# 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:** 5
**Author:** ![TheChileanBlob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thechileanblob/32/435_2.png) [@TheChileanBlob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheChileanBlob)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2013, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-american-accent-do-you-have/658850/81 "2013-05-21T01:38:43Z")
> [@Rushgeekgirl](#): > > But bag rhymes with vague? I’ve never heard that one. That’s how I said it as a kid in upstate NY. Edit: kind of like bay-g. ---
**Author:** ![Lanzy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/74df32/32.png) [@Lanzy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lanzy)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2013, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-american-accent-do-you-have/658850/82 "2013-05-21T01:40:45Z")
Southern, but then I am southern. ---
**Author:** ![boffking](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/858c86/32.png) [@boffking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boffking)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2013, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-american-accent-do-you-have/658850/83 "2013-05-21T01:44:42Z")
I got neutral, but I have lived in New England my whole life. I am from Maine and go to college in Boston. ---
**Author:** ![GameHat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ed655f/32.png) [@GameHat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GameHat)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2013, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-american-accent-do-you-have/658850/84 "2013-05-21T01:48:09Z")
Northern, which is no surprise as I grew up in Madison, WI and now live in Chicagoland My Results: [http://www.youthink.com/quiz\_images/full\_537664926.jpg](http://www.youthink.com/quiz.cfm?action=go_detail&sub_action=take&obj_id=9827) Northern You have a Northern accent. That could either be the Chicago/Detroit/Cleveland/Buffalo accent (easily recognizable) or the Western New England accent that news networks go for. ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2013, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-american-accent-do-you-have/658850/85 "2013-05-21T01:55:36Z")
Neutral You`re not Northern, Southern, or Western, you`re just plain -American-. Your national identity is more important than your local identity, because you don`t really have a local identity. You might be from the region in that map, which is defined by this kind of accent, but you could easily not be. Or maybe you just moved around a lot growing up. From California ---
**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:** [May 21, 2013, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-american-accent-do-you-have/658850/86 "2013-05-21T02:07:24Z")
It got me right and pegged me as “Northern” : “you have a Northern accent. That could either be the Chicago/Detroit/Cleveland/Buffalo accent (easily recognizable) or the Western New England accent that news networks go for.” I’m from Chicago, and I definitely have tell-tale signs of a Chicago accent. ---
**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:** [May 21, 2013, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-american-accent-do-you-have/658850/87 "2013-05-21T02:13:02Z")
> [@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 can’t think of any, to tell the truth. But that question got me, as I vacillate between the two pronunciations. I said that I rhyme it with “foot,” although I also it to rhyme with “food,” just like “route” I say both to rhyme with “out” and “loot,” depending on my mood. And some of those questions require a good deal of self-awareness in how you pronounce words. For example, I answered that I don’t pronounce the vowel in “right” and “price” the same as “ride” and “prize,” but I’d bet that a lot of people who answer they pronounce it the same actually do pronounce it differently. I say the first two with an “uhy” sound and the last two as an “ahy” sound. If I didn’t actually pay close attention, I would have thought I say the same vowel there. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2013, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-american-accent-do-you-have/658850/88 "2013-05-21T02:19:32Z")
Neutral. Looking at the map, that would cover me – I have your typical Pittsburgh accent. Yes, including “yinz”, “crick”, “an’at”. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![missred](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/missred/32/14096_2.png) [@missred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missred)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2013, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-american-accent-do-you-have/658850/89 "2013-05-21T02:20:14Z")
Mine said southern.:dubious: Here in Tennessee, I’m still told that I sound like the damnyankee that I am. 😛 Raised in northern Indiana amongst hillbillies (including my own mother) and have lived a good share of my adult life in middle Tennessee. ---
**Author:** ![panaccione](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/94ad74/32.png) [@panaccione](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panaccione)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2013, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-american-accent-do-you-have/658850/90 "2013-05-21T02:34:13Z")
Neutral, even though I know I got a little Pittsburghese in me. ---
**Author:** ![AnalogSignal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/analogsignal/32/1085_2.png) [@AnalogSignal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AnalogSignal)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2013, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-american-accent-do-you-have/658850/91 "2013-05-21T02:38:36Z")
“Northern” Wrong. I’m a Noo Yawker although my accent is probably too subtle to be detected by a test like this. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2013, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-american-accent-do-you-have/658850/92 "2013-05-21T03:53:03Z")
Neutral I’ve lived in several regions, and I never sound local. It didn’t ask the right Qs for my South Texas drawl tho. Not hick, but clear to hear, esp if I’ve been drinking ---
**Author:** ![D-bear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@D-bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D-bear)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2013, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-american-accent-do-you-have/658850/93 "2013-05-21T04:15:01Z")
Northern. Born and spent exactly 19 years in Michigan, the next 5 in Ohio, then 2 in Arkansas and the last 16 in Colorado… ---
**Author:** ![Kaio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c68b51/32.png) [@Kaio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaio)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2013, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-american-accent-do-you-have/658850/94 "2013-05-21T05:45:34Z")
> [@Trom](#): > > I grew up in rural Minnesota north of Minneapolis, but have lived in Chicago for about 10 years now. I don’t have nearly as thick of an accent as I used to. Northern, which is accurate, although based on the description of North Central, that leaks in on rare occasions. Usually just particular words. Often (but not always) “Chicago.” ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2013, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-american-accent-do-you-have/658850/95 "2013-05-21T06:43:48Z")
Mid-Atlantic. That’s interesting. While English is my first language, I’ve lived mostly outside the U.S. since I was six, which means that my accent comes almost exclusively from my parents. My dad grew up in Manhattan and Teaneck, NJ, but my mom’s an Atlantic City girl - so I must have gotten my accent from her. ---
**Author:** ![Sleel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/73ab20/32.png) [@Sleel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sleel)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2013, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-american-accent-do-you-have/658850/96 "2013-05-21T07:41:38Z")
Most Californians are going to come out as “Neutral” even though the region they show for that doesn’t seem to match. [Here’s](http://news.stanford.edu/news/2012/august/california-dialect-linguistics-080612.html) a short article about why. ---
**Author:** ![chizzuk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@chizzuk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chizzuk)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2013, 8:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-american-accent-do-you-have/658850/97 "2013-05-21T08:18:32Z")
Western. I’m from Maryland. Hmm. Bag vs. vague made me laugh. I went to college in Minnesota and they totally do that there. In one class the professor started talking about the “Black Plagg” and it took me forever to figure out what the hell she was saying. ---
**Author:** ![Sudden\_Kestrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecd19e/32.png) [@Sudden\_Kestrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sudden_Kestrel)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2013, 9:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-american-accent-do-you-have/658850/98 "2013-05-21T09:13:40Z")
> [@chizzuk](#): > > Bag vs. vague made me laugh. I went to college in Minnesota and they totally do that there. In one class the professor started talking about the “Black Plagg” and it took me forever to figure out what the hell she was saying. I’m a lifelong Minnesotan and would openly mock anyone who referred to the “Black Plagg”; I’ve never heard anyone here pronounce it that way :dubious:. Maybe it’s something that was limited to your college, no doubt brought here by Californians or other foreigners. ---
**Author:** ![sandra\_nz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eada6e/32.png) [@sandra\_nz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sandra_nz)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2013, 9:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-american-accent-do-you-have/658850/99 "2013-05-21T09:31:24Z")
Did it for fun, apparently my “American accent” is Northeastern. (I’m from New Zealand.) ---
**Author:** ![nonacetone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nonacetone/32/2819_2.png) [@nonacetone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nonacetone)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2013, 10:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-american-accent-do-you-have/658850/100 "2013-05-21T10:11:39Z")
Northeastern. I was born and raised in west central Indiana. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-american-accent-do-you-have/658850.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-american-accent-do-you-have/658850.md?page=6)