I've spent time in states on most of the East Coast. When you live in a place for a few months, and ask people about their accents regularly, you can figure it out pretty quick. There was a time when I could guess a sothern person's birthplace within a few hundred miles after only 10-15 minutes of conversation. Of course, some of that was creatively trying to get them to say a particular word or expression without them catching on to what you were up to. lol
