# 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:** 7
**Author:** ![watchwolf49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9c0ed/32.png) [@watchwolf49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watchwolf49)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2013, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-nytimes-25-question-american-language-guess-where-youre-from-map-algorithm/677104/121 "2013-12-26T02:31:24Z")
Frenso, CA and Boston, MA … what kind a test is this? Frenso and Boston … hello ??? ---
**Author:** ![watchwolf49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9c0ed/32.png) [@watchwolf49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watchwolf49)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2013, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-nytimes-25-question-american-language-guess-where-youre-from-map-algorithm/677104/122 "2013-12-26T02:48:32Z")
Took the test again and changed the offending answer, Frenso and Arlington, so closer … First time I ever saw one was in Boston, and I’ve always called them rotaries ever since. Frenso is close enough to where I grew up. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2013, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-nytimes-25-question-american-language-guess-where-youre-from-map-algorithm/677104/123 "2013-12-26T02:53:47Z")
It pegged me within, I’d guess, 75 miles or so. The 3 locations it placed kind of surrounded where I actually am! ---
**Author:** ![MacCat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maccat/32/216_2.png) [@MacCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacCat)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2013, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-nytimes-25-question-american-language-guess-where-youre-from-map-algorithm/677104/124 "2013-12-26T04:37:55Z")
> [@LavenderBlue](#): > > New York City, Jersey City and Yonkers for me. I grew up in Queens and Brooklyn and currently live in NJ so spot on. > [@robardin](#): > > I also find it interesting that according to the final “heat map” of regional similarities, while it again pegged me (on a second retake) as being from NY/Yonkers/Jersey City, there two “hot spots” of high congruence in South Florida and right at San Francisco - doubtlessly due to all the NYC area transplants to there. Same 3 for me. Like LavenderBlue, I spent early years in Queens and since, just a little east of robardin on Long Island. ---
**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:** [December 26, 2013, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-nytimes-25-question-american-language-guess-where-youre-from-map-algorithm/677104/125 "2013-12-26T05:43:46Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > A digression. I apologize. > Did Kent state build the gymnasium they were planning on the field where the students were shot by the National Guard? Yeah, they sure did. But it didn’t actually take up any of the area where the shooters shot from or where the four were killed. That area was still open space the last time I was there… which was 23 years ago. The massive gym building is immediately adjacent to the hallowed ground and kind of seems like it’s crowding it. I was there for the 20th anniversary observances. The governor of Ohio, Richard Celeste, showed up on May 4 to commemorate the memory of the slain students. I used to visit that hillside a lot when I was in Kent and it always gave me a cold chill. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2013, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-nytimes-25-question-american-language-guess-where-youre-from-map-algorithm/677104/126 "2013-12-26T06:34:39Z")
Interesting. I expected it to be thrown way off by me, since I was born in Cleveland but had lived in four different states (two in the South, two in the North) by the time I was eight - including a stint back in the Cleveland area (I claim Hudson as my hometown). I didn’t pick up much, I guess, because it has northern Ohio as a patch of blue. However, it does give me Georgia, South Carolina and, strongest, North Carolina - Greensboro and Winston-Salem. All of my Dad’s family is from North Carolina, and I went to college in North Carolina. (Not Greensboro or Winston-Salem, but my sister went to college in Greensboro). And I’ve lived in Georgia for the past thirty years. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2013, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-nytimes-25-question-american-language-guess-where-youre-from-map-algorithm/677104/127 "2013-12-26T06:49:48Z")
It cited 3 cities in southeast Florida. I grew up in Baltimore county - my family has been in the Baltimore area since the early 1900s when they emigrated from Poland. So it guessed way wrong!! ---
**Author:** ![gladtobeblazed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/85f322/32.png) [@gladtobeblazed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gladtobeblazed)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2013, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-nytimes-25-question-american-language-guess-where-youre-from-map-algorithm/677104/128 "2013-12-26T07:52:25Z")
What’s funny is that so many people in this thread have Modesto as a city, but I don’t. I’ve lived here for over 20 years now. It listed San Jose for me, with some red near Seattle, where I was born. ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2013, 8:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-nytimes-25-question-american-language-guess-where-youre-from-map-algorithm/677104/129 "2013-12-26T08:35:22Z")
Rockford, Illinois Omaha, Nebraska Reno, Nevada Not bad - I was born and raised near Chicago, close to Rockford, Never been t Omaha, but our family didn’t use a lot of “slang”, so perhaps it is a milder mid-west accent there? And I currently live in Vegas, thus Reno isn’t far off. I think the question that threw me off was calling carbonated drinks “pop” or “soda”…growing up it was “pop”, but living out west so long, nobody even knows what the hell “pop” is, so I sort of dropped that from my vocabulary and now it even sounds weird to me when someone says “pop”. ---
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2013, 9:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-nytimes-25-question-american-language-guess-where-youre-from-map-algorithm/677104/130 "2013-12-26T09:02:52Z")
New York, Baton Rouge and Jersey City. Who’d thunk that from a 7th generation Aussie? ---
**Author:** ![Isilder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@Isilder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isilder)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2013, 10:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-nytimes-25-question-american-language-guess-where-youre-from-map-algorithm/677104/131 "2013-12-26T10:29:43Z")
The question is really “Your education was in a school as good as the schools at these cities”… ---
**Author:** ![Tinkertoy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f19dbf/32.png) [@Tinkertoy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tinkertoy)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2013, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-nytimes-25-question-american-language-guess-where-youre-from-map-algorithm/677104/132 "2013-12-26T12:40:02Z")
I got Salt Lake and Boise, not bad considering I live about half way between the two. ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2013, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-nytimes-25-question-american-language-guess-where-youre-from-map-algorithm/677104/133 "2013-12-26T13:40:20Z")
> [@Tinkertoy](#): > > I got Salt Lake and Boise, not bad considering I live about half way between the two. I got those two, plus Spokane. I grew up between Boise and Spokane, but most of the other kids in my neighborhood were Mormons. ---
**Author:** ![HazelNutCoffee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@HazelNutCoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HazelNutCoffee)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2013, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-nytimes-25-question-american-language-guess-where-youre-from-map-algorithm/677104/134 "2013-12-26T15:41:18Z")
I grew up in Atlanta til I was 13 and lived in Chicago for a few years in my 20s. The test says I’m from the New England area though. ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2013, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-nytimes-25-question-american-language-guess-where-youre-from-map-algorithm/677104/135 "2013-12-26T15:59:55Z")
> [@D18](#): > > They need to include “What do you call a small, independent convenience store, that sells smokes, beer, and other sundries?” If the answer is “bodega”, it nails you as New York or Long Island. Anyway, life-long Ontarian here except for two, two-years stints in NYC, 20 years apart. Placed me in Buffalo (hardly surprising), but then got cooler in upstate New York, then hot again in NYC. Actually, it’s a spanish word. It’s used in California, referring to Mom and Pop stores in the [barrios](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barrio) of east LA. I’ve only heard it in the LA area and I’ve lived and visited much of the US. ---
**Author:** ![Zerc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/82dd89/32.png) [@Zerc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zerc)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2013, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-nytimes-25-question-american-language-guess-where-youre-from-map-algorithm/677104/136 "2013-12-26T17:18:45Z")
> [@LavenderBlue](#): > > New York City, Jersey City and Yonkers for me. I grew up in Queens and Brooklyn and currently live in NJ so spot on. The same cities for me although I am from South Africa ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2013, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-nytimes-25-question-american-language-guess-where-youre-from-map-algorithm/677104/137 "2013-12-26T17:37:38Z")
Both times, New York City and Yonkers. The third was Philadelphia one time and Newark the other. > [@](#): > > \*\*Originally Posted by D18 \*\* > They need to include “What do you call a small, independent convenience store, that sells smokes, beer, and other sundries?” If the answer is “bodega”, it nails you as New York or Long Island. Anyway, life-long Ontarian here except for two, two-years stints in NYC, 20 years apart. Placed me in Buffalo (hardly surprising), but then got cooler in upstate New York, then hot again in NYC. “Bodega” is not such a great question for New York City. Not only is the word almost certainly used in other areas, other words are also commonly used in NYC for stores selling those same things - deli,newsstand,etc ---
**Author:** ![jebert](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ec9cab/32.png) [@jebert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jebert)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2013, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-nytimes-25-question-american-language-guess-where-youre-from-map-algorithm/677104/138 "2013-12-26T17:44:56Z")
I tried it twice and it shut down about 80% of the way through. The it suddenly came back with a result - dead on. ---
**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:** [December 26, 2013, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-nytimes-25-question-american-language-guess-where-youre-from-map-algorithm/677104/139 "2013-12-26T17:58:32Z")
> [@doreen](#): > > “Bodega” is not such a great question for New York City. Not only is the word almost certainly used in other areas, other words are also commonly used in NYC for stores selling those same things - deli,newsstand,etc I think it would work pretty well to peg you as an East Coaster or New Yorker, as long as the other questions are consistent. I’ve personally only heard the term from New Yorkers or people who have lived in New York myself. Besides, it’s not like these questions have only one correct answer. The answer “deli” and “newsstand” can also help identify you from New York (although it’s probably too generic a term to narrow it down too much), but an answer of “bodega” would much more strongly point in that direction. For example, folks in Chicago call the fizzy drink both “pop” and “soda.” I grew up with the word “soda.” My aunt says “pop.” If you answer “pop” to the quiz, that will more strongly point you to the Midwest/Great Lakes states/and possibly Northwest, but saying “soda” would certainly not disqualify you from the Chicago area, as it’s also a common term there. ---
**Author:** ![Dorjan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorjan/32/12440_2.png) [@Dorjan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dorjan)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2013, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-nytimes-25-question-american-language-guess-where-youre-from-map-algorithm/677104/140 "2013-12-26T18:49:23Z")
It’s got me in Cleveland (dead-on) with deep south influences (Houston and Jackson, MS). My actual southern influences are from Mobile and Tuscaloosa, but all in all, not bad. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-nytimes-25-question-american-language-guess-where-youre-from-map-algorithm/677104.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-nytimes-25-question-american-language-guess-where-youre-from-map-algorithm/677104.md?page=8)