Tuesday, April 8, 2008

What kind of American accent do you have?

It's been driving me crazy for years that my own daughter doesn't speak with the same accent I do. At the top of my grievance list is the fact that she makes no distinction between Mary and marry, or between Harry and hairy. Ahhhh! Some people have even lost the distinction between cot and caught, and between bag and beg. What will become of us if all of our words end up sounding the same? Oh well, at least this is good evidence against evolution. Evolution says that things develop more complexity over time, but here we have an example of how things really only get simpler.

My quiz result was Philadelphia. No surprise there--although I don't sound like I'm from in the city or anything. Girl One's result was Midland. OK, I guess that is where she lives. (She even says cot and caught the same, I found out.) Boy Two's was the West. (Who's teaching him to talk?) Boy One turned out for Boston. (OK, now I'm starting to doubt the accuracy of this quiz.)

TAKE THE QUIZ. It's pretty short, and I think you'll enjoy it. But watch out, you may become irritated when you find out that none of your children speak like you. Grrrr.

Let us know your results.

6 comments:

godlover said...

I stumbled across your blog today and enjoyed reading about your family. I like the way you do "Easter" at your home, doing the egg and candy thing on a different day. It seems an affront to do it on the same day. God bless your family.

Marj
Calaveras County CA
http://gdlvr.blogspot.com

Safe Thus Far said...

Hi, Marj

It's nice to "meet" you. :) Thanks for stopping by.

Blessings to you.

Anonymous said...

Of course, your result was Philadelphia---you're my daughter (not to be confused with dotter), and I came out Philadelphia too!

Love,
Mom :)

Safe Thus Far said...

Oh, Mom, I knew I could count on you! It feels good to know I'm not alone in this world.

:)

Mr. P turned out as Midland, by the way.

Alice C. said...

I came out "Inland North," virtually tied between Philadelphia and Northeast. Who'd a thunk? They didn't ask any questions on there about words like y'all. I know two of my kids would score Southern on that quiz. We're working hard to have them learn how to say "Fill" and not "fee-ul" and "stairs" not "stay-ers." People here in the south pronounce "pen," "pan," and "pin" all the same. Yikes!

KeepItSimple said...

Hey Susan...

I came out as 'The West'...which is about right *smile*. Let's see, Mom and Dad were born and raised in NY, I was born in Jersey...moved to the South when I was 5, and then headed west at 29. So, my conglomeration does equal the non-accent of the West. Though, I can sound downright Suthern when I have a hankerin' to. I can barely throw on the snooty (and I mean that in a good way!) NE twang when necessary.

However, I think Sarah has it right. Mary, merry, marry all DO sound the same.

Okay..so this brought to mind dear Professor Higgins when he said, "There even are places where English completely disappears. In America, they haven't used it for years!"

Hugs to you!