What’s Your Regional Dialect?

By: Ian Fortey
Estimated Completion Time
4 min
What’s Your Regional Dialect?
Image: sutthinon sanyakup / Moment / Getty Images

About This Quiz

Everyone in America knows the difference between a Boston accent and a Texas accent, but there's a little more to regional dialects across American than simple accents. There are many accents and dialects characterized not just by how you say things but what you say as well. Turns of phrase, slang, and accent all work together to make the dialect you speak, and there are probably more of them in America than you realize. Depending on who you ask, upwards of two dozen dialects have been identified across the country.

No matter where you come from, your speech is going to be affected by the people speaking around you. The way your parents, friends and teachers talk to you is going to shape the way you say things. Will you drop your Rs and replace them with Hs like the folks in Eastern New England? Are you calling someone who's kind of a big deal a muckety-muck like they do in parts of the Pacific Northwest? Are you the type of person who calls New Orleans Nawlins? Why not take the quiz, and we'll see just what regional dialect you call your own?

Travel
Pixabay by DariuszSankowski
The word "been" gets used a lot. How do you pronounce it?
Sounds like "bin"
Been, you know, like a bean.
Sounds like "ben"
The way it's supposed to be pronounced

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Potluck
ParkerDeen / E+ / Gett Images
If everyone brings a dish to a party, what kind of party are you having?
A cookout
A tureen
A scramble dinner
A potluck

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Soda
PhotoMIX Ltd. via Pexels
If you want a carbonated beverage at a restaurant, what are you going to order?
Coke
Soda
Pop
La Croix

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Amish Horse-drawn Buggy Lancaster County Pennsylvania
DenGuy / E+ / Getty Images
What's a buggy?
A shopping cart
I have no idea.
Like a baby buggy?
Someone who's crazy?

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Taco
Chitokan by Pixabay
We're making some tacos. What do you want on yours?
Hey, it's all good.
Steak
Chorizo
Fish

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Crawfish
Pixabay - Patrickblackjr
If you like Creole food, maybe you want to have a crawfish bake. You call them crawfish, right?
Crawdad
Crawfish sounds fine
Crayfish
Hey, it's a little lobster!

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The Brady Bunch - Cindy Brady
ABC
Which of these classic sitcoms is your favorite?
"The Beverly Hillbillies"
"The Honeymooners"
"The Bob Newhart Show"
"The Brady Bunch"

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basic survival tools
gaspr13 / E+ / Getty Images
Jim Bowie had a famous knife. How do you say "Bowie knife"?
Boo-wee
Bo-wee
Bow-wee
I have no clue.

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Northern Lights
by Frank Olsen, Norway / Moment / Getty Images
If you want to say something is "very good," what's a more colorful way to do that?
Is there a way?
It's mad good!
I like the word "very." Why use something else?
It's hella good!

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Man Holding Remote
JESHOOTS.com / Pexels
You need to turn on the TV. What are you going to ask for?
The thing
The clicker
Who turned the TV off in the first place?
The remote control

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Crowd
Mait Juriado photo/Moment/GettyImages
When you're speaking with a group of people, how are you going to refer to them?
You'ns
Yous
You guys
You all

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Duke's Mayonnaise
Wiki Commons by C. F. Sauer Company
Your aunt is making her famous potato salad, but she ran out of mayonnaise. How do you say that word again?
Man-aze
May-on-aze
Main-aze
Wait, people pronounce mayonnaise differently?

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Family Meal
10'000 Hours/DigitalVision/GettyImages
What do you want to have on the side of a meal?
Cornbread
Dinner roll
A Kaiser roll
Salad

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pecan pie
YinYang/E+/Getty Images
It's pecan pie time! How do you pronounce the name of that nut?
Pee-kin
Pee-can
Pee-kahn
Pi-kahn

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Pancakes and Maple Syrup
AWEvans / E+ / Getty Images
Hey, what goes on a pancakes?
Serp
Sear-up
Sir-up
Fresh fruit

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Man eating sandwich
John M Lund Photography Inc / DigitalVision / Getty Images
We've got a big sandwich piled high with meat and cheese. What is it called?
Well, what kind of meat are you talking about?
Hero
Sammich
Sub

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Can We Guess If You're American Based on This Yes or No Quiz
kajakiki/E+/Getty Images
A hot dog isn't just a hot dog. What's the best way to top one?
Mustard and Swiss cheese
Spicy mustard and sauerkraut
Tomato, pickles, onions, relish
Bacon, lettuce and tomato

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Running
skeeze / Pixabay
If we're going for a jog, what's going on your feet?
Clod hoppers?
Sneakers
Gym shoes
Tennis shoes

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Pillbug side view macro
Joao Paulo Burini / Moment / Getty Images
You know those little bugs that roll into balls? What are those?
Roly poly
Pill bug
Potato bug
Say what, now?

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Q14 - tree topper
Unsplash by Jonathan Borba
Is there any difference between how "merry" and "Mary" are pronounced?
There sure is! Not to mention, "marry."
"Mary" is different than "merry" and "marry."
"Mary" and "marry" are the same, but "merry" is different.
They're the same.

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Street with historical buildings in Copenhagen, Denmark
Alexander Spatari / Moment / Getty Images
What's the best way to refer to something across the street from you on a diagonal?
Catty-corner
It's across the street
Kitty-corner
Diagonal sounds fine

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Directions
Valentin Antonucci via Pexels
The best way from one place to another is the direct route. But how do you say that word?
Who says route?
Rhymes with boot
Rhymes with shout
One way is a verb and one way is a noun. They have diifferent pronunciations.

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Fall
Nick Brundle Photography/Moment/Getty Images
What do you call October 30?
It has a name?
Mischief Night
Devil's Night
What is it, a Wednesday this year?

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Man with snow shovel
mladenbalinovac / E+ / Getty Images
How much time do you spend shoveling snow every winter?
Not a whole heck of a lot
It can get rough some years
Too much time
What snow?

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Man diving into pool colorful
Matt Porteous / DigitalVision / Getty Images
Where are you heading for a swim when the summer rolls in?
The swimming hole
The local pool
The lake
The ocean

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Sauce
FotografiaBasica / E+ / GettyImages
You can only have one sauce again for the rest of your life. What's it going to be?
Gravy
Mustard
Relish
Salsa

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Pizza
Fancycrave.com / Pexels
If you only get one topping on a pizza, what are you ordering?
Bacon
Pepperoni
Sausage
Mushrooms

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Can We Guess Your Annoying Driving Habit 1
SplitShire / Pexels
How often are you seeing roadkill when you're out driving?
All the time
Never
I guess out on the highway you see stuff sometimes.
I can't recall the last time I did.

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Alone
Pixabay via Pexels
Where are you going to go for some fresh air?
In the yard
Upstate
By the lake
To the ocean

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Slicing raspberry cake
089photoshootings
What goes on a cake?
Icing
Frosting
Everything
Whatever you like, I guess

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