It turns out I have the Classic Midland Accent, even though I have never spent any time in what I would call the American Midland. This is the accent Americans can most easily understand no matter where they are from. It is the voice the original Bell Telephone company selected to tell you the time of day when you felt you needed to call them to find out (that was when those calls were free). It is the accent you are most likely to hear on any large corporation's voice mail program (which will change immediately once you reach an actual person, an outsourced employee who has probably never heard of the American Midland). And according to this chart, it is the accent most heard in the American West, which is where I've always lived. Apparently, I would feel right at home in southern Ohio or southern Illinois (but not northern, hmmm?).
This is my result. Take the short quiz yourself (click down below) & see if your accent reflects what you think it should.
| What American accent do you have? Your Result: The Midland "You have a Midland accent" is just another way of saying "you don't have an accent." You probably are from the Midland (Pennsylvania, southern Ohio, southern Indiana, southern Illinois, and Missouri) but then for all we know you could be from Florida or Charleston or one of those big southern cities like Atlanta or Dallas. You have a good voice for TV and radio. | |
| The West | |
| Boston | |
| North Central | |
| The Inland North | |
| The South | |
| Philadelphia | |
| The Northeast | |
| What American accent do you have? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz | |
I was a bit disappointed they didn't ask for pronounciation of some words people tell me I say funny. Such as: EGG or LEG (which I say with a long "A" so they rhyme with spade). ORANGE sounds a bit like SYRINGE from me (two distinct syllables). I say "pleasure, treasure, measure" all the same way (play-zhure, tray-zhure, may-zhure), which I'm told is part of my Scots-Irish heritage.
And of course, for Nevada natives, there is that old bugaboo, which is asking others to please honor the state's preference in order to cut down on ear bleeding. It is Nuh-VAD-uh ... accent on the VAD, which rhymes with bad or dad or lad, OK?
