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What Kind of American Accent Do You Have?

by Xavier Kun
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To most Americans, an accent is something that only other people have, those other people usually being in New York, Boston, and the South. And of those other people, half of the ones you meet will swear they "don't have an accent."

Well, strictly speaking, the only way to not have an accent is to not speak. If you're from anywhere in the USA you have an accent (which may or may not be the accent of the place you're from). Go through this short quiz and you'll find out just which accent that is.

1. What is your age?
Under 18 Years Old
18 to 24 Years Old
25 to 30 Years Old
31 to 40 Years Old
41 to 50 Years Old
51 to 60 Years Old
Over 60 Years Old

2. What is your gender?
Male
Female

3. We're going to start with two ordinary words, "cot" and "caught." Do you think those words sound the same or different?
Same
Different
Same, no wait I mean different, well, I don't know...

4. What about "don" and "dawn"?
Same
Different
Same...ish. Maybe a little different.

5. OK, what about "stock" and "stalk"?
Same
Different
Almost, but not quite, the same

6. Now then how do "collar" and "caller" sound?
Same
Different
Almost, but not quite, the same

7. Do you think the word "on" rhymes with "dawn" or with "don"?
dawn
don
Well, I don't think don and dawn sound any different in the first place so on would obviously rhyme with both

8. Moving on, what do you think about "Mary," "merry," and "marry"?
All 3 sound different
Mary and merry sound the same but marry is different from them
All 3 sound the same

9. Our next word is "horrible." How does that first vowel sound?
It's just like in the word "whore."
It's the same "o" sound as in "hot."
Neither one

10. Now for "pen" and "pin." Don't worry about what others say is correct, just tell us how they come out in an ordinary conversation.
Same
Different
Close. Pen sounds almost, but not quite, like pin.

11. What about "feel" and "fill"?
Same
Different
Well, I think they're different even though they sound very, very similar almost to the point of being the same

12. When you say "about," does the "ou" sound like the "ou" in "loud"?
No
Yes

13. Last question. When you say "bag" does it rhyme with "vague"?
Yes
No

Take LRC's US Geography Quiz here.

November 26, 2011

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