JaiDee Posted January 15, 2014 Share Posted January 15, 2014 http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/12/20/sunday-review/dialect-quiz-map.html Mine was pretty close, as they said I could live in either Boston, Worcester or Providence Quote Link to comment
pdogg Posted January 15, 2014 Share Posted January 15, 2014 New York, Newark, or Philly Quote Link to comment
pdogg Posted January 15, 2014 Share Posted January 15, 2014 What do you call the rubber-soled shoes worn in gym class or for athletic activities? sneakers Most correlated answer Quote Link to comment
strocube Posted January 15, 2014 Share Posted January 15, 2014 Intersting. The thing placed me right in the middle of SoCal. Pretty good, since that's where I have been for all but the first three years of my life. 1 Quote Link to comment
xyzzy Posted January 16, 2014 Share Posted January 16, 2014 I grew up in KY and spent my adult life in CO. It put me in Jackson, MS, Lubbock, TX or Brownsville, TX. Guess you can take the boy out of the south but can't take the south out of the boy. 1 Quote Link to comment
Snick Posted January 16, 2014 Share Posted January 16, 2014 Pretty good, put me in NY/NJ, I thought all the time I spent on the west coast would mess it up. Quote Link to comment
bumblebee Posted January 16, 2014 Share Posted January 16, 2014 I did it out of curiosity as an outsider and it put me all over the place. The 3 locations that matched most were Miama Tacoma (Washington State) Honolulu Guess I speak pan American English. I wonder how other non Yanks would do. By the way the most blue was Michigan state, so I'd have to bring a dictionary if I ever go there. Quote Link to comment
JaiDee Posted January 16, 2014 Author Share Posted January 16, 2014 I did it out of curiosity as an outsider and it put me all over the place. The 3 locations that matched most were Miama Tacoma (Washington State) Honolulu Jeessh, you can't get much more far apart than those, BB! My favorite question was "what do you call that thing you used to drink water out of in the high school hallway"? My answer was, naturally, a ''bubbler''; and literally ONLY New England showed up shaded for that answer! 'Water fountain' was the most shaded answer. One I didn't see; "what would you call a long sandwich, in a long bun, filled with cold cuts and veggies or steak and cheese"? Obvious answer; a Grinder! Also called a submarine sandwich, a hoagie, sub, etc..... I remember seeing a pizza shop in the Boston area one time, and they had a NEON sign in the window [which means too late to fix it] which said "Pizza and Grindas", spelled just like that .....who the hell from outside that area would even know what that was?? Quote Link to comment
JaiDee Posted January 16, 2014 Author Share Posted January 16, 2014 Just did the quiz again and they put me just a little bit further west; Springfield, Worcester and still Providence; no more Boston and still about 75 miles from where I REALLY grew up. By the way.....some of the questions change if you re-take it, just 3 or 4 of 'em..... the 2nd time I took it they indeed had the "Grinder" question, the first time they didn't. And no question about the 'bubbler' or Water Fountain this time, so it seems everyone gets a different test. I like it when they have questions where the answer is "I have no word for this." One example was this; What do you call the area of grass between the sidewalk and the road? Also, I remember one time I was meeting a British friend for some food and told him "lets meet up for dinner", which to me is always the 3rd meal of the day; he didn't know what I meant by that. In the test, my answer for this was "they both mean the same." What is the distinction between dinner and supper? Quote Link to comment
pdogg Posted January 16, 2014 Share Posted January 16, 2014 What is the distinction between dinner and supper? When I was a kid, my family called it supper. But then later in life, everyone switched to dinner. I'd like to see "regional curses" in the quiz. Kids in North Jersey were quite fond of the word "douchebag". It cracked kids up from South Jersey because it was not a common term down there. Quote Link to comment
bumblebee Posted January 16, 2014 Share Posted January 16, 2014 Back home dinner is what we have around 6pm and supper is a late snack between 10 and 11pm. Quote Link to comment
JaiDee Posted January 16, 2014 Author Share Posted January 16, 2014 Dinner was always the same for my family and took place around 5pm........the word supper was interchangeable......as in, Mom at the front door trying to corral myself and my siblings with "Time for dinner/supper." Lunch took place at noon and breakfast was in the morning, first meal of the day. Quote Link to comment
JaiDee Posted January 16, 2014 Author Share Posted January 16, 2014 Another word on the quiz which has a distinct regional dialectic meaning is the word for a soft drink be it coke or sprite or fanta, etc........ in my part of the world it was always ''soda'', but go down south and it becomes ''pop'' and in other places it is known as tonic. Kinda cool seeing how different parts of the country use different words for the same things. Quote Link to comment
soiboy Posted January 16, 2014 Share Posted January 16, 2014 Tuscon, Modesto, and Fresno. A westerner, but off by a bit, as I grew up in Colorado but now live in the east. My mom was from Texas and my dad was from Rhode Island (how's that for a mix?). They both sounded funny to me! Quote Link to comment
thaibound Posted January 19, 2014 Share Posted January 19, 2014 i've lived the last 30 years in southern california (not counting the 30 months in SE Asia), yet this quiz nails me to 3 places, all east of the mississippi. one of them within 60 miles of where i spent my first 20 years... you can take the boy out of the country, but don't call me late for supper. of course i could probably retake it to say i spent my whole life in new hampshire, but jaidee made me promise not to cheat. 1 Quote Link to comment
Guest JustSumGai Posted January 20, 2014 Share Posted January 20, 2014 New York, Newark, or Philly same...I was surprised that mischief night was not a widespread term. Quote Link to comment
JaiDee Posted January 21, 2014 Author Share Posted January 21, 2014 Little bump here for any Americans who have yet to take this quiz........it's pretty fun and if you take it twice you will get a few different questions and the results may change a little bit. Quote Link to comment
Lefty Posted January 23, 2014 Share Posted January 23, 2014 Most similar: Spokane, Boise, Salt Lake City Least similar: New York, New Orleans, Jackson Mississippi. Quote Link to comment
Lefty Posted January 23, 2014 Share Posted January 23, 2014 The questions are slightly different each time you do it. My 2nd time Most similar: Spokane, Portland-Vancouver, Lincoln Nebraska Least similar: Philadelphia, Richmond, New Orleans Quote Link to comment
Lefty Posted January 23, 2014 Share Posted January 23, 2014 3rd time Most similar: Tacoma, Portland-Vancouver, Salt Lake City Least similar: Philadelphia, Providence RI, Springfield, Mass. Quote Link to comment
Swedeman007 Posted January 23, 2014 Share Posted January 23, 2014 I am 110% New Yorker not matter what the quiz results are! -Swedeman007 Quote Link to comment
ArchieBunker Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 Yep, New York, Yonkers (egads) or Newark (double egads)!!!! What, no Astoria???? Quote Link to comment
Lefty Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 I like it when they have questions where the answer is "I have no word for this." One example was this; What do you call the area of grass between the sidewalk and the road? Out here we call that area of grass a beauty strip. I guess that must not be common throughout the country. Quote Link to comment
Lefty Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 5 days later and now my most similar are Seattle Portland/Vancouver Mesa/Tempe Least similar are Worcester Springfield Providence Quote Link to comment
SiamSam Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 I'm surprised it's not Saskatchewan Lefty. 1 Quote Link to comment
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