(no subject)

[xiphias]

Your Linguistic Profile:

50% Yankee

30% General American English

10% Dixie

10% Upper Midwestern

0% Midwestern

What Kind of American English Do You Speak?

Of course, at least one of the questions didn't have the correct choice. "Do you call it a 'drinking fountain' or a 'water fountain'?" Neither is correct. It's a "bubbler".

Comments

[hfcougar.livejournal.com]

Ack! Ack! My friends page, it breaks it!

Regional differences always interest me. I still haven't had time to dig through the Speech Accent Archive yet. I can't believe the quiz didn't have bubbler!

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

Does it still break the friends page?

[hfcougar.livejournal.com]

No, it works fine now. Odd.

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

Not that odd -- I fixed the broken HTML.

[fallenkalina.livejournal.com]

There were so many of those that I couldn't decide which I used more. They needed more "both" options.

[hfcougar.livejournal.com]

Indeed.

I also faced the problem of "well, growing up I used to say this, but when I lived in X place for an amount of time where they used the other one, I started using it too out of habit/to seem more normal"...

[bikergeek.livejournal.com]

No 'tonic' for 'fizzy sweet drink', either. Although *that* one is peculiar to Boston, and *then* it seems to be disappearing in younger Bostonians--temima is the youngest person I've heard use it, and virtually everyone else I've heard say 'tonic' is over 40.

To me, they're 'rotaries' in Mass. and 'traffic circles' in NJ. (I grew up and learned to drive in NJ.)

In northern NJ the night before Hallowe'en is called "Goosie night".

[danceboy.livejournal.com]

they're 'rotaries' in Mass. and 'traffic circles' in NJ.
Interesting. To me, most of the things in NE are rotaries (a circle with roads going in and out normal to the curve), and most of the things in Britain are roundabouts (that is to say "when they're designed correctly" (a circle with roads going in and out tangent to the curve)).

So I suppose my language sees a difference in the things itself (with a high correlation (but no inherent attachment) to where it is). I'm curious, are the NJ round traffic things designed differently from the Boston ones?

[bikergeek.livejournal.com]

NJ traffic circles tend to be larger. At some of the busier ones, entry is controlled by traffic signals. NJ has also been engaging in a 20+ year campaign to get rid of its traffic circles. Other than that, they're functionally identical.

I'm told that the traffic rules used to be different, as well. In MA, traffic in the rotary used to have to yield to traffic trying to enter--the opposite of the rules today. NJ has always been "yield on entering", with traffic in the circle having the right of way.

I have no idea what they do in the UK, other than to boggle at that thing in Swindon. Such a roundabout would be instant traffic anarchy in Boston, I tell ya.

[cheshyre]

I took it; won't blog it til I get home, but: 50% General American English, 30% Yankee, 5% Dixie and 5% Upper Midwestern -- which doesn't add up to 100% since I skipped a couple questions.

BTW, a couple links I wanted to show you:
* http://bodyandsoul.typepad.com/blog/2005/04/conscience.html
* http://www.stormsillustration.com/L&C-1.html
And I haven't had a chance to watch it, but "best DDR player ever" from http://www.theshiftedlibrarian.com/archives/2005/04/13/ddrj.html or http://www.metafilter.com/mefi/41203 (different links; not sure if its the same video)

Love you!

[bercilakslady.livejournal.com]

There were a few instances where I call the thing something, just none of the choices they have listed. An easy class is an "easy A". In a lot of cases, I use both terms as appropriate, but that's not an option. :)

I think 50 general, 40 Yankee and 10 Dixie is about right. I've picked up a few things from my southern grandfather, after all. :)

[oneironaut.livejournal.com]

I had the same problems a lot of other people seem to have had -- I use 'basement' and 'cellar' to refer to different things, for example (this house has one of each), likewise 'tennis shoes' and 'sneakers'; 'out'-route is a verb and 'boot'-route is a noun; an easy class is an 'easy A'; I tend to think of sunshowers as witch's weddings, but will also call them monkey's weddings, sunshowers (obviously) or liquid sun as the mood takes me; etc. The Dialect Survey handled this stuff a lot better, but of course it's closed for business now.

[copperpoint.livejournal.com]

I also remember reading somewhere that Upper Midwestern was general american english. Plus theres a lot more to the south than Dixie.