hank said:

 

73%

 

Julie said:

 

61% (Dixie). A definitive Southern score!

 

Wendy said:

 

52% (Dixie). Barely into the Dixie category.

 

Wendy said:

 

It was the creek answer, I know it was! Funny story about that - I have lived in the Wichita area my entire life. When I was 10 we moved from the actual city of Wichita to a suburb, and on one of my first days of classes, my teacher asked if everyone had turned in their permission slips for the field trip to the crick. I had to ask what that was, because the only time I had ever heard the word crick used was in reference to a crick in the neck...

 

Vaughn Tolle said:

 

Well, I'm 57% (Dixie); just like Tracy, a Heinz 57 fer shore.

 

im1096 said:

 

61% (Dixie) here, too. Although I grew up in Wichita, I spent a lot of time in Sterling, KS, with my grandmother who was proud to say that her family came from down south of the Mason-Dixon line :-)

Now I live in crappy ol' Indiana - where more than one person is called "youse," and people talk about their "driver's licenses." (Isn't it illegal to have more than one?) A mango here is not a fruit, but rather a green pepper - something I've NEVER been able to understand - and being "railroaded" is a common, everyday occurence due to the dozens and dozens of trains that pass through town blocking virtually every street and road - sometimes for longer than an hour.

 

Vaughn Tolle said:

 

OMG, im, I'd forgotten about the green pepper = mango thing until you posted it. She speaketh great truths in her post.

 

Vaughn Tolle said:

 

How I learned that in Indiana, a mango is a green pepper. The first spring there in the USAF, our landlord (a wonderful person) was sitting on the porch, smoking a cigarette after work, and grousing about getting the garden planted. I asked him what he was going to plant, and, after a recitation of the "normal" stuff (tomatoes, green beans, etc.), he added "and those damn mangoes". I was a bit taken aback, given my limited understanding of these fruits, and where they grow, knowing the general climate of northern Indiana. Fast forward to produce season, when we were asked if we would like some of the excess, especially the mangoes; I said yes, and to my disappointment, no mangoes, but a lot of green peppers.

 

lindainks55 said:

 

78% (Dixie). That is a pretty strong Southern score!

What would you expect from a person born in Watonga, Oklahoma, who has lived in Wichita, Kansas for most of her 60 years?

 

Rox said:

 

Looks like Linda and Wendy are the poles, and the rest of us fall somewhere in the middle.

61% (Dixie) A definitively Southern score for me, too. I'm sure it's because of the "y'all", although I'm surprised there's no "all y'all" listed. Now THAT would be really Southern. LOL

What do we expect? We DO live in "southern" Kansas. ;)

 

lindainks55 said:

 

I'm curious about whether age plays a part in this? I think I'm the oldest and Wendy the youngest of those who responded here. What do you think?

 

gster said:

 

I got a 53, the same as the Shrub's GPA. How humiatin' is that? Time for a disguise.

 

Wendy said:

 

:)

I think that is a possibility Linda - you are, after all, a product of your upbringing... and although I was born and raised here, as was my mother - my dad's parents moved here when he was a child, and my mother's father was from Pennsylvania... I would imagine that contributed to the differences :) That and the fact that my father is EXTREMELY sensitive to correct pronunciation... so I do not have many of the typical "southern Kansas" pronunciations in my repertoire (ie - warsh, purdy, and orenches). On a wierd side note - did you know that most newscasters actually take courses in college to LEARN the midwestern dialect? That is because it is the easiest to understand of all dialects...
In my line of work, I deal with a lot of people from a lot of places. I once helped a linguistics professor, and had him completely stumped as to where I was from - he told me "I have never heard an accent like yours and I cannot figure out where you are from1" When I told him Wichita, KS, he was astounded... said he never would have picked KS in a million years, he thought maybe southern illinois... :)

 

Vaughn Tolle said:

 

Not only newscasters, Wendy. There is a very, very good hockey play by play announcer who is employed by ESPN, name is Gary Thorne. While ESPN doesn't show hockey any more, and Mr. Thorne's talents are now displayed on baseball, football and basketball games, by listening to him one would not know he is a native of Maine. During a blowout during a men's college basketball game last season, he and his "color analyst" were discussing everything to fill the time, and one of the discussions involved the area from where each hailed. When the color analyst noted his surprise to learn Mr. Thorne was from Maine, he discussed how hard he had worked, including taking classes, to remove the Mainer "accent" from his speech, and then (the game was a real dog, IIRC) went on to discuss how the old linguistic habits return when he spends a week or so "home", followed by a few examples. Made following the game a bit more enjoyable, and educational as to what the announcers do to have a neutral accent. I did lament the loss of the regionalization, however, as it would have made the game that more interesting.

I think one sees this on the Weather Channel as well. Heather Tesch and Nicole ? both are from Minnesota, but they have successfully eliminated the "Minnesota o" from their speech, except when 1) they're messing around or 2) they appear to be tired, at which time hints thereof are noticeable, don'tcha know? :-)

 

Vaughn Tolle said:

 

Nicole Mitchell; name hit me right as I hit the "Add Comment" button. Mrs. VT thinks I watch too much WC, as I know just from hearing the voices who the on-camera meteorologists are without seeing the screen. Love the WC when traveling, etc., a dependable "friend" no matter what part of the country I'm in at the time.

 

Vaughn Tolle said:

 

Oops; just had a call from my wife; she has a temperature of 102, not a good thing; may be MIA for a while.

 

lindainks55 said:

 

OH NO! Yes, get that looked into and take care of that lady.

There are a few times when I can't figure out the plot of the weather channel but most of the time I get it before they quit unraveling it. ;-)

 

lindainks55 said:

 

I don't know if it's true, can't even remember where I heard that telemarketers from our part of the world are highly prized because of their relative lack of accent.

 

Wendy said:

 

Linda,

I would have believed that probably two or so years ago :) But now that most telemarketing calls are outsourced to somewhere in the middle east (India, I believe) I don't think that is the truth anymore...

 

Tracy Phillips said:

 

Telemarketing is happening in Parsons.
Crappy hours and pay, no bennies.

It's a revolving door for local ner'do-wells.

 

Rox said:

 

There's a difference between telemarketing calls and insourced calls, like tech calls, catalog calls, ordering service (cell phone service), etc. I did real telemarketing, pushing credit cards, for 6 weeks once. I'll NEVER do it again. Believe me, I am NOT a salesman. But I worked at Spiegel catalog center here for almost a year, before they closed the center and moved it to Canada. (Cheaper for the company, since Canada has National Healthcare.)

I know, I'm late. I've been tearing my hair out over a computer progam. Dave or or one of the other Instant Spot guys could have done it in a snap, but it's taken me DAYS. But it's done. (Please, if you want to have a blog, go to one like this, where it's simple to set up, or blogger.com or anywhere.)

I noticed years ago that TV commentators and news men and women had no accent, which is really a midwestern accent, I guess. But I never knew they actually went to school to learn it! Cool beans!

VT, take good care of the better half. Besides what she's already dealing with, there are so many other nasties going around right now.

Julie, if you're out there, I'm so very happy that things are going so well for MM! A big WOO HOO from my direction. :)

Y'all take care. All y'all. >g< I'm up to my eyeballs in website "stuff", so I don't get a chance to post much and when I should, but I do read everything.