OT: Fun with linguistics

[JS]

Paris, France one year
San Francisco eight years
Pennsylvania Dutch country two years
Hawaii one year
Austin, TX 10 years
Southwest Virginia two years
Atlanta five-plus years
Connecticut four-plus years

Man, you've been kicked out of some of the coolest places. Or maybe fled one step ahead of the sheriff.

I'd say the test got me right as Inland North. I take that to mean west of the Northeast, but not as far west as North Central.

Born in Ohio, but there only briefly before seven years in Milwaukee and the next seven in the Niagara Falls/Buffalo area. By then I knew how to talk, such as it was, so the places since (New Jersey, New York City, Somalia, Connecticut) don't matter.

I'm surprised at the limited number of questions in order to do this job. Am sure an accents expert would take more time at it and then get a more precise result. But the job is probably getting harder all the time as compared with back in the day when people were more apt to stay put in one locale.

Sometimes a change of accent can be precipitous. Am reminded of a guy I knew who'd spent a year or two studying in England before coming to law school. Didn't know him before, but had to believe his thick upper-class British accent was newly acquired. I took it for pretentiousness, but maybe he was just a language sponge who couldn't help soaking it up.

 

[Dairyair]

Boo, this does seem to be a common flaw. It is the same error I got as and I have only ever lived in coastal CT and PA. I still don't speak like the folks from PA or so they tell me all the time. I have been told by a linguist that CT is a very accent neutral area.

I've always thought that, too, but just figured it was because everywhere I've been, people "talk funny."

 

[Icebear]

Everyone laughs at me because I don't pronounce the "h" sound in words like humidity, huge, human. They say I'm just saying the words wrong but the dictionary allows both pronunciations.

Where does THAT come from? I've lived in CT all my life. I don't think summers spent in Stonington and MA would have done it.

Watching too many episodes of Masterpiece Theater or BBC programming might be the source. ;-) Many dialects of British English do not pronounce the "h" in similar words.

 

[Ozzie Nelson]

I can relate, as a former "worsh" and "ant" sayer. I have been in CT long enough now that I say Aunt, to which my sister who is still in Nebraska always replies something to the effect that I am hoity toity. And I now say soda, not "pop", which amuses my Nebraska nieces. Though I will always call them rubber bands, not elastics!

True story....when I first moved to CT and started working, the first day I asked my co-workers where the pop machine was. They looked at me like I had three heads and had no idea what I was talking about. Around lunch time, someone had a coke. I pointed to it and said "where did you get the pop?" They all started laughing and said "oh, you mean soda?". I learned quickly!

The biggest argument I ever got into in college was based on regional differences. I mentioned I missed my mother's goulash once. My roommate who was from Minnesota didn't know what I was talking about. I explained it as a one pot meal with ground beef, tomatoes, pasta, corn, onions... to which she said "OH, you mean hot dish!". Neither one of us was willing to back down! Hot dish? Really? But, what do you expect from someone from a state that takes great delight in noshing on lutefisk!

UCC...goulash and pop were staples in rural NY State where I was hatched.

 

[Ozzie Nelson]

Man, you've been kicked out of some of the coolest places. Or maybe fled one step ahead of the sheriff.

I'd say the test got me right as Inland North. I take that to mean west of the Northeast, but not as far west as North Central.

Born in Ohio, but there only briefly before seven years in Milwaukee and the next seven in the Niagara Falls/Buffalo area. By then I knew how to talk, such as it was, so the places since (New Jersey, New York City, Somalia, Connecticut) don't matter.

I'm surprised at the limited number of questions in order to do this job. Am sure an accents expert would take more time at it and then get a more precise result. But the job is probably getting harder all the time as compared with back in the day when people were more apt to stay put in one locale.

Sometimes a change of accent can be precipitous. Am reminded of a guy I knew who'd spent a year or two studying in England before coming to law school. Didn't know him before, but had to believe his thick upper-class British accent was newly acquired. I took it for pretentiousness, but maybe he was just a language sponge who couldn't help soaking it up.

JS...No wonder I thought you were a smart guy. You lived in the Buffalo area!! (East Aurora for me)

 

[meyers7]

I can relate, as a former "worsh" and "ant" sayer. I have been in CT long enough now that I say Aunt, to which my sister who is still in Nebraska always replies something to the effect that I am hoity toity. And I now say soda, not "pop", which amuses my Nebraska nieces.

I remember the first couple of time I took my kids back home. They were asked if they wanted a "pop". They looked at me???? I said yea you guys want a soda(r). Now in some places down south, they ask you if you want a coke. Then what kind?

My kids kind of think of their cousins as a little "hicky". And I think the cousins view them as a little hoity toity.

The biggest argument I ever got into in college was based on regional differences. I mentioned I missed my mother's goulash once. My roommate who was from Minnesota didn't know what I was talking about. I explained it as a one pot meal with ground beef, tomatoes, pasta, corn, onions... to which she said "OH, you mean hot dish!". Neither one of us was willing to back down! Hot dish? Really? But, what do you expect from someone from a state that takes great delight in noshing on lutefisk!

umm goulash doesn't have corn in it. hello?? Speaking of which I haven't had that in many years. I should make some. (our's was always just beef, macaroni, and sauce - maybe some onion)

 

[JS]

You lived in the Buffalo area!! (East Aurora for me)

Niagara Falls for a while, then longer in Grand Island.

Have been reading Thomas Perry's Jane Whitefield thriller series. She's the only fictional character I've encountered who hails from Buffalo. A current-day Seneca, she lives in what the author calls Deganawida, which appears to be part of Tonawanda.

 

[Biff]

It misplaced me in the Chicago/Wisconsin area. I am born/bred in CT. I guess I have a place to go if I get kicked out of CT.

 

[alexrgct]

There is a section of CT that has an accent that sounds a bit Midwestern. I've found that mostly in the central part of the state, especially around Waterbury.

 

[Biff]

There is a section of CT that has an accent that sounds a bit Midwestern. I've found that mostly in the central part of the state, especially around Waterbury.

I grew up in Southington...one town over....

 

[justML]

Watching too many episodes of Masterpiece Theater or BBC programming might be the source. ;-) Many dialects of British English do not pronounce the "h" in similar words.

Oh, if only my TV choices were that intellectual!!!

I guess I should be thankful that I don't sound like Eliza from "My Fair Lady" and embrace my oddity

 

[boontonbomber]

i found the answers quite obvious, which i assumed meant i was simply giving the correct "american" pronounciations.. turns out i was right, because they pegged me as growing up in north jersey, where only the "real american" is spoken.

 

[MilfordHusky]

There was a linguist, I believe at Penn, who had thousands of hours of recordings from Philadelphia residents. I think he could place people not only in the right neighborhoods, but within a few blocks of where they lived. For those familiar with Philly, the South Philly and Northeast accents clearly stand out. Coming from Connecticut, I was the guy with the accent.

 

[justML]

How about the little candy pieces that are put on ice cream?

Do you call them "shots" or "sprinkles"???

 

[wire chief]

Niagara Falls for a while, then longer in Grand Island.

Have been reading Thomas Perry's Jane Whitefield thriller series. She's the only fictional character I've encountered who hails from Buffalo. A current-day Seneca, she lives in what the author calls Deganawida, which appears to be part of Tonawanda.

I read all the Jane W adventures a few years ago. I think of her among my very favorite fiction characters.

 

[AboutWeston]

What's with your avatar, wire chief? You look like Bishop Fulton Sheen...

 

[wire chief]

What's with your avatar, wire chief? You look like Bishop Fulton Sheen...

Gee, AB, I'm as dumbfounded as are you.

 

[meyers7]

How about the little candy pieces that are put on ice cream?

Do you call them "shots" or "sprinkles"???

I believe those are called "jimmies".

Actually I use sprinkles. Well I use the word, I would never put sprinkles on ice cream.

 

[Ozzie Nelson]

I believe those are called "jimmies".

Actually I use sprinkles. Well I use the word, I would never put sprinkles on ice cream.

"Shots" in Cinci...

 

[UConnChapette]

How about the little candy pieces that are put on ice cream?

Do you call them "shots" or "sprinkles"???

Before I was New England edumacted after moving here from good ol Nebrasky, I would have said sprinkles. Now I call them jimmies if they are the multicolored kind. Shots if they are chocolate. Or maybe the other way around. I don't know, I only get "crunchies" on my Carvel at the XL Center. Don't ask me. I am just as confused by it as you!

 

[UConnChapette]

There was a linguist, I believe at Penn, who had thousands of hours of recordings from Philadelphia residents. I think he could place people not only in the right neighborhoods, but within a few blocks of where they lived. For those familiar with Philly, the South Philly and Northeast accents clearly stand out. Coming from Connecticut, I was the guy with the accent.

After three years at Georgia Tech in Atlanta, with lots of kids from the South, my New England boy can fairly easily identify accents from North Carolina, South Carolina, Arkansas, Alabama, Tennessee and rural Georgia (most Atlantans don't have accents).

 

[pinotbear]

Says I don't have an accent. Midlands (PA through IL). Exactly right. A very cunning test.

Although I do have a midwest accent. Such as "warsh", as in wash my car. And "aunt" is pronounced ant (as in Atom or Adam). My kids tease me about it quite often since they were raised out here in the east.

One of my favorite family stories growing up -

We moved from CT to KY in 1965. Shortly thereafter, some family - specificially, my great aunt Katherine, old maid school teacher from Worcester, MA - came for a visit. One of the neighboring children said, in her earshot, "oh, that's your "ant"?". My great aunt drew herself up, and frostily said, "An ant is a bug what walks!"

 

[Samanthabrown3]

I'd say the test got me right as Inland North. I take that to mean west of the Northeast, but not as far west as North Central.

I'm Inland North, too, and wondered where that is.

I looked on the site for an explanation of the regions but didn't find one. Maybe it's website talk for "not on the Atlantic coast, not in the Midwest, not in the South." Not really flattering to be a "not"!

 

[Icebear]

Hope this helps.

Inland North

Linguistic Map of the US

More than you could ever want to know

 

[Drumguy]

I think Milford, though on L.I. Sound, may qualify as "Inland North."

Has Westport also as Inland North!