Quiz: What American accent do you have?

[jackio Gold Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close jackio]

I have heard a large sandwich called different things, in diferent parts of the country. Here we call it a "hero", I have heard it also called sub, hoagie and grinder.
We also call the porch a stoop if it is just cement steps, and a porch if it is made of decking and has railings around it. My relatives from the city called the street the gutter, and the old folks have said "terlet" and "earl" for toilet and oil.

[lawren2 Malibu Beach Barbie & A Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close lawren2]

We've probably all had experiences in meetings when people have had an impression that someone in the meeting isn't contributing or sharing their thoughts. I have learned that often the person doesn't believe they are being given an opportunity to speak, and that often results from them being accustomed to wait for pauses that aren't being provided by the other participants. In discussions with the people after the meetings I have confirmed that is most often the case.

***

Steve this all too true. We had quite a bit of difficulty communicating with each other when my division went from regional teams to national teams. It took some time for us to realize that it was our mannerisms that needed to be adapted.

That lesson has served me well over the years.

[Jaybee Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Jaybee]

I'm with you, Travelfan...born and bred in CA, but placed in the midlands. I thought it strange that it said that meant I "have no accent", so how do they place us in specific aread? A mystery of life! Jean

Got me clear across the country - places I've never been. I'm West Coast born and bred and it has me in the Midlands!

[4ARedOctober Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close 4ARedOctober]

That was fun.

Born and bred in California but I also was placed in the Midlands......hmmmm do we see a trend here?

My mom was from Ohio and my Dad from southern Illinois....so maybe that is the influence? Also, Long Beach where I grew up was known as Iowa by the Sea during the first part of my life....long ago.

I'm with you, Travelfan...born and bred in CA, but placed in the midlands. I thought it strange that it said that meant I "have no accent", so how do they place us in specific aread? A mystery of life! Jean

[BocaBum99 Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close BocaBum99]

That was fun.

Born and bred in California but I also was placed in the Midlands......hmmmm do we see a trend here?

My mom was from Ohio and my Dad from southern Illinois....so maybe that is the influence? Also, Long Beach where I grew up was known as Iowa by the Sea during the first part of my life....long ago.

That explains the "Red October." In California, it's more like a Red June or July describing the fires.

[NativeCracker Member Find all posts View Profile Close NativeCracker]

Where I grew up in Florida, among other things:

- All convenience marts were "Jiffy Stores"
- All soft drinks were cokes (lower case), even though I drank Pepsi
- Y'all was used in most sentences, but not with a southern drawl
- We stood "in line" not "on line"
- Roof and root both had oo's, but route had an ow
- We drove on I-75, not "the 75"
- "Bring" and "take" were not interchangeable
- A porch was just a porch - and using it required a rocking chair and a big glass of very sweet iced tea or a frosty bottle of "coke" (i.e., Pepsi)

[T. R. Oglodyte Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close T. R. Oglodyte]

I live in southern Minnesota (half-way between the Twin Cities and Iowa) and have never heard of a bubbler or a rubber binder.

I know what you mean about the word root. Normally it would rhyme with "toot", but here it rhymes with "put" or "soot" or "foot".

Roof also has a similar vowel sound to foot.

Bubbler is pretty much a Milwaukee thing. I only know it because I had a good friend in college for whom every drinking fountain was a bubbler.

"Rubber binder" is unique to the Twin Cities metro area.

[T. R. Oglodyte Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close T. R. Oglodyte]

I have heard a large sandwich called different things, in diferent parts of the country. Here we call it a "hero", I have heard it also called sub, hoagie and grinder..

I've also heard it called a torpedo.

[Pat H Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Pat H]

My roots are all the same and I like my cough-fee with lots of sugar. We had stoops in NJ too.

[Bill4728 Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Bill4728]

I'm born and bred in Washington but my parents both were from New York so I have an odd accent.

The web site said I'm "North Central" or what professional linguists call the Minnesota accent.

[shopgirl Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close shopgirl]

While working on my degree in English, I took a Nature of Language class from Dr. Norma Register. She was a very strange woman, in my opinion.

She had us write various words phoenetically for a test that was one-third of our grade. I loved that part of our course, though her own pronunciations were the only ones she would accept as correct on tests and assignments. She was from the Northeast, we were almost all from here--COLORADO. As west as west can get! So many of us wrote the same word for jewelry: I do not remember the phoenetic alphabet but I basically wrote it as sounding like this: "joolree," with two syllables. She said we were all wrong because the word has three syllables: "joo wel ree." Why was this woman, supposedly a Doctorate of English, telling most of us that our pronunciation was wrong. She was NUTS!

[basham Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close basham]

Too funny.

Just noticed the large number of posts on something I cruised by last night.

I also took the test, wondering what kind of American accent I would have. I also got a North Central.

In actuality I'm an Australian residing in the US for some time now but whose Mother insisted on elocution lessons so I developed somewhat of a public schoolboy British accent as a youth. So now I can go to Minnesota and blend in with the locals.

[nursetanya1973 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close nursetanya1973]

Midland or Inland North

I took it and got midland first, but it included southern Indiana in there. I definately do not sound like I am from southern Indiana. Had my hubby take it with me; we differed on "on". I usually say it rhymes with dawn, he says it rhymes with Don. BINGO! That was the difference between southern Indiana and Chicagoland.

Sometimes I say "on" like dawn; sometimes like Don. Depends on how tired I am, and if I have been watching da Bears recently, I guess.

[jecox Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close jecox]

It has me as a Midland, and it picked my southern Indiana origin, pretty neat.

[4ARedOctober Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close 4ARedOctober]

So in Milwaukee is it a 'bubbler' because it is connected to one of the breweries?

Bubbler is pretty much a Milwaukee thing. I only know it because I had a good friend in college for whom every drinking fountain was a bubbler.

"Rubber binder" is unique to the Twin Cities metro area.