In case you missed it over the holidays, the New York Times had a fun quiz that, based on the words you use for certain terms and how you pronounce those words, shows how you compare to people across the country.
The first time I took this, my most similar cities were Denver and Aurora, CO and Albuquerque, NM. Later I read that it works best if you use the words and pronunciations you grew up with. For example, while now I pronounce the stuff that’s in the center of some candies “care-uh-mel,” I grew up saying “car-mul.” I went back and re-did the quiz, correcting that and a couple other answers. My new most similar cities? Kansas City, Overland Park, and St. Louis.
Genius!
The least similar cities are really more fun. It’s amusing that a cluster of cities in New England are my least similar ones, since I LOVE speaking in a fake Boston accent.