r/Accents

All you have to do as an Aussie is change the E to an I and the I to and E. Lastly change the A to an E and that’s the Kiwi accent.
Here’s some examples :

E to an I
Menu

Say it as Minu

Egg

Say it as Igg

I to and E

It

Say it as

Et

Is
Say it as es.

A to an E

Back

Say it as Beck

Crack

Say it as Creck

And that’s the full kiwi accent if you are an Aussie .

I've noticed something that happens quite a lot, and I'm wondering if anyone else experiences it.

I don't really speak in slang. I can if I want to, but I generally prefer speaking normally. Despite that, a lot of people I meet will immediately start talking to me in slang, try to greet me with a spud, or seem to assume I'm part of a certain lifestyle.

The confusing part is that I don't think I dress or carry myself in a way that would obviously give that impression.

I'm not offended by it, but I'm genuinely curious why it keeps happening. Has anyone else experienced this? What do you think makes people make these assumptions so quickly?

I am playing a character in a play that emigrated from Roxburghshire, Scotland in his youth and moved to Central Illinois in 1854. I want to capture both the Midlands accent from where he spent most of his life, with tinges of Border Scot inflections from learning to speak in Roxburghshire. Does anyone know of maybe a movie or tv show that features a character with a similar mix of accents or does a good portrayal of one or the other? I've done research on the separate accents but I'm hoping to hear them more in action.

Why is it socially acceptable to mock any Scottish regional accent but is considered almost racist to do the same things with northern English accent ,Liverpool especially

Bear with me lol. For the sake of discussion, this post is only regarding American English accents—if we get into all other forms of English-language accents, we’ll be here a while haha.

I’m from New England, but if I spoke to a stranger and asked them to guess where I’m from in the U.S., they wouldn’t be able to. Maybe they could eliminate some places they know I’m not from, but it wouldn’t be clear to them that I’m a certified Yankee. I don’t say Hahvad Yahd, and the only way anyone would know what region I’m from is because I say wicked; but if I didn’t, I could just as likely be from California or Washington or even Canada.

And yet, there ARE people here in the U.S. who have very particular ways of speaking. The town just over from where I grew up predominantly speaks with non-rhotic accents (similar socioeconomic backgrounds to us, so it’s not an upper class vs working class difference or anything like that). But funnily enough, others from the same town do not.

Because I have a pretty neutral accent by American English standards, for some reason, it’s really hard for me to believe that some people talk with as thick of accents as they do (referring to English as native language, ofc). Idk I just can’t…imagine my vocal cords and mouth moving in that manner lol. Where this is always most alarming to me is the South. If you weren’t a native speaker, it sounds like a completely different language sometimes. And it perplexes me that people really do sound their way and I sound mine merely because of where in the country we grew up, and that American accents developed so differently from one another over time. I can of course fake a southern accent among others, but it feels so incredibly strained to do so that, again, it’s hard to believe that we’re all speaking the same language in such incredibly varied ways.

This difference is neither good nor bad, it’s just interesting, but I really wonder what it’s like to grow up speaking a version of an American English that has such a distinct accent that people immediately know which region of the country you’re from. And yes, I do realize to people from other parts of the country that I do in fact sound like I have some sort of accent unlike theirs. But even imagining saying pahk yuh cah and meaning it is just fun to think about haha

Maybe I’m talking nonsense, and maybe I’m alone in this, but any chance anyone gets what I’m talking about? Again just using the Southern accent as an example, it’s also hard to think that people are surrounded by many others with the same regional accent that they don’t even hear that they have a very thick accent to other people. I heard someone say “whyyyte” the other day and it sounds so distinctly southern to me, but to other people around them, it just sounds like the word white lol. (And yes, I know, I’m sure they think the same of me as a northerner haha.)

(Talking about only the accents themselves here, not jargon.)

The USA is huge. Regional variations in accent and diction are valid. There is no “correct” American accent. Many words and turns of phrase differ regionally.

Edit: fully aware that SAE exists as a concept. But it lacks: an official dictionary, an official guide to grammar, an official guide to pronunciation, an authority that sets and maintains the standard.

Example of the pet peeve:

Person A (region 1 accent): “I love your accent. Are you from (region 2) originally?”

Person B (region 2 accent): “I was born there, but I don’t have an accent. I speak standard English. Maybe you think I have an accent because you do.”

(the spoiler bit is at the end fyi)

Can you think of any jokes that did not land in your variety of English / accent ?

I'll start:

In Patrick's song "under my rock" Patrick forces a rhyme between "tour" and "door" which do not Rhyme in American English, in SSB however they do indeed rhyme for many speakers, making the joke kind of moot

In one of Caddicarus's videos he makes a joke when he says "no you can't you Sssssss ... Tupid" as opposed to the expected "no you can't , Silly" which doesn't land for those who shift the "S" in stupid to a post alveolar "sh"

In zootropolis 2, the twist villain's name "pawbert" is supposed to resemble the word "puppet", although in SSB it doesn't, really, as highlighted by dazzreviews

I live in Texas and I tawk New Yawk. Within 5 seconds after opening my mouth I almost always get a comment on my accent, and even when I lived in NYC, most people my age don't have the classical NY accent. I feel like, for all my life, I am immediately tagged as from a working class background based on my speech. it's not necessarily a problem - I am who I am and I'm comfortable with that - but sometimes I wonder what it would be like to just be normal, y'know? I don't know if you guys can relate.

So more recently I realized I do fall into the Pennsylvania accent category. So I was talking with my partner in the car, and for context I’ll tell you what happened: a bmw was going under the speed limit (although used turn signals too, iykyk) and it wasn’t like 1-5mph either it was like 10-20 under. When passing I realize it was an Ontario plate. So I obviously went “oh, they’re from canada.”
Now here where he looked at me weird.

“cAn-Ada.” is how I personally say Canada.
he said in a very flat way. just.. Canada. not like how I say mine in seemingly two separate words.

so, how do YOU pronounce Canada..?

Edit: I’ve written back to multiple people trying to explain myself better in this post because the way I worded it apparently isn’t enough for some people to tell how I say it differently.
I really emphasize the first A in Canada hence why I spelt it the way I did, “cAn-Ada.”
I’m really bad at explaining things at all or writing out things in general and I’m sorry if that is confusing to some people, and although it is slightly frustrating I’m getting several of the same comments and questions, I’m not trying to come off as rude towards anybody.

EDIT 2 BC OMG BRO 😭🙏

I just had like an hour conversation trying to figure this out BUT I got someone who can explain it better then me :

“My best guess is that you say CAN-uh-duh but with a more ‘pinched’ A sound, almost like saying KYAN-uh-duh or KÄN-uh-duh, where that first A gets closer to an E sound.”

Hi,

Im working on sounding more natural in American English and ive been practicing a lot.

Could you please guess where im from based on my accent and give me any feedback?

Thank you :)

Any feedback appreciated!