Word choice to convey a locale

[Wiglaf]

It has been mentioned on a few other threads that word choice can be an efficient way to suggest a characters geographical point of origin and accent. What I was thinking is that a list of words, their meanings, and the regions that they suggest would be useful.

For example,
mi hijo -- my son I have only heard it used by older Mexican women used the same way that some old women working in diners use "darlin'"

plural for you, yous-New York, yunz-Pittsburgh, y'all- southeastern US, you all rest of US

creek-- small streamlet
crick-- small streamlet in south Missouri?

 

[Pyar]

Hey check this website out: Are You a Yankee or a Rebel? - alphaDictionary * Southern Accent Test
I know it is a quiz, but it also tells you how people in different parts of the US say certain words.

Here is a list of words used in the south: Quiz: Are You a Yankee or a Rebel? : NPR

 

[Peter Graham]

mi hijo -- my son I have only heard it used by older Mexican women used the same way that some old women working in diners use "darlin'"

"Darlin'" is also used a lot in Britain, especially by Londoners. Our old women working in diners (or "caffs" as they would call them) are a fair barometer of local accent - "darlin'" would become "me duck", "pet", "sweetheart", "my lover", "my dear" (and many other permutations too numerous to record) as you moved around the country.

yous-New York

Strangely, "yous" is also common here - notably in Liverpool and our very own south Cumbria.

creek-- small streamlet

That's a good one - I always thought a creek referred to a small valley rather than the water course in it. You learn something new every day! We'd say:-

Brook - southern English

Beck - generic northern English

Burn - generic Scottish

Ghyll/gill - north-west English

Stream - lord knows where

Regards,

Peter

 

[Jev]

Diagonal/kitty-corner/catty-corner: American accent litmus test. I am pretty sure the two that aren't diagonal are Southern and Midwestern respectively.

Traffic circle/rotary: Rotary is New England/upstate New York; traffic circle is everywhere else. (I think in England it's called a roundabout.)

Hoagie/sub sandwich/hero - Pennsylvanian, standard American, and Midwestern respectively.

Accents vary wildly depending on where you're from, obviously: I am from upstate and do not sound like your stereotypical James Cagney-esque New Yorker stereotype, but when I went to school out near Chicago, to them I sounded like I was from Brooklyn.

 

[Culhwch]

Strangely, "yous" is also common here - notably in Liverpool and our very own south Cumbria.

....

That's a good one - I always thought a creek referred to a small valley rather than the water course in it. You learn something new every day! We'd say:-

'Youse' is also a very Australian term, made famous by boxer Jeff Fenech and his proclamation that he 'loves youse all.' I'm not sure if there's a geographical bound to the term, but generally it's associated with the, erm, uneducated or lower classes.

And creek is also used here almost exclusively. Though I do live near a brook.

Traffic circle/rotary: Rotary is New England/upstate New York; traffic circle is everywhere else. (I think in England it's called a roundabout.)

'Roundabout' in Australia as well.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

Well, I live on the West Coast, which is where people tend to go when they get tired of living on the East Coast or in the South or Midwest. So we pick up a lot of "regional" words from everywhere else.

As a result, some things go by two or three names here, like that hero and/or sub sandwich.

So if you tested us by our word choices, we might end up literally all over the map.

 

[Wiglaf]

Well, I live on the West Coast, which is where people tend to go when they get tired of living on the East Coast or in the South or Midwest. So we pick up a lot of "regional" words from everywhere else.

As a result, some things go by two or three names here, like that hero and/or sub sandwich.

So if you tested us by our word choices, we might end up literally all over the map.

Kind of why I wanted to bring it up. I my case I could unintentionally give the idea of a accent or locale with my word choice. I apparently talk like a hick. If I give an impression of a location, I want it to be intentional.