What does the way you speak say about where you’re from?

[HQWest]

Yeah - told me Detroit & Rochester. I've never been to Rochester.
Weird

[AZTheta]

Nailed it. Northern California.

Gotta love linguists.

[AOII Angel]

Originally Posted by AZTheta

Nailed it. Northern California.

Gotta love linguists.

Ha. You can make it do anything you want.

I am so tickled that it got me right! No one EVER guesses Louisiana for my accent. I guess the words I choose would be a better clue.

[AGDee]

Rochester, NY or Rochester, MI?

[AZTheta]

AOII Angel, I *think* it's based on the lexicon of each region and also on some phonetic variations in pronunciation. I make fun of you because I can't understand what you say when you start talking Louisiana. And you guys make fun of me for "you guys". In grad school I had to learn how to say "cot" and "caught", "ant" and "aunt", etc. There were some diphthongs and a few vowels missing from my phonological inventory (or is it my phonemic inventory? I forget). No one in California had trouble understanding what I was saying.

Or maybe it's like the Facebook giraffe and it can pry into your life and know everything just based on how you say "pecan".

[AOII Angel]

Originally Posted by AZTheta

AOII Angel, I *think* it's based on the lexicon of each region and also on some phonetic variations in pronunciation. I make fun of you because I can't understand what you say when you start talking Louisiana. And you guys make fun of me for "you guys". In grad school I had to learn how to say "cot" and "caught", "ant" and "aunt", etc. There were some diphthongs and a few vowels missing from my phonological inventory (or is it my phonemic inventory? I forget). No one in California had trouble understanding what I was saying.

Or maybe it's like the Facebook giraffe and it can pry into your life and know everything just based on how you say "pecan".

Bwahahaha

[EtaPhiZTA]

My test nailed that I grew up in Philadelphia! I am a midwest transplant and everyone has always teased me for my regional vocabulary, and I guess it does show.

[ComradesTrue]

I had Fort Worth, Shreveport and Lubbock.

Born in Fort Worth, lived in east Texas (Tyler, not too far from Shreveport) until I was 13, then back to Fort Worth/Dallas until I was 30.

No connection to Lubbock whatsoever, but I guess it had to give a 3rd option.

So, yeah, a pretty accurate representation.

**Side note- anyone else completely disturbed by "The devil is beating his wife?" Seriously? Who comes up with these things and then who repeats it enough to become part of the regional vernacular?

[AOII Angel]

Originally Posted by Blondie93

I had Fort Worth, Shreveport and Lubbock.

Born in Fort Worth, lived in east Texas (Tyler, not too far from Shreveport) until I was 13, then back to Fort Worth/Dallas until I was 30.

No connection to Lubbock whatsoever, but I guess it had to give a 3rd option.

So, yeah, a pretty accurate representation.

**Side note- anyone else completely disturbed by "The devil is beating his wife?" Seriously? Who comes up with these things and then who repeats it enough to become part of the regional vernacular?

Ha. Doesn't bother me at all. I guess since it was part of the vernacular.

[PhoenixAzul]

In real life, I don't have the traditional Yinzer accent (Example: Here, this is hillarious)

BUT- I do have a Pittsburgh vocabulary. When I was a sophomore in college, I made an offhand comment about a "gumband", and...crickets...
It blew my mind that this word I had said all my life that was NOT UNIVERSAL. I also felt super validated when I lived in Northern Ireland and "slippy" is totally part of the vocabulary.

[Psi U MC Vito]

It nailed my hometown as well as the city were I went to school for 5 years, as well as Yonkers which was odd, but same area. It also showed some hotspots in the Inland Northwest, which makes perfect sense. I apparently picked up more there in 3 years than I thought.

[IUHoosiergirl88]

Nailed my hometown (Chicago/NWI) with a hotspot in my new home city (DC)

[DubaiSis]

I got Rockford IL, Madison and Milwaukee WI. I haven't lived in any of these places but I have lived relatively close, within 3 hours or so, of all of them. I retook the test today to see if I'd get a different answer. While there were a few new questions this time (kitty corner), I still got the exact same cities! I was particularly curious since I've lived in so many different cities around the country and have picked up phrases along the way. For instance, soda is pretty universally understood. Pop is not. I grew up with karmul, but when I learned the food was named after a guy whose name starts like care, then I changed my pronunciation. My ex-husband always said katty corner which just bugged me. But then so much did...

Oh, and least similar: New Orleans, Birmingham and Montgomery. No big surprises there!

[Sciencewoman]

Mine was spot on.

[clemsongirl]

If you want to listen to a real-life Rhode Island accent complete with phonetically-spelled words this video is great: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikdawnIY8RA
Starts about 45 seconds in and I love it.