The em-FAH-sis is on the wrong sih-LAB-bull

So i just took several interesting accent tests. i was curious because lately, Ashley has been pointing out how southern i talk on the phone with my parishioners in this little rural church i serve. Typically, i have almost no accent, but i do use y'all and many other vernacular phrases indicative of the south. However, much of what i say and how i pronounce things correctly pegs me as northern or mid-western. i've been told numerous times that i don't have an accent or have a "middle America" radio voice. So i took the following tests:

What American Accent do You Have?
With these results:

What American accent do you have?
Your Result: The Inland North

You may think you speak "Standard English straight out of the dictionary" but when you step away from the Great Lakes you get asked annoying questions like "Are you from Wisconsin?" or "Are you from Chicago?" Chances are you call carbonated drinks "pop."

Not exactly. i've never used pop to refer to soft drink in my life. And i've only been to Chicago once.

The Other What American Accent do You Have?
These results:

Northern

You have a Northern accent. That could either be the Chicago/Detroit/Cleveland/Buffalo accent (easily recognizable) or the Western New England accent that news networks go for.

Also, not so much.


Slightly worried, i took the Yankee Test. This test is helpful because it tells you where each answer is common after you choose an answer. Mine seemed to be US broad-based with a few in the mid-west and Texas and a couple in the Southeast.
With this result:

68% Dixie.Well under the Mason-Dixon Line

So, i don't say the L in SALMON like folk down here, and i pronounce most things as the appear in the dictionary, but use "y'all." Not sure these tests with only 10-20 questions are very helpful. If you find a more comprehensive one, let me know.