What American accent do you have? | Comments

My results show "You have a Midland accent" is just another way of saying "you don't have an accent." You probably are from the Midland (Pennsylvania, southern Ohio, southern Indiana, southern Illinois, and Missouri) but then for all we know you could be from Florida or Charleston or one of those big southern cities like Atlanta or Dallas. You have a good voice for TV and radio." WRONG! I spent the first 30 years of my life in what was then the relatively small town of Lubbock, TX. I have never lived outside of Texas and, since 1969 have lived near the very small town of Sherman, TX. Yes, it is near Dallas but I rarely go anywhere near there.

Pretty good for such a brief quickie quiz. Finer points such the difference between the way Mary and merry are SPOKEN not just the pronunciation of the a/e vowels would give more exact results, and is why or how some wrong results happened. In this example, while the stressed vowels a and e may sound alike spoken by many people, there are regional differences in the way or length of the r/rr is said: Some exactly alike, while others (like myself, if anyone cares) say Mary slightly longer as "Mare-ree" and merry slightly shorter as "mehr-ee", or "meh-ree" like Burl Ives singing "Have a meh-ree meh-ree Christmas" but without any pause between syllables; the vowel the same but the r either slightly drawn out or not.

I am almost 70 years old. Lived the first 25 years in the Northwest, then briefly California, then 12 years in Missouri, then back to the Northwest, then to Texas - have now lived in Texas for 32 years. I tested "Inland North" and thought about that a while. Took the test again, same result. So here is my thinking: My father grew up in Minnesota with parents from Canada, then moved to Oregon/Washington. My mother grew up in Washington state, but her parents/grandparent s were from Wisconsin & Missouri. So I believe it is correct. I spent the most time with my grandmother with the Green Bay background. She, my mother, & my father from Minnesota were sticklers for pronunciation & good grammar & legible handwriting. So guess I learned well!

Ok, I keep reading the comments and now I have something else to say. Another way I know I'm from the deep south is I call a refrigerator an "ice box" which goes back to what it was called originally. I warsh (wash) clothes and I wrench (rinse)em out when I'm done. I try to mask my southern accent a little but when I'm talking about things that are predominently southern it becomes more prominent. Like southern fried food or any of that good southern food, my grandma (because she's the epitomy of the southern lady), my mama (cuz we all love our mama's and yes, we call them mama not mom or ma or any of that) or Gawd (God) because I grew up in the Bible Belt--there are more churches in my town than ppl just about....

Now I understand why everyone around me thinks I'm from somewhere else. All my life people have asked where I grew up, or where I was born. Well to set the record straight, I was born, raised, and still live in Kokomo, Indiana. Yet I have always been asked if I was from somewhere else... I guess a bit of it is that I call a Carbonated Drink, a Beverage. Not "Soda, Pop, or Coke." However, when talking to someone, I find myself adapting my accent to match theirs. I have actually fooled a English chap into believing I was from Wales!

Well Cheers!
DJ Lost

Mine came out as inland north--a few hundred miles off in latitude, since I was born and grew up in Oklahoma. I had trouble with the merry, marry, mary question, since marry and mary sound alike and merry different to me. No answer allowed that choice. I have to admit that my fellow rural Okies used to accuse me of sounding like a New Yorker, although I had never heard one to compare with at the time. (This was before we got our first TV, so I didn't hear much in the way of samples of other region's speech.)

Still, the quiz was fun.

My results were really interesting to me. I was pegged as being from Philadelphia or nearby southern environs -South Jersey, Baltimore, Wilmington. Technically, it's incorrect. However, the interesting thing is that I was born and raised in a town 95 miles northwest of Philly. My hometown closely identified with the Philly area and we only ever received the 3 network TV stations from Philadelphia. I learned and talked the way I heard people on TV - from Philadelphia.

Hi Danny et al,

Yes, the Brits do have an accent, as do we from their perspective, but when you're comparing regions of the USA, they are called regionalisms. "Accents" usually identify Italians, French, Germans, Brits, etc. I don't know why this hasn't become more popular knowledge, but it hasn't. By the same token, just FYI, most newscasters speak in "Standard American English" which makes it almost impossible to tell from which area of the country they have been raised.

What American accent do you have?
Your Result: The Midland 95%

"You have a Midland accent" is just another way of saying "you don't have an accent." You probably are from the Midland (Pennsylvania, southern Ohio, southern Indiana, southern Illinois, and Missouri) but then for all we know you could be from Florida or Charleston or one of those big southern cities like Atlanta or Dallas. You have a good voice for TV and radio.

73% The West
56% The Inland North
56% Boston
53% North Central
47% Philadelphia
46% The South
39% The Northeast

Theres no right answer for me as im australian but this is what i got haha What American accent do you have?

Your Result: The Northeast 94%

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.

80% Philadelphia
78% The Inland North
60% The Midland
50% Boston
50% The South
25% The West
8% North Central

Im pretty sure every word sounded different to me

What American accent do you have?
Your Result: The West 96%

Your accent is the lowest common denominator of American speech. Unless you're a SoCal surfer, no one thinks you have an accent. And really, you may not even be from the West at all, you could easily be from Florida or one of those big Southern cities like Dallas or Atlanta.

95% The Midland
75% Boston
73% North Central
33% The Inland North
27% Philadelphia
27% The South
21% The Northeast

Hmmm...Well I am actually from Florida so this quiz is pretty accurate I guess.

My result was The Midland, and I find it safe to say this was pretty accurate. I live in Mississippi but a couple of older adults have had conversations with me and would randomly say that they liked my voice or that I had no accent. I was born in a southern place and have lived there all my life, and I still do. Ive hardly ever noticed that my voice had really had no accent, but either way I think its pretty cool!!! I definitely would consider this quiz to be accurate but if it was not, Id say it was because of the way the takers were answering.

Your Result: The Northeast 88%

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.

80% Philadelphia
78% The Inland North
60% The Midland
50% The South
44% Boston
25% The West
8% North Central

Mine's accurate. I've been living in New Jersey my entire life.

I am a Spanish girl who has never visited a country where they speak English, neither British nor American. All I know at the time of speaking or pronuciar English is by youtubers, series or movies. In spite of that, the quiz told me that I do not have an accent, I mean I have been told that I have a "Midland" accent. which is extremely strange (i mean i wasnt even know that the midland is an acent) to me because in my English classes they have always told me that I speak in American English (and in Spain in schools they teach us British English), I thought that I would get a Californian or New York accent supermarked because it is in those states where most of the series I see are made.

I think the test is very interesting for someone whose native language is not English

What American accent do you have?
Your Result: The Midland 85%

"You have a Midland accent" is just another way of saying "you don't have an accent." You probably are from the Midland (Pennsylvania, southern Ohio, southern Indiana, southern Illinois, and Missouri) but then for all we know you could be from Florida or Charleston or one of those big southern cities like Atlanta or Dallas. You have a good voice for TV and radio.

81% Boston
80% The West
59% North Central
39% The Northeast
33% Philadelphia
33% The Inland North
27% The South
Funny thing is that im from Alaska

The quiz guessed accurately that I am from the Great Lakes area. They characterize this as "North Central" which according to the AAA is the Dakotas and Wisconsin. We lived most of our lives in Ohio, but for a couple years, we lived in Michigan. Michigan people couldn't believe we Ohioans didn't talk like "hillbillies" (another title I will own proudly). Maybe that's because in Michigan "school" is pronouced "skoo-will," "cool" is pronounced "coo-will" and the word "no" has an "l" at the end (ohl, nol).

What American accent do you have?
Your Result: North Central 86%

"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.

55% The Midland
53% The West
44% The Inland North
38% Boston
23% The South
13% Philadelphia
9% The Northeast
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Oh my god, this is dead on CORRECT!! And I live in Minnesota btw

Amazing quiz!!

I would call a carbonated beverage a "soda". I know a "bubbler" is a water fountain-not sure how I know that. I grew up early years in New England, and spent time between there and Texas. My family is near Boston, and my early accent was very different than it is now. I think I am TV accent-nothing extreme, although I have a few affectations. Aunt is the au sound not the hard a sound. I call a "rubber band" an elastic. I do use "ya'll" and have adopted-much to my chagrin-"fix in'-to."

Your Result: The Midland 85%

"You have a Midland accent" is just another way of saying "you don't have an accent." You probably are from the Midland (Pennsylvania, southern Ohio, southern Indiana, southern Illinois, and Missouri) but then for all we know you could be from Florida or Charleston or one of those big southern cities like Atlanta or Dallas. You have a good voice for TV and radio.

80% The West
75% Boston
59% North Central
40% Philadelphia
33% The Northeast
33% The Inland North
31% The South
Cool! I am from Ohio! Nicely accurate. ^.^

The quiz said I had a "Midwest" accent or "no accent at all/a good voice for radio". I am from Arkansas and spent some time in Texas, so my accent is kind of mixed up. But, I also spent 20 years teaching in public schools especially with non-English speakers, so I do have a tendency to enunciate my words the correct way instead of the way we speak in our area. Even my family gets annoyed with me for sometimes correcting them on their pronunciation. So, I can see how the test could be right or even fooled.

Grew up in the Virginia hill country but never really acquired that accent. Father was from southern Alabama, mother Hispanic and spoke school American English (basically standard Midwestern) with little discernible accent. After years in the South I think my pronunciation is more or less standard Midwestern with a touch of drawl. Never been to the inland North, and drink soda, not pop. So not sure how I got that accent.

I always think the kind of perspective about linguistics that drives this type of article is so stupid.

Yes, there IS such a thing as having no accent. You do realize we belong to the English language, and we have a dictionary, and there is ONE SINGLE way of pronouncing a word.....Right? If you pronounce it different, that's an accent. If you pronounce it the same, that is "correct" and no accent.

If you're from boston, you may pronounce "narc" , as "knock" (as The Heat so funnily pointed out recently). If you're from a place with no accent, like, say, Idaho, you'd correctly pronounce it NARK. One's right, one's wrong. No "to each his own" going on here.

Very interesting quiz. Most people can't tell where I am from because I "don't have an accent". I was born and raised in the foot hills of the Appalachian Mountains, but also lived in Missouri (Kirksville), Michigan (Carson City & Detroit), Kentucky (Lexington) and North Dakota (Elgin &Fargo). I'm sure I have picked up a little from each but they have all blended together to balance everything out.

What American accent do you have?
Your Result: The West 96%

Your accent is the lowest common denominator of American speech. Unless you're a SoCal surfer, no one thinks you have an accent. And really, you may not even be from the West at all, you could easily be from Florida or one of those big Southern cities like Dallas or Atlanta.

95%
The Midland 75%
Boston 73%
North Central 33%
The Inland North 27%
Philadelphia 27%
The South 21%
The Northeast

Nice job!!! Please go on what season are you by Pinkleopard

Born in Delaware, raised in Maine, have spent my adult life divided between Kentucky, North Carolina, and South Carolina. Typically I get asked if I am from New Jersey. But this quiz is convinced I sound like I'm from the Great Lakes Region, which I have never even visited. I also not only don't refer to carbonated beverages as "pop", I am annoyed by those who do, because "pop" is the person who sired me.