(no subject)

[cactuswatcher]

from ann1962

Your Linguistic Profile:

70% General American English

10% Dixie

10% Yankee

5% Midwestern

5% Upper Midwestern

What Kind of American English Do You Speak?

Have to say this is one of the poorest tests of speech patterns I've seen. I say both 'root' and 'rout' for route for instance. 'Root' is usually a road. 'Rout' is a set of directions or a set routine like a postal delivery route. Never heard of any of those things for an easy course. How about something for us oldtimers like 'cupcake,' 'sand box', or 'basket weaving?'. Not sure what they think the difference between Upper Midwest and general American is either. As far as I know they are the same thing.

Comments

[ann1962]

The few midwestern differences I have noticed, especially in Indiana, were words like pen which they pronounced pin, and dinner, supper, lunch confusions. I agree this test did not differentiate enough. There are so many regional dialects.

[cactuswatcher.livejournal.com]

Yes, (lower) Midwestern is a little different. Words like 'pop' versus 'soda' are isoglosses and don't have anything to do with those general speech patterns.

I teased one of my uncles one time when he asked me when I drove up to his house about noon. He asked me if I'd had my dinner. I said, "No but I've had my lunch. I think I'll wait and have dinner for supper." Dinner/supper vs lunch/dinner seems to be more of a country vs city thing rather than a regional thing.

[ann1962]

Dinner/supper vs lunch/dinner seems to be more of a country vs city thing rather than a regional thing.

LOL, that is what I thought too until I lived in West Lafayette IN and everyone used the country version. Recent ties to the fields I guess.

My mother used supper the weekly evening meal; dinner was Sunday dinner and we only used lunch for lunch.

[cactuswatcher.livejournal.com]

My father and mother both tended to say dinner/supper, they were from farm country as most people were of their generation. But TV and business contacts gradually caused them to switch.

Places like Lafayette, IN, Campaign-Urbana, IL, and Columbia, MO haven't been true cities for very long, so you don't know what you'll find there. Townies have always tended to be very different than the university community. But now, with explosive growth near most university towns, that's changing.