<p>lafalalum84 - that’s funny. I have lived all life in SC except for about 6 years in NC and test said I was neutral. I didn’t think any of the words it asked about showed a southern accent…several times my answer would have been neither pronunciation if that had been an option. Seemed very focus on middle vowel sounds where I think accents are more about dropping consonants…winda instead of window…or extending syllables.</p>
<p>The test has me pegged. It says I’m a Westerner, which is totally true. I was born in California and finished grade school, high school and college in Arizona. But I’ve lived all over the world since then.</p>
<p>The test pegged me to a “t” or is it “tee” or “tea”? Bostonian…</p>
<p>Took both quizzes–got inland north and northern. I have never lived in the area outlined on the maps. ( My parents are both from that region–but English is my dad’s 2nd language.)</p>
<p>I changed the first two answers on the 2nd quiz from “different” to “about the same” and got neutral/midland–where I’ve spent most of my life. To me, NOT distinguishing between those sounds (thought/lot, dawn/don) seems MORE northern to me.</p>
<p>Who says them the same? Where are you from?</p>
<p>how would you pronounce either bother/father where they wouldn’t rhyme?</p>
<p>b-oh-ther and f-ah-ther?</p>
<p>I think it’s funny that I have a “northern” accent but my family in Chicago and Minnesota (both of which are “northern” accents) are a fair bit different than my own. It’s interesting what speech patterns get lumped together.</p>
<p>ato- I’m a Michigander… so in the “north”. I can’t really figure out how to say those words so they sound the same.</p>
<p>Took the quiz. I got the west.</p>
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<p>I agree with this! My next closest was The midland.</p>
<p>scmom12 - the one that asked about tent and tint would have been southern if you said they were the same, and I answered that they were different! My mom used to get teased at work in NJ because she said “pen” like “pin,” and also “or” like “are” instead of “oar.”</p>
<p>The test said I had a North Central accent and people probably confused me for a Canadian…no…</p>
<p>I was Midland on one, Neutral on the other, which makes sense, born and raised in Indiana and any other weird things knocked out of me by living in a large city during my 20s.</p>
<p>H took the quiz and it pegged him as Northeast, which is correct - born and raised in NJ, spent the last 25 years in New England. </p>
<p>Then we went thru the test together (since it had me as southern) and there were only 3 questions we answered differently.</p>
<p>Took the quiz, gave me the correct accent for where I live. :D.</p>
<p>lafalum84 - I do say tent and tint the same, but still gave me neutral…now if it had asked how I pronounced “aunt” :)</p>
<p>Hahaha - Aunt! I grew up in NJ saying Ant, but my SC relatives say Aint, and people here in Mass say Ahnt. I try to adjust to whatever locale I’m in (when in Rome…), but sometimes I resort to saying, “My mother’s sister.” :p</p>
<p>The first quiz gave me “Midland,” and the second quiz gave me “Mid Atlantic” (I’m from DC, so it sounds right).</p>
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<p>That was me when I spent a week in the South not too long ago. I also noticed that as the day went on, I started having a bit of a Southern accent myself by evening… every day! Does anyone have a similar experience?</p>
<p>I pick up Southern quickly, but not any Eastern accents. I also don’t pick up the nasal twang of Michigan or Chicago. But give me a little drawl and my brain clicks in like a Scarlett O’Hara impersonator.</p>
<p>To Weatherga & Saintfan-Nanaimo Bars are so good and easy to make. My daughter had to make them when her school was celebrating the students heritage. My daughter chose “Canadian”. She couldn’t have chosen “Irish”?? Had to have a friend from Hamilton Ont explain them to me. And you get real used to Canadian accents after a while “a-boot” for “about”.</p>
<p>playing around a bit with the quizzes and it seems you get a neutral accent when words that are spelled differently are pronounced the same…sorry, hawk and hock, or thought and lot do not rhyme, the are spelled differently for a reason…just saying</p>
<p>geeps, seriously with all the weird spelling and pronunciations we have in the hodgepodge that is American English, your statement doesn’t make sense. What “neutral” seems to mean is that there is a significant part of the country where those do rhyme, and it is the white-bread US-where broadcasters are taught to emulate. It doesn’t make someone better or worse if they sound like they are from “flyover country”. If this thread does anything is highlight the fun diversity in our languages. </p>
<p>BTW, I have been practicing trying to say merry, Mary,marry differently for a few weeks. can’t do it but DS has been fun saying it differently.</p>