#regional differences

[makewavesandwar]

howdy, I need to know how you personally pronounce the word Appalachian

Apple-at-chun, live in Appalachia

Apple-ay-shun, live in Appalachia

Apple-at-chun, don’t live in Appalachia

Apple-ay-shun, don’t live in Appalachia

Secret third option (put in tags)

I’ve never said this word / see results

Voting ended onJul 7, 2023

Reblog to escape containment, just curious here!!

[aethersea]

I’m sick of seeing people complain about the many-eyed spider of the hills. “wah it’s a giant spider that’s so scary” grow up! nature does not exist to be appealing to you personally! she’s an essential part of the ecosystem AND an extremely endangered species. “oh she eats unwary travelers” I hate to break it to you but all wild places eat unwary travelers, often more literally than we really like to think about. the price we pay for HAVING wild places is wariness. she never leaves the hills, she’s fully nocturnal, and if you go into HER HOME then the least you can do is read the safety guidelines on the parks & rec website before you go camping there.

in conclusion the many-eyed spider of the hills is cooler than you, hotter than you, and better at minding her own business than you. leave her alone!!

[lottiesam]

what do you guys call these?

cake cone

wafer cone

other (tell me in the tags!!)

Voting ended onJun 24, 2023

(feel free to say where you're from in the tags cause i feel like this is partially a regional thing)

[wildehacked]

writing in other regions

Okay, here's a question: when writing in the POV of a character from a region that uses a different term from yours (mile/kilometer, zucchini/courgette, arugula/rocket) is it important to use the regionally appropriate term for the setting, even if it's not in first person? (So, a close or distant third or even an omniscient POV, where we're not in the voice of the character directly.) I have a dif question about SPELLING below, so just answer for terms!

Should you use the character's regional terms?

Yes—it's immersive and in-character and in the voice of the setting that way

No—that feels artificial and weird to me

Bald/vanilla/nuance

Voting ended onFeb 23, 2025

[cat-mermaid]

Wish that I could give some of my Miis British accents (playing North American version), both are fictional characters that are canonically from England. I mean they already have it in the game's data, and if you go to your Switch setting and change the region, the accents change with it

So why not let us pick and choose individually? I refuse to accept the answer "its too hard to implement, ooowoooo pwogrmming sho hawd u gais" and I don't accept "oooh but the lingo from other countries will get everyone confused!" (people don't go insane and clutch their heads, when a tv show from another country airs on PBS, and starts talking about stuff specific to that country only) or "but god forbid we have Koreans spending the american dollar in game! Thats offensive!"

Feels like a huge missed opportunity, what with all the work they did to make so much diverse cultural and language options, to be able to make people's islands and Mii's feel more real and diverse. It could even be educational too!

:(

[randomtheidiot]

Give her a name.

Drinking fountain (I am American)

Water fountain (I am American)

Bubbler (I am American)

Drinking fountain (I am NOT American)

Water fountain (I am NOT American)

Bubbler (I am NOT American)

I tend to switch between names. (I am American)

I tend to switch between names. (I am NOT American)

I am a nuanced bald man made of vanilla extract and I like pressing buttons.

Voting ended onMar 10, 2025

[pacificnorthwesterngothic]

Hello PNWG (and followers!) - Burning PDX question. I moved here recently and in many of the shops/restaurants the staff say “Welcome In!” when you enter.

To me this is weird phrasing (not just “welcome” or “hello” for example) and I’ve NEVER heard this phrase so frequently before in my life. Is this PDX specific? Is it new to the region in the last ten-ish years? Am I just hearing it all the time now that I’m paying attention? Also I should say I’m not mad about it. It’s delightful.

Hey, welcome in to the PNW! 😁

I hope our winter is treating you well.

Disclaimer: I have nothing other than anecdotal evidence to back this up.

I have mostly heard people reporting on the novelty of “welcome in” when they move to either the Midwest or the PNW. I have also seen people associate it with Starbucks which is, ofc, a Seattle chain whose employee handbook might have reflected those roots.

So here’s my theory…

The Midwest and PNW are two regions with a lot of Scandinavian settlement:

And how does one say “welcome” in Scandinavian languages?

Swedish: Välkommen

Norwegian: Velkommen

Danish: Velkommen

Icelandic: Velkomin

Faroese: Vælkomin

So my tin-hat theory is that formal/polite speech in these regions maybe has a Scandinavian influence. (German settlement is a possible wildcard factor.)

Formal/polite language tends to not change much over time. If Scandinavian words snuck into common usage because they looked like English, I imagine they could get fossilised as normal “polite” speech because 1.) no one expects formal speech to sound normal and, thus, 2.) no one tends to ask why or where formal language comes from.

Like, we all know “ma’am” having an apostrophe there means that something was shortened… but how many people on the street would immediately say, without hesitation, what the full form of that word is?

But that’s my crackpot theory. I’m excited to hear everyone else’s!

[mug-and-friends]

My friend keeps having this one Kantonian meowth sneak in and sleep on his bed. LOOK AT IT. Eepy creature. Not a care in the world

So small and delicate compared to galarian meowths.... 🥺