The quiz I'm taking over the world with

Xavier (formerly "T   Fri Nov 17, 2006 9:44 pm GMT
I used to post here but haven't in months. But I thought I really needed to return just for this. I used to have this website which was too high level for everyone to understand, so I got rid of it. Then I created a little quiz called "What American accent do you have" and the world seems to love it! They're talking about it everywhere! Getting mentioned on washingtonpost.com helped a lot.

The first quiz, which is taking over the world, can be found at http://www.gotoquiz.com/what_american_accent_do_you_have Trouble is, that quiz was a tad bit inaccurate with some people's accents and gave a lot of wrong answers. Like, it told some Southerners they had Inland North accents. But it's good enough for some people because it's been the #1 quiz at gotoquiz.com for about 2 weeks now.

Since the last one needed improvement I made a new one at memegen: http://www.memegen.net/view/show/2313 That one is still unknown but you can see the statistics for the results, and how everyone answered each question, at: http://www.memegen.net/view/show_graph/2313
Xavier   Fri Nov 17, 2006 9:47 pm GMT
The name was supposed to say Xavier (formerly "Tom K")
Meesh   Fri Nov 17, 2006 11:27 pm GMT
I speak with a Western American Accent. It's accurate--considering I'm from Southern California.

Prior to this, I hadn't thought about how other Americans pronounce those words. I never knew that people pronounced "cot" and "caught" differently. Or "don" vs. "dawn." This was the biggest shocker: Some people pronounce Merry, Mary, and Marry differently!

And it was weird how some people answered that "pen" and "pin" were the same.

Hmmm...
Guest   Fri Nov 17, 2006 11:40 pm GMT
>> And it was weird how some people answered that "pen" and "pin" were the same. <<
From Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pin-pen_merger#Pin-pen_merger

The pin-pen merger is a conditional merger of /I/ and /E/ before the nasal consonants [m], [n], and [ŋ]. The merged vowel is usually closer to [I] than to [E]. The merger is widespread in Southern American English, and is also found in many speakers in the Midland region immediately north of the South, as well as in less densely populated inland areas of the Western United States, particularly in Bakersfield, California. It is also a characteristic of African American Vernacular English.

Outside the South, the majority of North American English speakers maintain a solid distinction in perception and production, though there are in almost every region of the United States—and even a few places in Canada—a certain number of speakers that perceive the pairs of words as close or pronounce them acoustically closely.

People that have the merger will often use terms like ink pen and stick pin to make a clear distinction between the two words that are otherwise homophonous.
Q   Fri Nov 17, 2006 11:42 pm GMT
It says I'm from the North Central region, but I'm really from the West.
Guest   Sat Nov 18, 2006 12:22 am GMT
It says I'm from the Midlands, but I'm really not American.

But please enlighten me: how can "bag" and "vague" possibly rhyme..?
Q   Sat Nov 18, 2006 1:13 am GMT
>> But please enlighten me: how can "bag" and "vague" possibly rhyme..? <<

How can they not rhyme? The only difference in pronunciation is that "bag" starts with a "b", and "vague" starts with a "v".
Guest   Sat Nov 18, 2006 1:20 am GMT
" The only difference in pronunciation is that "bag" starts with a "b", and "vague" starts with a "v"."

No big help. I was asking about the vowel, of course. Oh well.
Q   Sat Nov 18, 2006 1:53 am GMT
>> " The only difference in pronunciation is that "bag" starts with a "b", and "vague" starts with a "v"."

No big help. I was asking about the vowel, of course. Oh well. <<

The same vowel as in "beg" or "bay".
andre   Sat Nov 18, 2006 2:40 am GMT
Interesting quiz, Tom. It pegged me as a Philadelphian. I noticed many of the questions had to do with the east coast... well, since that's where there is a richer variety of accents.
Lazar   Sat Nov 18, 2006 5:56 am GMT
The quiz correctly said that I have an Eastern New England accent.
meesh   Sat Nov 18, 2006 8:20 am GMT
>> But please enlighten me: how can "bag" and "vague" possibly rhyme..? <<


>> " The only difference in pronunciation is that "bag" starts with a "b", and "vague" starts with a "v"." <<


>>The same vowel as in "beg" or "bay". <<

Haha, wow, these differences really make me laugh. Bag, vague, and beg all have different vowel sounds when I say them. Interesting that Q pronounces the vowel sounds the same way...you must be Canadian, Q?
Q   Sat Nov 18, 2006 5:12 pm GMT
>> Haha, wow, these differences really make me laugh. Bag, vague, and beg all have different vowel sounds when I say them. Interesting that Q pronounces the vowel sounds the same way...you must be Canadian, Q? <<

Nope. Actually I am from Washington state. The quiz mis-categorized me as being from the North Central region.
Presley.   Sun Nov 19, 2006 6:46 am GMT
The quiz got me wrong too. It said Boston accent, but i'm from So Cal! I've heard Bostonians speak, and I don't sound anything like them.
Guest   Sun Nov 19, 2006 3:29 pm GMT
>> The quiz got me wrong too. It said Boston accent, but i'm from So Cal! I've heard Bostonians speak, and I don't sound anything like them. <<

Do you make any distinction between cot/caught don/dawn and stalk/stock?