When I was growing up here in Massachusetts, we called lightening bugs, fireflies and grinders were known as subs. It was interesting when I moved to the west coast that highways were known as freeways and rotaries weren't something that you drove around. Caramel was pronounced in two syllables, not three and a Coke was known as soda and not pop. So, when I saw the NY Times geographic dialect quiz I wondered if I would skew more east or west coast. After 25 questions, it was pretty clear. It had pegged me right to Boston. I sent this quiz to other friends around the country and the Harvard Dialect Survey correctly identified where every one of us was from.
Try it yourself and see how much your dialect growing up has affected your language today.
Have a wonderful weekend!
