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Here's how I measure up:
Your Linguistic Profile: |
50% Yankee |
45% General American English |
5% Dixie |
0% Midwestern |
0% Upper Midwestern |
I've always been intrigued by languages and, more specifically, the various dialects inherent in any language. American English has a myriad interesting dialects and colloquialisms unique to different parts of the country. How else do you explain the multitude of different ways Americans refer to a sub sandwich, depending on their region (i.e., a "grinder" in Massachusetts, a "hoagie" in Pennsylvania, a "hero" in NYC)?
Splitting my childhood years between New York City and Los Angeles (while being surrounded by multilingual parents, grandparents and extended family) not only gave me a fantastic education with regards to the idiosyncracies of verbal communication, but fostered one of my biggest interests in life: that of language.
Speaking of language, my sister, a doctoral student at UCLA, was recently subjected to a round-table-like interview with a panel of 12 university donors whose purpose it was to decide whether she was worthy of fellowship money for her dissertation. Anyway, during the interview, my sister mentioned how her fluency in Spanish had served her well on recent trips to Cuba. One of the well-heeled old biddies piped up, "Oh, I didn't know they spoke Spanish in Cuba!"
Ouch. Only in America, folks. Where shameless ignorance about the world outside our borders is not only rampant but perfectly acceptable (even among the privileged!). Aren't you proud?
Posted by ayelet at April 20, 2005 09:42 AM