The question bank

Vocabulary: the words you use

• Soda vs Pop vs Coke: The Fizzy Drink Map

  What do you usually call a sweet carbonated drink?

• Sneakers vs Trainers vs Runners

  What do you call shoes worn for sport or exercise?

• Dinner vs Tea vs Supper: The Evening Meal

  What do you usually call the main evening meal?

• Bap vs Cob vs Barm vs Breadcake

  What do you call a small, round piece of bread for one person?

• Chips vs Fries vs Hot Chips

  What do you call thin strips of potato served hot and fried?

• Candy vs Sweets vs Lollies: A Dialect Map

  What is your general word for small sugary treats?

• Shopping Cart vs Trolley vs Buggy

  What do you call the wheeled basket used in a supermarket?

• Takeaway vs Takeout vs Carry-Out

  What do you call restaurant food collected to eat elsewhere?

• Water Fountain vs Bubbler Explained

  What do you call a public fixture you drink water from?

• Corner Shop vs Convenience Store vs Dairy

  What do you call a small neighbourhood shop selling everyday items?

• Y'all vs You Guys vs Youse

  How do you usually address a group of people informally?

• Trash Can vs Bin vs Rubbish Bin

  What do you call the household container for unwanted rubbish?

• Ginnel vs Snicket vs Entry: The Alley Map

  What do you call the narrow passageway between or behind houses?

• Thongs vs Jandals vs Flip-Flops

  What do you call rubber sandals held on by a strap between the toes?

• Esky vs Chilly Bin vs Cooler: A Dialect Map

  What do you call the insulated box you carry cold drinks in?

• Robot vs Traffic Light: South Africa's Word

  What do you call the red-amber-green signal at a junction?

• Roundabout vs Rotary vs Traffic Circle

  What do you call a circular junction you drive around?

• In Line vs On Line vs Queuing

  You are waiting your turn behind other people. What are you doing?

• Definite Article Reduction: “Down t’ Shop”

  How do you say “the” in a phrase like “I’m going down the shop”?

• While Meaning Until in Yorkshire

  “We’ll not be home while seven.” What does that sentence mean to you?

• The After-Perfect in Irish English

  “I’m after having my dinner.” What does that sentence mean to you?

• Man as a Pronoun in London English

  “Man’s getting emotional.” Who is “man”?

• Tro-tro vs Danfo vs Matatu vs Jeepney

  What do you call a shared minibus used as public transport?

• Habitual Be: “She Be Working” Explained

  Does “she be working on Fridays” sound like a normal way to say she works Fridays regularly?

• Needs Washed: Midland Need + Participle

  Does “the car needs washed” sound normal — without “to be”?

• Hoagie vs Hero vs Grinder vs Sub

  What do you call a long sandwich in a split roll?

• Parkade vs Parking Garage vs Car Park

  What do you call a multi-storey building for parking cars?

• Neutral Ground vs Median vs Reservation

  What do you call the strip of ground in the middle of a dual carriageway?

• Da Kine: The Hawaiian Pidgin Filler

  Can “da kine” stand in for a thing you have not named?

• Prepone: The Opposite of Postpone

  Can you “prepone” a meeting — bring it forward to an earlier time?

• Discourse Only: South Indian Emphasis

  Does “I am coming tomorrow only” sound like a normal way to emphasise tomorrow?

• By Here: Welsh English for “Here”

  Does “come by here” sound like a normal way to say “come here”?

• Togs vs Bathers vs Swimmers

  What do you call the clothing you swim in?

Pronunciation: how you say things

• Trap–Bath Split: Bath, Grass, Dance

  In your natural accent, does “bath” use the vowel in “cat” or “father”?

• Rhotic vs Non-Rhotic Accents Explained

  When you say “car” by itself, do you pronounce an R sound at the end?

• Foot–Strut Split Explained: Put vs Putt

  Do “put” and “putt” have the same vowel in your natural accent?

• Glottal Stop vs T-Flapping in Bottle

  What usually happens to the middle consonant when you say “bottle”?

• The Cot–Caught Merger, Explained

  Do “cot” and “caught” rhyme in your natural accent?

• Mary–Marry–Merry Merger Explained

  How do “Mary”, “marry”, and “merry” compare in your natural accent?

• The Face Vowel: Why “Day” Differs Worldwide

  Say “day” slowly, holding the vowel for a couple of seconds. Does the vowel move while you hold it, or stay in one place?

• The Goat Vowel: Why “Go” Differs Worldwide

  Say “go” slowly, holding the vowel for a couple of seconds. Does the vowel move while you hold it, or stay in one place?

• TH-Fronting and TH-Stopping Explained

  What does the first sound of “three” resemble in your relaxed speech?

• H-Dropping: Which Accents Drop Their Aitches

  In relaxed speech, do you pronounce the H at the start of “house”?

• Yod-Dropping and Yod-Coalescence Explained

  Which is closest to how you naturally say “tune”?

• Nurse–Square Merger: the Scouse Vowel

  Do “fur” and “fair” rhyme in your natural accent?

• Near–Square Merger: the New Zealand Vowel

  Do “beer” and “bear” rhyme in your natural accent?

• Fush and Chups: The New Zealand KIT Vowel

  Say “fish” and “six”. Is that vowel closer to the one in “feet”, or to the “uh” in “the”?

• Happy-Tensing: The Final Vowel in “Happy”

  What is the final vowel in “happy” closest to?

• Singer vs Finger: Northern Hard G

  Do “singer” and “finger” rhyme in your natural accent?

• Film vs Fillum: The Irish Helping Vowel

  How many syllables are there when you say “film”?

• The Bristol L: Idea, Area and Cinema

  Do “area” and “idea” pick up an L sound at the end when you say them?

• TH-Stopping: When “The” Sounds Like “De”

  In relaxed speech, what does the TH in “the” and “that” sound like?

• Ship vs Sheep: The KIT–FLEECE Distinction

  Do “ship” and “sheep” have the same vowel in your natural accent?

• Wine vs Vine: The V–W Merger

  Do “wine” and “vine” start with the same sound?

• Eschool: The Prothetic Vowel Before S

  When you say “school”, is there a small vowel before the S — “eschool”?

• Bed vs Bet: Devoicing at the End of a Word

  Do “bed” and “bet” end in the same sound?

• Rolled R vs Uvular R vs the English R

  How do you make the R at the start of “red”?

• Pin vs Pen: The KIT–DRESS Merger Before N

  Do “pin” and “pen” sound the same in your natural accent?

• PRICE Monophthong: Ride as Rahd

  Does the vowel in “ride” and “time” stay as one sound, or move from one sound to another?

• Celery vs Salary: The Melbourne Merger

  Do “celery” and “salary” sound the same?

• The ON Line: Dawn or Don

  Say “on” aloud. Does it rhyme with “dawn”, or with “don”?

• About vs Aloud: Canadian Raising

  Say “about” and “aloud”. Do the “ow” vowels match?

• Graph vs Grass: Australia's BATH Divide

  Say “graph” and “grass”. Do the two use the same vowel?

Why these questions

The bank follows established dialect-survey practice: ask about ordinary speech used with friends and family, use concrete everyday concepts, and keep the questions identical across locations. Each one was chosen because it splits the English-speaking world somewhere interesting — sometimes between countries, sometimes between two English cities forty miles apart. See how the answers are scored or browse the accent profiles they feed.