from jackie comes this quiz about speech: Yankee or Dixie?

i got "73% (Dixie). That is a pretty strong Southern score!"

which i find a little bit strange, since i lived in d.c. the first ten years of my life, then moved to the northern virginia suburbs, then attended school for four years in charlottesville, which is southern, but not, you know, SOUTHERN.

also, according to the test: "Be aware that television entertainment has a lot of northern dialect in it. This will have more of an influence on you than you expect." and i watch a hell of a lot of tv.

i don't know, maybe cville did have a stronger influence than i thought; all those gaggles of southern sorority girl belles i passed by on a daily basis might have had something to do with it. and i did start saying y'all down there, and continue it to this day. i consider it a charming affectation. yeah.