Commentary: Your Word Choices Can Identify Where You Came From

Over the weekend I took a quiz which was posted at the website of the New York Times.  It simply asks where you are from.

You answer a series of questions about words and phrases you use in conversation.  An example would be; is it a traffic circle, rotary or roundabout?  The results are just stunning.  The redder the map becomes the better match and the more blue the map the least similar.  I’m least like Massachusetts and I’ve a yellow color across the Northern Midwest and extending through St. Louis and then through Oklahoma and down through parts of Texas.  For me the red is concentrated around the Great Lakes and the brightest red is in Chautauqua County in NY State, the westernmost point in the state.  The two counties due east of Chautauqua are Cattaraugus and Allegany.  My hometown rests on the Cattaraugus-Allegany boundary.

I haven’t lived there for 30 years so it’s quite possible I’ve forgotten a phrase or two but geographically the map couldn’t be much closer.

Enclosed is a link to the quiz.  See if the science is as accurate for you!

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/12/20/sunday-review/dialect-quiz-map.html?r=8200481804001820088200002040010j8201000040020l0400