# Which American accent do you have? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 20, 2013, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-american-accent-do-you-have/658850 "2013-05-20T18:26:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![applebetty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4af34b/32.png) [@applebetty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/applebetty)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2013, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-american-accent-do-you-have/658850/61 "2013-05-21T00:19:18Z")
Southern. Reckon ah’ve lost ahll my other flahvahs. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2013, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-american-accent-do-you-have/658850/62 "2013-05-21T00:26:31Z")
Q re: Q16. It says “oo” like foot or food. I know people who pronounce the “oo” in both identically. Is that a common feature of any US accents? ---
**Author:** ![Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Springtime_for_Spacers)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2013, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-american-accent-do-you-have/658850/63 "2013-05-21T00:39:35Z")
> [@An\_Gadai](#): > > I got Northeastern, which I suppose makes sense since I’m eh northeast of the US. I’m an English southerner and I got North Eastern too 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2013, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-american-accent-do-you-have/658850/64 "2013-05-21T00:48:27Z")
Is there some place on the page (I look, but might have missed it) that describes the various accents and tells the region they are from? I scored neutral. Born, raised and lived my whole live in Northern California, same as my parents. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2013, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-american-accent-do-you-have/658850/65 "2013-05-21T00:56:55Z")
Unsurprisingly, I’m “neutral.” People can never figure out where I’m from. They usually guess “east coast,” but that’s only because I’m obviously not from the South. Having been born and raised in Maryland, and then lived in Pittsburgh during college, and now in Arizona for 30 years, my accent and colloquialisms are an amalgam of all these places. My wife says I have “radio voice” - but I’m not sure I believe her. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2013, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-american-accent-do-you-have/658850/66 "2013-05-21T01:04:01Z")
> [@SpoilerVirgin](#): > > Western, which is spot on. I’ve lived in California almost all my life, and have a distinctive Northern California accent. It needs one more question to be sure. Q: you need to drive between Sacramento and Los Angeles. How do you do so? A1: I like, you know, take the 5. A2: It’s hella easy to take 5. > [@An\_Gadai](#): > > Q re: Q16. It says “oo” like foot or food. I know people who pronounce the “oo” in both identically. Is that a common feature of any US accents? Wikipedia: [some parts of the Midland](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_English_regional_phonology#The_Midland). As I said, I associate it with an older generation. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2013, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-american-accent-do-you-have/658850/67 "2013-05-21T01:07:09Z")
I’m “neutral”, which is not at all surprising as I’m from Kansas City, which gives me the ISO Standard accent that Walt Disney and Johnny Carson had. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2013, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-american-accent-do-you-have/658850/68 "2013-05-21T01:09:38Z")
> [@An\_Gadai](#): > > Q re: Q16. It says “oo” like foot or food. I know people who pronounce the “oo” in both identically. Is that a common feature of any US accents? I’ve never heard anyone pronounce “foot” and “food” with the same vowel sound. “Foot” usually has the same sound as “put” and “food” sounds like “rude.” I do hear people pronounce the word “roof” like one or the other, though. And my accent tested out to be neutral. Which was what I figured, since I’m from Pennsylavania. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2013, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-american-accent-do-you-have/658850/69 "2013-05-21T01:12:40Z")
Neutral - that’s no big surprise. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2013, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-american-accent-do-you-have/658850/70 "2013-05-21T01:15:11Z")
> [@Kenm](#): > > It got me. > [@EmilyG](#): > > I took the test. > > I got “Canadian.” > > And I am Canadian. How did you guys get “Canadian”? Do you actually pronounce it “aboot?” (I pronounce it “abowt.”) 😃 ---
**Author:** ![piepiepie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e47774/32.png) [@piepiepie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/piepiepie)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2013, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-american-accent-do-you-have/658850/71 "2013-05-21T01:15:27Z")
Mid-Atlantic. I grew up halfway between Philly and Baltimore so I’d say that’s about right. The question with bath/pass/staff vs bat/pack/trap kinda threw me off, and when I tinkered a bit, it was the difference between Mid-Atlantic and Northern for me. That’s sort of interesting. ---
**Author:** ![Rushgeekgirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rushgeekgirl/32/3715_2.png) [@Rushgeekgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rushgeekgirl)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2013, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-american-accent-do-you-have/658850/72 "2013-05-21T01:16:48Z")
It says neutral but I have a ridiculously Southern accent. But bag rhymes with vague? I’ve never heard that one. ---
**Author:** ![Pai325](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Pai325](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pai325)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2013, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-american-accent-do-you-have/658850/73 "2013-05-21T01:17:55Z")
Northern, which is not surprising since I’m from Chicago. And as I was answering them I’m afraid I’d catch myself wondering who would answer any other way. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2013, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-american-accent-do-you-have/658850/74 "2013-05-21T01:17:56Z")
Mid-Atlantic. Raised in Western Ny. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2013, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-american-accent-do-you-have/658850/75 "2013-05-21T01:19:46Z")
It tagged me as\*\* “Northern”\*\*. Mildly surprising to me because I’m from a bit south of the area indicated on the map they showed. I blame my parents. They’re from Chicago. I’d be interested in seeing all of the different accents and their maps but I couldn’t figure out how to find them on the web page. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2013, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-american-accent-do-you-have/658850/76 "2013-05-21T01:27:42Z")
The American version of what Brits call Received Pronunciation, i.e. the smooth and nondescript typical “American” midwestern accent. I lapse into slightly more of a West Texas drawl when I’m really relaxed, really tired, or trying to be amusing. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2013, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-american-accent-do-you-have/658850/77 "2013-05-21T01:29:41Z")
Northern. Born in the South, Grew up mainly in the Northeast but have lived the last 30 yrs in the South (or de Facto South) ---
**Author:** ![Glazer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a88e57/32.png) [@Glazer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Glazer)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2013, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-american-accent-do-you-have/658850/78 "2013-05-21T01:34:19Z")
Neutral. Although I’d say with a slight southern drawl. I’ve always said I had a TV accent. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2013, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-american-accent-do-you-have/658850/79 "2013-05-21T01:35:43Z")
Northeastern. Which is spot on. In what accent would BAG ever rhyme with VAGUE? (Bayg? Vag?) ---
**Author:** ![Zago](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ecccb3/32.png) [@Zago](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zago)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2013, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-american-accent-do-you-have/658850/80 "2013-05-21T01:36:49Z")
Neutral, I grew up in Oregon but now live in Boston. I’ve had locals tell me that they can tell that I’m from somewhere else although nearly all the Americans I _ **work** _ with sound neutral. It’s a class thing (sorry, but it’s true). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-american-accent-do-you-have/658850.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-american-accent-do-you-have/658850.md?page=5)