweden is north, and France is east, very much east of the US.

:D

Crochet Me Admin wrote
on Nov 12, 2006 1:55 PM

Fun!

tori wrote
on Nov 12, 2006 6:10 PM

i have a chamelion accent too! and since i'm originally from the northwest, lived in hawaii for two years and now live in the south, my accent is not pretty. i'm all like "eh brah, get me a pop from down thar!"

Sadira wrote
on Nov 13, 2006 10:45 PM

ive noticed the chameleon tendency myself. i took the quiz and also got Inland North - but i have lived in Virginia for almost 23 years (my entire life!). thing is, i grew up in Northern Virgina (nova) and both my parents are from Pennsylvania (hence, Philadelphia coming in a close second for my quiz results). ive been living in Richmond, VA (noticeably more southern than nova) for the last five years and ive noticed if i hang around someone with the Virginia drawl, i slip into it as well. its bizarre, really.

oh, and i can recite The Princess Bride in my sleep. (:

crochetmeMom wrote
on Nov 14, 2006 10:35 AM

Get this! The quiz - which I answered honestly - has me coming from Philadelphia! How can this be..me, the poster girl for a Brooklyn accent!!!!

Crochet Me Admin wrote
on Nov 14, 2006 11:20 AM

It's clearly flawed. (Which to you might or might not rhyme with "floored." Heh.)

Angela wrote
on Nov 14, 2006 1:30 PM

My result:

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.

Very interesting...seeing I'm from Sydney, Australia!

marykate wrote
on Nov 14, 2006 6:07 PM

I'm a chameleon, though I got "midland" as my accent. Probably because I don't want to sound like a Baltimoron. When I'm tired my real accent comes out in bits and pieces!

The quiz was funny because one of my best friends is from Texas, where "pin" and "pen" are the same, and she'd laugh at the way I said "horrible" and "orange." They should really quiz the way people say "ar" combinations--those are a dead giveaway usually.

And I looooove Pwincess Bubacup! Maaaawidge. *sigh*

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