# 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:** 6
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2026, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-your-idiolect/1028792/101 "2026-03-28T23:58:42Z")
Something to consider is who your parents are (how they spoke when at home…where were they from) as well as the school you went to. Was it a school with a lot of transplants from somewhere else or local kids? It may not give you an answer but something to think about. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2026, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-your-idiolect/1028792/102 "2026-03-29T00:00:58Z")
I do this too. Not sure why but “y’all” occasionally pops out. Not trying to. Just happens. ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2026, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-your-idiolect/1028792/103 "2026-03-29T00:11:22Z")
> [@SCAdian](#): > > Is there method to your madness? I say “_root_ 66”, but “what _rowt_ should I take?” My wife and I once visited a museum in St. Louis which had a temporary exhibit about Route 66. The guide who greeted us and directed us toward the exhibit pronounced is as “Rowt 66.” That’s the first time that I’ve heard _anyone_ pronounce the roadway in that manner. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2026, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-your-idiolect/1028792/104 "2026-03-29T00:46:34Z")
Indeed. If a southerners calls a single person “y’all,” chances are it means “you and your family.” Also, with the Great Migration, Blacks took “y’all” all over the country, so it’s not just the South anymore ---
**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 29, 2026, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-your-idiolect/1028792/105 "2026-03-29T03:37:12Z")
I think my accent & vocabulary was standard SoCal, despite parents from outside the region and lots of friends who were immigrants or children of immigrants. I can remember being annoyed by my father saying UM-brella and housecome (= howcome). It’s adult life that has adulterated my speech. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2026, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-your-idiolect/1028792/106 "2026-03-30T00:26:40Z")
> [@MrAtoz](#): > > My wife and I once visited a museum in St. Louis which had a temporary exhibit about Route 66. The guide who greeted us and directed us toward the exhibit pronounced is as “Rowt 66.” In St. Louis, the word for lesser county and state roads is commonly pronounced “rowt.” “Root” is pretty much reserved for the old U.S. 66. I’m sure the guide just forgot to code switch. ---
**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 30, 2026, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-your-idiolect/1028792/107 "2026-03-30T02:29:58Z")
> [@Kent\_Clark](#): > > “Root” is pretty much reserved for the old U.S. 66. Because of the song. ---
**Author:** ![pullin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c57346/32.png) [@pullin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pullin)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2026, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-your-idiolect/1028792/108 "2026-03-30T11:49:09Z")
For most of my life, I’ve sounded like a character from the show Hee-Haw, with some added Texas drawl. Spent most of my “formative years” in either Louisiana, Arkansas, or Texas. But the southern-hick drawl has been decreasing as I age. Probably from living near a large city (DFW). My kids’ accent is definitely less southern than mine. > [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > When I was five or six, I heard myself on the radio, and that’s when I realized I had a Southern accent, and I was horrified. I trained myself out of it That’s interesting. For me, sounding like a hick was an advantage. In competitive environments, I’d prefer co-workers underestimate me at first. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2026, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-your-idiolect/1028792/109 "2026-03-30T12:50:09Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > English apparently has a need for specific second-person plural pronoun (which “you” no longer is), and “y’all” fills that empty niche well enough Just to throw a coincidental spanner into the works, the equivalent term for the plural familiar in Dutch sounds not dissimilar: “jullie”. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2026, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-your-idiolect/1028792/110 "2026-03-30T12:54:47Z")
> Describe your idiolect All my local Idiots sound like Hillbillies, why do you ask? /s ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2026, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-your-idiolect/1028792/111 "2026-03-30T13:02:05Z")
> [@Kent\_Clark](#): > > n St. Louis, the word for lesser county and state roads is commonly pronounced “rowt.” “Root” is pretty much reserved for the old U.S. 66. I figured that was probably the case. I don’t say the word “route” all that often (mostly in terms like “rural route”), but when I do I also tend to pronounce it “rowt.”\* But to me, at least, “Route 66” is essentially a semantic unit of its own, which I always pronounce “root 66.” No doubt because of the song, as **Johanna** says, or because that’s how I’ve always heard it pronounced in documentaries and such. I almost don’t connect it with the basic word “route.” - Actually, since the 3 R’s in a row (not to mention that L) make “rural route” very difficult to say out loud, I never use it if I can possibly avoid it. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2026, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-your-idiolect/1028792/112 "2026-03-30T14:53:45Z")
I pronounce “on” as “own” and “off” as “awf.” I think it’s more common to hear them with the “ah” vowel. I pronounce some “or” words as “ahr,” such as “ahrange” instead of “orange,” “Flahrida” instead of “Florida,” “fahrest” instead of “forest.” Those are apparently the original (American) English pronunciations. I remember when I first got the Maltin/Bann book on “Our Gang” reading about “Wheezer,” and how he got that nickname because he wheezed. I thought, “Then why did they call him ‘Weezer’ instead of “Wheezer?” Had no idea that in many (or most?) areas people don’t pronounce that aspiration in 'wh-” words. I wonder if the “Uranus” was pronounced in English before “uranium” entered the popular lexicon. While the planet would not merit much mention, I did find press acounts as far back as the early 1950s showing how it should be pronounced. I suspect the ‘proper’ pronunciation would have been used for anyone studying Greek mythology back in the old days. Despite having lived in the South all my life, I do not use “y’all.” It was shamed out of me many years ago. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2026, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-your-idiolect/1028792/113 "2026-03-30T19:55:57Z")
> [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](#): > > I pronounce “on” as “own” and “off” as “awf.” I think it’s more common to hear them with the “ah” vowel. > > I pronounce some “or” words as “ahr,” such as “ahrange” instead of “orange,” “Flahrida” instead of “Florida,” “fahrest” instead of “forest.” Those are apparently the original (American) English pronunciations. > > I remember when I first got the Maltin/Bann book on “Our Gang” reading about “Wheezer,” and how he got that nickname because he wheezed. I thought, “Then why did they call him ‘Weezer’ instead of “Wheezer?” Had no idea that in many (or most?) areas people don’t pronounce that aspiration in 'wh-” words. You grow up in South Georgia by any chance? ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2026, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-your-idiolect/1028792/114 "2026-03-30T20:06:55Z")
Half right. Carolina. ---
**Author:** ![Thing.Fish](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thing.fish/32/9168_2.png) [@Thing.Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing.Fish)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2026, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-your-idiolect/1028792/115 "2026-03-31T01:50:55Z")
Well, I flunked the dialect quiz. I grew up in eastern Ohio and then in Oregon, and have lived in Chicago for over twenty years. The quiz pegged me as coming from central California, somewhere between Oakland and Fresno. Admittedly, I did live in San Francisco for a while as an adult. Interestingly, though my earliest years were spent within fifty miles of Pittsburgh, the test gives that as one of the LEAST likely places for me to be from. ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2026, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-your-idiolect/1028792/116 "2026-03-31T15:05:32Z")
> [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](#): > > I pronounce “on” as “own” and “off” as “awf.” I think it’s more common to hear them with the “ah” vowel. I’ve never heard the pronounced “ah”. I use “aw” for both. > [@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) New England, according to Babbel’s free quiz. South Carolina, according to Buzzfeed’s. > [@pulykamell](#): > > > [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > > > I remember in college getting teased for pronouncing the /l/ in “walk” and “talk.” > > II don’t pronounce the ‘L’ in either of those, but I do in “balk” and “baulk”. > > Oh, that reminds me, I pronounce the “l” in “folk.” ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2026, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-your-idiolect/1028792/117 "2026-03-31T15:07:43Z")
> [@SCAdian](#): > > I’ve never heard the pronounced “ah”. I use “aw” for both. Note that for many people, those sounds are the same. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2026, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-your-idiolect/1028792/118 "2026-03-31T15:38:07Z")
Since we’re here talking about language, I’m going to ask about something I’ve noticed lately in videos. I haven’t been much of an online video watcher but lately I’ve been sucked in to Facebook Reels so now I’m watching a lot of “content creators.” Most content I watch with narration, everyone pronounces “a” as “ay” and not “uh” like I do. They also say “thee” and not “thuh” for “the.” So I’d say “I passed by uh dog in thuh street.” Content creators “I passed by ay dog in thee street.” Is this just a matter of “talking precisely” for automated captions, perhaps? Or are they trying to sound smart? Or is this how most people talk and I’m a lazy SOB? ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2026, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-your-idiolect/1028792/119 "2026-03-31T15:58:10Z")
> [@SCAdian](#): > > I’ve never heard the pronounced “ah”. I use “aw” for both. Do you pronounce cot and caught or Don and Dawn with the same vowel? ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2026, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-your-idiolect/1028792/120 "2026-03-31T16:03:24Z")
I’ve noticed something similar - but I know that I pronounce those words differently depending on whether I’m stressing the word or not. So I say “uh car is going by” but “I said you can have ay cupcake, not three” or if someone tells me “Jennifer Lopez came to my birthday party” I might say “I assume you don’t mean thee Jennifer Lopez” Same with a lot of other words that might be pronounced differently in different situations. I think I notice it in videos because they don’t sound like a person is narrating them and whatever text to speech they are using only has one pronunciation for each spelling so that "record " meaning “write down for later reference” and “record” meaning “a vinyl disc with music” are pronounced the same. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-your-idiolect/1028792.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-your-idiolect/1028792.md?page=7)