What Kind Of American English Do You Speak?

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Yooper
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Post by Yooper »

Your Linguistic Profile:
60% General American English
15% Upper Midwestern
15% Yankee
5% Midwestern
0% Dixie

15% Yankee?? There may be a madness to the method!!

Logical/Mathematical intelligence, but below average logic on the IQ test. Must have goofed somewhere!
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william
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Post by william »

They omitted "Brooklynese"

I believe the statistics show about 98%; but of course that's just for Brooklyn.
RayS
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Post by RayS »

I speak it like I learned it.
You got a problem wit dat?
It was Farmer William in the Bedroom with the Hatchet.
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1bigsteve
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Post by 1bigsteve »

OK:

65% General American English
15% Yankee
5% Dixie
10% Upper Midwestern
5% Mid Western

I'm also 60% Boy and 40% Girl. What??
I'm A Beagle Puppy
I'm a Mud Pie
People envy my "compassion"
I'm from "1956" (I wish)
My musical celebrity match is Nicol Kidman. Who??
I'm Gummy Bears candy
I'll die at 79
I'm a "Los Angeles Smog Brown" Crayon
My life's movie is an "Erotic Thriller." Excuse me??

It look's like I'm just all fouled up! :wink:

-1bigsteve (o:
"All of your tomorrows begin today. Move it!" -Susan Hayward 1973
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1bigsteve
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Post by 1bigsteve »

Oopps! Debug mode!
"All of your tomorrows begin today. Move it!" -Susan Hayward 1973
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Yooper
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Post by Yooper »

Not even a single reference to dat...dat...dat Yoopanese language! I would t'ink dat dere would be mebbe a couple, two, t'ree references to Heikki Lunta, swampers, or dat t'irty point buck, eh? William and Ray, I can empat'ise wit youse.
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To be is to do. ~Kant
Do be do be do. ~Sinatra
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myk7753
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Post by myk7753 »

<*<*I'm proud to be a Yankee, but I do try to pronounce my Rs. People coming into the Visitors Center from other parts of the country ask why I don't say "pahk the cah" because that's how we're supposed to talk here.*>*>

I once heard a joke about New Englander's speech, about how they lost their "R's"...and how they were found down in Texas...in the WASH" Confused me, didn't quite get the joke...(duh...yes I'm a bit slow at times...) until someone pointed out to me that my Mother (who was from Texas) pronounced the word "WORSH", not WASH...and I did the same thing...

Ok...NOW I get it...lol
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Post by RayS »

Yooper @ Wed Jun 14, 2006 9:36 am wrote:Not even a single reference to dat...dat...dat Yoopanese language! I would t'ink dat dere would be mebbe a couple, two, t'ree references to Heikki Lunta, swampers, or dat t'irty point buck, eh? William and Ray, I can empat'ise wit youse.
Ha-ha-ha.
Aside from a hard consonant (term?) like D for TH, the other thing is the dropped G from gerunds (technical term). We drop them because of the taxes on them (inside joke for Jerseyans).
While some people call it "joisey" I've never heard anyone in Jersey say that (it sounds like Brooklynese). Does it reflect Dutch pronunciation?
It was Farmer William in the Bedroom with the Hatchet.
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Yooper
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Post by Yooper »

Come to think of it, I've never heard anyone from Jersey refer to "Joisey", either.

I've often wondered whether "Pennsylvania Dutch" was a reference to "German". The German word for "German" is "Deutsch" which could easily degrade to "Dutch" through mispronunciation.

There used to be several Yoopanese Dictionaries on the internet, it's truly a language of it's own! Dat...dat...dat is Finnlander Morse Code, combining dots and dashes. It sounds better than dosh...dosh...dosh. "Finnlander" is not a derogatory term, Finns refer to themselves as Finnlanders.
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Do be do be do. ~Sinatra
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lydiapinkham
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Post by lydiapinkham »

Thanks, Susan, that was fun!
I took the dialect quiz twice: once as I speak now and once as I spoke before moving to NH 20 years ago.

# 1 produced this: 40% general
40% Yankee
10% Upper Midwest
5% Dixie
0% Midwest

# 2 produced this: 60% general
15% Dixie
10% Yankee
5% Midwest
5% Upper Midwest

I am stunned that the Midwest % was so low both times: I lived in Central Illinois until I was almost 30!

They left out some key Yankeeisms:

water fountain should include bubbler and soda should include tonic, both still in current use around here. The terms for easy courses were all foreign to me. We called them gravy courses. One more for the Yankees: they should have frappe (rhymes with crap) as a term for milk shake. Round here a milk shake order will get you chocolate milk.

--Lyddie
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Liz Crouthers
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Post by Liz Crouthers »

Your Linguistic Profile:

60% General American English

15% Yankee

10% Upper Midwestern

5% Dixie

5% Midwestern

What Kind of American English Do You Speak?

http://www.blogthings.com/whatkindofame ... speakquiz/
RayS
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Post by RayS »

Yooper @ Wed Jun 14, 2006 1:42 pm wrote:Come to think of it, I've never heard anyone from Jersey refer to "Joisey", either.

I've often wondered whether "Pennsylvania Dutch" was a reference to "German". The German word for "German" is "Deutsch" which could easily degrade to "Dutch" through mispronunciation.

There used to be several Yoopanese Dictionaries on the internet, it's truly a language of it's own! Dat...dat...dat is Finnlander Morse Code, combining dots and dashes. It sounds better than dosh...dosh...dosh. "Finnlander" is not a derogatory term, Finns refer to themselves as Finnlanders.
Newy York and New Jersey were Dutch colonies (the Hollanders or Lowlanders). When the English attacked and conquered them in 1664 many moved from New Amsterdam into the countryside of NY and NJ.
The word "Dutch" does refer to the Hollanders, or whatever they call them selves. "The Low Counties" is another term for Holland and Belgium (former province of Holland), both previously owned by Spain.
That's the history lesson for today. Those who see any mistakes should reply.
Le Pays Bas?
It was Farmer William in the Bedroom with the Hatchet.
Constantine
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Post by Constantine »

The "Dutch in "Pennsylvania Dutch" IS an error for "Deutsch," meaning German. (It is a German dialect that they speak, not Dutch.)

"Finnlanders" is the name for the Swedish speaking inhabitants of Finland, comprising about 5% of the population.
Last edited by Constantine on Sun Apr 02, 2023 6:35 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Airmid
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Post by Airmid »

Some bits of useless information:
If a dutchman of today with a heavy accent would pronounce Jersey, they would say "Shurzee" (with rolling "r").
I found some samples of Pennsylvania Dutch, and I would definitely say the roots of the words are german, not dutch.
"Deutsch" and "Diets" (or "Dietsch", or "Duitsch") are words that originally mean "of the people" and were probably originally used to refer to the language of the common people, as opposed to Latin, the language of the clergy and scholars. The word "Diets" has disappeared from the dutch language now, and the name of our language (yes, I am dutch) is "Nederlands". However, the word survived in one place: our national anthem. There is one line that today would be read as "I am of german blood". It's our "founding father" that is speaking that line in the text, and he was not german at all, and besides, dutch people through the ages would have shuddered by the thought of being ruled by a german! In stead, the line should be read as "I am of the blood of the people". So, it's not only in the US where the words "Dutch" and "Deutsch" got confused!

Airmid.
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shakiboo
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Post by shakiboo »

I found this and just had to take the test!! I am 70% General American English 15% Dixie 5% upper midwest 5% yankee and 0% midwestern I was born and raised in the midwest, west central Illinois to be exact........Interesting!
Constantine
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Re: What Kind Of American English Do You Speak?

Post by Constantine »

Update: One of these tests said I would die at 73. I just turned 74! (Nya-nya nya nya-nya!)
A man ... wants to give his wife ... the interest in a little homestead where her sister lives. How wicked to have found fault with it. How petty to have found fault with it. (Hosea Knowlton in his closing argument.)
Constantine
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Re: What Kind Of American English Do You Speak?

Post by Constantine »

I am now 75!
A man ... wants to give his wife ... the interest in a little homestead where her sister lives. How wicked to have found fault with it. How petty to have found fault with it. (Hosea Knowlton in his closing argument.)
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