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Location: Crossville, Tennessee, United States

Sunday, July 30, 2006

Just what kind of American English do I speak?

Your Linguistic Profile:
55% General American English
25% Dixie
15% Yankee
0% Midwestern
0% Upper Midwestern


This was interesting to me because no one can ever guess where I'm from when they hear me speak. People have guessed everything from "Up North" (being from the South, that's pretty much the polite way of saying, "You're a Yankee, aren't ya?) and "Somewhere in the Midwest" (which doesn't bear out, according to this survey) to, more specifically, Ohio (which my Dad is from, so that's not so far fetched) and Utah (this one from a trucker from Utah). The most bizarre guess was, "Are you're parents from England?" No one ever guesses that I'm from a small town in North Florida where everyone talks country.
I think this survey was actually fairly accurate in its own limited way. Most of my vocabulary falls in the "general" range, so it makes it more difficult to place me. I did, however, grow up in the South and have never made a conscious effort to hide it, but I speak enough Yankee to throw people off. (Also, I refuse to refer to Sodas as Cokes, because I just may get a Coke and I detest any Cola flavor. It may seem odd to those not from the South, but this will quickly identify you as "not from around here.")

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