Maggie's Farm

We are a commune of inquiring, skeptical, politically centrist, capitalist, anglophile, traditionalist New England Yankee humans, humanoids, and animals with many interests beyond and above politics. Each of us has had a high-school education (or GED), but all had ADD so didn't pay attention very well, especially the dogs. Each one of us does "try my best to be just like I am," and none of us enjoys working for others, including for Maggie, from whom we receive neither a nickel nor a dime. Freedom from nags, cranks, government, do-gooders, control-freaks and idiots is all that we ask for.

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Tuesday, November 3. 2015

American dialects


How Y’all, Youse and You Guys Talk - What does the way you speak say about where you’re from? Answer all the questions below to see your personal dialect map.


I came out as New York City/Yonkers/Jersey City. Odd, because I grew up in western Massachusetts. I think the test is approximately accurate, though. My parents were immigrant kids from Queens, and I have been in NYC for a few years now.


Posted by The News Junkie in The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation at 13:22 | Comments (18) | Trackbacks (0)

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I spent 20 minutes and got an error at the end. Dadgummit!
#1 Bodie on 2015-11-03 15:07 (Reply)
I grew up in Portland OR. My mom in Salem OR. My dad in Oklahoma. He came west when he was around 17 and worked in the shipyards in California and Oregon. I called carbonated drinks Pop and pronounced the word Wash (Waash) as Warsh. After moving to California Pop became Soda and Wash became Waash. Of course these pronunciation changes were preceded by some teasing by friends.
#1.1 bodie on 2015-11-03 17:41 (Reply)
It's been a while since I've heard an Okie say warsh or Warshington. I don't know why that is. I don't know if it's just an old timer thing or if I just don't get outside of town as often. It makes me think of my grandma.

I suspect it's Arkansas or Missouri spilling across the border.
#1.1.1 Jack Walter on 2015-11-04 07:24 (Reply)
That was interesting. Turns out I talk very much like the people in central Nebraska. Imagine that!
#2 feeblemind on 2015-11-03 15:38 (Reply)
It seems I speak like the inhabitants of Baton Rouge, which is interesting as I speak with a southern English/RP accent.
#3 Clovis Sangrail on 2015-11-03 16:48 (Reply)
It put me between Boston, Providence and Worcester - and I was born on a direct line between Boston and Providence.
#4 RonF on 2015-11-03 16:48 (Reply)
ditto and ditto
#4.1 John the River (Link) on 2015-11-03 17:52 (Reply)
It did a good job of pegging where I grew up. I threw it some curves because I've picked up pronunciations and words from the places around the country I have lived. for example. I say rotary which I learned while living in New Hampshire and working in Boston.
#5 Tralfaz on 2015-11-03 17:07 (Reply)
That was pretty cool. It even got my hometown correct.
#6 ChrisP on 2015-11-03 17:47 (Reply)
I grew up just north of Boston and went to high school in Anaheim, CA. The test nailed both.
#7 Roy Lofquist on 2015-11-03 18:35 (Reply)
A fun quiz.

I scored 26. 44.4% smarter than the average quiz taker. As I likely have the slowest brain (and have a fever as well at the moment) at Maggie's, the rest of you should sail through it.

http://www.flashbynight.com/test/
#8 feeblemind on 2015-11-03 20:55 (Reply)
I grew up mostly in Nevada and Florida. It said I'm from Mosesto, CA, where I may have driven through a time or two. Interesting.
#9 Joe on 2015-11-03 21:20 (Reply)
Grew up in the Pacific Northwest but living in SE Mass since '08. (Not one of my best decisions.) Quiz pegged me as Boise/Stockton/Modesto. Have been to Boise and Stockton but what is a Modesto?
#10 Gene on 2015-11-03 22:14 (Reply)
"You'uns" is a term I heard often in a story from Delhi, LA as a child. In the 1920's, poor neighbors next to my grandfather's farm would often send one of their many children to "borrow" things that were never repaid. One day they sent an older girl, obviously embarrassed to be there, to get sugar. As she was leaving, she told my aunts, who were her age: "Momma says when the dewberries get ripe, you'uns can kiss our asses.". For almost a century, when we don't hear from a family member for a while, someone will invariably say: "The dewberries must be ripe and you'uns can kiss our asses.".
#11 twolaneflash on 2015-11-03 22:37 (Reply)
Weird. I came out as being from Rochester, NY (a city I have never even been near). But I did spend two years in Ithaca, and I was originally from Quebec, and grew up in Bermuda and the UK, so perhaps Rochester is a hotbed of Britoid wannabes. Who knew? Also, I was in Glasgow a couple of months ago and discovered that "youse" is standard Glasgow dialect.
#12 David Graeme on 2015-11-04 06:26 (Reply)
The test was spot-on. I grew up in Sacramento CA (central valley) and the test nailed the region for me.
#13 GG on 2015-11-04 06:59 (Reply)
Having been born west of the Mississippi and moved around in the service with occasional trips easterly, I've picked up a lot of usages and words, and those don't always fit the test's algorythm. It says I could be from most anywhere west of Ohio.
#14 Sam L. on 2015-11-04 13:29 (Reply)
Got mine within ninety miles: upper Illinois, lower Wisconsin, last time I was in that neck of the woods was twenty years ago. Even a couple decades in Toronto didn't wash it away.

Overheard, two GIs walking to mess hall:

"cheat chet?"

"chet, choo?"

Long time in the service tends to erase origins. Platoon Sargent, half his skull titanium thanks to Korea, always said "Awright men, simonize yer watches" and of divers, they used akkerlungs.
#15 chasmatic (Link) on 2015-11-05 08:59 (Reply)

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