# Describe your idiolect **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 26, 2026, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-your-idiolect/1028792 "2026-03-26T18:39:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2026, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-your-idiolect/1028792/41 "2026-03-27T14:26:39Z")
I read it when I was about 42. I found a book in the public library that explained all the obscure stuff. Wish I could remember the title. When you get the jokes, it gets savagely funny, way past the point of comfort. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2026, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-your-idiolect/1028792/42 "2026-03-27T14:35:50Z")
IMHO, Route as in “Route 66” is pronounced “root.” Route as in “how do I cut this slot in a piece of wood” is pronounced “rowt.” ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2026, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-your-idiolect/1028792/43 "2026-03-27T14:36:39Z")
The woodworking rout has no -e. ---
**Author:** ![Thumper668](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thumper668/32/20803_2.png) [@Thumper668](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thumper668)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2026, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-your-idiolect/1028792/44 "2026-03-27T14:38:27Z")
> [@Frodo](#): > > You read _Ulysses_ at 14? 😮 I don’t dare read it at 48 All the books they gave me for English class bored me. I was also fascinated by Dublin. Having read _Moby Dick_ at 11 and wanting more of a challenge, I went all in on James Joyce. I didn’t get most of the references, but it was meaningful to me, I’ve read it again at several stages of my life - at one point in my twenties I was dating a girl who was from Sandycove and I stayed with her family one Christmas - directly opposite the Forty Foot and the Martello tower. I read it again in my forties right after I got divorced. Now I’m pushing 60 and probably due for another read through. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2026, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-your-idiolect/1028792/45 "2026-03-27T14:40:00Z")
Well, the example I was going to use is PCB routing, but I don’t think that was understandable enough. AFAIK, that is spelled with an e. ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2026, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-your-idiolect/1028792/46 "2026-03-27T14:40:33Z")
So, it’s your _Lord of the Rings_. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2026, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-your-idiolect/1028792/47 "2026-03-27T14:41:14Z")
I took the quiz and the very first suggestion was Philadelphia. I actually grew up in West Philly, like my mother (actually went to the same elementary school and had a couple of the same teachers) and my accent was noticeably different from my father’s South Philly accent that most people associate with Philly. But the quiz was almost entirely concerned with word usage not pronunciation. There are a couple of distinctive features of the Philly accent that I want to mention, mostly concerned with the letter a. Not the a of fate, nor of father, but the ones in fatter and banter. The former is called lax and the latter called tense. It is very roughly approximated by ay. For me, sad and bad don’t rhyme, the former being lax and the latter tense. Bad, mad, and glad are the only words ending in ad with a tense a. So sad, fad, had, dad, cad, egad, lad, tad, … all lax. The first vowel in Madison is also lax, so the pun involved in “Mad man” doesn’t really work for me. The story with words ending in an is reversed. Only three such words have a lax a: ran, began, can, the latter only for the modal, not the noun and ordinary verb. All others, ban, can, Dan, fan, man, pan, … use the tense vowel. In the sentence, “You can can peas, can’t you?” the second and third words are different (and both can’t and cant use the tense vowel). One other anomaly is that the plural of house is the regular houses, not the slightly irregular houzes in most American dialects. ---
**Author:** ![Thumper668](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thumper668/32/20803_2.png) [@Thumper668](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thumper668)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2026, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-your-idiolect/1028792/48 "2026-03-27T14:47:46Z")
The device I use to connect my network to the internet is a ROWTer. Strangely enough, I pronounce Route 66 as root, but Route 9 (an arterial NJ highway that predates the interstate system) is rowt. Router is always pronounced rowter, but I pronounce route both ways. This reminds me of another silly story from my childhood. In the 70s, CB radios were a big fad. There was also a drain cleaning company called Roto-Rooter that advertised heavily in my area. I thought “Roto-Router” (pronounced like the plumbing company) would be a cool CB nickname for a cement truck. No one got the joke. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2026, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-your-idiolect/1028792/49 "2026-03-27T14:55:01Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > One other anomaly is that the plural of house is the regular houses, not the slightly irregular houzes in most American dialects. Where I come from, houses is a noun and houzes is a verb. ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2026, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-your-idiolect/1028792/50 "2026-03-27T15:02:58Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > Everyone I have ever had try this was pegged to within 50 miles (give or take a bit) of where they grew up in the US (this quiz only works for the US). > > It is paywalled so sorry about that: > > - [How Y’all, Youse and You Guys Talk](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/upshot/dialect-quiz-map.html) This quiz has me slightly pegged for the RTP area of North Carolina - but it really shows the influence of my mother who grew up in New England. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2026, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-your-idiolect/1028792/51 "2026-03-27T15:03:34Z")
> [@Thumper668](#): > > Strangely enough, I pronounce Route 66 as root, but Route 9 (an arterial NJ highway that predates the interstate system) is rowt. Router is always pronounced rowter, but I pronounce route both ways. Me too, regarding both the network router and the highway route. Except I’d probably pronounce both Route 66 and Route 9 as root, because I’ve only heard people actually say the names in songs where it was root (the Route 9 mention is a song by The Wonder Years called My Geraldine Lives Over The Delaware.) Actually come to think of it I probably pronounce the road “root” most of the time. There is a go kart place near me called Route 7, though, that I internally pronounce “rowt”, so there must be exceptions. ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2026, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-your-idiolect/1028792/52 "2026-03-27T15:11:40Z")
Southeast US urban, I guess. The hillbilly in me comes out when I get emotional. The quiz thought I was from New Jersey. Never been there. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2026, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-your-idiolect/1028792/53 "2026-03-27T15:14:12Z")
New England/Massachusetts We tend to shorten vowels, just not as savagely as Bostonians. Two things noticed and pointed out to me by others: Beautiful pronounced: beau tee full Salmon pronounced: sal mon ---
**Author:** ![Thumper668](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thumper668/32/20803_2.png) [@Thumper668](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thumper668)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2026, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-your-idiolect/1028792/54 "2026-03-27T15:18:22Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > the Route 9 mention is a song by The Wonder Years called My Geraldine Lives Over The Delaware I’d never heard of the song, but I’m pretty sure that is probably a different Route 9 (those guys are from Philadelphia, and I can’t find a Route 9 anywhere on the map of the area). The one in NJ goes from Cape May to Woodbridge where it joins Route 1 (pronounced root) and becomes 1-9 (also root). For some reason I have no explanation for, south of Woodbridge it goes from root to rowt. ETA: Now that I think about it - Wildwood on the Jersey shore is a notorious hangout for people from Philadelphia, much like Belmar is overrun with New Yorkers (like the Jersey Shore TV show). ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2026, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-your-idiolect/1028792/55 "2026-03-27T15:31:28Z")
> [@Jasmine](#): > > Salmon pronounced: sal mon Nobody realizes it, but “falcon” underwent a similar spelling pronunciation before our parents were born. It’s “supposed” to be pronounced “faucon.” Likewise, the /l/ in almond is a spelling pronunciation. It’s “supposed” to be “ah-mond.” That too changed before we were born. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2026, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-your-idiolect/1028792/56 "2026-03-27T15:33:47Z")
Interesting! I’ve never experienced anyone, including myself, being noted for that. Language is a living and changing thing. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2026, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-your-idiolect/1028792/57 "2026-03-27T16:04:55Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > It is paywalled so sorry about that: > > - [How Y’all, Youse and You Guys Talk](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/upshot/dialect-quiz-map.html) Is there any chance someone with a subscription could do a gift link? Edit: weirdly, there’s a NYTimes article that’s free and has a gift link embedded. Go to this article and follow the gift link at the bottom. [https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/22/learning/what-does-your-accent-say-about-who-you-are.html](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/22/learning/what-does-your-accent-say-about-who-you-are.html) ---
**Author:** ![Chad\_Sudan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chad_sudan/32/4509_2.png) [@Chad\_Sudan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chad_Sudan)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2026, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-your-idiolect/1028792/58 "2026-03-27T16:14:41Z")
Here’s a direct link to the “US Dialect Quiz” cited by @Whack-a-Mole : > **[How Y’all, Youse and You Guys Talk (Published 2024)](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/upshot/dialect-quiz-map.html?unlocked_article_code=1.WVA.mf0W.hD314PdM5MR2&smid=url-share)** > > What does the way you speak say about where you’re from? Answer all the questions below to see your personal dialect map. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2026, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-your-idiolect/1028792/59 "2026-03-27T16:19:55Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > the plural of house is the regular houses, not the slightly irregular houzes in most American dialects. The /z/ plural is perfectly regular. Word-final /s/ voices and becomes /z/ before a vowel. Same thing with leaf, leaves. ---
**Author:** ![Chad\_Sudan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chad_sudan/32/4509_2.png) [@Chad\_Sudan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chad_Sudan)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2026, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-your-idiolect/1028792/60 "2026-03-27T16:22:56Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > Everyone I have ever had try this was pegged to within 50 miles (give or take a bit) of where they grew up in the US (this quiz only works for the US). I thought this was unlikely to work in the Western US, where there is a lot less local variation. And yet it got me to within 75 miles! (I was raised in Sacramento.) Apparently the use of “crawdad” for crayfish and “frontage road” for, well, frontage road were key to sussing out my origins. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-your-idiolect/1028792.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-your-idiolect/1028792.md?page=4)