# The NYTimes 25-question American Language Guess-Where-You're-From map/algorithm **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 24, 2013, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-nytimes-25-question-american-language-guess-where-youre-from-map-algorithm/677104 "2013-12-24T21:10:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![sparky\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/77aa72/32.png) [@sparky\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sparky_1)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2013, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-nytimes-25-question-american-language-guess-where-youre-from-map-algorithm/677104/81 "2013-12-25T13:01:55Z")
Boston or Worcester! I mean, Bahston or Woostah. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2013, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-nytimes-25-question-american-language-guess-where-youre-from-map-algorithm/677104/82 "2013-12-25T13:02:07Z")
Another Aussie but with English migrant parents: Newark/Paterson, Jersey City, New York. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2013, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-nytimes-25-question-american-language-guess-where-youre-from-map-algorithm/677104/83 "2013-12-25T13:23:10Z")
> [@robardin](#): > > I was astounded at how many of the answers made no sense to me at all. Some I recognized as regionalisms from elsewhere that I would never say, like “pop” for soda, but “what do you call it when it rains while the sun is out”? Uh… A rainbow opportunity? OK “sun shower” makes sense (though I may not have understood it out of context - sounds more like a burst of sunlight), but “the devil is beating his wife”?? Mother told me, “When it rains when the sun is shining, it will rain again tomorrow.” (TN) I believe the devil beating his wife is thunder when the sun is shining. (AR) ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2013, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-nytimes-25-question-american-language-guess-where-youre-from-map-algorithm/677104/84 "2013-12-25T13:42:43Z")
They put me 300 miles away from where I was born, raised and moved back to 20 years ago. I’ve lived lots of places, so may have pick up some idiosyncrasies. ---
**Author:** ![kayT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayt/32/3633_2.png) [@kayT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayT)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2013, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-nytimes-25-question-american-language-guess-where-youre-from-map-algorithm/677104/85 "2013-12-25T14:28:38Z")
I didn’t realize we got all different questions; I’ll have to take it again and see if it does better. I have lived in Illinois (downstate, not Chi), Georgia, Los Angeles, and now Texas. (However I have lived with Texans for many years.) It gave me Fresno, Witchita Kansas, and Denver. Not even close. Fresno? Maybe my rural Illinois background merged with LA to give me Fresno? I’m going to try again. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2013, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-nytimes-25-question-american-language-guess-where-youre-from-map-algorithm/677104/86 "2013-12-25T14:39:43Z")
Not even close. It listed Aurora, Illinois and Buffalo, New York, neither of which I’ve ever been to, and Chicago, which I’ve flown through dozens of times. Oh, and where I once spent four days at a conference, around 30 years ago. I did live in the midwest for a few years as an adult (Iowa and Wisconsin), where I picked up “pop,” which might skew my results – but no mention of the Mid Atlantic, where I’ve lived from ages 6 to 14, 23 to 28, and since 1987 – or Southern California, where I lived from 14 to 23. ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2013, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-nytimes-25-question-american-language-guess-where-youre-from-map-algorithm/677104/87 "2013-12-25T14:44:02Z")
It got my location in Arizona pegged. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2013, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-nytimes-25-question-american-language-guess-where-youre-from-map-algorithm/677104/88 "2013-12-25T15:08:57Z")
Interesting! And, pretty much spot-on. I enjoy a soda, H2O from a water fountain, and fireflies when I see them in the summer. And, WTF is a bubbler? (asking respectfully) ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2013, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-nytimes-25-question-american-language-guess-where-youre-from-map-algorithm/677104/89 "2013-12-25T15:18:31Z")
> [@echo7tango](#): > > Interesting! And, pretty much spot-on. I enjoy a soda, H2O from a water fountain, and fireflies when I see them in the summer. > > And, WTF is a bubbler? (asking respectfully) Are you a Southerner, echo? ---
**Author:** ![Desert\_Nomad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desert_nomad/32/177_2.png) [@Desert\_Nomad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desert_Nomad)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2013, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-nytimes-25-question-american-language-guess-where-youre-from-map-algorithm/677104/90 "2013-12-25T15:31:25Z")
It picked the city I currently live in and spent half my life in. I actually grew up in a town of 1500 people 30 miles from there which I am not surprised it didn’t know, but to pick Reno, NV was amazing. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2013, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-nytimes-25-question-american-language-guess-where-youre-from-map-algorithm/677104/91 "2013-12-25T15:35:23Z")
> [@echo7tango](#): > > And, WTF is a bubbler? (asking respectfully) A Bubbler was the name of particular brand of drinking fountain made by Kohler Company of Kohler, WI in 1889. It became to drinking fountains what Kleenex became to tissues, at least regionally. ---
**Author:** ![C3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/c3/32/3108_2.png) [@C3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C3)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2013, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-nytimes-25-question-american-language-guess-where-youre-from-map-algorithm/677104/92 "2013-12-25T15:36:29Z")
I took this twice and the first time it was completely off: Chattanooga, TN & Columbus, GA. The second time I took it, it gave me a couple different questions and the results were a lot closer: Baltimore, Newark, and Winston-Salem. I’m actually a 9th generation Montgomery County, MD native. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2013, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-nytimes-25-question-american-language-guess-where-youre-from-map-algorithm/677104/93 "2013-12-25T15:41:27Z")
San Jose, Fremont. I grew up in the SF Bay Area. Stockton. I currently live about 30 miles south. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2013, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-nytimes-25-question-american-language-guess-where-youre-from-map-algorithm/677104/94 "2013-12-25T15:52:46Z")
Missed it completely, as I grew up in Anchorage. However, I’ve lived all over the place and picked up regionalisms from the people I’ve worked with, so that likely influenced things. ---
**Author:** ![gallows\_fodder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8c91f0/32.png) [@gallows\_fodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gallows_fodder)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2013, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-nytimes-25-question-american-language-guess-where-youre-from-map-algorithm/677104/95 "2013-12-25T16:37:36Z")
I’ve taken tests like this before and they’ve always given me results that were way off, but this one nailed it. My two distinctive answers that pinpointed my place of origin were: \*What do you call the long sandwich that contains cold cuts, lettuce and so on? (Answer: hoagie) \*What do you call the night before Halloween? (Answer: mischief night) ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2013, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-nytimes-25-question-american-language-guess-where-youre-from-map-algorithm/677104/96 "2013-12-25T16:48:48Z")
> [@yabob](#): > > Eh. Ran it a couple times, which asked me some different questions. It gives me a map with a generally red area and a generally blue area separated by a fairly sharp diagonal extending from about El Paso up into Western New York state. It utterly can’t make up its mind within that area - Cleveland, Madison, Milwaukee, Omaha, Modesto, Stockton … > > Actually I grew up in rural NW Pa south of Erie. I do note that the diagonal I mentioned gives a little red band along the Great Lakes in Ohio and Pa while fading to blue down by Pittsburgh. I’ve lived for many decades in the west, though - Mt, Co and Ca. I suspect that some of the pronunciation questions tag me as Northeast, but I’ve picked up enough usages like “frontage road” to confuse it. Actually, I find that one surprising - it claims “frontage road” is a Rocky Mountain states usage, plus the Dakotas. At any rate, I’m definitely NOT midwest. Hmm. Looking at it again, it appears it pretty much needs to ask me one question to obtain its not-very-good results. My map comes out very close to the distribution for the way I pronounce “pajamas”. My map: [http://infracanis.com/pub/langmap.jpg](http://infracanis.com/pub/langmap.jpg) Pajamas: [http://infracanis.com/pub/pajamas.jpg](http://infracanis.com/pub/pajamas.jpg) One factor here might be CONCIOUS adaptations of words, possibly only seen in print. The strip of grass between the street and sidewalk is something I didn’t call anything for a long time (to me, “median” does not apply here - that’s in the middle of a divided street). I heard or saw it called a “tree lawn”, so I started calling it that. According to that quiz, that’s strictly Cleveland. Similarly, “rotary” sounds better to me than “traffic circle” - more concise and less awkward, so I started using it. Strictly New England according to them. I wonder why it didn’t ask about dropping “to be” as in “the car needs washed”, which I do sometimes and it’s a distinctive marker. I don’t say “warshed”, though … ---
**Author:** ![Xavier\_Breath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/76d3ee/32.png) [@Xavier\_Breath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xavier_Breath)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2013, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-nytimes-25-question-american-language-guess-where-youre-from-map-algorithm/677104/97 "2013-12-25T16:54:29Z")
Dang! Nailed me! ---
**Author:** ![bubba001](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f17d59/32.png) [@bubba001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bubba001)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2013, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-nytimes-25-question-american-language-guess-where-youre-from-map-algorithm/677104/98 "2013-12-25T17:05:33Z")
Pretty much nailed it for me. I grew up between Detroit and Ann arbor, and have lived for 28 years between Detroit and Lansing. The 3 cities were, Detroit, Toledo, and Grand Rapids. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2013, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-nytimes-25-question-american-language-guess-where-youre-from-map-algorithm/677104/99 "2013-12-25T17:12:13Z")
Apparently the list of questions is not fixed. I see a lot of people here discussing a pillbug/potato bug question. I did not have that one. Probably not randomly chosen but dynamic based on the answers to previous questions. ---
**Author:** ![LavenderBlue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e95f7d/32.png) [@LavenderBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LavenderBlue)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2013, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-nytimes-25-question-american-language-guess-where-youre-from-map-algorithm/677104/100 "2013-12-25T17:15:58Z")
The sunshower question amused me. I have never imagined that people called it anything else. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-nytimes-25-question-american-language-guess-where-youre-from-map-algorithm/677104.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-nytimes-25-question-american-language-guess-where-youre-from-map-algorithm/677104.md?page=6)