List ranks most attractive U.S. accents. Here's where Minnesota's rates.
MINNEAPOLIS — Is the Minnesota accent one of the nation's sexiest? You betcha, according to a new ranking.
Sports betting website Penn Stakes ranked the 10 most attractive accents in the United States. The marvelous Minnesota accent, either celebrated or denigrated in the movie "Fargo," depending on whom you ask, came in at No. 9.
It is, alas, not the most attractive accent in the Midwest. The general "Midwestern" accent, which a map accompanying the study places in Missouri, came in at No. 6, while Chicago ranked eighth.
The southern accent was ranked the nation's hottest.
"People with a Southern accent are usually perceived as hospitable, charismatic and charming, so it's not shocking that it steals the top spot," Penn Stakes wrote. "Warm Southern accents are also known to exude trustworthiness – so, if you're looking for dependability in your dating life, this might be one of your favorites."
The rankings were done using "social listening" — analyzing online posts mentioning the accents, particularly those in praise of them.
Five years ago, another study ranked Minnesota's accent the third-least sexy in the country.
In 2013, WCCO looked into the origins of the Minnesota accent. Dr. John Spartz, a linguistics professor at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside, said it is actually an upper Midwest dialect that includes Minnesota, parts of North Dakota and South Dakota, northern Iowa and western Wisconsin.
He said the long vowels and sentence structure come from the Norwegians, Swedes and Germans who settled here in the later 1800s.
