Where are you really from

[Protagonist]

Survey said Midlands. Real life says small-town Louisiana, northern Maine, southwest Oklahoma, northeast Oklahoma, then big-city Louisiana.

No matter where I go, people say, "You're not from here, are you?" Including the city I've lived in for the last 31 years. So, I guess that means I'm not from anywhere.

[c_lewis77]

Originally Posted by Protagonist

Survey said Midlands. Real life says small-town Louisiana, northern Maine, southwest Oklahoma, northeast Oklahoma, then big-city Louisiana.

No matter where I go, people say, "You're not from here, are you?" Including the city I've lived in for the last 31 years. So, I guess that means I'm not from anywhere.

Just point to the airstream and say "I've been everywhere, man!"
Bonus points if you can sing it like Johnny Cash!

[Crusty]

It missed my birth city by about 25 miles, or 2000 miles depending on which result you choose. I've got a generic midwestern accent apparently.

[karenjude]

Got me right too - Boston girl! I've always thought I didn't have a Boston accent. Guess I do!

[3 Dog Nite]

I must talk funny. It said I was from The Inland North. Wisconson or Chicago. I guess that's pretty close to Eastwood, NY.

[Lothlorian]

I have to say that I am originally from the Chicago area, but have lived in the south more years then where I grew up as a young adult.
The results has me half with the midland north and half with the south. 50/50 split.

Brian

[50KIP]

Although I haven't lived there in almost 50 years I did grow up and learned to speak in Minnesota, at the same time and place as Garrison Keillor. People still think I sound like him; I guess you can't shake the accent of where you learned to talk. The quiz pegged me as inland north.

[Globie64]

Hey Webspinner: I wonder if Evanston had less of an accent because it's a university town? My aunt and cousins, from Evanston, have what I think of as a Illinois or Wisconsin longer and slightly nasal "O", as in Ohhhh NOooo.

[AirHeadsRus]

I have never been there much less speak it.

What American accent do you have?Your Result: The Inland North


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."

[worldinchaos]

Interesting.

I was born in New York, lived most of my life in SF Bay, California, and now live in Los Angeles.

"You have a Midland accent" is just another way of saying "you don't have an accent." You probably are from the Midland (Pennsylvania, southern Ohio, southern Indiana, southern Illinois, and Missouri) but then for all we know you could be from Florida or Charleston or one of those big southern cities like Atlanta or Dallas. You have a good voice for TV and radio.

Well that's odd. I have been told I have no accent so that part is accurate, but all those places are not at all right. I have been told I talk fast though? How do you get a "West" accent?

[whitsend]

They pegged me almost nearly correctly, as being from the South (actually Southwest - Texas). Having lived & worked overseas for nearly 25 years in 9 different countries, I thought I'd lost most of my Texas-speak.

I guess you really can take the boy out of the country but you can't take the country out of the boy?

[Globie64]

Originally Posted by worldinchaos

Interesting.

I was born in New York, lived most of my life in SF Bay, California, and now live in Los Angeles.

"You have a Midland accent" is just another way of saying "you don't have an accent." You probably are from the Midland (Pennsylvania, southern Ohio, southern Indiana, southern Illinois, and Missouri) but then for all we know you could be from Florida or Charleston or one of those big southern cities like Atlanta or Dallas. You have a good voice for TV and radio.

Well that's odd. I have been told I have no accent so that part is accurate, but all those places are not at all right. I have been told I talk fast though? How do you get a "West" accent?

So Cal people speak faster than Bay Area people. The West accent is, I've been told repeatedly, like a news announcer.

[Landshark]

Originally Posted by moosetags

There is actually a City of West Miami, but I'm from downtown. I guess that I've never talked real good.

Brian

Hey Brian, I went to West Miami Jr High, did you? And SW Miami High: you?

Vivian

[Gene]

Originally Posted by azflycaster

My results have me from "The Inland North". I was born and raised in the North East, but 40 years in AZ must have moved me slightly from my origin.

Same here. Maybe 8 years in Buffalo and 34 in Colorado have changed me. But, I have no accent anyway.

My wife was raised in Colorado and has lived here all her life but a few years, so she has the midwest neutral accent and pronounces "water" funny.

There are a lot of accents in NYC and because it has always been an immigrant city (whether from other countries or the rest of the US), and they change and influence the NYC accents. I always have thought the Brooklyn accent is the one people most associate with NYC, but we didn't speak that way in Queens. Education makes a lot of difference too as people with college degrees tend to speak a more neutral accent.

Richard grew up a few miles from where I did and he has no accent either.

With national TV, regional accents are disappearing. Travels in New England and the South have shown me the classic accents from those regions are harder to find than when I was a kid. From what I have read, the Appalachia accent is most like the accent of the British when the area was settled. I have never noticed it but it shows up in C&W music.

If you have lived in NYC, you'll know what "Jeet?" means.

Gene

[ROBERT CROSS]

If you have lived in NYC, you'll know what "Jeet?" means.


Yep....Pizza & Wings,


Bob

[zlee]

We, being Chinese types, are more likely to say "Squeet!"

[Globie64]

"Jeet" in NYCese, from my Bronx born partner translates to "did you eat?". This to me is similar to PSDS in Rhode-Island-ese.

[xrvr]

Even though I have lived in N FL since the early 70s, it did say I was from Ohio which is correct. jim

[Lily&Me]

Hmmm, I'm "Midland".

The description accurately reflects my central Illinois upbringing but also my affinity for the South and Confederate heritage.

Fun! Thanks for sharing.


Maggie

[sd90mac]

I was born n New York, and raised in Florida and South Carolina. It said I was from the west... Must have meant western Florida, like St. petersburg!

Marie