US regional dialects

[emmline]

46% Dixie. Barely in Yankeedom.
Too much time in the mid-Atlantic, despite my parentage, I guess.

[Congratulations]

For what it's worth, I'd like to assure everyone that I do not have a southern accent.

[fearfaoin]

55% Dixie
(except we call them a drive thru....)

It's funny that they say "Brew Thru" is common in OH, VA, and NC.
I'm pretty sure drive-through liquor stores are illegal in NC. I'd
never even heard of such an idea until I met a Virginia Tech
student.

I've always thought the whole liquor store thing is funny. In MD, they
don't sell any alcohol in grocery stores, the stores where alcohol is
sold are privately owned and have names like "Jim's Liquors". In NC,
beer and wine are sold in the grocery store and liquor can only be
bought at state-run shops called "ABC" Stores. So, you don't have
to read much to figure out where to buy your hooch. I was quite
confused when I went into a Hawaiian ABC store, because on the
islands, ABC is a huge chain of general stores.

But, my favorite part is when I noticed that South Carolina has a
similar state-controlled liquor store, which is marked with three
large, red dots prominately displayed. So, you don't even have to
be able to read "ABC" to find liquor in SC! Keepin' it simple for the
illiterate whinos.

[izzarina]

The little sprinkles that you put on ice cream are called "jimmies."

I thought that everyone called them that, until I brought it up to my husband, and he asked me what "jimmies" were I never knew them as anything else growing up.

[Nanohedron]

For what it's worth, I'd like to assure everyone that I do not have a southern accent.

You and Elton Brown. Me, I like most southern accents. You want grating? Try deepest Minnesota.

[Congratulations]

But, my favorite part is when I noticed that South Carolina has a
similar state-controlled liquor store, which is marked with three
large, red dots prominately displayed. So, you don't even have to
be able to read "ABC" to find liquor in SC! Keepin' it simple for the
illiterate whinos.

I can confirm this. I once made a joke about someone going into a red-spotted store to a friend from out of state, and he didn't get it. I felt so... backwoods.

[Congratulations]

For what it's worth, I'd like to assure everyone that I do not have a southern accent.

You and Elton Brown. Me, I like most southern accents. You want grating? Try deepest Minnesota.

Oh, man! I like Minnesotan accents! I met lots of people from there when I went to a band thing in Illinois, and they were hilarious. I once heard someone describe a Minnesota accent as "a Canadian accent, drawn in crayon."

You and Elton Brown.

[Wanderer]

"89% Dixie. Do you still use Confederate money?"

It annoys me that "feeder" is only used in the South in Houston. That has screwed me up more than once travelling around other cities in Texas. Especially now that I live in Dallas. "Feeder? You mean the service road?"

I've also gotten in trouble for the term "strip center" (or "strip mall"...a shopping center with all the stores facing a sidewalk along a "strip"). In Florida, I once was looking for a particular pub I'd seen while taking the bus from the airport to my hotell, so I called the business, but was unsure if it was the same one I'd seen, so I asked "Are you the pub across the street from that strip center on Main?" "We aren't by any places like that!" the lady replied, all offended. She'd evidently thought I'd meant "strip joint"

[Congratulations]

"89% Dixie. Do you still use Confederate money?"

It annoys me that "feeder" is only used in the South in Houston. That has screwed me up more than once travelling around other cities in Texas. Especially now that I live in Dallas. "Feeder? You mean the service road?"

I've always heard it called "frontage road," which is odd because it's not listed as a southern thing. I'd never heard it called anything else, though.

I've also gotten in trouble for the term "strip center" (or "strip mall"...a shopping center with all the stores facing a sidewalk along a "strip"). In Florida, I once was looking for a particular pub I'd seen while taking the bus from the airport to my hotell, so I called the business, but was unsure if it was the same one I'd seen, so I asked "Are you the pub across the street from that strip center on Main?" "We aren't by any places like that!" the lady replied, all offended. She'd evidently thought I'd meant "strip joint"

We call those titty bars.

[Nanohedron]

I once heard someone describe a Minnesota accent as "a Canadian accent, drawn in crayon."

Ouch. That's really good.

I've had Minnesotans ask ME if I were Canadian. Well, my grandpa did come from New Brunswick...might be something in that, y'know, there, yeah.

As for Elton Brown, he's a self-declared southern boy; not sure where from. Every now and then you can tell when you listen to him; it's more little usages, but it's not due to the accent.

[Wanderer]

I've always heard it called "frontage road," which is odd because it's not listed as a southern thing. I'd never heard it called anything else, though.

Yeah, evidently "feeder" is only used in the Great lakes ares, and Houston. Go figure that one out..

We call those titty bars.

So do we, though I conciouly try to use the term "strip club" when in more polite company (generally anywhere I wouldn't be comfortable swearing).

[Flyingcursor]

I heard a funny thing on Prairie Home Companion once about the difference between a Wisconson and Minnesota accent and the difference between Swedish vs Norwegian descendants.


I came out 46%. In all my years in Michigan I've rarely heard anyone pronounce "route" as "root" or "creek" as "crik". "You Guys "is not the perogative of New York or New Jersey. Maybe "Youse Guys" but "You guys" seems fairly wide spread.


There are a few they missed:

Battery. Is it three syllables: Bat-er-ey or two: battrey ???

Supper or Dinner??

Couch or Sofa??

Is Guitar GITar or giTAR?

[Congratulations]

We call those titty bars.

So do we, though I conciouly try to use the term "strip club" when in more polite company (generally anywhere I wouldn't be comfortable swearing).

As a side note, I hate it when people say "care-uh-mel." The word is "car-mul," and all other pronunciations are silly and wrong. I once had a guy explain to me that he uses each pronunciation for separate things. He said that a caramel candy is called a "car-mul," but things are made of "care-uh-mel," and they have "care-uh-mel" on top.

Also, I work at a convenience store on a small lake in the area, and people come in all the time wanting "minners," what I would called "minnows." Sometimes I want to pretend like I don't know what a "minner" is, and then go, "OH! You want some minnows?"

[DavidT]

...In eastern Massachusetts a drinking fountain is called a "bubbler."

Wouldn't that be "bubblah"?

...Longest time I spent in the States was in Neutral old Kentucky...

Shhh! Don't tell anyone in Kentucky that Kentucky was/is neutral. They think they're part of the Deep South.

84% Dixie. 20 years in South Texas 'bout ruint me. BTW they are frontage roads in Texas.

[fiddleronvermouth]

I got 16 %. It called me the Duke of Yankeedom. I wonder if there's a similar test for Candians. ("Does 'Toronto' rhyme with 'pronto', or 'pirrhana?'")