(from The Sports Bar thread 12/22)
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/...html?_r=2&

The last page will show US map of your most similar/least similar regions and major cities in the region.

My least similar were Boston-Worcester-Providence (I have visited all 3)

Most similar were Shreveport-Baton Rouge-Jackson (which I have never visited, but my parents lived in LA and AL as 20-somethings w/o children)

dead link... try this one: How Y’all, Youse and You Guys Talk - Interactive Graphic - NYTimes.com

Shreveport, Lubbock, and Houston.

They didn't ask if you use 'coke' as a generic term for all soft drinks.

(01-03-2014 09:49 AM)JSA Wrote:  They didn't ask if you use 'coke' as a generic term for all soft drinks.

It did ask me that...

Shreveport, Jackson, & Montgomery. I guess the deep south matches my amalgamation of Houston and Hoosier, seeing as I've never lived in any of those cities, and I'm pretty sure I've never even been to Jackson.

Jackson, Winston-Salem, and Greensboro. Not bad. I grew up in Winston.

Houston, Baton Rouge, Jackson...well, since I grew up in Houston, that seems about right to me.

I think mine indicated Irving, Tx, Arlington, VA, or San Antonio. I grew up in Denver, but have lived in the Dallas area for nearly 20 years.

Irving, Austin, and Brownsville. I don't think 4 years in Houston explains this entirely as I've lived all my non-Rice years in SoCal. My parents are from Florida so there is some symmetry in my result, I guess.

New Orleans, Baton Rouge and Houston. I grew up in Houston.

Houston, Shreveport, Jackson, MS. Reasonable.

Almost like MrM, Shreveport, Baton Rouge and Louisville, KY. 20 years ago I would have matched Dallas, but too many Yankees now (not that there is (or isn't) anything wrong with that).

This test is based on at least two factors: pronunciation as well as word choice. Both have regional variations, but they are different things. It would be interesting (to me, at least) to see a similar test that was based entirely on pronunciation, and one that was based entirely on word choice.

For me personally, word choices are a lot more conscious than pronunciation, so a pronunciation-based test might be a more reliable indicator of my "natural" linguistic region, if there is such a thing. And such a test would probably show a different result from this one. One of the most highly localized word choices in this test is "neutral ground" for road median: that usage is found strongly in New Orleans and not at all anywhere else. I grew up in New Orleans, and I deliberately maintain that usage because I think it is really cool. But since the test apparently values this usage as a very strong regional indicator, my test result says that I am highly localized to New Orleans. On the other hand, people often tell me that my "accent" sounds roughly middle Atlantic*, if they can place it at all. So I'd wonder where I would come out on a purely pronunciation-based test.


*To be clear, that's the guess I most often get from people who have not already been told where I'm from. Those who have been told are most likely to say that I sound like I'm from the place they've been told (even if they've been told incorrectly, which is kinda funny).

Feeder road FTW

Houston, Fort Worth, Corpus Christi. Growing up in LaPorte, that makes sense to me.

(01-03-2014 05:34 PM)talon owl Wrote:  Feeder road FTW

+1

San Antonio, Laredo and Irving?

(01-03-2014 05:44 PM)RiceDoc Wrote:  

(01-03-2014 05:34 PM)talon owl Wrote:  Feeder road FTW

+1

"I'm going to the Burger King off the feeder. Do you want anything?"

"Get me a Whopper and fries."

"You want anything to drink?"

"Yeah, get me a coke."

"What kind?"

"Dr. Pepper."

(01-03-2014 10:15 AM)That Guy 2012 Wrote:  Shreveport, Jackson, & Montgomery. I guess the deep south matches my amalgamation of Houston and Hoosier, seeing as I've never lived in any of those cities, and I'm pretty sure I've never even been to Jackson.

I got Des Moines, Detroit and Jackson. I must have spent too much time in Indiana before moving here.

I locked up the web page twice. Maybe I confused it. I will offer though, that about 25 years ago during a visit to the security office at Edwards Air Force Base a young lady there, who had been all over the place, was impressed with my accent. I said, "What accent?"

It finally loaded. Jackson, Fort Worth, Shreveport. Grew up in Houston then moved to FW. Been here for 36 years since graduating from Rice. Went through Mississippi once at the age of three years, just passing through on the way to visit a great uncle in Savanah. Bus trip with my grandmother and her sister. I am still amazed my parents let them do that to me!