Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
About this quiz. Most of the questions used in this quiz are based on those in the Harvard
Dialect Survey, a linguistics project begun in 2002 by Bert Vaux and Scot Golder. The
original questions and results for that survey can be found on Dr. Vaux's current website.
The data for the quiz and maps shown here come from over 350,000 survey responses collected
from August to October 2013 by Josh Katx, a graphics editor for the New York Times who
developed this qiz. The colors on the large heat map correspond to the probability that
a randomly selected person in that location would respond to a randomly selected survey
question the same way that you did. The three similar maps show which answer most contributed
to those cities being named the most (or least ) similar to you.
What does the way you speak say about where you're from? Answer all the questions below
to see your personal dialect map. How would you address a group of two or more
people? I would say 'you all'. Um or 'other' but I guess if I had to pick one of these
it would be 'you all'. How do you pronounce caramel? Carra-mel, caramel.
What do you call the rubber-soled shoes worn in gym class or for athletic activities? I
call them tennis shoes or running shoes. Yeah either tennis shoes or running shoes I'm going
to say tennis shoes. Oh that's interesting the map here shows my last answer and then
the geography. How do you pronounce aunt? To sounds like
'ant'..aunt or aunt, I think both but I don't know I am going to say 'ant'.
What do you call a traffic jam caused by drivers slowing down to look at an accident or other
diversion on the side of the road? Hmm I would say I have no word for this.
What is the distinction between dinner and supper? Honestly I don't use the word supper.
I say dinner. What do you call the area of grass in the
middle some streets? I would call it an island. I would say with a vowel in "sit" "sit" "been"
that's close. How do you pronounce crayon? ...sounds like
cray-ahn, crayon. What do you cal a drive-through liquor store?
Oh I don't know. Wouldn't it be like a drive-thru? Hmm I'm just going to put 'other', I don't
know. How do you pronounce the second syllable of
pajamas? paJAMas, jaaa, JAM. What do you call the area of grass between
the sidewalk and the road? I don't use any of these.
What do you call the small freshwater lobster often found in lakes and streams? That would
be a crawfish. Do you call the sweet spread that is put on
a cake frosting or icing? "Frosting". What do you call it when rain falls while
the sun is shining? I have no term or expression for this.
What do you call a large motor vehicle used to carry freight? Okay so that would be like
a "rig" or an 18-wheeler so I call it either a "big rig", "rig", or 18-wheeler. I'm going
to say "rig". Big rig. What would you call a sale of unwanted items
on your porch, in your yard, etc.? A garage sale.
What do you call an easy high school or college class? I would call it...it's not on here..I
would call it cake. The class is cake. So other.
What do you call the small gray bug that curls up into a ball when it's touched? That's a
"roly poly". Do you pronounce "cot" and "caught" the same?
Yeah. What do you call a big road on which you drive
relatively fast? Um I call it a highway or a freeway. Um, freeway.
What do you call the thing from which you might drink water in a school? Water fountain.
What do you call the long sandwich that contains cold cuts, lettuce and so on? Okay so a "sub".
Baguette. I would say "sub". What do you call a sweetened carbonated beverage?
Um that would be "soda". What do you call the night before Halloween?
I have no word for this. Okay so I'm from California. See the pattern
of your dialect.. Fremont, Corona, Santa Ana, Irvine. Okay so
that's pretty accurate. That's interesting. So most similar, or I see least similar. So
my dialect is most similar to...and that's accurate because this is where I am from,
and then it gets, as it gets further, further, away from where I'm from it becomes least
similar. Interesting. That was fun. Well it was very accurate.