nytimes's united states 'dialect map' quiz

Kevin Garrett

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After taking this quiz the first time, I took it again to make sure it wasn't just a fluke. The results I received were very accurate. I've lived in Jersey suburbia all my life with half of my family being from the midwest.

 

Stratos

Banned deucer.


location: Maryland

gj new york times

(that being said, my dad is from Fresno, so ehhhh A for effort?)
 

Bughouse

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I was actually just talking about this today with a group of pre-frosh who were from very diverse backgrounds, including lots of internationals. The argument over sneakers/tennis shoes was particularly funny.

My parents are from the northeast but my sister and I grew up in Atlanta. Not surprisingly, the result is that it places both of us in the DC area, which is the only place in the US you really get that sort of north/south mix.

Another interesting one that wasn't on this quiz: How do you pronounce Caribbean?
Personally, I say ca-RIB-e-an unless I'm referring to Pirates of the CARE-i-BE-an
 

GatoDelFuego

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Similar to whistle I'm sure. I've lived in Chicago my whole life--the suburbs, though, not the actual city. I think there's some similarity between California and the Midwest. I especially don't say "pop", which is usually a dead giveaway of the north.

http://nyti.ms/1eXJZ8M
 

Oglemi

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This makes sense for me since my mom moved back and forth between Wisconsin and Minnesota as a kid, and northern Wisconsin is more similar than southern.
 

Bass

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I grew up in the Chicago area so this was expected, though it seems I have picked up on some of the local dialect since moving to Colorado.
 
Born and Raised in Western Canada. Gets Fremont, San Jose, and Corona for answers.

So I guess there's some intelligence to be found in the States :heart:
 

Jorgen

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I speaka da language of the entire US East Coast. Seriously it's so red.
I grew up in Appalachia so all the red around there doesn't surprise me much. Didn't know it was possible to talk like a fancy New Yorker and an Alabaman at the same time, though.
 

Age of Kings

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http://nyti.ms/1k1uxXW

Fair, I suppose, except that I'm from southern California which has minor dialect differences (i.e. nobody uses 'hella'). I spent the majority of the last 5 years near Silicon Valley, I guess that's a large influence?

The questions concerning roads confused me because I had no idea what most of them were about....I generally just complain about big city traffic and don't pay attention to such things!
 
I took it the first time and got Milwaukee (this one is right), Madison and Spokane, mainly because of 2 questions. The first one was the water drinking thing which I answered bubbler and I know that is a WI thing, the second was apparently saying cougar.

I took it again, did not get the bubbler question and answered mountain lion for the other one since I use mtn lion and cougar about the same (I would use cougar more if it didn't have a 2nd meaning) and got 3 california cities.

Just thought it would be interesting how much weight a couple of the questions have.

Edit: took it once more, got Milwaukee, Madison and Grand Rapids based on answering cot and caught different.
 
http://nyti.ms/1eXKDCG

The darkest red being Maine makes sense, I grew up in Maine my entire life. I don't think they had a "downeast" accent as an option, so they just paired me with the Boston/New England accent. Pretty accurate test, not too shabby NYtimes.

Also, I had no idea there were drive-thru drinking establishments... seems trashy as fuck in my opinion, especially with DUI already being a big problem in many areas in the states.
 

Ace Emerald

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(that being said, my dad is from Fresno, so ehhhh A for effort?)
Come on man you can't tell me you don't speak a little like your dad.

Mine

I took it the first time and got Arlington + Jersey + Philly, which makes sense because my family is from the Jersey area but I've lived my whole life in central NC. I answered a few a little differently (sometimes several options apply) and got asked a few different questions and I shifted south a little. Though I pick up on a lot of southern terms, I refuse to say "ya'll" it doesn't roll off my tongue and I'll never use it.
 
Screen Shot 2014-04-21 at 10.25.35 PM.png

This was the second time, I took it again because I learned that we do have drive through liquor stores where I live and I never knew. It got me perfectly after that.
 
All 3 of my results were thousands of miles off. This thing is just innacurate. (I got Honolulu for example, when I'm in the northeast)
 
Took it out of interest to see where an Australian would end up, I think the algorithm just kind of gave up and died -- it appears to have assigned me to Miami based on the term 'sunshower' heh.
 
why do americans give stupid names to the most pointless shit

why do you need to name the night before halloween, its just a night
drivers slowing down to look at an accident is just drivers being annoying pricks theres no name to it
if its raining while sunny its a fucking rainbow, the devil isnt beating his wife, wolves arent giving birth and theres definitely no monkeys or foxes getting married holy shit
an easy class is an easy class it doesnt need a name

"What do you call something that is across both streets from you at an intersection (or diagonally across from you in general)?"
JUST SOMETHING DIAGONALLY ACROSS FROM ME

also its totally roundabout not traffic circle wtf
 
Trax, I also got a shitload of Florida townes. I'm not sure if this means that I speak similarly to Floridians naturally (I fucking hope not), or it's just a side effect of my e-bff being from Florida and he's corrupting me with his stupid language and/or dialect. It's probably the latter, nowadays I have to stop myself from using the word diaper out loud, and I genuinely could not remember whether we use the word frosting or icing... I'm almost 90% sure it's frosting though. Ugh.
 
Born and Raised in Western Canada. Gets Fremont, San Jose, and Corona for answers.

So I guess there's some intelligence to be found in the States :heart:
Born and raised in Western Canada. i got Boston, Worcester, and fuckin Honolulu.

Don't think we can be more different Mazz :)
 

EV

Banned deucer.
http://nyti.ms/1iEtrkZ

i live in the midwest so it is accurate

but seriously though some of these answers.

satan is beating his wife

????
From what I've heard, the Satan beating his wife term for the rain+sun combo is exclusive to the Northeast. There's a video out there somewhere that features the interviewers talking to people over the phone and you can see the regions light up when they give their answers. When they asked about rain+sun, New England lit up.
 

Aragorn the King

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From what I've heard, the Satan beating his wife term for the rain+sun combo is exclusive to the Northeast. There's a video out there somewhere that features the interviewers talking to people over the phone and you can see the regions light up when they give their answers. When they asked about rain+sun, New England lit up.
Really? I've never even heard that, and I live up here. Plus, the quiz only highlights Mississippi.
 

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