Apr2

allo…

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when speaking to someone with an accent

i accidentally/empathetically pick it up

without even realizing it

maybe kind of trying to meet them halfway

but it doesn’t sound like the real accent

 i find myself kind of stuck in an in-between zone.

when i was in austraila

many people guessed that i was canadian

my accent had become a mashup

of american english blended with an aussie-ish sound and a bit of slang thrown in.

 people have told me for years

 when i answer my phone

that i have a lilting accent

 with some sort of an undefined european sound to it

‘allo…’

 they are sometimes taken aback for a minute

‘is this beth?’

‘oui, why do you ask?’

 

—

“i subconsciously mimic whomever I’m talking to,

so I’ve been mistaken for a canadian, a south american, and somebody from the west country.”

-chloe pirrie, scottish actress

 

 

 

 

—

photo credit: ruby lane

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92 responses »

  2. That’s funny. My children’s spouses always know when my children have spent talked together. 🙂

    Have you read about how the scientists isolated together in Antarctica have developed their own accent and words?

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  6. My dad’s family was southern, so it’s easy for me to pick up that accent, enough that I can do it now without being around anyone else doing it.

    And you are not so far away from the Canadian border for me to understand why you might have picked up a little bit of a French accent in your words. I love the little nuances between Canadians and Americans with certain words. Americans say “out“ and Canadians say “oat”, both meaning the same thing.

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  11. I have never done that, but my very strong London accent is occasionally mistaken for Australian since I moved to Norfolk. I smile when they say that, but inside I feel terribly insulted! 👴

    Best wishes, Pete.

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  12. Beth, I’m the Queen of Accents. Why? Hero Husband (HH) is a French spoken Swiss, I’m a German spoken (Swiss German, THAT?S bad!) Swiss, I’ve lived in Canada where I was repeatedly told that I spoke pure ‘Oxford English’ when I didn’t even know what that meant… (it was my school English)… I speak every accent within 30 seconds of hearing someone talking, including the various Swiss accents and everything else. With HH we speak sometimes 3 languages in one sentence or I don’t understand what he’s saying because I listen for French and he’s speaking in English or German (badly!).

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  14. I like Dave’s comment — oui — keeping people on their toes!
    I have the same weird behavior…quietly assuming regional accents and it’s quirky. A therapist friend told me it’s how I intuitively “mirror” those around me to help them feel at ease, comfy. I dunno — but it’s good to know I’m not alone!
    xo! 😉🥰😉

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  15. We lived in Tennessee for eight months, and during that time I had several people who I spoke with ask…”are you from Philadelphia?” Accents can be “picked up,” and most definitely can “travel.”

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  19. I don’t think I mimic accents, but I’m quick to either adopt or avoid regionalisms, eg: sack vs. bag, soda vs. pop, roundabout vs. traffic circle. As if my OK accent doesn’t already make me conspicuous enough!

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  32. It’s called linguistic convergence or the Chameleon Effect ~ I do it too and it sometimes gets me in trouble when people think I’m doing it on purpose. It is NEVER on purpose (they don’t always believe me) : )

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