Boston Accents

We all have those friends who find it necessary to forward to us every chain email, list of tasteless jokes, and "big opportunity" from some prince in South Africa, and I am no different. Occasionally, however, you find something of actual interest. Today was such a day for me.

I got sent a link to a quiz that claimed to be able to ascertain what type of accent I had. I couldn't resist, as accents and dialects are parts of linguistics I have always had an interest in. I was skeptical at first, but the test was short and, amazingly, pretty accurate (see my results below). I do, in fact, have a Boston accent....and am damn proud of it, too.

But what about the various sub-types of the Boston accent? We all know about the Beacon Hill / Ted Kennedy / Mayor Quimby brahmin accent, as well as the ever-stereotypical "pahk your cah in Hahvid yahd" popularized by the SNL Jimmy Fallon / Rachel Dratch "Nomaaah" skits and, of course, bad acting in every movie ever shot in Boston....but anyone from around here knows there's much more to it than that, and some people claim to be able to tell just what part of Boston or the Boston Metropolitan area one comes from by merely listening to them speak. Is there a difference between those from the north shore and those from the south shore? Can one find subtleties in accents and discern whether they are from Eastie or Southie, Worcester or the Cape? There are lots of guides to "Boston English" out there, but I think it would be a very interesting undertaking indeed to try to find patterns in the actual Boston accents, and ultimately come up with an almost mathematical way to connect them together and differentiate between them. Until then, I'll have to pass my time doing things that are actually realistic....

Oh, and for the record, nobody here says "wicked pissah".

What kind of American accent do you have? Your Result: Boston You definitely have a Boston accent, even if you think you don't. Of course, that doesn't mean you are from the Boston area, you may also be from New Hampshire or Maine.
The Midland
The West
North Central
The Northeast
Philadelphia
The Inland North
The South
What American accent do you have?