Sunday, February 17, 2008

Y'all ain't from aroun' heaer, is ya?

I love online quizzes. Probably because I enjoy screwing up the bell curve; I almost never fit into one of the pre-defined categories. I used to love taking the Meyers-Briggs battery, because I inevitably skewed the results for the entire test bank (I also think that MB is total crap, and about as accurate as tea-leaf reading).

I came across this quiz on Saqid's I don't know. There some interesting insights there, and some cool pictures. Go check it out.


Anyway, in this case, the quiz is pretty damned accurate. I was born and raised in western Michigan, right smack in the middle of the area of right speaking peoples. And, I lived for a number of years in New England, Down East Maine to be exact, land of incomprehensibly speaking people. Just saying.

What American accent do you have? (Best version so far)

Northern

You have a Northern accent. That could either be the Chicago/Detroit/Cleveland/Buffalo accent (easily recognizable) or the Western New England accent that news networks go for.

Personality Test Results

Click Here to Take This Quiz
Brought to you by YouThink.com quizzes and personality tests.



________________________

Still working in the shop. I'll have pictures and prices up late this afternoon. Promise (you can't see my fingers crossed behind my back, can you?)

21 comments:

  1. My parents are originally from western Maryland and I was born and raised in North Carolina... apparently that adds up to a "Western" accent ("Western is kind of neutral, but not quite since it`s still possible to tell where you`re from. So you might not actually be from the West (but you probably are).") Ha! Fooled them!

    I was also advised that if I wanted to really sound neutral, I should learn to say "stock" and "stalk" differently... which I do. Double ha! It must be my .

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  2. How is it that the end of my last post ends in a dot even though it previewed just fine?

    The last line was supposed to read:


    It must be my lust for power and gold, or my heart full of neutrality."

    The source of the quote can be found under the dot in my last post.

    Stupid html. Prolly my fault somehow. Sorry.

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  3. Amen, brother. :)

    It's good to know you've retained the "correct" accent even though you've been transplanted.

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  4. I'm neutral.

    For the only time in my life, probably.

    And what do you have against tea leaves?!

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  5. And I have nothing against tea leaves - as long as they're in hot water. Green Tea, one of my favorite things.

    Tea Leaves that tell me about myself and my future? Not so much.

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  6. Eh, I'm really not a Green Tea fan. I wish I were, because apparently it's so good for you, etc. I really like black tea. It's stronger, fuller, and make me feel all warm & fuzzy. ;)

    That, and green tea tastes like cigarette ashes to me for some reason. I'm not sure why.

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  7. green tea tastes like cigarette ashes to me for some reason

    Hmmm, I don't get that at all. I mean I get what you're saying, but I don't get that taste from the tea. Green tea tastes bitter to me, which I like. I also like Earl Grey, and plain old lipton.

    I'm a huge iced tea fan (strong, lots of ice, no fucking sugar - I want tea, not cool-aid damnit!) and I prefer that over soda or sports drinks any day. In fact, I rarely drink soda, just don't care for it.

    I like coffee in the morning. But after around noon, I want something cold. That's usually iced tea. In the evening I usually have a single beer with dinner, sometimes a glass of wine.

    But if I've been out plowing or working in the snow - I like to have a cup of green tea to warm up.

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  8. I have to say that your quiz (in my case) is very similar to the old tea-leave reading in terms of accuracy.

    I was identified as "North Central - What people call the "Minnesota accent." Sounds almost Canadian. You may have even been asked if you were from Canada before."

    I don't think so. I was raised here in Colorado, spent lots of time overseas, in California and Hawaii, then back to Colorado for the last 12 years.

    Huh?

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  9. You know what they say, Colorado is the new Canada...

    (You don't know, people from Minnesota might say that...)

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  10. I scored as "Mid-Atlantic or Philadelphia"

    Bullshit. I grew up in the South and still have a little bit of it on occasion. Its not modified by NewYawkese.

    I aint never lived in mid-atlantic region.

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  11. I scored as "neutral", which I'd agree with. As a child I lived in quite a few states until 8th grade, then we moved to Minnesota for good. After graduation, the Air Force sent me to Mississippi and Texas, both places I'd lived for awhile as a child. I also did a lot of visiting in the northeast section of the country during my stint in the Air Force.

    After leaving the Air Force, I moved back to Minnesota, where I still live, although various jobs have taken me across the country for short periods of time.

    My only holdover from living in the south is that will say "ya'll" from time to time.

    Shawn, while not technically from Minnesota (born in Florida), I don't say that. At least not sober I don't. Although maybe I should - it's farther to Colorado (I'm about 90 miles from the Canadian border by road, less by wilderness), but easier to get in to these days.

    Maybe I should go take a look-see. Other than layovers at Denver's airport, it's one of the few states I've never visted or lived.

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  12. I love tea.

    Black tea in the winter--strong strong strong (usually Irish Breakfast, though I have some Russian tea I keep meaning to try) steeped with clove and cinnamon, then add milk and sugar. Mmmmm....

    In the summer it's green tea with lemon and decaf green tea steeped in large batches and then mixed with dehydrated lemon (using dehydrated lemon lets the tea keep for longer than using actual lemons) and (sorry Jim) sugar. Everyone who visits loves the iced green tea--the guy that came and took down a tree asked if we had any when he later stopped by to ask if we had any other work that needed done.

    So I get to trade off between the benefits of both. Black tea in the winter and green tea in the summer.

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  13. Well, it was accurate for me, anyway, but then I speak correctly. :)

    Actually, I was raised in Michigan, as I said, lived all over, and used to teach and lecture extensively. So I tend to sound like a newscaster when I'm in lecture mode, and I think the test is biased in that direction. For someone outside the mean, it's probably not very accurate. I think the author said it was the fourth or fifth version he's worked up, so maybe it'll improve in the future.

    I thought it was fun, anyway.

    And just got back from Wasilla. It snowed the last two days, today it's 40 and raining. The roads are like greased goose shit. Not fun and I burn about double the gas in 4-wheel drive. Just peachy.

    Well, back to the shop. Smell the fresh cut wood? Ahhhhhhh.

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  14. Michelle, I like lemon in hot tea, not in iced tea. Don't know why, it's just the way I am. And I purely can't stand sugar in either hot or iced tea. My wife's family is from the panhandle of Florida (or as they say: LA, i.e. Lower Alabama), my MIL always fixes me iced when we visit, but it took years for her to make a batch without sugar in it (before she started doing that, I'd have to sneak outside and dump it in the bushes, gah). She keeps it in the fridge, with a label on it: Jim's Tea, and the whole family steers clear of it like it's poison or some kind of nuclear waste container. Makes me laugh.

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  15. Wait, that was wrong - I like lemon in iced tea, not hot tea.

    Weird slip there. Brain in weekend mode or something.

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  16. I only like lemon in iced tea, but that's because I like milk in my hot tea.

    And I figure that the amount of sugar I get from tea isn't too bad--especially considering that I don't eat/drink a lot of other things with sugar. (Almost no soda, except for mixers. Never touch store bought sweets either--if I'm going to have dessert and eat sugar, then it's going to be GOOD dessert.) So a little sugar in my tea won't hurt, especially since it helps me drink tea. (Woman cannot live by milk and chocolate milk alone)

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  17. Mine was "Neutral," which I suppose is vague enough to be accurate. I'm not surprised. Western Maryland (Hi Eric!) is where I grew up, but my mother is a naturalized American, so that obscures things.

    I drink black and oolong teas in general, with a little sugar, milk only if it's been brewed a little too strong/bitter.
    The iced green tea sounds fascinating. Where does one find dehydrated lemon?

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  18. Anne,

    The dehydrated lemon I found in my grocery store in the baking aisle--I can't for the life of me remember the brand name--near the artificial sweetners.

    Baker's Catalogue also has lemon powder, though I think theirs may have some sugar in it.

    If you ask again, I can check when I get home.

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  19. Yup, I'm neutral, too.

    As for tea, I was grown before I knew it was made from leaves. Nothing but instant, and I like it cold, strong and sweet, no lemon. I'd make it with hot water to bring out the aroma, then add ide. It would layer, with the hot brown bottom, and the clear cold top. My little sister thought that was cool.

    Hot tea does nothing for me. Coffee, yeah!

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  20. If you have really high quality tea, I dont think you need any lemon. Mine is always plain, lemon just hides the natural flavor.

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