I grew up in northern Wisconsin, and had the common regional accent from that area – not unlike the Minnesota/Fargo accent; Youtube comedian Charlie Berens does a magnified version of that Wisconsin accent.
Six years spent in Madison, Wisconsin, and now three decades in Chicago, have knocked the edges off of my accent, and it’s now closer to the typical “Midwestern television news person” accent – I’m not sure that I’d call it a “standard” accent, but it’s more neutral. But, when I go back home to visit my family in Green Bay, my accent creeps back in.
This, right here. It was about letting kids (7-8 grade, mostly) have a chance to ride on a real horse. Plonk the kid on the saddle, make sure they weren’t going to fall off, then tell Bessie to go around the school racetrack
Can’t answer the “Dialects” poll. Dad spoke with a Kansas rasp, Mom spoke fluent West Texan. Neither are “foreign” but both are “regional.” I grew up speaking Californian (Southern) with a semi-strong overlay of Texas.
My parents are from Wisconsin, but we lived in North Carolina when I was growing up. So I ended up with an accent that was sort of in between Midwestern and Southern. Southerners generally thought I sounded Midwestern. People from other regions usually thought I sounded Southern.
Since moving to California nearly 20 years ago (Gee, 2005 was nearly 20 years ago now…) I’ve pretty much lost whatever semblance of a Southern accent I might have had. So I picked the “My accent changed after moving to another region” option.
Despite living in tornado alley, I have not even seen a tornado (live) i have seen the aftermath of several tornadoes.
Snowstorm is kind of relative. I have been affected by snow storms that were regional record breakers… 12 inches of snow, but we have never seen that much snow here before, and it caused all kinds of problems
My father, who until around age 10 spoke Russian, Polish, and Yiddish (he lost the first two), while I knew him spoke standard American English as if he were a grammar book; plus Yiddish with my grandfather. My mother spoke close to standard American English but with significant traces of Nebraska. My grandfather, who lived on the property, had a strong Yiddish accent; so did some of our friends; some of the others had various European or various New York City accents; some had the accent of farm country New York State somewhat north of the city.
I went to high school in Massachusetts and in Maine, and to college in Rochester NY; and then moved to farm country Finger Lakes.
Anywhere in the world that I open my mouth, people know I’m from someplace else. They just don’t know where else.
Blizzard/snowstorm - I came into Logan during the largest recorded snowfall in its history, 27.6 inches, and then had to drive home. In retrospect I should have found a hotel, but I did get home okay.
Earthquake - a tiny one in Boston.
Hailstorm - countless in North Texas.
Ice storms - several, but most memorably was the Dallas ice storm that hit on new year’s eve 1978. We were completely unprepared for it and inexperienced with how to deal with it.
Flooding - in Texas, plenty. I remember when all the highways down by south Dallas went underwater.
Hurricane - never on the coast, just the diminishing aftereffects.
I can’t answer the accent poll. To me my accent sounds Standard but I know I have some regional oddities. Take the word “wash” It often comes out as “warsh” The university is Warshburn, unless I am careful.
I believe I have a standard TV American accent. My belief is backed up by the fact that I’ve known and worked with people from all over and have been frequently asked where my accent is. I’m sure a dialect expert could hear some accent in my vowel sounds. Same with my immediate family. My mother very consciously made sure she did not have a strong Staten Island accent like her mother and sister. It did come out a bit when she was mad.
Blizzards: multiple times but much less in recent years.
Earthquake: felt a couple of very minor ones.
Hailstorm: watched from the house while my two cars were severely damaged.
Ice Storm: bad one in the 90s. Also one when we were in the field at Fort Knox in 98. It’s weird to see tanks sliding sideways down a hill.
Flooding: flooded out of our house during Floyd.
Hurricane/TS: Sandy, Floyd, Irene, Ida
Dust storm: I assumed that also meant sand storm. I was in a pretty bad one in Baghdad. It felt like being on a different planet.
The accent one is hard. How regional is regional? The “standard TV accent” is different in different parts of the US.
My guess is that i sound like I’m from the northeast, but i don’t have a Brooklyn accent or a Boston accent or any other really distinctive regional accent.
I’ve been in two tiny earthquakes, a could of really minor hailstorms, shelters from a tornado that went another way, and saw a tornado over there, experienced the last dregs of a dying hurricane…
I’ve been in some serious blizzards and modest ice storms, and the street pole in front of my next door neighbor’s was hit by lightning. Hmm, also the oak tree of a different next door neighbor. But maybe lightning wasn’t on the list.
Anyway, i checked a lot of boxes, but most of them felt like cheats.
Been to Alaska and been to Iceland. I’ve only been to where the cruise ships go in Alaska so Iceland wins for furthest north, about 64° N. I’ve only been in the airport while the plane was being fueled. I’ve never been south of the equator. The furthest south I’ve been is 18° N.
By TV accent, I mean the one you hear on national TV programs, not connected to a region. So your local weatherman might sound New Englandy, but Lester Holt doesn’t, just generic American.
I have been through events that were named “snowstorms” and “blizzards”, but a person from the northern states would be utterly unimpressed by them.
On a couple of occasions, the government has recorded earthquakes in my town, but I did not feel them.
Hailstorms are fairly common where I live, but the hailstones were never larger than peas, and rarely did much damage.
Dust storms are pretty common where I live.
When I was a kid, a flood came right to the front door of my parents’ house, but did not get inside the house, and did no damage.
I was on the outskirts of a hurricane once, but only experienced heavy rain.
I have technically experienced many weather events on that list, but only the mildest versions. (On the other hand, if you ask me about 100-degrees-in-the-shade heat, I get that every year.) (But it’s a dry heat.)
