Can You Guess The U.S. Accent?

It's a toughie, dontcha knoooow.

By
Julia Furlan
by Julia Furlan

BuzzFeed Staff

Jenny Chang / BuzzFeed

1.

accent.gmu.edu

  1. What colorful region of the U.S. do you think this dude is from?

    Correct! 
    Wrong! 

    He's from Massachusetts!

    Not all Massachusetts accents are straight out of "Good Will Hunting." One of the unique characteristics of the Massachusetts accent is the "r" sound that becomes an "ah," which is believed to be a remnant of the British accent.

    Via Maps.google.com
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2.

accent.gmu.edu

  1. What exemplary small town website is from this man's hometown?

    Correct! 
    Wrong! 

    He's from Pinebluff, Arkansas!

    This dear man's accent falls under the larger linguistic category of Southern American English, which is a lot more than just "y'all."

    hometownpaintball.com / Via hometownpaintball.com
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3.

accent.gmu.edu

  1. Which regional food represents this woman's hometown?

    Correct! 
    Wrong! 

    She's from Brooklyn!

    Although this accent can be found in many different areas of New York, this particular woman is from Brooklyn. Linguists believe this is one of the most distinctive accents in the U.S. and although there are many versions of it, you can count on the fact that they all say "on line" instead of "in line."

    Thinkstock
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4.

accent.gmu.edu

  1. Which of these postcards would be from this woman's home state?

    Correct! 
    Wrong! 

    She's from Orange County, California!

    If you listen really hard, this woman says "hella" instead of "Stella" because of her Californiaspeak. She also has a touch of vocal fry, a notorious (and extremely contentious) speech pattern that originated in California.

    Fox
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5.

accent.gmu.edu

  1. Which of these baseball teams is from this woman's hometown?

    Correct! 
    Wrong! 

    She's from Philadelphia!

    That Philly accent you (maybe) hear is actually one of the most studied in the U.S. because William Labov, the godfather of linguistics, worked out of UPenn.

    Wikimedia Commons
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6.

accent.gmu.edu

  1. Is this nice lady from Texas?

    Correct! 
    Wrong! 

    She's from Texas!

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7.

accent.gmu.edu

  1. When this lady walks her dog, what does she see?

    Correct! 
    Wrong! 

    She sees the boat because she's in Mississippi!

    This dear lady's southern twang is from Mississippi, which also falls under the umbrella of "Southern American English" according to linguists. Fun fact: her dog, Miz Bootyface does not have an accent when she barks.

    Thinkstock
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8.

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  1. What does this man catch?

    Correct! 
    Wrong! 

    He's from Hawaii!

    This is a tricky one because there are many, many diverse accents and influences from all over the world in Hawaii, including Japan, China, the U.S. as well as the O.G. native Hawaiians.

    Thinkstock
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9.

accent.gmu.edu

  1. Which Reese Witherspoon role is this woman's accent inspiration?

    Correct! 
    Wrong! 

    She's from Sweet Home Alabama!

    Although this lady's hair will never be as perfect as Reese's was in that movie, she's from Elmore, Alabama (and so is her accent.) Doesn't she sound incredibly polite?

    Buena Vista Pictures
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Big ups to the George Mason University Speech Accent Archive for their recordings! Also worth noting: accents are incredibly diverse and never totally fixed, so keep that in mind! <3 <3

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