DialectGuessr

US dialect atlas

Tennis Shoes or Sneakers?

Tennis shoes leads 36 states to sneakers' 14, which surprises most people who assume sneakers is the neutral American word. Sneakers is a northeastern regionalism that happens to have won television.

Alaska: tennis shoes 57.8%, sneakers 31.1%AKMaine: sneakers 94%, tennis shoes 1%MEVermont: sneakers 93.4%, tennis shoes 1.3%VTNew Hampshire: sneakers 93.8%, tennis shoes 1.8%NHWashington: tennis shoes 67.2%, sneakers 17.5%WAIdaho: tennis shoes 66.4%, sneakers 19.9%IDMontana: tennis shoes 70.9%, sneakers 13.3%MTNorth Dakota: tennis shoes 75%, sneakers 12.5%NDMinnesota: tennis shoes 74.3%, sneakers 13.3%MNIllinois: tennis shoes 34.4%, sneakers 19.8% — led by an answer not listed hereILWisconsin: tennis shoes 55.4%, sneakers 17.7%WIMichigan: tennis shoes 59.7%, sneakers 19.5%MINew York: sneakers 93%, tennis shoes 1.9%NYRhode Island: sneakers 96.9%, tennis shoes 0%RIMassachusetts: sneakers 93.5%, tennis shoes 2.3%MAOregon: tennis shoes 68.1%, sneakers 16.2%ORNevada: tennis shoes 66.2%, sneakers 21.5%NVWyoming: tennis shoes 67.7%, sneakers 16.2%WYSouth Dakota: tennis shoes 68.6%, sneakers 13%SDIowa: tennis shoes 76.1%, sneakers 11.5%IAIndiana: tennis shoes 65.1%, sneakers 15.8%INOhio: tennis shoes 61.1%, sneakers 18.7%OHPennsylvania: sneakers 80.7%, tennis shoes 13.4%PANew Jersey: sneakers 95.4%, tennis shoes 1.6%NJConnecticut: sneakers 93.9%, tennis shoes 1.6%CTCalifornia: tennis shoes 55%, sneakers 30.2%CAUtah: tennis shoes 52.2%, sneakers 24.2%UTColorado: tennis shoes 62.9%, sneakers 20.9%CONebraska: tennis shoes 75.9%, sneakers 13.5%NEMissouri: tennis shoes 74.6%, sneakers 12.8%MOKentucky: tennis shoes 72.8%, sneakers 16.8%KYWest Virginia: tennis shoes 67.5%, sneakers 25%WVVirginia: tennis shoes 46.9%, sneakers 43.5%VAMaryland: sneakers 52.1%, tennis shoes 37%MDDelaware: sneakers 90.9%, tennis shoes 6.8%DEArizona: tennis shoes 60%, sneakers 25%AZNew Mexico: tennis shoes 56.3%, sneakers 31.3%NMKansas: tennis shoes 74.3%, sneakers 12.6%KSArkansas: tennis shoes 75.2%, sneakers 15.8%ARTennessee: tennis shoes 75.2%, sneakers 14.9%TNNorth Carolina: tennis shoes 58.3%, sneakers 33.3%NCSouth Carolina: tennis shoes 59.4%, sneakers 31.2%SCWashington, D.C.: sneakers 67.1%, tennis shoes 22%DCOklahoma: tennis shoes 75%, sneakers 16%OKLouisiana: tennis shoes 82.4%, sneakers 10.7%LAMississippi: tennis shoes 69.3%, sneakers 9.7%MSAlabama: tennis shoes 73.7%, sneakers 15.4%ALGeorgia: tennis shoes 64.6%, sneakers 25.8%GAHawaii: sneakers 50.9%, tennis shoes 26.3%HITexas: tennis shoes 69.2%, sneakers 19.7%TXFlorida: sneakers 52.7%, tennis shoes 36.4%FL
Each square is one state, placed roughly where it sits on the map and coloured by the answer that leads there. Survey question: “What is your *general* term for the rubber-soled shoes worn in gym class, for athletic activities, etc.?”

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State by state

Share of respondents in each state giving each answer. Percentages do not sum to 100: the survey offered answers this map does not name, and they are left out rather than folded into one of the three.

Tennis Shoes or Sneakers? — Harvard Dialect Survey.
Statetennis shoessneakers
Alabama73.7% ◀15.4%
Alaska57.8% ◀31.1%
Arizona60% ◀25%
Arkansas75.2% ◀15.8%
California55% ◀30.2%
Colorado62.9% ◀20.9%
Connecticut1.6%93.9% ◀
Delaware6.8%90.9% ◀
Florida36.4%52.7% ◀
Georgia64.6% ◀25.8%
Hawaii26.3%50.9% ◀
Idaho66.4% ◀19.9%
Illinois34.4%19.8%
Indiana65.1% ◀15.8%
Iowa76.1% ◀11.5%
Kansas74.3% ◀12.6%
Kentucky72.8% ◀16.8%
Louisiana82.4% ◀10.7%
Maine1%94% ◀
Maryland37%52.1% ◀
Massachusetts2.3%93.5% ◀
Michigan59.7% ◀19.5%
Minnesota74.3% ◀13.3%
Mississippi69.3% ◀9.7%
Missouri74.6% ◀12.8%
Montana70.9% ◀13.3%
Nebraska75.9% ◀13.5%
Nevada66.2% ◀21.5%
New Hampshire1.8%93.8% ◀
New Jersey1.6%95.4% ◀
New Mexico56.3% ◀31.3%
New York1.9%93% ◀
North Carolina58.3% ◀33.3%
North Dakota75% ◀12.5%
Ohio61.1% ◀18.7%
Oklahoma75% ◀16%
Oregon68.1% ◀16.2%
Pennsylvania13.4%80.7% ◀
Rhode Island0%96.9% ◀
South Carolina59.4% ◀31.2%
South Dakota68.6% ◀13%
Tennessee75.2% ◀14.9%
Texas69.2% ◀19.7%
Utah52.2% ◀24.2%
Vermont1.3%93.4% ◀
Virginia46.9% ◀43.5%
Washington67.2% ◀17.5%
Washington, D.C.22%67.1% ◀
West Virginia67.5% ◀25%
Wisconsin55.4% ◀17.7%
Wyoming67.7% ◀16.2%

The same question, worldwide

This map is the United States only. DialectGuessr asks the same question of everyone who takes the quiz, which is how the answer looks outside America too.

Sneakers, Trainers or Runners? What You Call Athletic Shoes →

Where this data comes from

The map above is drawn from the Harvard Dialect Survey, collected by Bert Vaux and Scott Golder in 2002–2003. It asked 122 questions and recorded, for each one, the share of respondents in every US state who gave each answer. It is a large self-selected sample rather than a census, and it is now two decades old — treat it as a well-supported picture of how people spoke then, not a measurement of today.

Data used under the CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 licence: attribution and share-alike, non-commercial. DialectGuessr’s own survey data is separate and is described on the about page.

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