Post #273,421
11/16/06 12:25:59 PM
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another silly online quiz
[link|http://www.gotoquiz.com/what_american_accent_do_you_have|What American accent do you have?]. Then again, sez who? My result: Your accent is as Philadelphian as a cheesesteak! If you're not from Philadelphia, then you're from someplace near there like south Jersey, Baltimore, or Wilmington. if you've ever journeyed to some far off place where people don't know that Philly has an accent, someone may have thought you talked a little weird even though they didn't have a clue what accent it was they heard. A quick review of my personal history suggests that I've spent something under a hundred cumulative hours in the Philadelphia metro area; less than a month, all told, anywhere within a hundred-mile radius of the city. I did spend a summer once at a beach town in Massachusetts, but that was almost half a century ago. Then again, folks in California have wondered about my "accent" since I was a tyke, and are invariably disappointed to learn that I was raised mainly within the municipal boundaries of Los Angeles. cordially, Die Welt ist alles, was der Fall ist.
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Post #273,423
11/16/06 12:38:03 PM
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Dead On
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." So what is one supposed to call those drinks? Soda? ;-) A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort. (Herm Albright)
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Post #273,424
11/16/06 12:38:33 PM
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The Northeast (I'm British)
Matthew Greet
Choose Life. Choose a job. Choose a career. Choose a family. Choose a fucking big television, choose washing machines, cars, compact disc players and electrical tin openers. Choose good health, low cholesterol, and dental insurance. Choose fixed interest mortgage repayments. Choose a starter home. Choose your friends. Choose leisurewear and matching luggage. Choose DIY and wondering who the fuck you are on a Sunday morning. Choose sitting on that couch watching mind-numbing, spirit-crushing game shows, stuffing fucking junk food into your mouth. Choose rotting away at the end of it all, pishing your last in a miserable home, nothing more than an embarrassment to the selfish, fucked up brats you spawned to replace yourself. Choose your future. Choose life... But why would I want to do a thing like that? I chose not to choose life. I chose somethin' else. And the reasons? There are no reasons. Who needs reasons when you've got heroin?
- Mark Renton, Trainspotting.
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Post #273,425
11/16/06 12:40:33 PM
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its a crock
for those of you that have conversed with me in person You definitely have a Boston accent, even if you think you don't. Of course, that doesn't mean you are from the Boston area, you may also be from New Hampshire or Maine. hadly darlink thanx, bill Any opinions expressed by me are mine alone, posted from my home computer, on my own time as a free american and do not reflect the opinions of any person or company that I have had professional relations with in the past 50 years. meep
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Post #273,426
11/16/06 12:41:00 PM
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Re: another silly online quiz
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." So...I grew up in central NJ. Near Princeton. Halfway between NYC and Philly. I moved to Texas and lived in Austin for 4 years. Now I'm in Chicago for the last 8 years. So...Whatever. It's still soda, dammit. -YendorMike
"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
- Benjamin Franklin, 1759 Historical Review of Pennsylvania
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Post #273,429
11/16/06 1:24:27 PM
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ROFL - got the same
And I'm from the same area.. Never been to Texas, though.
And yeah, it's 'soda'.
Imric's Tips for Living
- Paranoia Is a Survival Trait
- Pessimists are never disappointed - but sometimes, if they are very lucky, they can be pleasantly surprised...
- Even though everyone is out to get you, it doesn't matter unless you let them win.
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Nothing is as simple as it seems in the beginning,
As hopeless as it seems in the middle,
Or as finished as it seems in the end.
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Post #273,427
11/16/06 1:06:08 PM
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Northeast.
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. Well, I did live in NYC and Upstate NY, y'all! :) Alex
When fascism comes to America, it'll be wrapped in a flag and carrying a cross. -- Sinclair Lewis
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Post #273,428
11/16/06 1:08:08 PM
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Nowhere enough questions (or the right kind) to judge.
It gave me "Philadelphia". I've spent a total of 4 hours there during a grade school field trip. Now I did live out in the back woods of New Jersey for a few years, but any time I used a New Jersey pronunciation my parents made me stand in the corner and repeat it right 100 times or so (they were from Connecticut). The last 45 years I've lived almost entirely in Los Angeles county.
[link|http://www.aaxnet.com|AAx]
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Post #273,430
11/16/06 1:27:43 PM
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north central
I'm from MN, but have lived the past 36 years in the Denver area.
--
Steve
[link|http://www.ubuntulinux.org|Ubuntu]
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Post #273,432
11/16/06 2:00:17 PM
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Northeast
The Northeast
However, there was one question with no correct answer.
Mary and marry rhyme, but merry doesn't.
And I don't really sound like the average Detroiter as I do not pronounce the 'y' in back.
[link|http://www.blackbagops.net|Black Bag Operations Log]
[link|http://www.objectiveclips.com|Artificial Intelligence]
[link|http://www.badpage.info/seaside/html|Scrutinizer]
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Post #273,433
11/16/06 2:13:46 PM
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Pretty accurate for me.
Your Result: The Midland
"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. I've been told by several of the people I speak with over the phone that I have a radio voice. One of them slipped up and said "Oh, it's Don with the sexy..., oops. I meant to say radio voice". I thanked her for the compliment and told her she made my day. I was raised in Illinois and a few of "those big southern cities". -----------------------------------------
Draft Obama [link|http://www.draftobama.org/|now].
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Post #273,450
11/16/06 8:29:37 PM
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US Radio accent.
I heard from a Tennessee TV Producer many years ago that there is a specific accent nation-wide broadcaster like to use. I don't think he said where he naturally occurs but I read somewhere later that it occurs around the Indiana/Ohio area.
Wade.
"Don't give up!"
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Post #273,457
11/16/06 10:31:55 PM
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It's the Johnny Carson accent.
If you saw any old Tonight shows, that was it. I'm pretty sure he was born and/or raised in Iowa.
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Draft Obama [link|http://www.draftobama.org/|now].
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Post #273,462
11/16/06 11:54:01 PM
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Re: US Radio accent.
I think 'radio voice' here is more than learning some idea of a a regional/neutral? accent. A cohort had been an announcer.. periodically we'd say, "OK Don - give us that in your radio voice.." His voice would drop a few semitones and slow. People who teach diction, like 'enry 'iggins, employ a large vocabulary which includes 'projection' and other intricacies of voice production (singers also know all about that.)
OTOH, my perception of the BBC newsreaders heard across the years - is not so much about such a special projection as - some consensus that the (present-) Queen's English style [high English == associated with the Peerage more than the Commons] is officially the accent to be emulated. That's not a special way of projecting the voice, though - as I hear and compare.
I used to play with that a bit too, when making certain PA announcements (especially dire ones like, "This is Not a drill - we ARE clearing the building! ... NOW! KID!") As with all masquerades of pomp & circumstance - fun.
I seem to have misplaced my General Patton approximation, though :-/
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Post #273,464
11/17/06 12:24:34 AM
11/17/06 12:25:07 AM
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Radio voice and radio accent are different.
A 'radio voice' means a voice that works well on broadcast radio, including those tinny portable AM radios. Any voice can be improved towards a radio voice with suitable vocal training.
A 'radio accent' is a bit different. The BBC is known to have it's own distinctive accent preferred for national broadcasts, in the past called [link|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBC_English|BBC English]. The Tennessee TV producer I mentioned before called it TV accent, which meant something essentially neutral and understandable by the whole country.
Wade.
"Don't give up!"
Edited by static
Nov. 17, 2006, 12:25:07 AM EST
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Post #273,476
11/17/06 7:46:38 AM
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Its projection and diction.
You need to be able to project your voice...most guys do that by going baritone...buts its not always necessary.
The key, though, is diction. Being precise with pronunciation when saying things like the letter w. Most pronounce that dublyou (for lack of a better way to make the point) but a radio announcer will spend time (I know I did) learning to distinctly say double---you)...its important for call signs on the east coast...and while training myself to say it wished I was out west where they start with K)
As far as accent, the training was to "speak like you are from nowhere". So, for those with accents, which is most of the country, that equates to speaking as a mideasterner (ohio, illinios, indiana) where, in general, the accent is fairly neutral. Even there, though, there are tendencies to partially drop final vowels (Ohigh as opposed to O hi O) and so saying the radio voice is a mideastern accent is also a bit problematic.
All I know is what little hick accent I had left after moving back from europe was completely gone after my first 6 months in radio. And that made me happy.
Too much of today's music is fashionable crap dressed as artistry.Adrian Belew
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Post #273,481
11/17/06 11:11:05 AM
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Dubbayou irks me to no end.
But of course, I grew up in a radio station, listening to my dad get bent out of shape when one of his announcers couldn't pronounce the letter properly. :-)
Regards,
-scott anderson
"Welcome to Rivendell, Mr. Anderson..."
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Post #273,507
11/18/06 6:06:04 AM
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Enunciation, too, as you said.
Singers are taught to clearly enunciate the words, too. It means things like 'left - to' rather than 'leff-to'. It takes a practice and a little concentration to get it right enough that it doesn't sound odd. Oddly enough, I think singing makes it easier because you can't slow down to do it! :-)
Wade.
"Don't give up!"
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Post #273,511
11/18/06 8:22:29 AM
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Yep. Singing helps with the word stuffs.
I think my time in choir during grade school was well spent even though I didn't think so at the time.
Ahem. Why yes. I was the soloist for O Tannenbaum in third grade thank you very much.
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Draft Obama [link|http://www.draftobama.org/|now].
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Post #273,435
11/16/06 2:48:32 PM
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Philly
And I agree with Todd on the Mary, merry, and marry question.
I think those of us who got Philly thought most of the words were different. Which in turn means we enunciate them carefully. Those of you who are not from Philly but are careful enunciators ended up tagged as us.
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Post #273,440
11/16/06 3:35:06 PM
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Wow, I'm the one IN Philly
Your Result: The Midland
"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. Makes sense, as I was radio trained. Too much of today's music is fashionable crap dressed as artistry.Adrian Belew
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Post #273,446
11/16/06 6:11:26 PM
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My Australian accent comes out as "The Northeast"
Two out of three people wonder where the other one is.
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Post #273,451
11/16/06 8:31:51 PM
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Ditto likewise.
"Don't give up!"
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Post #273,448
11/16/06 6:27:31 PM
11/16/06 11:09:53 PM
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Midland
"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. I majored in Radio and TV production in college. I spent 4 years getting rid of my Louisville twang and I was a traffic reporter and did some voiceover work in my former life. PS: I was born and reared in Southern Indiana, too. :-) Smile,
Amy
Edited by imqwerky
Nov. 16, 2006, 11:09:53 PM EST
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Post #273,453
11/16/06 9:11:04 PM
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Pegged me for Philly
But I'll agree with Crazy, that it's just because I thought they all sounded different. I've also had the voice training, so I can do SAE* if I want.
* Standard American English, for anyone who wants to get all technical about it.**
** And while we're getting technical, if you speak English as a second language you have an accent. Otherwise you are speaking a dialect.
===
Kip Hawley is still an idiot.
===
Purveyor of Doc Hope's [link|http://DocHope.com|fresh-baked dog biscuits and pet treats].
[link|http://DocHope.com|http://DocHope.com]
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Post #273,458
11/16/06 10:36:18 PM
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Inland North
I agree that there aren't enough questions to properly make distinctions. I spent most of my time before I was 18 in the Atlanta suburbs in Georgia, and Ohio. I fought the southern accent, so I tend to sound strange to most people. "Where are you from?" "I moved around a lot..."
And everyone should know that a generic carbonated beverage is properly called a "Coke".
;-)
Cheers,
Scott.
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Post #273,460
11/16/06 11:08:16 PM
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Amen, Brutha!
And everyone should know that a generic carbonated beverage is properly called a "Coke". One of the hardest things to deal with when I moved from Kentucky to Northeast Pennsylvania was that they called coke "soda". I would laugh because a soda is one of those things you drink with a straw from a tall glass full of seltzer water, flavoring and a cherry on top. The yankees also didn't know what a sack was. We were at the grocery store and asked for a sack. "A What? Oh! You mean a bag!" Ah, the memories! :-) Smile,
Amy
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Post #273,465
11/17/06 12:39:17 AM
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On a world-wide version, it would have trouble with me.
Even though I've lived all my life in Sydney's southern suburbs, I've had many people over the years wonder where my accent is from. But I'm Australian!
What I think has happened is that the same things that originally engendered the early versions of the English 'Received Pronunciation' at the likes of Oxford happened to me: namely, the influence of reading a lot. As a child, I was a voracious reader. When I moved out of home a few years ago, even my mother did not fail to be surprised at just how many books I own. And I've read almost all of them.
This was borne out a few years ago when I heard a black American preacher who had spent a lot of time in university. His accent was very unusual: to a lot of people it sounded a little British, but not quite, yet we knew he was from the US and could here a lot of New York in there, too. It took a friend of mine who is even more accent-aware than I am to point out that it's because he has so much education. It was an educated accent.
Wade.
"Don't give up!"
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Post #273,482
11/17/06 11:30:23 AM
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The West, eh? And since we're on the topic of quizzes...
No accent here so I don't know what all that stereotyping is aboot.
I'm glad to find out that I'm 100% Canadian:
[link|http://www.gotoquiz.com/how_canadian_are_you_1|http://www.gotoquiz....anadian_are_you_1]
And I'm only 42% English, which seems about right since I'm three generations removed:
[link|http://www.gotoquiz.com/how_english_are_you|http://www.gotoquiz....w_english_are_you]
lister
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Post #273,485
11/17/06 12:10:15 PM
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as an occational visitor 58% where do you get pizza?
Any opinions expressed by me are mine alone, posted from my home computer, on my own time as a free american and do not reflect the opinions of any person or company that I have had professional relations with in the past 50 years. meep
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Post #273,487
11/17/06 12:46:38 PM
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Pizza Pizza according to the quiz
Tim Horton's is a doughnut joint that serves decent coffee plus lunchish items like soups and sandwiches. They're all over the place here. Swiss Chalet is a chicken joint. It's okay but I prefer the Quebec based St. Hubert's which has sadly disappearred in Toronto. Harvey's is a burger joint owned by the same people who run Swiss Chalet. Of the big burger places they are the best easily trouncing McD's and BK. Lick's is even better but don't have the market presence to be considered in the big burger category.
While PP is perfectly okay, I prefer Pizza Nova. Mamma's Pizza is good too. Stay away from 2-4-1 Pizza. Would you actually believe we had a 3-4-1 Pizza up here for a while? Yeah you can imagine the quality. Gross. Those are the corporate chain stores. Another odd place is Mystery Pizza & Chicken. Never tried it because I don't want to know what the mystery is.
If you want something from a smaller place that's a little more authentic and higher quality look for a Terroni's.
Of course this just applies to Toronto. What's available beyond the Centre of the Universe doesn't matter. :-)
lister
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Post #273,484
11/17/06 11:37:43 AM
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Inland North
And I could swear we've done this quiz (or one very similar to it) here before.
Regards,
-scott anderson
"Welcome to Rivendell, Mr. Anderson..."
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