What's your accent? *spin off of mis pronunciation thread*

[Mermaid02]

I got "The West" um- I've lived in Maine all but a YEAR of my life. And I've never been West of Dallas.

[mill4023]

Originally Posted by Mermaid02

I got "The West" um- I've lived in Maine all but a YEAR of my life. And I've never been West of Dallas.

I've found that many Northeasterners (outside of Boston and NY/NJ) actually do pronounce words correctly, just like us west coasters.

[mill4023]

Originally Posted by MyDizneyBoyz

The quiz was right - another from the Northeast - I'm a Joisey Girl!

For the record, Dawn has the "aaawwwwww" sound you make when you see a cute baby. Don sounds like Mom (same "o" sound). There you go.

That would be incorrect. There is no "w" sound in the word dawn.

[Nik's Mom]

Originally Posted by JLKennedy

PHILLY for me babes! And I'm about 15 minutes from there - NJ.

But the dead give away with me, is you guys!

I say you guys too! I'm from California, though. I also say "mines" instead of "mine". Everyone from my 'hood used to say it that way. I know, it's so kindergarten.

[Minnesota!]

Inland North (spot on)



And it's POP!!!!

[CathrynRose]

Originally Posted by mill4023

That would be incorrect. There is no "w" sound in the word dawn.

The thing is - I (being from Chicago) make that Don o - sound like AHHHH.

So, Don is Dahhhhn And Dawn is ...well, Dawn.

[Pakey]

I got Midland. I lived 10 years in Mississippi, 1 year in Minnesota, 2 years in Massachusetts, went to college in Missouri, and the balance (37 years) in California.

[mill4023]

Originally Posted by CathrynRose

The thing is - I (being from Chicago) make that Don o - sound like AHHHH.

So, Don is Dahhhhn And Dawn is ...well, Dawn.

It's so hard to explain pronunciation in writing. So I'm not sure what you mean.

Do you pronounce the female names, Donna and Dawna differently?
As far as I can tell, they both have the same ON sound like "I'm turning ON the lights".

Maybe some variation is allowed in Don vs. Dawn.

Merriam-Webster shows one pronunciation for Don and two for Dawn, one of which matched Don.

[Diznotyzed]

Originally Posted by emdav

I got the South. Interesting because I grew up in Oregon and live in Utah now. My husband tells me I have an Oregon accent but I don't think Oregonians have an accent.

While vacationing in the US Virgin Islands recently I had someone from the Washington DC area tell me they liked my accent. When I asked "What accent?" she said "the way you pronounce Oregon".

[Vixen]

i got west and im form the west

[claudia]

What American accent do you have?
Your Result: The Northeast

Judging by how you talk you are probably from north Jersey, New York City, Connecticut or Rhode Island. Chances are, if you are from New York City (and not those other places) people would probably be able to tell if they actually heard you speak.


Really true, most times people will say "oh, you're from New York"...but if I am very careful how I say "coffee" and "bathroom" they usually don't pick up my "accent" and can't figure out where I'm from......

[lvanleer]

Midland.....I'm from right outside of Washington DC and always felt I don't really have an accent unlike the people from the Baltimore area who sound completely different.

[IDoDis]

You may think you speak "Standard English straight out of the dictionary" but when you step away from the Great Lakes you get asked annoying questions like "Are you from Wisconsin?" or "Are you from Chicago?" Chances are you call carbonated drinks "pop."

Hmmm... I was born in Milwaukee and lived there until the ripe age of 10. I've been in New Mexico ever since. I always joke with my Wisconsin friends that I talk like the people on the news and THEY have an accent. However, my kids still detect a Wisconsin accent in certain words that I say and they tease me about it often.

Oh, and I don't say "pop." I say "coke" for carbonated drinks. In Wisconsin I used to say "soda."

[CathrynRose]

Originally Posted by mill4023

It's so hard to explain pronunciation in writing. So I'm not sure what you mean.

Do you pronounce the female names, Donna and Dawna differently?
As far as I can tell, they both have the same ON sound like "I'm turning ON the lights".

Maybe some variation is allowed in Don vs. Dawn.

Merriam-Webster shows one pronunciation for Don and two for Dawn, one of which matched Don.

Yes - Donna and Dawna would be different:

Donna is : Open up and say DAAAHna.

As is : Turn the lights AHHHn

I think any *O* turns into an 'open up and say 'ahhhh' - Rob, Todd, On, iPod.

Dawna is - Awwww, isnt Dawwwwna cute - as in lawn, fawn.


My one G/F lives and is from Boston. Sometimes when I get on the phone with under I don't understand a word she's saying. If she talks too fast, I'm lost. So, if she laughs, I just laugh.

Any better understanding? Probably not.

[paintnolish]

The Don/Dawn pronounciation guide is cracking me up. My dad, whose name is, incidentally, Don, grew up in Chicago his whole life. We tease him about the way he pronounces some words, and they usually worsen when he is talking to "like speaking" people. For example, he eats pizza with "sah-sage" not "saw-sage." I must have picked up some of it, too, because every once in awhile, somebody down here in Central IL asks if I'm from the "city" and I don't think they mean Peoria!
More on soda vs. pop...my kids say "soda" but I tell them we don't have any-only pop.