What's your accent? *spin off of mis pronunciation thread*

[CathrynRose]

That would be incorrect. There is no "w" sound in the word dawn.

The thing is - I (being from Chicago) make that Don o - sound like AHHHH.

So, Don is Dahhhhn And Dawn is ...well, Dawn.

 

[Pakey]

I got Midland. I lived 10 years in Mississippi, 1 year in Minnesota, 2 years in Massachusetts, went to college in Missouri, and the balance (37 years) in California.

 

[mill4023]

The thing is - I (being from Chicago) make that Don o - sound like AHHHH.

So, Don is Dahhhhn And Dawn is ...well, Dawn.

It's so hard to explain pronunciation in writing. So I'm not sure what you mean.

Do you pronounce the female names, Donna and Dawna differently?
As far as I can tell, they both have the same ON sound like "I'm turning ON the lights".

Maybe some variation is allowed in Don vs. Dawn.

Merriam-Webster shows one pronunciation for Don and two for Dawn, one of which matched Don.

 

[Diznotyzed]

I got the South. Interesting because I grew up in Oregon and live in Utah now. My husband tells me I have an Oregon accent but I don't think Oregonians have an accent.

While vacationing in the US Virgin Islands recently I had someone from the Washington DC area tell me they liked my accent. When I asked "What accent?" she said "the way you pronounce Oregon".

 

[Vixen]

i got west and im form the west

 

[claudia]

What American accent do you have?
Your Result: The Northeast

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.


Really true, most times people will say "oh, you're from New York"...but if I am very careful how I say "coffee" and "bathroom" they usually don't pick up my "accent" and can't figure out where I'm from......

 

[lvanleer]

Midland.....I'm from right outside of Washington DC and always felt I don't really have an accent unlike the people from the Baltimore area who sound completely different.

 

[IDoDis]

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."

Hmmm... I was born in Milwaukee and lived there until the ripe age of 10. I've been in New Mexico ever since. I always joke with my Wisconsin friends that I talk like the people on the news and THEY have an accent. However, my kids still detect a Wisconsin accent in certain words that I say and they tease me about it often.

Oh, and I don't say "pop." I say "coke" for carbonated drinks. In Wisconsin I used to say "soda."

 

[CathrynRose]

It's so hard to explain pronunciation in writing. So I'm not sure what you mean.

Do you pronounce the female names, Donna and Dawna differently?
As far as I can tell, they both have the same ON sound like "I'm turning ON the lights".

Maybe some variation is allowed in Don vs. Dawn.

Merriam-Webster shows one pronunciation for Don and two for Dawn, one of which matched Don.

Yes - Donna and Dawna would be different:

Donna is : Open up and say DAAAHna.

As is : Turn the lights AHHHn

I think any *O* turns into an 'open up and say 'ahhhh' - Rob, Todd, On, iPod.

Dawna is - Awwww, isnt Dawwwwna cute - as in lawn, fawn.


My one G/F lives and is from Boston. Sometimes when I get on the phone with under I don't understand a word she's saying. If she talks too fast, I'm lost. So, if she laughs, I just laugh.

Any better understanding? Probably not.

 

[paintnolish]

The Don/Dawn pronounciation guide is cracking me up. My dad, whose name is, incidentally, Don, grew up in Chicago his whole life. We tease him about the way he pronounces some words, and they usually worsen when he is talking to "like speaking" people. For example, he eats pizza with "sah-sage" not "saw-sage." I must have picked up some of it, too, because every once in awhile, somebody down here in Central IL asks if I'm from the "city" and I don't think they mean Peoria!
More on soda vs. pop...my kids say "soda" but I tell them we don't have any-only pop.

 

[georgina]

Well, I got inland north (originally from Cleveland). But in college I learned to say soda, and have brought my kids up that way too.

 

[CathrynRose]

For example, he eats pizza with "sah-sage" not "saw-sage."
More on soda vs. pop...my kids say "soda" but I tell them we don't have any-only pop.

Yes - that's another one. SAHH-sage. I say that too.

And LOL! My exhusband said 'pop' - so when they were little I did the opposite of you:

Can I have some Pop?
No, we don't have any pop.
You're drinking some!!!
I'm not drinking pop, I'm drinking soda - you want some soda?

They now use soda. Your method will work.

 

[delilah]

This quiz was very interesting for my husband and me. We both had highest percentage of Inland North. I grew up in Chicago, so, I know where that came from. I went to university in Gainesville, Florida, went to medical school and residency in Columbus, Ohio, and have been in medical practice in Indianapolis for 18 years. I scored 100% Inland north, and about 80% south and 80% midland.

He grew up in Tampa, also attended university in Gainesville, and grad school at Ohio State. He scored about 80% each Inland North and south, and lower percentages of the others. So, I guess our accents have rubbed off on each other over the past 30 years.

We also only answered two questions differently from each other.

Where people guess I am from depends on the context. When I lived in Ohio, they guessed Cleveland. Now they guess Chicago. I can now actually hear a Chicago accent, whereas before, I couldn't recognize one.

 

[Rora]

It said I have North Central but I don't know if I agree. Having been born and raised in the South, I think I have more of a twang.

 

[beattyfamily]

My results: The Midland

You have a Midland accent" is just another way of saying "you don't have an accent." You probably are from the Midland (Pennsylvania, southern Ohio, southern Indiana, southern Illinois, and Missouri) but then for all we know you could be from Florida or Charleston or one of those big southern cities like Atlanta or Dallas. You have a good voice for TV and radio

I think it's pretty accurate seeing as I've moved around so much that I don't feel I have any specific accent.

I was born in NJ. Live there till age 3, only went back from age 13 to 16.
Lived in Macau (near Hong Kong) from age 6 to 13
Lived in CT a total of 4 years.
Lived in MA a total of 26 years (so far) but still haven't picked up the accent except when I'm angry and yelling!!

 

[Mrs.Toad]

It says I am from the Midland.

But, like, I was TOTALLY born and raised in Southern California.


I bet it is because of the Dawn issue. See, that's my name and my mom (born and raised in Michigan) pronounces it to rhyme with Don when I learned much later in life it shouldn't.

Ditto, but I moved to Colorado at age 29. I also say Don and Dawn the same, though, and I can't recall ever hearing anyone pronounce them differently. If they are supposed to be pronounced differently in the West, no one I know got the memo!

 

[Piglet4Ever]

I came up with Inland North and the defination was right on. I grew up in Cleveland Oh area and folks always think I am from Chicago.

 

[Mufasa&Simba]

That Inland North was my result.

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."

All that is true, except I NEVER say pop, it's SODA!

 

[delilah]

My results: The Midland

You have a Midland accent" is just another way of saying "you don't have an accent." You probably are from the Midland (Pennsylvania, southern Ohio, southern Indiana, southern Illinois, and Missouri) but then for all we know you could be from Florida or Charleston or one of those big southern cities like Atlanta or Dallas. You have a good voice for TV and radio

I think it's pretty accurate seeing as I've moved around so much that I don't feel I have any specific accent.

I was born in NJ. Live there till age 3, only went back from age 13 to 16.
Lived in Macau (near Hong Kong) from age 6 to 13
Lived in CT a total of 4 years.
Lived in MA a total of 26 years (so far) but still haven't picked up the accent except when I'm angry and yelling!!

Well, now, I have to disagree. I've lived in southern Ohio and southern Indiana for most of my adult life, and these people most certainly have an accent. It's those people in Chicago and Cleveland who don't have an accent. I sometimes have the hardest time deciphering what the natives around here are trying to say. I think they have sort of a twang, myself. I was once trying to figure out what a "piney" was, and finally figured out the lady was talking about "peonies". She said something like "I was out in the pineys of an evening, and I came down with this rash". I just had to ask her what a "piney" was. I pictured a big pine forest down in Brown county, which would account for a different exposure than in your flower bed at home.

 

[SmallWorld71]

Well, this quiz spotted my Boston accent a mile away!

FWIW-around here:
Pin / Pen - different

Don / Dawn - the same

Merry/Mary/Marry - all different.