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New York Times dialect quiz

That was fun. And yeah, it pegged me as either NY, Yonkers or Jersey so obviously it's 100% accurate

Still, "The devil is beating his wife"? Does anyone actually say that?



http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/12/20/sunday-review/dialect-quiz-map.html

In SE Kentucky, it is a saying. Not common but I've heard it.

Figures that the US would start inventing imaginary characters for the devil to be cruel to. But I guess you can't expect much else from a largely Christian country.

Had Rochester, Buffalo, and Boston. I'm Central NY, so it fits.

 Kid_Kyoto wrote:
And yeah, it pegged me as either NY, Yonkers or Jersey so obviously it's 100% accurate

Hmm. I got NY, Yonkers or New Orleans...

Yep, the last 32 years I've spent in Texas definitely show. Although, I know some of my answers have to be influenced by Michigan (spent my first 7 years there, rest of family is from there).

I got Spokane and Seattle.

St Louis, Santa Rosa or Madison !
You guys have some very strange words (potato bug ! )

 Kid_Kyoto wrote:
New York Times dialect quiz

That was fun. And yeah, it pegged me as either NY, Yonkers or Jersey so obviously it's 100% accurate

Still, "The devil is beating his wife"? Does anyone actually say that?



http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/12/20/sunday-review/dialect-quiz-map.html

I had an (ex)fiancee who did, but she was pure unadulterated cray cray. She was half irish trailer trash/half Comanche raised by Mexican Americans. So the phrase seems to cross boundaries.

Apparently I confused the quiz. EDIT: Seattle, Fort Lauderdale, and Boston. Apparently, I'm from everywhere XD

I blame the United States Army.

Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Newark. I was born in Virginia, but grew up in the Philly burbs. Guess I pucked up some of my old man's Jersey vocabulary somewhere along the way.

Saint Louis, Reno, and Modesto.

It put me in Virginia, which is where I was born and have lived all but the seven years I spent in Las Vegas.

Anaheim, Irvine or Corona. Pretty much spot on. I guess the real clincher is the word "Firefly" and "Freeway". Is the word "Firefly" really only a west coast thing?

Reno, NV. Wichita, KS. Lexington, KY.

Basically, my lifestyle of moving all over the country throughout most of my life means I have a shared dialect of the entire country.

I got a split between NY and Los Angeles. Given I am London born and bred it is rather interesting.

I was amused to see the expression "a fox's wedding" for rain while the sun is shining. It is a Japanese expression.

 Kilkrazy wrote:
I was amused to see the expression "a fox's wedding" for rain while the sun is shining. It is a Japanese expression.

I noticed that as well. I imagine it might have spread into the English on the West Coast. Japanese Americans have been very culturally significant in California (and Oregon).

 TheCustomLime wrote:
Anaheim, Irvine or Corona. Pretty much spot on. I guess the real clincher is the word "Firefly" and "Freeway". Is the word "Firefly" really only a west coast thing?

Firefly is definitely not just a west coast thing. I got Dayton, Akron, and Fort Wayne and I use Firefly and Lightning Bug interchangeably.

Not even close to me. Granted, Atlanta is a pretty big cultural mix, so it might be hard to pin down.

 Hordini wrote:

 TheCustomLime wrote:
Anaheim, Irvine or Corona. Pretty much spot on. I guess the real clincher is the word "Firefly" and "Freeway". Is the word "Firefly" really only a west coast thing?

Firefly is definitely not just a west coast thing. I got Dayton, Akron, and Fort Wayne and I use Firefly and Lightning Bug interchangeably.

We use it over her in NY too.

The most intense red spot was a bit to the right or Rochester.

So, I mean, wrong country, but pretty close to where I live in real life. I have picked up a lot of words from Americans online though.

It definitely pegged me as a westerner. It didn't narrow me down much further than that. The three cities were Salt Lake City, Fresno, and Portland. I spent my early childhood in Ogden and my teens in Seattle so I guess it's close enough.

I didn't know "potato bug" was such a regional thing. And does Texas really not consider drive through liquor stores a bad idea?

 Breotan wrote:
And does Texas really not consider drive through liquor stores a bad idea?

There aren't as many around as there used to be. More and more counties/townships are allowing the sale of beer compared to 20 years ago, so you can buy your beer at almost every gas station and grocery store. Kinda hard for the independent beer store to survive unless they also sell hard liquor (and the big chains like Specs and Goody Goody are basically getting a lock on that, too).

Well it crashed for me twice in a row....

probably not surprising since I'm not from the US and looking at the maps generated for each question seem to use terms from right across the whole thing

San Jose, Honolulu or Boston.

I think my Englishness confused it.

I've taken this before, and "sneakers" is always the big thing. I didn't realize it was only a north-east thing.

 Tannhauser42 wrote:

 Breotan wrote:
And does Texas really not consider drive through liquor stores a bad idea?

There aren't as many around as there used to be. More and more counties/townships are allowing the sale of beer compared to 20 years ago, so you can buy your beer at almost every gas station and grocery store. Kinda hard for the independent beer store to survive unless they also sell hard liquor (and the big chains like Specs and Goody Goody are basically getting a lock on that, too).

So you guys don't really have drunk driving laws?

 Kilkrazy wrote:
I got a split between NY and Los Angeles. Given I am London born and bred it is rather interesting.

I was amused to see the expression "a fox's wedding" for rain while the sun is shining. It is a Japanese expression.

One of the other options, monkeys are getting married, I've heard. But only in Trinidad. Is it British? Spanish?


Automatically Appended Next Post:
I will however have to work 'the devil is beating his wife' into conversation someday. And if anyone screams misogyny, my answer is it's the ₹&@/ing devil of course he beats his wife!

 LordofHats wrote:

 Kilkrazy wrote:
I was amused to see the expression "a fox's wedding" for rain while the sun is shining. It is a Japanese expression.

I noticed that as well. I imagine it might have spread into the English on the West Coast. Japanese Americans have been very culturally significant in California (and Oregon).

Except that in Oregon, where I grew up, literally everyone I've ever talked to calls them sunshowers (ohh... and liquid sunshine is it's own thing... if you think it means rain while the sun is out, you're a heathen )

 Ensis Ferrae wrote:

 LordofHats wrote:

 Kilkrazy wrote:
I was amused to see the expression "a fox's wedding" for rain while the sun is shining. It is a Japanese expression.

I noticed that as well. I imagine it might have spread into the English on the West Coast. Japanese Americans have been very culturally significant in California (and Oregon).

Except that in Oregon, where I grew up, literally everyone I've ever talked to calls them sunshowers (ohh... and liquid sunshine is it's own thing... if you think it means rain while the sun is out, you're a heathen )

I didn't say people in Oregon can only refer to sunshowers one way.