tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5837660608809488753.post5147489019303659787..comments2024-03-18T19:58:19.662-04:00Comments on The Adventures of Roberta X: Where My Accent Is FromRoberta Xhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09956807794520627885noreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5837660608809488753.post-27535342587736656292013-12-29T10:26:02.032-05:002013-12-29T10:26:02.032-05:00While the non-surfer modern CA accent is as close ...While the non-surfer modern CA accent is as close to "General American" (the network-news accent) as can be found, I suspect the false-positives are due to people from other regions migrating to CA and bringing their accents and vocabularies along for the ride. For instance, one of the better-known towns (Pasadena?) was originally settled in the 19th Century by a large group from Noblesville, IN, and this seems to have been a non-uncommon pattern.<br /><br /> I'm interested that most people focus on the named cities and not the (IMO fascinating) "heat map" patterns. The city picks are at the whim of whatever hottest/largest algorithm they are using; the heat map is a little closer to raw data.Roberta Xhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09956807794520627885noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5837660608809488753.post-2397992350369824252013-12-28T23:40:38.805-05:002013-12-28T23:40:38.805-05:00A thought about the false CA identifications: coul...A thought about the false CA identifications: could this reflect CA regional word choices being broadcast to the rest of the country through movies and television programs? I know that in my childhood, every boy could do a John Wayne accent, and I suspect in places like Texas the boys would learn Walter Cronkite's generic midwest accent in addition to their own local accent. I'm old enough to remember older people with quite strong accents peculiar to areas even smaller than a county - a few miles from Traverse City you'd find farmers with an inherited German accent, blending to a Polish accent further out. But their kids all sounded like Cronkite, and this was when there were few places where you'd get a good TV signal. It's surprising that any local variations have survived.markmnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5837660608809488753.post-68999817933949193962013-12-28T23:19:40.782-05:002013-12-28T23:19:40.782-05:00I didn't expect precision, considering that my...I didn't expect precision, considering that my childhood gave me an accent that wanders depending on whom I am talking to: Nebraska, Iowa, Arizona, Minnesota, and Michigan (Traverse City, not Detroit). As an adult, add Denver, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Virginia; there might also be some southern (that is, southeastern) influence from 12 years in the military and in defense contracting, because good old boys dominate the services. (Your accent usually doesn't change in adulthood, but it can affect word choice and such things as whether you've even heard of a liquor drive-through.) <br /><br />But what I got was precise and 67% way off: Grand Rapids, MI, Detroit, and Fresno, CA. Grand Rapids is close - it's culturally German-Yankee rather like Traverse City, not displaced southern like Detroit. And I have lived in GR, 3 years of wasting my first shot at college in the 70's, and the last five years working there.<br /><br />But Detroit? I think the deciding factor there was "devil's night" - the barbaric Detroit custom of attempting to burn down your own neighborhood on the night before Halloween, which the rest of MI mainly hears about on the news. IOW, a definite flaw in their database.<br /><br />And Fresno??? Flagstaff, AZ was the closest to there I've ever lived, and I doubt the towns have much in common.markmnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5837660608809488753.post-37955359966295013172013-12-28T17:53:36.995-05:002013-12-28T17:53:36.995-05:00Weird. Apparently, living in northern Minnesota th...Weird. Apparently, living in northern Minnesota the first 8 years of my life, then southern MN the next 5, then moving to south central Virginia for my high school years and southwest VA from college onward puts my speech...<br /><br /><a href="http://nyti.ms/19T5Pp0" rel="nofollow">in California.</a><br /><br />Huh?<br /><br />To be fair, I picked "you guys" instead of "y'all", but in reality I use them pretty much interchangeably.Jake (formerly Riposte3)https://www.blogger.com/profile/02976718318892210404noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5837660608809488753.post-65189798079305693962013-12-27T18:08:45.139-05:002013-12-27T18:08:45.139-05:00I've moved 16 times in my life...all over the ...I've moved 16 times in my life...all over the US, 17 years in my current location..but there was a dark dark red blob in the county that shared puberty with me.batchainpullernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5837660608809488753.post-12490127475849202372013-12-27T16:13:09.317-05:002013-12-27T16:13:09.317-05:00I got three cities in Georgia, including Atlanta. ...I got three cities in Georgia, including Atlanta. Funny thing, I've never lived in Georgia. I grew up in WV and FL. Both of those are on the outliers of my answers, though. Philliphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12244142931909670053noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5837660608809488753.post-90123115400688677762013-12-27T08:44:15.320-05:002013-12-27T08:44:15.320-05:00I got Dayton/Detroit/Des Moines. I grew up near Ak...I got Dayton/Detroit/Des Moines. I grew up near Akron, so I'll call it "close enough for jazz." My dad (RIP) used to like to listen to R&B radio out of Detroit when he was a kid.Kenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04780425923108876647noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5837660608809488753.post-89673338626247179922013-12-26T21:06:01.507-05:002013-12-26T21:06:01.507-05:00Shock of shocks, I got a mix of North Jersey and B...Shock of shocks, I got a mix of North Jersey and Buffalo.<br /><br />Given that link stuf, I'll take a screencapThe Jackhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15173903164209256926noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5837660608809488753.post-29380750800534566452013-12-26T20:36:19.720-05:002013-12-26T20:36:19.720-05:00(Tam's results have a large hot zone around At...(Tam's results have a large hot zone around Atlanta and a smaller but significant one around Chicago -- alas, the link the gentlebeings from The Times gave her [and you'll be shocked at this] does not work to show her results.)Roberta Xhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09956807794520627885noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5837660608809488753.post-38978778323312277752013-12-26T17:03:28.597-05:002013-12-26T17:03:28.597-05:00I took the test again, this time being conscious t...I took the test again, this time being conscious to answer as I would have before I moved from Seattle, WA. The result was: Seattle, Tacoma, and Vancounver, WA. Pretty slick.<br /><br />There's a question pool larger than the number of questions it gives you, so if you take it again you'll get some questions you haven't seen.Wayne Conradhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10595005905880642013noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5837660608809488753.post-16391245564539560982013-12-26T16:52:29.533-05:002013-12-26T16:52:29.533-05:00Well, here's a shocker: http://nyti.ms/1jMLGY1...Well, here's a shocker: http://nyti.ms/1jMLGY1Tamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07285540310465422476noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5837660608809488753.post-79878532221578641912013-12-26T15:13:54.688-05:002013-12-26T15:13:54.688-05:00Interesting. There's not so much pronunciatio...Interesting. There's not so much pronunciation here - mostly vocabulary. My pronunciation is very midwest (Kansas, which is where my folks are from) but this rated be very new england because of the words I use to describe things (that's where I grew up).<br /><br />It seems, though, that people identify more by accent than word use. Borepatchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05029434172945099693noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5837660608809488753.post-12696559875846752682013-12-26T12:49:32.338-05:002013-12-26T12:49:32.338-05:00Nailed it, but most of Maine, New Hampshire, and E...Nailed it, but most of Maine, New Hampshire, and Easter Mass are dark read, and I'm from Portland.<br /><br />Love these tests. Would be nice if I could go through the regions where all the answers I didn't pick came from...Weer'd Beardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13528978001340070552noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5837660608809488753.post-17528506435843932172013-12-26T11:42:42.313-05:002013-12-26T11:42:42.313-05:00Mine is off by a minimum of 600 miles too far west...Mine is off by a minimum of 600 miles too far west, even more if you go south west. It puts me much further into the South than North Carolina. Probably because of my propensity to hang out with rednecks no matter where they're from.The Freeholderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09989697995675652792noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5837660608809488753.post-38751619330696329662013-12-26T08:34:30.748-05:002013-12-26T08:34:30.748-05:00Fascinating.
I moved from the Seattle area to Pho...Fascinating.<br /><br />I moved from the Seattle area to Phoenix a few decades back, so my speech patterns are no longer what they were in my youth. The map picked three towns, each of which are more or less between Seattle and Phoenix: Spokane, Boise, and Reno.Wayne Conradhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10595005905880642013noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5837660608809488753.post-80130866067074463062013-12-26T06:54:12.261-05:002013-12-26T06:54:12.261-05:00Being from Michigan, I'm pleased to see that y...Being from Michigan, I'm pleased to see that you've admitted what I've known for some time; I don't have an accent. You Hoosiers, however, do. :PAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5837660608809488753.post-71385319015559326862013-12-25T23:24:05.481-05:002013-12-25T23:24:05.481-05:00It was pretty accurate for me. Two other towns
In ...It was pretty accurate for me. Two other towns<br />In my state, and deecee.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com