Comments on: Friday Random Ten-and-Quiz

By: Sabine

Sabine — Mon, 18 Apr 2005 10:36:00 +0000

65% General American English
15% Dixie
15% Yankee
5% Upper Midwestern
0% Midwestern
Very interesting, and a little bizarre…

By: wolfangel

wolfangel — Sat, 16 Apr 2005 12:09:00 +0000

The quiz is *actively* defective. It’s based on info by Bert Vaux, if you’re curious about actual real dialect differences.

By: R Mutt

R Mutt — Sat, 16 Apr 2005 07:13:00 +0000

Your Linguistic Profile:
40% General American English
35% Yankee
20% Dixie
5% Upper Midwestern
0% Midwestern
Given that I’m British, I have no idea what that means…

By: Rana

Rana — Sat, 16 Apr 2005 01:49:00 +0000

Hee. I’m an accent chameleon when I’m not careful. I know that I _do_ have some sort of accent, as I sound _exactly_ like my cousin (who also grew up in California and has the same family background (obviously)). But if you put me in proximity with someone who has a defined way of speaking, I end up picking it up.
The ones that fit best were Australian (well enough to fool some actual Australians) and Southern (my dad’s from the upper South/lower Midwest), but I’ve also “caught” an English accent from a landlady and endured the confusion when I spent two weeks on a camping trip with both California surfer types and Southern folks.
Dude! Totally cool beans, y’all! *eyeroll*

By: yami

yami — Sat, 16 Apr 2005 01:39:00 +0000

Just a touch!
The quiz seems to be defective - it doesn’t capture Midwest regionalisms very well. But people do comment that I gain twang when I’ve been talking to my family, so I assume there’s something going on.

By: Rana

Rana — Sat, 16 Apr 2005 01:13:00 +0000

I don’t know that you can blame California for that. I’ve lived here for over 25 years, and I’m a lot more Yankee than you. (Which is a bit odd, given that _none_ of my relatives are from that part of the country. If anything, I should skew more Midwestern than I do.)
I see we have some overlap in our music lists!