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“Yankee” or “Rebel”?

The folks at alphaDictionary and the Harvard Computer Society have released an amusing little linguistics quiz, “Are You a Yankee or a Rebel?” It’ll calculate your relative score based on how you use or pronounce certain words.

My score was “30% Dixie. You are a Yankee Doodle Dandy.” Not surprising, considering I grew up in upstate NY. That 30% must be from my two Alabama aunts :-)

Feel free to post your score in the comments.



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22 Responses to ““Yankee” or “Rebel”?”

  1. I did that test once, it made me a yankee

  2. which is interesting since I’m Dutch… probably because of Hollywood…

  3. merlallen says:

    47% Dixie. But I spoke mostly German between the ages of 2 and 6. I am an Army brat and grew up all over. 7 years in Germany included. But my parents and all of my relatives were Southerners. When I talk to them on the phone, I fall back into it. I can’t even understand what I’m saying after a while. I’ve been in Washington state for 13 years now.

  4. Chippedchips says:

    Last time I looked, the war between the states was over back in the 1860′s and I found I was just a plain ole U S Citizen from one of the 50 “United” states and I don’t need a test to prove it either.

  5. shay says:

    I scored 60%, or “just below the Mason-Dixon line.” I partly grew up in the Midwest, and partly in the South so I guess it makes sense.

  6. Golden says:

    I scored 41% dixie. Makes sense I’m from Maryland

  7. dan says:

    24%. excellent.

  8. Ryan says:

    36% Dixie. You are definitely a Yankee.

    That 36% must be because my dad recently moved to Alabama. ;-)

    Interesting looking at the comments from some of the other responses to questions.

    BTW: I’m one of the few people around here who don’t call a water fountain a bubbler. Guess it’s obvious I’m not native to southern Wisconsin.

  9. Chippedchips says:

    Ryan said: BTW: I’m one of the few people around here who don’t call a water fountain a bubbler.

    Us squids callem scuttlebutts.

  10. jaymaster says:

    48% for me, which is kind of scary.

    I grew up about 10 miles north of the Mason-Dixon line.

  11. Chippedchips says:

    What the hell I took the test and got: 56% Dixie. Barely in Dixie

    My achybreaky ass…I was born and raise in deep south Texas almost close enough to trip and fall into the Rio Grande.

    Maybe I got that score because I travel a lot and don’t live a sheltered life behind a gated community fence.

    Who knows?

  12. OutOfContext says:

    31% Dixie. Born in Ohio, raised in Miami, Fl, college in Philadelphia, settled back in Ohio. No surprise there.

  13. Merican says:

    87% Dixie. Do you still use Confederate money?

    Hm, where did that 13% bastard language come from?

  14. Greg says:

    36% Dixie – grew up in urban Oregon, lived in Seattle and moved to DC 2 years ago. It’s infesting my speech already!

  15. Daniel Reeder says:

    6% Dixie. I grew up in Upstate New York, and while I went to school in DC, I still am a New Yorker.

  16. John in Texas says:

    79% Dixie. Well, hell (or ‘hale’ as they say down here) I live in Cut &Shoot, Texas. What did you expect?

    Actually, based on what I recall from my grad course in dialectology, this was a pretty accurate assessment tool.

  17. Don in Canada says:

    “44% Dixie. Barely in Yankeedom.”

    …and I’m in Atlantic Canada, next door to Maine. Read into that what you will! :P

  18. Elrod says:

    50% Dixie. I’m a border state man through and through. From northern Virginia and I spend my professional life studying Missouri and Kentucky during the Civil War.

  19. Pyst says:

    86% Dixie. Do you still use Confederate money?

    Yup, I do hehe.

    Thing is the second day I am up north, and I mean far north (New England), I lose the majority of my accent.

  20. Chippedchips says:

    If you think a DIXIEcup is worn under a jockstrap you may be a redneck.

    If your mother, your sister, your aunt, and your motherinlaw are all the same person..you may be a redneck….Uhhhhhh make that you are a redneck.

  21. Angie in Indiana says:

    55% Dixie. Barely in Dixie

    I was born in Alabama but my family moved to Indiana when I was only 3 months old.

    Most of my older family members would probably score a minimum of 70%.

  22. galaxina says:

    Ha! 58% Barely in Dixie. Makes sense since I grew up in Maryland. The accent that makes New Englanders think you’re southern and southerners think you’re a Yankee.

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