# Take the online accent quiz **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 29, 2012, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/take-the-online-accent-quiz/614344 "2012-02-29T14:52:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2012, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/take-the-online-accent-quiz/614344/141 "2012-03-05T01:51:26Z")
Another Canuck with the North Central accent according to that. Oddly enough, I’m from down East where we have our own batch of accents, and people can actually spot the Maritimes when I speak (if they’re familiar with the area, I’m not exactly sporting a thick bay accent or anything)… ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2012, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/take-the-online-accent-quiz/614344/142 "2012-03-06T03:33:05Z")
I guess Midland is as orecise as the test goes, but I really sound like I’m from southern Missouri (rather than Northern Arkansas). I sound more like the radio or TV voices from the South. I would definitely sound out of place in the true midlands. I also think it funny they ask you how you actually talk rather than how you are supposed to in regards to pin vs. pen. The reason I pronounce them differently is because I was taught that that was proper. BTW, although I don’t have it in my accent, the difference between _merry_, _Mary_, and _marry_ is pretty easy to explain: _merry_ has the same vowel as _met_, _marry_, of _mat_, and only _Mary_ has the vowel we normally use, the one like “air”–similar to the vowel in _mate_. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2012, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/take-the-online-accent-quiz/614344/143 "2012-03-11T17:18:24Z")
North Central. It accused me of having a Minnesota accent, which is odd because, well, I was born in southern Illinois and spent seven years there, moved to southeast Missouri and spent seven years there, moved to far southwestern Minnesota and spent all of a year there, then moved to Montana and have spent the rest of my life in and around this state. So maybe North Central is what you get when you take a southern Midwesterner and get him to live up north for a while. ---
**Author:** ![congodwarf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@congodwarf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/congodwarf)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2012, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/take-the-online-accent-quiz/614344/144 "2012-03-13T02:26:36Z")
Born in western MA and raised in Central MA (Worcester specifically). Naturally my accent is almost completely the Midland (no accent at all) and that is exactly what I expected. My mother (from far upstate NY) got stabby when any of us kids started using a “Wussta” accent and Boston accents make ME stabby. I’ve been told many times that I don’t have an accent and I’m fine with that. ---
**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2012, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/take-the-online-accent-quiz/614344/145 "2012-03-13T04:46:18Z")
LMAO. It said “Boston”. I’m several generations Midwest. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2012, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/take-the-online-accent-quiz/614344/146 "2012-03-13T04:49:39Z")
It pegged me pretty well. I was born in DC, raised in the suburbs there, not all that far from Baltimore, then moved to Philadelphia at age 13. [Quote=The Test] Your accent is as Philadelphian as a cheesesteak! If you’re not from Philadelphia, then you’re from someplace near there like south Jersey, Baltimore, or Wilmington. if you’ve ever journeyed to some far off place where people don’t know that Philly has an accent, someone may have thought you talked a little weird even though they didn’t have a clue what accent it was they heard. [/quote] Up here in N’ingland people talk really weird. ---
**Author:** ![zeldarae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/f14d63/32.png) [@zeldarae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zeldarae)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2012, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/take-the-online-accent-quiz/614344/147 "2012-03-14T18:18:29Z")
It correctly pegged me as a Southerner. ---
**Author:** ![The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_wind_of_my_soul)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2012, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/take-the-online-accent-quiz/614344/148 "2012-03-14T18:23:28Z")
I got the West. I’m from the DC area. ---
**Author:** ![gerund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ed655f/32.png) [@gerund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gerund)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2012, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/take-the-online-accent-quiz/614344/149 "2012-03-14T18:29:18Z")
western Massachusetts born and raised = Inland North accent Yes, I have been asked if I’m from Canada before. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2012, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/take-the-online-accent-quiz/614344/150 "2012-03-14T21:52:28Z")
Glad this thread is still helping people figure out - or not - where they’re from! ---
**Author:** ![sisu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@sisu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sisu)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2012, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/take-the-online-accent-quiz/614344/151 "2012-03-14T22:25:25Z")
I took this for a laugh [i am an aussie] and guess what, 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. Would you US dopers say that this is closest to an Australian accent? Please ignore crocodile dundee his is exaggerated ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2012, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/take-the-online-accent-quiz/614344/152 "2012-03-14T23:03:43Z")
> [@Quiz results:](#): > > Your Result: **The Inland North** > > 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.” Couldn’t be more wrong. I call carbonated drinks “soda” and far from being from the Inland North, I live near the beach in South Florida, and have since I learned to speak. In my travels, nobody has ever said anything about me having an accent or made any guesses about where I’m from based on my speech. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2012, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/take-the-online-accent-quiz/614344/153 "2012-03-15T03:29:27Z")
> [@sisu](#): > > I took this for a laugh [i am an aussie] and guess what, 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. > > Would you US dopers say that this is closest to an Australian accent? Please ignore crocodile dundee his is exaggerated I’d say that, of all U.S. dialects, the Boston accent with its broad "A"s is closest to the Australian accent, kinda sorta, but there are more dissimilarities than similarities. ---
**Author:** ![Boulter\_s\_Canary](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e79b87/32.png) [@Boulter\_s\_Canary](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boulter_s_Canary)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2012, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/take-the-online-accent-quiz/614344/154 "2012-03-15T13:12:30Z")
Inland North I’m actually a Brit from south-east England and speak with a south London/north Kent accent (I guess some people would call it ‘Estuary’). ---
**Author:** ![Kenm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bc79bd/32.png) [@Kenm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kenm)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2012, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/take-the-online-accent-quiz/614344/155 "2012-03-15T15:15:54Z")
I ran the quiz twice, using the two most opposite personas available: a male over 60 and a female under 18. I wanted to see if and how much the test may be weighted to age. The result and the graph lines are identical. Though I’m in Central Canada, each result says I have a Boston accent, and the red line extends 85 to 90 per cent across. The secondary graph says “The West” (again, 85 to 90 per cent), then “North Central” at about 75 per cent. This makes more sense than Boston, since Manitoba is home and has been for most of my life — and I have yet to meet a Lowell or a Cabot. “About” and “loud” gave me pause. I finally decided that “about” sounds like a skinned-knee “owie,” while “loud” is more “aweow.” In any case, “aboot” need not apply. Fun quiz. ---
**Author:** ![Ludy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Ludy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludy)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2012, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/take-the-online-accent-quiz/614344/156 "2012-03-15T15:20:47Z")
It sayed that I could be mistaken for a Canadian. Seeing that I am Canadian I’d say the test worked ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2012, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/take-the-online-accent-quiz/614344/157 "2012-03-15T17:50:57Z")
> [@Mr\_Shine](#): > > English, quiz pegged me as NE American Same here. Except I say I’m British because I’m awkward like that. ---
**Author:** ![Scubaqueen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c0e974/32.png) [@Scubaqueen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scubaqueen)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2012, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/take-the-online-accent-quiz/614344/158 "2012-03-15T21:56:30Z")
Inland North, which is… odd. Born in the midwest, mostly raised in New Jersey, and now back in Indiana. Despite 30 years in the midwest, it was my formative years in the east which currently keeps me from referring to soda as pop and hanging on to anything near a recognizable accent. I’d be a perfect national tv newscaster. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![SticksAndString](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3bc359/32.png) [@SticksAndString](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SticksAndString)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2012, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/take-the-online-accent-quiz/614344/159 "2012-03-15T22:07:25Z")
I have a Midlands accent…which sounds about right because I’m from Dallas and we don’t HAVE much of an accent around here unless you go waaaay down into south Texas and then you get that cliched twang everybody always thinks of when they think of a “Texas” accent. ---
**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2012, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/take-the-online-accent-quiz/614344/160 "2012-03-16T04:29:16Z")
I retook the test and took the time to really sound out the words in my head. Nailed it! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/take-the-online-accent-quiz/614344.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/take-the-online-accent-quiz/614344.md?page=9)