# What American accent do you have? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 25, 2007, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-american-accent-do-you-have/389373 "2007-01-25T04:42:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![athelas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5e9695/32.png) [@athelas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/athelas)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2007, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-american-accent-do-you-have/389373/161 "2007-01-31T13:24:31Z")
Midland accent, but I’ve lived in New Jersey my whole life. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2007, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-american-accent-do-you-have/389373/162 "2007-02-03T00:13:15Z")
I got “Inland North,” but I’ve lived in California all my life. Maybe it’s the influence of my Michigan-born mother? And it’s “soda pop,” actually. ---
**Author:** ![Carm6773](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/2bfe46/32.png) [@Carm6773](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carm6773)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2007, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-american-accent-do-you-have/389373/163 "2007-02-03T02:59:56Z")
[QUOTE=Biffy the Elephant Shrew] I got “Inland North,” but I’ve lived in California all my life. Maybe it’s the influence of my Michigan-born mother? And it’s “soda pop,” actually. [/QUOTE] No, it’s all Coke, y’all. ---
**Author:** ![Malienation](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4af34b/32.png) [@Malienation](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malienation)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2007, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-american-accent-do-you-have/389373/164 "2007-02-03T05:35:37Z")
Northeast! Yay! \ Yeah, I’m originally from the boroughs. What are you looking at? Fuhgettaboutit! FWIW, **Ms. Malienation** scored a Philadelphia accent. She’s not from there, although much of her family is. ---
**Author:** ![BrassyPhrase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea666f/32.png) [@BrassyPhrase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrassyPhrase)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2007, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-american-accent-do-you-have/389373/165 "2007-02-03T06:53:18Z")
I got the Midland thing too. (Born in Kentucky, grew up in Texas.) Why yes, I’m biracist! Hilbilly/Redneck! But was taught to use a proper phone voice and correct language on the phone. So I can hurl invective with the best of them and then switch immediately \ into “Hi, this is Brassy Phrase…i’m calling about invoice number…” I actually switch into what I consider Fake Southern at that point…maybe thats the hybrid of them all ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2007, 11:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-american-accent-do-you-have/389373/166 "2007-02-03T11:15:35Z")
Another midland here. Which strikes me as crazed. If I have anything it’s a light southern (Virginia/Carolina) with a helluva strong overlay of SoCal in my word choice and rhythm. ---
**Author:** ![Ruffian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/71e660/32.png) [@Ruffian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruffian)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2007, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-american-accent-do-you-have/389373/167 "2007-02-03T18:42:09Z")
Another Inland North accent here. Makes sense, since I grew up in Indiana (though I was born in West Virginia–when I’m tired, the drawl I originally learned to speak with makes its lazy appearance). I’ve lived in California for nearly 20 years, though, so apparently I sound funny to the locals. International folk often have difficulty placing my accent–they usually don’t think I’m American. I’ve gotten guesses that I’m British, Australian, Kiwi, and Eastern European (all from people decidedly not from those areas–I sound NOTHING like those). That was more in my college days, though; I haven’t had such guesses in years. And FTR, where I grew up all “soda” and “pop” was “Coke.” Didn’t matter if it was Pepsi, Dr. Pepper, or 7-Up…it was all “Coke.” So, no, carbonated drinks are NOT “pop.” ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2007, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-american-accent-do-you-have/389373/168 "2007-02-03T20:24:32Z")
Born and lived in California all my life, so I thought I didn’t have an accent. And the quiz agrees…except they say I’m “Midland”. My wife was born & raised in Connecticut, and came up Inland North/Midland/Northeast. She thinks “cot” and “caught” are pronounced differently (snerk). ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2007, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-american-accent-do-you-have/389373/169 "2007-02-03T20:40:40Z")
Not a very comprehensive survey to be telling people where they’re from. It focused only on a few free variants, all vowels, all pretty stereotypical. And when it says you’re from the west, it also says you could be from Florida. They could’ve asked how you say “Monday, Tuesday” etc. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2007, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-american-accent-do-you-have/389373/170 "2007-02-03T20:45:51Z")
[QUOTE=sturmhauke] “O?” Please tell me you mean “a,” or my head may explode. For reference, here’s some words that rhyme to me: short “a” - bag, tag, shag, wag, hag long “a” - vague, plague, the Hague, egg (sometimes, depends on usage), shade (well, almost a rhyme) [/QUOTE] I’m wondering how you pronounce _father_: “long a” or “short a”? ---
**Author:** ![Ruffian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/71e660/32.png) [@Ruffian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruffian)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2007, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-american-accent-do-you-have/389373/171 "2007-02-04T05:47:17Z")
> [@](#): > > I’m wondering how you pronounce father: “long a” or “short a”? There’s a third option. I pronounce it with neither a long or short “a,” but rather with an “aw” as in “awful.” Reminds me…my Principles of Language class had a 2-week section on linguistics. We were warned it would bore the stuffing out of us, and it did for all the “normal” people…but I had an absolute blast. My favorite (and most memorable) part of the class, in fact. ---
**Author:** ![Thalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f475e1/32.png) [@Thalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thalion)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2007, 10:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-american-accent-do-you-have/389373/172 "2007-02-04T10:09:06Z")
Wow, that’s spooky! It says that I have a Boston accent. I was born in Boston, but left there when I was only six-years old! I didn’t think I had the slightest hint of an accent yet, though I do hear a bit of it from my older siblings. ---
**Author:** ![carlb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carlb/32/5930_2.png) [@carlb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carlb)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2007, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-american-accent-do-you-have/389373/173 "2007-02-04T14:13:48Z")
[QUOTE=psycat90] “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.” Central Jersey - born and raised. [/QUOTE] Me, too, except the quiz nailed me as, “as Philadelphia as a cheesesteak.” I’m from Trenton, born to a mother from there, and a father from east-central Pennsylvania. I think it did a pretty good job of determining a general region. The could probably develop a sub-quiz to further narrow the location. For example, when you say “water,” does it sound like WAH-ter, or WOOD-er? And all central Jerseyans know there’s no “T” in the middle of “Trenton”. Just something of a glottal stop. For the record, I don’t do the “WOOD-er” thing. Drives me nuts. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2007, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-american-accent-do-you-have/389373/174 "2007-02-04T14:34:30Z")
[QUOTE=Ruffian] There’s a third option. I pronounce it with neither a long or short “a,” but rather with an “aw” as in “awful.” Reminds me…my Principles of Language class had a 2-week section on linguistics. We were warned it would bore the stuffing out of us, and it did for all the “normal” people…but I had an absolute blast. My favorite (and most memorable) part of the class, in fact. [/QUOTE] Good! So then we agree that trying to describe the vowels of English by referring to “long” or “short” letters is thoroughly inadequate? That would be to presume that there are only ten vowels in English: the “long” and “short” versions of the letters a, e, i, o and u, when in fact there are at least 21 vowels, depending on how you classify R-coloring. Letters are not vowels, when we’re talking about pronunciation (“accent”)–the letters a, e, i, o and u are symbols we use on paper to represent the vowels in words that we say. (Of course we also use w and y to help clarify things.) ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2007, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-american-accent-do-you-have/389373/175 "2007-02-04T14:53:27Z")
[QUOTE=guizot] Not a very comprehensive survey to be telling people where they’re from. It focused only on a few free variants, all vowels, all pretty stereotypical. And when it says you’re from the west, it also says you could be from Florida. They could’ve asked how you say “Monday, Tuesday” etc. [/QUOTE] The survey is also rather shallow in that it tries to classify an accent, which is spoken, by means of a non-spoken survey. If you really want to know how someone talks, you do it by recording that person in everyday conversation–to hear what they actually say–not by asking them to click on the things that they **think** they say. My mother, for example, claims to have a South Boston accent, and when asked, she’ll say that she pronounces things differently from Californian. But when she talks in everyday situations, she speaks more like a Californian than Bostonian, now, after living here for so long. ([pαrk] rather than [pαk]). But, when she talks to my grandmother on the phone, she shifts back to Bostonian pronunciation; dialect is not just a regional thing; it’s also socio-contextual. ---
**Author:** ![Ruffian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/71e660/32.png) [@Ruffian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruffian)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2007, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-american-accent-do-you-have/389373/176 "2007-02-04T19:36:08Z")
[QUOTE=guizot] Good! So then we agree that trying to describe the vowels of English by referring to “long” or “short” letters is thoroughly inadequate? That would be to presume that there are only ten vowels in English: the “long” and “short” versions of the letters a, e, i, o and u, when in fact there are at least 21 vowels, depending on how you classify R-coloring. Letters are not vowels, when we’re talking about pronunciation (“accent”)–the letters a, e, i, o and u are symbols we use on paper to represent the vowels in words that we say. (Of course we also use w and y to help clarify things.) [/QUOTE] Absolutely. The English language is a fascinatingly intricate series of carefully established phonemic rules that most of native speakers don’t hear, but as the teacher of second-language learners, I have learned to hear it as they do. Heh heh…when I teach them /th/ (a nonexistent sound in their native Spanish), I have to teach them to stick out their tongue and blow gently before saying “with” (unvoiced). Then I have to ask them to use their voice while doing the same thing for “that” (voiced). It’s still pretty funny though–they’ll concentrate, have their tongues visibly between their teeth, blow, then retract their tongue as they say the word so it still comes out as “dat.” Seriously…I learned more in that 2-week section of that course than nearly all of my other teacher credentialing courses combined. Fun stuff…for me. ---
**Author:** ![CaerieD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@CaerieD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaerieD)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2007, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-american-accent-do-you-have/389373/177 "2007-02-04T20:32:11Z")
> [@](#): > > “You have a Midland accent” is just another way of saying “you don’t have an accent.” You probably are from the Midland (Pennsylvania, southern Ohio, southern Indiana, southern Illinois, and Missouri) but then for all we know you could be from Florida or Charleston or one of those big southern cities like Atlanta or Dallas. You have a good voice for TV and radio. Born in Southern Nevada, raised just outside of Las Vegas, moved to the Northwoods of Wisconsin last year. I’d always thought I didn’t have much in the way of a regional accent, but all of my neighbors here insist I have a _southern_ accent. 😕 At last, I have proof that I’m right and they’re wrong! ---
**Author:** ![Cyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a88e4f/32.png) [@Cyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cyn)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2007, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-american-accent-do-you-have/389373/178 "2007-02-04T22:05:27Z")
The West Because I was SO raised in California and, like, I’ve NEVER lived anywhere else? so why would I even talk like, you know, any other way? I am capable of NOT going all Califonia on you guys, but Oh, my gawd, why? ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2007, 8:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-american-accent-do-you-have/389373/179 "2007-02-05T08:00:55Z")
> [@carlb](#): > > Me, too, except the quiz nailed me as, “as Philadelphia as a cheesesteak.” I’m from Trenton, born to a mother from there, and a father from east-central Pennsylvania. Being from Trenton makes you more Philly than most of the world. Considering you can get cheesesteak just about anywhere in America, it may have actually been an understatement. > [@carlb](#): > > And all central Jerseyans know there’s no “T” in the middle of “Trenton”. Just something of a glottal stop. I do that too, and I’ve never even been to New Jersey. I hardly went as far north as Pennsylvania when I lived on the East Coast. ---
**Author:** ![JpnDude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/838e76/32.png) [@JpnDude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JpnDude)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2007, 8:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-american-accent-do-you-have/389373/180 "2007-02-05T08:19:08Z")
My result: “You have a Midland accent” is just another way of saying “you don’t have an accent.” You probably are from the Midland (Pennsylvania, southern Ohio, southern Indiana, southern Illinois, and Missouri) but then for all we know you could be from Florida or Charleston or one of those big southern cities like Atlanta or Dallas. You have a good voice for TV and radio." My ethnic background: US-born Mexican-American from Southern California living outside the US since 1995. My history: In California until 21. Living in Asia since then. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-american-accent-do-you-have/389373.md?page=8)