A post on Facebook the other night led me to this random quiz: What American Accent Do You Have? Since we’ve always been fans of completely non-scientific online quizzes, why not take it for a spin, right? It was especially interesting for us to take since we get the occasional video comments like “John sounds soooo Southern” or “Sherry talks like Mila Kunis.” Not that Mila Kunis is an accent…
We both think we have pretty neutral American accents – although I’m quick to point out that the Jersey in Sherry likes to call the top of your face the “far-head.” And she gives me a hard time for not distinguishing between the pronunciation of “pin” and “pen.” So maybe this quiz would settle once and for all exactly how middle of the road our accents are (or aren’t).
I felt very validated by my result. Note the part that says “you don’t have an accent.” And the part that says “you have a good voice for TV and radio” (better than being told you have a face for radio, amiright?). I sat back as Sherry took the quiz and answered most questions the same way I did, expecting to see the same evaluation. That’s when this sprung up:
“YOU DEFINITELY HAVE A BOSTON ACCENT”??!?
We both cry laughed. Sherry has been pinned as New Jersey, New York, and even as South Carolina or Canada, but never Boston. But before I got to drop too many “paaaahk the cah in the Harvaahd yaaahd” jokes on her, we both noticed that she actually got an equal 83% ranking for both a Boston and Midland accent. So maybe she is still pretty neutral after all… just in a Boston-y kind of way. What do you Boston folks who met us at the signing think? Is there a little Boston secretly hiding in Sherry? Or is this quiz just way off?
Here’s the link again if you want to take it yourself. If you already did, what was your result? Was it spot on or not even close? Was there any question that you had a particularly hard time answering? I think Sherry repeated Mary, marry, and merry about 20 times before deciding that she said them all a little differently.
Vanessa Wittmer says
I got an Philidelphian accent.. I’m from Florida
Marsha says
Ok, so I took the quiz. Found it funny, as I was labelled as having a North Central accent, and “outsiders probably mistake you for a Canadian a lot’….I am Canadian lol! Guess it’s pretty accurate!
Marsha says
And I’m just reading thru the comments now – you have a lot of Canadian fans!!! And we all sound the same apparently! We don’t think so :)
Young House Life says
Wahoo! We love our Canadian readers! That’s why we got sent to do a Toronto book signing! Our publisher looked at our reader numbers and said “we have to get Canada in there!” – which made us cheer!
xo
s
Savannah says
I was 90% Midland. I work at a bank on Long Island so I talk to people all day long. I always have people asking me where I am from, and when I tell them Southeast Georgia they never believe me since I don’t have a southern accent. I’ve had a good bit of people ask me if I was from Michigan..random. Also, kinda funny that it mentions the good radio voice thing because I’ve actually had a couple people tell me that.
Marisa says
Hilarious! I got “North Central: is what professional linguists call the Minnesota accent. Outsiders probably mistake you for a Canadian a lot.” This is SO funny because I AM CANADIAN. Very accurate test I’d say.
Rachel says
I got North Central and the funniest part is this:
“”Outsiders probably mistake you for a Canadian a lot.”
I am Canadian!! This test is more accurate than I thought it would be.
Meghan says
I love accents! I am a speech-language pathologist, and I work with clients on accent modification. This quiz is even better: http://spark.rstudio.com/jkatz/DialectQuiz/
I am Navy brat who grew up mostly in the South with parents from Philly. This quiz pegged by accent as Virginia Beach (where I went to high school), but that’s probably because Virginia Beach is full of Navy brats with mixed-up, confusing accents. :)
Elizabeth says
I live in Idaho, and my result was 96% The West…duh!
Diane says
I got 88% Midland and 80% The South. I’m from Houston but lived in Denver for 6 years and now live in Kansas City. I’ve left my southern accent behind….haha, I hated it.
Sandra says
100% Midland. I am from South/Central Ohio. :-)
Kate says
I am from Australia, but I got 100% North East! I have always thought Sherry sounds exactly like my friend from Rhode Island and John sounds exactly like another friend from Austin, Texas. Are those accents even close to correct?
Andree says
lol! Being Canadian and told once I have a Canadian accent (usually by southerners!), I feel validaded with my 100% miland :P No Ab”oa”t’s in this house!
Susannah H. says
Fun! 100% Midland and 96% The South. I was born and raised in a college town in NC so I think my Southern accent was neutralized a bit by all the people from other places who migrate here. I never even knew there were different pronunciations for marry/merry/Mary, Erin/Aaron and pen/pin until I went to college near Philadelphia!! :)
Allison says
I got midland, followed closely by southern. That’s pretty accurate. I’m a North Carolinian, but I don’t have a strong southern accent. Probably neutral with the exception of a few words. Parents are both born and raised in NC , but two of my grandparents northern and italian, so maybe that’s part of the reason.
tara says
I grew up in Boston and got that as a result(represent!) despite having mostly lost the accent after 7years in NYC now… my husband tells me it only really comes out when I’m excited or mad. or talking to family on the phone. :) uhh that being said, I’d never ever peg sherry as having a Boston accent, haha!
Meredith Jones says
I love quizzes like these, usually they give me pretty hilarious/bogus answers, so fun!! Apparently I sound like I’m from the movie “Fargo”, and have a Minnisota/Canadian accent. Helloooo I’m a born and raised Seattleite! Where’s Minnisota?!?! Hehehehe good times!
Amanda says
96% The West/95% The Midland. Dead on given I’m from the Seattle area. I know no one around here who pronounces the words in the quiz any differently! Must be why they called the West the lowest common denominator…
Cassie Dearborn says
Well now that I see this, I kinda wish I had braved the storm to come down from NH to meet you :) Maybe you could pronounce these town names better than I do – so confusing. “Haverhill” = Have-er-all and so on….
It’s probably already been commented on, but these maps are along the same lines and SUPER interesting: http://www.businessinsider.com/22-maps-that-show-the-deepest-linguistic-conflicts-in-america-2013-6#the-pronunciation-of-caramel-starts-disregarding-vowels-once-you-go-west-of-the-ohio-river-1
(and the real source: http://spark.rstudio.com/jkatz/SurveyMaps/)
Young House Life says
Love those! Thanks to everyone for sharing the fun links/info! This is such an interesting topic!
xo
s
Jennifer says
It said I likely get mistaken for a Canadian often, and well, I am Canadian!
Sam M says
I received 100% Midland and 85% South which seems appropriate for growing up in Chattanooga and currently living in Nashville.
Ashley C says
I got 85% Boston — which is pretty spot on. I was born and raised in central Maine … and probably the ONLY reason that it wasn’t 100% is that after living in NC for the last almost 6 years, my accent is starting to slip a little bit!
Courtney says
How fun!!!! From listening to both of you on videos you’ve posted, I think the quiz was pretty good for both of you. I definitely don’t think John has a strong Southern accent. And definitely more Midland than Boston for Sherry.
Kiera says
Ha– Fun quiz
I’m identical to Sherry (which makes sense b/c even though I say I’m from VA, I’m really from I95 from Boston/New Hampshire down to VA)
My husband came out as 93% the inland North (see below) (He is from Michigan so thats about right too)
You may think you speak “Standard English straight out of the dictionary” but when you step away from the Great Lakes you get asked annoying questions like “Are you from Wisconsin?” or “Are you from Chicago?” Chances are you call carbonated drinks “pop.”
Dana says
LOL! My result is 90% MIdland. I grew up in NC and am now an ATL transplant. You would think this would throw me squarely in the Southern category, but ironically, many people have told me I sound like I’m from Ohio. I’ve never been to Ohio…. Love these online quizzes!
Kristy says
Haha, I’m Canadian and took the quiz anyway for fun. Apparently I have a “North Central accent that is often mistaken for Canadian”. I didn’t think I had an accent at all, how funny!
Caren says
Apparently I have equal amounts of a philly/midland/boston accent. I grew up in the philly suburbs, my dad was from the Boston area and my mom is a stickler for correct pronunciation and grammar. So, it’s an equal mix of all three? Oh well, thanks for sharing! :)
P.S. Congrats on the new bun!
Logann says
This just led to my sister and I saying pen and pin many different times and in different ways, but in a really confused way like “pin? or pen?” We are in east texas so some syllables and letters get omitted. But I ended up with midland, so I’m happy!
Chrissy Henry says
Scary how accurate these online quizzes can be! I got this discription…
“”North Central” is what professional linguists call the Minnesota accent. If you saw “Fargo” you probably didn’t think the characters sounded very out of the ordinary. Outsiders probably mistake you for a Canadian a lot.”
… I’m from Minnesota. Born and raised :)
Nay Nay says
Reading all these comments from people that can’t distinguish pin from pen has me wondering exactly which word they are pronouncing “incorrectly”. Obviously I pronounce each of those words differently…so is it pin and pin, or pen and pen? Although I guess you can’t really answer that, huh? :)
Young House Life says
John says pin “wrong” to me (he says them both like “pen”)
xo
s
Ali says
I feel like I say “pin” for both and to me pin, pen, ten, tin, thin, win, all rhyme but they do not rhyme with then :)
mary says
I came up The Midlands with Inland North trailing close behind. I think that’s pretty accurate: I’m Chicagoan, but the accent can be pretty grating so I try to pronounce my vowels correctly. It’s all too easy to start sounding like a Super Fan!
Jessica says
I am from Southeast Texas and my result was The Midland, which is laughable. I wish it asked how you pronounce “oil.” I can’t even figure out how to phonetically spell the way I say it, “uhl” maybe?
Stephanie B. says
100% Inland North.
Guess I’m a Great Lakes girl, through and through! And yes, we do call carbonated beverages “pop”!
Lacey says
Hilarious…it also caught that I was Canadian by saying that I am probably often mistaken for a Canadian:)
Shannon says
I think I must take issue with that quiz saying people from Southern Illinois don’t have an accent! I was born and raised in the Chicago are, but half of my family is from Southern Illinois (they go to Kentucky when they go to the mall). They have accents!!!
My St. Louis friends say I have a Chicago accent. But I think THEY have the accent! LOL
Susan says
LOL Brooklyn born and bred so no surprise to me that my accent is 100% Northeast EVEN after living in Seattle area of no accent for over 15 years! LOL…you can take a girl out of Brooklyn but…
Sara Richins says
Maybe what Sherry really has is the northern Ohio accent. She sounds identical to my grad school roommate who has lived there her whole life. The northern ohio accent has a tendency toward being brighter and slightly more nasal in tome on certain vowels, much like the new England accent but less noticable. I’d need to go back to listen to Sherry againe to determine if she also adds a very slight diphthong to one syllable words like “egg” or “cat” to see if it’s trully like northern Ohioans, but in my opinion as a musician with a fascination with accents, it would make sense that a New York/Jersey accent would be a blend of Midland and Boston when you take geography and immigration history into account.
Young House Life says
So funny!
xo
s
SamanthaLiz says
Ha! I’ve been living in Colorado for the last 12 years and thought that I had lost most of the “Jersey”, but apparently I’ve only lost 6% of it. Hahaha. It pinned me (totally not penned me) as The Northeast at 94%.
Katie T. says
88% midland! Yes! I have Michiganders for parents but was raised in the south, so I think I’m just muddled enough to have “no accent.”
Megan says
ha! I’m 100% west – the lowest common denominator when it comes to accents – or, I have no accent. Born and raised in Kansas. I had NO idea there were different ways to pronounce mary, marry and merry. Can’t think of what they could be. Pronouncing “bag” like “vague” really irritates me! It’s bag, not bague! lol I really DON’T get that passionate about it. And besides, we say “sack” around here anyway. Weird, I know. And it’s POP not soda. :-)
Kim P. says
This was fun. I got Midland, and while I am originally from Maryland, I have lived in North Florida for a long time. I know I can turn my accent more Southern depending on who I am talking with. It is like accent osmosis or something. When I go visit family in Maryland, I really notice how thick their accent is. Example: “Wudder” instead of “water”.
Brittany says
“The South” which is pretty darn accurate! I’m from New Orleans & anywhere I go people pin me as a Southerner. To John’s credit, I say pin & pen exactly the same!
Michelle says
I can’t even believe it! It totally nailed me as being from Minnesota which is where I have lived my entire life. I don’t know how that was possible.
Jenn says
I got the northeast! I’m from Ny originally, but I’ve definitely noticed a difference since moving to PA. Suddenly Dawn and Don are sounding a lot more alike and I don’t like it!
Chrissy says
I’m a Jersey girl too, but my result was 100% Northeast. They’ve got me pegged! Maybe Sherry’s been in Virginia too long. ;-) (I shouldn’t talk – I live in VA now too! Not that there are many Boston accents around here…) Oh, and the top of your face is totally a far-head. For the record. :-)
jennifer p says
i got 100% northeast.it said the following.
—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.—
they are right. and i dont like my brooklyn accent.its something i would like to work on.just to clarify , i dont sound like tony danza and i dont say fuggedaboutit.i do say far-head though.
Ashleigh says
I’m Australian but did the test for fun and got 97% Northeast! So somehow I apparently sound more Jersey than Sherry!
Young House Life says
That’s so funny!
xo
s
Marci says
John I got the exact same results as you which is funny because I’m from small-town Utah.
Ashley says
I got “Central,” claiming that I’d think the folks in Minnesota sound just fine.
A funny result, since I’ve never been to Minnesota, and I was born and raised on the west coast (which was only my third-highest rank).
DawnSC says
Oooh thanks for posting this! I’m Midland, which – considering I’m from PA – seems appropriate. But I really loved this because my husband always makes fun of me for saying “Dawn” and “Don” the same. I clearly win the argument by the obvious logic that my name is Dawn and I should know how to say it. ;) Another one I get hung up on is pool/pull/pole. I’m sure there are plenty of others, but those are the ones I can think of right now. :)
Kristin says
Mine reads 90% Midland, though I’ve lived my entire life in Virginia. Sooooo validating to have confirmed what I already knew — “you don’t have an accent.” :-)