Spin off: regional dialect quiz accurate?

[skeeter31]

Harry and hairy ARE pronounced the same

The way you say the 3 M's hurts my brain. Trying to recall how my grandparents said them...they were born and raised in NYC. I THINK my grandma said them separately, but not my grandpa.

I live learning about regional dialect!

The only way I could think of describing how we say them would be:
Harry - the Ha sound would be like the beginning of the word happy. A quick exhalation of ha followed by the -ree sound.
Hairy - the hair sound is pronounced like the word hair or like a ”Yeah” would be pronounced, followed by the -ree. The first syllable is much more drawn out.

Same would go for Mary and marry. Merry on the other had would start with a Meh- followed by the -ree. So like a sound of ambivalence (meh) then the ree.

 

[loves to dive]

Sorta kinda got it right for me since I'm sorta kinda from Georgia. It shows me from either Mississippi or mid-Alabama/Georgia line. My parents were born and bred in Georgia, Mama from the north Ga. mountains - Daddy from middle Ga. Alabama line. They met in Athens at UGA and stayed in Ga. til just before I was born. I was born in California and never lived anywhere more than 4 years until I was an adult. I lived in California, Ga. (both where my Daddy was from and where my Mama was from), Texas, Ohio, NM and Saudi Arabia then settled in the Athens area. I have always had a southern accent since that is what my parents have but they had different accents and used different words for things.

 

[MommyinHonduras]

Gym shoes narrowed down to Chicagoland was pretty funny,and of course accurate for placing me.

 

[GreatLakes]

It was right on for me.

 

[Deb & Bill]

I call that road a "service road" but I've also heard it referred to as an "access road." I've never heard frontage road.

I didn't get the dinner/supper question on my quiz. My mother always said that lunch was the midday meal and supper was the evening meal. Dinner referred to the main meal of the day, which could be either lunch or supper. So "thanksgiving dinner" or "sunday dinner" could be eaten at lunchtime. My mother still uses supper often, but I usually say dinner (but it's usually both the evening meal and main meal.)

When I was going to school in Texas, I was dating a guy who went to a different school than I was. He would pick me up in my town and we would go to his town. One day he said to me 'Ever notice how many roads are called Frontage Road?" I just said no. He was a Business major and I was a Civil Engineering major.

I think supper was a rural term for the noon meal. It was typically a heavier meal to fill up the workers so they could go back to the hard work of farming. Especially after working since sun up when they ate breakfast.

 

[aby914]

The comments on Mary brought to my mind something that I've noticed with Laurie and Lori. My husband, originally from Long Island, says both those names with an "or" sound. For me (from GA), they are pronounced differently. My cousin is Laurie, with the first syllable pronounce like "law." Lori has the "or" sound. When a friend from NY called her sister "Lori," that's how I thought it was spelled. I was surprised to learn it is actually spelled Laurie.

FWIW, I pronounce Mary (or Meri) and merry the same (with an "eh" sound), but marry has more of an "ah" sound.

 

[tarheelmjfan]

When I was going to school in Texas, I was dating a guy who went to a different school than I was. He would pick me up in my town and we would go to his town. One day he said to me 'Ever notice how many roads are called Frontage Road?" I just said no. He was a Business major and I was a Civil Engineering major.

I think supper was a rural term for the noon meal. It was typically a heavier meal to fill up the workers so they could go back to the hard work of farming. Especially after working since sun up when they ate breakfast.

Where I'm from in largely rural NC that was dinner. Supper was the evening meal. It annoys my sisters that I say lunch & dinner. I think they don't realize how many years we've been moved away from there.

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

Where I'm from in largely rural NC that was dinner. Supper was the evening meal. It annoys my sisters that I say lunch & dinner. I think they don't realize how many years we've been moved away from there.

Everyone should know the proper eating schedule.

Breakfast
Second Breakfast
elevensies
lunch.
Afternoon Tea
Dinner
Supper
Midnight munchies.

 

[fortwildernessishome]

It was right on for me!

 

[NotUrsula]

Yes--it is the bread! An oyster po boy anywhere else doesn't taste nearly as good, because of that New Orleans bread. There's a seafood place on the Gulf coast we visit that's very close to that NOLA bread, but it's not quite the same.

BTW, DW, who has Louisiana family and lived there until she was 8 or so says the question was off because a po boy describes a seafood-type sandwich and not what they asked (lunchmeat).
[snip]

Actually, po-boy refers to any long sandwich on cut French bread; the most popular version in Louisiana is actually roast beef with drippings, not fried seafood; it's usually cheaper. The sandwich started up as a way for sympathetic bakery owners to feed guys on the strike lines during a streetcar strike in 1929; the beef was a fairly affordable filling because they didn't use that much of it; mostly gravy. (The hungry strikers were the "poor boys".) If you go to a true po-boy shop there will be a large board with about 20 listed fillings, and you can get them hot or cold, dressed or not. Most restaurants that only serve a limited choice of them will serve the hot versions, and mostly shrimp, oyster, or roast beef, since those are the most iconic. Lots of people make them at home with deli meats, too, but usually not Italian-style processed meats like salami -- in New Orleans that goes with a different sandwich made with round Italian bread, the Muffaletta.

 

[mrodgers]

Born in Pittsburgh, moved an hour north (another question they could have had, how do you measure distance...) in 3rd grade. I could have answered the first and skipped the next 24 and it would have guessed correctly. Yinz may have needed more questions perhaps, but I didn't. LOL.

 

[skeeter31]

The comments on Mary brought to my mind something that I've noticed with Laurie and Lori. My husband, originally from Long Island, says both those names with an "or" sound. For me (from GA), they are pronounced differently. My cousin is Laurie, with the first syllable pronounce like "law." Lori has the "or" sound. When a friend from NY called her sister "Lori," that's how I thought it was spelled. I was surprised to learn it is actually spelled Laurie.

FWIW, I pronounce Mary (or Meri) and merry the same (with an "eh" sound), but marry has more of an "ah" sound.

And that’s also the issue with NY accents, there would be no differentiation in your examples because the law and lor sound would be pronounced the same for us. Lawyer is pronounced loyer. Lol

 

[mi*vida*loca]

Came up Philadelphia for me and I live in south jersey. I’m about 5 minutes from most major bridges to Philly.

funny story: I was at WDW back in 2011. At the MK ordering a snack. I ordered and an older man asked me if I was from NJ. I said yes. He said he could tell by my accent. Then he asked if it was south jersey. I said yes. Then he picked the exact county I was from. He freaked me out. I swore I had a stalker that followed me to WDW. My ex husband didn’t seem freaked and said my accent is that strong.

 

[mjkacmom]