# 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:** 18\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Nathan\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/47e85d/32.png) [@Nathan\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nathan_S)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2013, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-american-accent-do-you-have/658850/121 "2013-05-21T17:22:11Z")
Southern. Which is weird, considering I was born and raised in Pennsylvania. I guess it must be those redneck central PA speech patterns that threw off the test results. šŸ˜ƒ ---
**Author:** ![SiXSwordS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/49beb7/32.png) [@SiXSwordS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SiXSwordS)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2013, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-american-accent-do-you-have/658850/122 "2013-05-21T17:27:25Z")
Neutral Grew up in the midwest; live in the midwest; parents are from the Plains (ā€¦I call it the south). My accent can vary a lot depending on whom Iā€™m around, if I spend any amount of time with them. ---
**Author:** ![eenerms](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/cdc98d/32.png) [@eenerms](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eenerms)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2013, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-american-accent-do-you-have/658850/123 "2013-05-21T17:41:51Z")
I got Philidelphia?? Northeasternā€¦never been to Philidelphiaā€¦must be all the international living Iā€™ve been doing:) ---
**Author:** ![Chinook1956](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ed655f/32.png) [@Chinook1956](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chinook1956)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2013, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-american-accent-do-you-have/658850/124 "2013-05-21T22:56:42Z")
I got Canadian. Born and raised in Alberta. FTR, Iā€™ve never heard anyone say ā€œabootā€. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2013, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-american-accent-do-you-have/658850/125 "2013-05-21T23:09:55Z")
Southern. ---
**Author:** ![Stratocaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stratocaster/32/16393_2.png) [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2013, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-american-accent-do-you-have/658850/126 "2013-05-21T23:12:25Z")
> [@Phila444](#): > > Mid-Atlantic. Seeing as that I was born, raised, and still reside in Philadelphia, that would be accurate Same result, and for the same reason (except for the ā€œstill resideā€ part, though I still live in the region). ---
**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:** [May 22, 2013, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-american-accent-do-you-have/658850/127 "2013-05-22T03:30:54Z")
Well, it got _me_ right. I mean, Iā€™ve lived in Georgia for thirty years, and my family has been in North Carolina for over two hundred years. So the quiz scored me asā€¦ Neutral. Which makes sense. You donā€™t get your accent from your parents, you get it from the kids you grow up with. So since I was born in Cleveland and had lived in Kentucky, Florida (ugh) Pennsylvania and back in Northern Ohio all by the time I was fourteen, my accent is a mishmash of all of these. (I did have a pretty strong Cleveland accent when I moved to Atlanta at 14, but it quickly got smoothed out into the General American/ever-so-slightly Southern phonology that I have today.) > [@cmkeller](#): > > Northeastern, which makes sense. Iā€™ve lived in New York City all my life, but Iā€™ve always been told that I donā€™t have a New York (ā€œNoo Yawkā€) accent, so the Northeast region fits me just fine. There is a recognizable New York accent that is _not_ the stereotypical ā€œToidy-toid and Toidā€/Fran Drescher squawk. I canā€™t describe it, but I know it when I hear it. One dead giveaway is talking about standing ā€œon lineā€ at the bank or for movie tickets. That seems to be a very localized usage; every time I hear some one use that word that way, I ask if they are from NYC. So far, the only one who wasnā€™t, was from Yonkers. ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2013, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-american-accent-do-you-have/658850/128 "2013-05-22T03:45:51Z")
"Neutral ā€œYou`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.ā€ Actually, all three of the places I lived before my 21st birthday - southern MI, Chicago northside suburb and Des Moines - are a little north of the area shown on their map. Interesting that the first four questions were all about the cot/caught mergerā€¦ > [@tdn](#): > > There are three questions conspicuously absent from that quiz. > > How many syllables in ā€œYou allā€? > > How many syllables in ā€œFourā€? > > How many syllables in ā€œNineā€? Those are all one-syllable words. (Except when I was on the boat, talking on the radio - then ā€œfourā€ had two syllables.) ---
**Author:** ![Mosier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ea924/32.png) [@Mosier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mosier)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2013, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-american-accent-do-you-have/658850/129 "2013-05-22T04:15:52Z")
Neutral. I think thatā€™s because I spent more of my childhood watching TV than talking to people. Actors and national news anchors usually have neutral accents. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2013, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-american-accent-do-you-have/658850/130 "2013-05-22T04:35:19Z")
> [@EmilyG](#): > > I took the test. > > I got ā€œCanadian.ā€ > > And I am Canadian. I took the test. I got ā€œNortheast New England.ā€ And I am Canadian. ETA: I wonder why? Why am I not Canadian? Sniff. ---
**Author:** ![LawMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2013, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-american-accent-do-you-have/658850/131 "2013-05-22T15:22:42Z")
Neutral. Not surprising, as I was born and grew up in Cincinnati. From time to time, a bit of hillbilly sneaks inā€“Cincinnati is on the border with Kentucky, after all, and my family on both sides ultimately hails from Kentucky and Tennessee. ---
**Author:** ![Enginerd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bcef8e/32.png) [@Enginerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enginerd)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2013, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-american-accent-do-you-have/658850/132 "2013-05-22T15:56:30Z")
Neutral, which is unsurprising. I grew up in Baltimore, but Iā€™ve spent almost half my life in Nevada, New England, and Australia. I had to lose the Baltimore accent if I wanted anyone to understand what the hell I was saying. It comes back fast, though. My SO says I sound like a completely different person about an hour after we get to Baltimore. ---
**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:** [May 23, 2013, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-american-accent-do-you-have/658850/133 "2013-05-23T13:13:44Z")
Neutral, which is accurate. I grew up in Upstate NY and spent a few years in CT, West Hartford, befote moving to San Francisco where Iā€™ve lived for the most part since 1979. ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2013, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-american-accent-do-you-have/658850/134 "2013-05-23T13:31:35Z")
I grew up at ground zero of [Inland Northern](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inland_Northern_American_English); the city that is supposedly the place where the [Northern Cities Vowel Shift](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_cities_vowel_shift) got its start. Itā€™s a place where the accent is strong across all social groups and classes; the blue collar Joes and old money both have the _fleeyat eea_ (flat A) Inland Northern really starts to become pronounced after high school, and I spent most of those years outside of my ancestral homeland. I lost most of my Buffalo accent through the years, but it rears its head from time to time. IMHO, itā€™s the least pleasant American English accent. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2013, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-american-accent-do-you-have/658850/135 "2013-05-23T13:45:36Z")
> [@](#): > > 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. Wrong. My ā€˜accentā€™ is nothing like the Chicago or Cleveland accent. Either the quiz uses incorrect methodology, or else I interpreted the choices incorrectly. As a native Southern Californian, Iā€™ve always believed my accent is neutral. Itā€™s certainly different from the results of the quiz. I dated a girl from Saint Louis, and she said ā€˜You have a surfer accent.ā€™ I was like, ā€˜Chya, as if!ā€™ A few years ago, a friend said I had an English accent. Nope. I think his perception arises from my syntax. I tend to construct my sentences less casually when Iā€™m speaking, than do some people; though I do have a tendency to be a bit of a chameleon when Iā€™m in a group. ---
**Author:** ![Lacunae\_Matata](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@Lacunae\_Matata](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lacunae_Matata)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2013, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-american-accent-do-you-have/658850/136 "2013-05-23T14:00:26Z")
Not surprisingly, the quiz pegged my accent as Southern. But thatā€™s hardly Henry Higgins territory, and Southern US accents are as varied as any other regionā€™s. I have a ā€œsoftā€ coastal Georgia accent, which people sometimes mistake for English. (Like **Johnny L.A.** , Iā€™m formal-ish in my speech, mainly because I love the precision of the language. That contributes to peopleā€™s impression, I think. But get a couple of beers in me, sitting around the bonfire and shooting the breeze with my ā€œhomies,ā€ and suddenly I sound a lot less proper, and a lot more like Bo and Luke Dukeā€™s homely sister that no one mentioned in polite company.) My husband - also a native south Georgian, born and raised about 20 miles from me - has the accent that everyone immediately pegs as Good Old Boy/Redneck, and his motherā€™s accent is even thicker than his. This surprises me, because no one in my family went to college until my generation, and only one of my grandparents even finished high school; whereas Tony comes from several generations of MDs and dentists. I always figured that more education and more travel would have blunted the accentā€¦ ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2013, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-american-accent-do-you-have/658850/137 "2013-05-23T14:04:07Z")
Iā€™ve done these types of quizzes before, and they always get it wrong. Iā€™ve listened to that accent archive site, and I sound like Iā€™m from southern Missouri. But Iā€™m always placed as midwestern or neutral. And, when I take this quiz, Iā€™m guessed as having a Western accent. Why, I have no idea. I do in fact say stock and stalk differently, although it claims I donā€™t. Stalk has an L sound in it. ---
**Author:** ![gracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8e7dd6/32.png) [@gracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gracer)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2013, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-american-accent-do-you-have/658850/138 "2013-05-23T14:23:08Z")
I recently did some Tennessee Williams and was told (by several Americans) that my accent was very good. Being English, I was quite proud. So I tried to do the test for my Mississipi/Tennessee Williams accent, but it came back ā€œneutralā€. I am thoroughly upset. :mad: [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-american-accent-do-you-have/658850.md?page=6)