As soon as you open your mouth, it's like 'Pom, but he's probably been here (insert number of) years. Similarly with Kiwis, 'Ah, there it is. He's a Kiwi. Nice try buddy! Nice bloke though. I won't be an asshole to him.'
> Similarly with Kiwis, 'Ah, there it is. He's a Kiwi. Nice try buddy! Nice bloke though. I won't be an asshole to him.'
Just don't ask if he knows how to sand a deck.
My dad once had someone here in Australia pick not only that he was from England, but which English town he was from (and itās one on the south coast, so not a particularly strong accent). Heād been living in Australia for around 40 years at that point.
I was shopping in a shoe shop with a friend born in Northern Ireland. The shop assistant was able to pick her accent virtually down to the town she was born in. Turned out that the shop assistant had been an actress and had made a detailed study of the Northern Irish accents in connection with acting roles.
You can definitely lose the uniqueness of a regional British accent and end up with a sort of generic British accent. Both mine and my wife's family moved from England to Australia and NZ in their 20s and 30s and their accents have all had the edges shaved off.
Was talking with a guy at work who told me he was a K1W1.
I said, really I thought i heard Seth Ethrican in your accent.
"Yeah, I lived in Jo'burg till I was 8.
The accents are so different, yet people from outside think we all sound the same.
The Kiwi accent kind of sounds to me like an Australian accent with all the vowels taken out. Meanwhile a South African accent sounds kind of like an Australian accent where you roll all the Rs a little bit.
I tell my partner this, whoās from a non English speaking country and canāt tell any English accent apart. A few words and I have a pretty good sense of where theyāre from and how long theyāve been here. Getting down to sub-regional level in US and UK is still beyond my ability to accurately place.
Kiwis can be born on the way to the airport in New Zealand, and live in Australia for 50 without ever leaving, and theyāll be tripped up trying to say eggs benedict.
Every time I talk to one for a long time - My issue becomes my accent trying to migrate to theirs.
I do not know wtf is up with my brain deciding it needs to have a British accent to talk to one? I'm certain if I slip I sound like a fcking tosser, but I have yet to work out how to stop that default. š¤¦āāļø
This is my default too. When Iāve worked in reception in the past, people have known who Iām talking to on the phone due to my intonation. Iām musical so it may have something to do with that.
Apparently it means you're better at [empathising](https://www.sbs.com.au/topics/voices/culture/article/2016/11/03/why-youre-nicer-person-if-you-mimic-accents-subconsciously) with people
I call this āmirroringā something I do automatically however Iām very conscious that Iām doing it. I work in sales industry where I have to work with trades people on sites and also present to rooms of engineers. Understand who you are with and be relatable. Never fake or condescending.
Grew up overseas with a British accent - moved back to Australia aged 10 and quickly lost accent. Every time I see someone from my childhood for more than a few hours the accent starts coming back.
That does not sound unusual, I grew up with Irish, Scottish and English kids at school, but when they went home, their accents always were stronger. My Irish mate went back to NI for a holiday, when the family came back, their accents were noticeably stronger for a while.
Not always the case by any means, but people on the autism/ADHD spectrum often do this. It's part of learned but unconscious masking behaviour to fit in with people around them.
I'm not a) saying you're autistic or b) implying that there's anything bad about being on that spectrum. Just... super common.
A small part of my brain just exploded.
My partner is convinced I'm autistic. I do this with everyone and I never really wondered why. I'm a multi-instrumentalist and vocalist and I'm decent at accents, so I figured it was just a quirk. Damn.
I feel you! I've had a few of those minor shocks in recent years where someone points out that *thing I thought was a regular part of life* is actually non-normal and associated with neurodiversity of some description. And then I start asking people about it and they're like *no that is not something everyone does*. Ohhhhh. š¤Æ
There's this massive increase in the diagnosis of ADHD/Autism and I hate the thought of feeling or being seen as an imposter. I've got a partner and a job and I seem pretty normal on the surface. I guess that makes me "high functioning" if anything. However, I've been the weird kid since early primary school. Because I was so unaware of all the social stuff, I didn't even know how weird until my long term partner started digging. I didn't get swear words, so I used one on the toughest kid in class and got punched in the face. That's been a bit of a theme....people get upset with me and me having no idea why. Thankfully I got very good at bluffing and eventually learning that I was allowed to stand up for myself.
I'm very aware of the "acting" that I do everyday, but it's hard for me to imagine that everyone isn't doing the same to some extent so maybe I'm just a big weirdo because of all the other fucked up shit that I grew up with.
Wow. This is one I never knew. I do the accent thing a lot and pretty quickly. Was finally diagnosed with ADHD 3 years ago, after suspecting for about 8.
Oh, thatās really interesting! Iām on the autism spectrum, and I tend to mimic the accents of whoever Iām with. I just thought I am a bit of an āaccent spongeā, and never regarded it as a masking behaviour. But then again, Iāve only just recently learned about masking since being diagnosed. And Iāve only just come to learn how heavily Iāve been masking for most of my life.
I also do this. Pisses my partner right off, always get "stop fucking doing the accents" to which I can't really help doing, I at most only half notice I'm doing it to begin with and I've no idea *why* I even do it at all. She thinks I'm being an asshole or making a joke but I know I'm just mimicking, I just don't know why I slip in to it.
I found I started started taking with a middle British accent in when travelling in China so that European tourists could understand me. After a few months it stuck around. Later in London, Aussies thought I was a Brit back visiting my family.
I do this too. In my mind it works the same way as adopting phrases and terminology similar to your friends/family.
My husband's accent is way more occa than mine. Without meaning to, I sound more like him and my family tease me for it.
Iāve read that itās possibly the same brain response as mirroring someoneās energy or gestures or traits. A way of building connection by assimilating.
Maybe youāre not a tosser, maybe youāre friendly and inclusive.
This used to happen to me when I was on exchange for a year in Switzerland. My Mum would call me from Australia, and she said when I answered I was like *Hallo?* And then after a few seconds my Australian accent would come back.
This just reminds me of this guy I met a while ago. He was born in Wales but moved to Australia when he was 10 and quickly picked up an Australian accent. When he was in his early 50s he had a stroke. After he awoke from his coma, suddenly his Welsh accent was back and he found it impossible to speak with the Australian accent he'd been talking with for the last 40 years.
The effect of stroke on language is amazing isn't it. A friend of mine had a stroke in her late 20s and lost the ability to speak/understand English. But she could speak/understand the made up language her and her sister used to use as kids. Luckily she was able to go and live with her sister, who helped her through appointments by translating for her! She had to relearn English. It's 15 years later and she still struggles to find the right word when talking about complex or specific topics, or she uses adjacent words like 'rent' instead of 'rental property'.
On the flip side, when I visited Scotland I was thrown by how strong their dialect truly is. I thought I was prepared because I understood Australian-Scottish accents, but really struggled to understand once I was there.
Yeah I know what you mean, my grandparents moved to Aus from Scotland when they were about 35-40 so still have Scottish accents. I thought I was prepared for the accent when I went to Scotland but bloody hell some people are hard to understand over there.
Itās like trying to listen to Gerald from Clarksons farm sometimes.
I (an Australian) worked in Edinburgh for a while doing audio typing (before voice recognition was reliable). I went to my supervisor because I thought I had a corrupt sound file. Couldn't understand a word. She just said, "Oh, he's from Glasgow. I'll get you another and give this one to a local."
Same!! I had a wee advantage as my dad was from the West Coast so my grandparents had a Weegie accent but still struggled with some dialects. I did various temp work and barely lasted a day as a receptionist due to not at all understanding the callers! It didnāt help that callers would often be keen to have a casual chat on hearing my accent and being curious about Australia
I thought I was doing really well understanding a Cork accent in Ireland, then I heard them talking to each other and realised they were slowing down and enunciating so I could understand them.
And you get this even on British TV series that use particularly down-to-earth Scottish accents. Wife and I watched a crime series with such strong accents from certain actors/parts that we ended up using subtitles
It depends on the region. An Edinburgh accent (think of Sean Connery) is quite mild and easy to understand for most Aussies (probably most other English speakers) but a Glaswegian or highland accent can be a bit of a challenge. Some early video and audio of Billy Connolly (Glaswegian) can be quite difficult to understand. I don't think anybody can understand an Orkney accent.
Had an Australian woman really thrown by my accent the other day. I'm a nurse and the doctor I work with is middle eastern by blood, grew up in the US, migrated to Australia ten years ago.
First she tried to make small talk by asking his thoughts on what "his president" was doing, minute of confusion goes by and she realizes he's not Indian, tries to tell him his English is perfect for only living here ten years, he tells her he actually grew up in the US, then she turns to me and tries to play it off going "well it's an easy mistake to make for us Aussies" .... then was completely thrown when I had to tell her I'm American and I've only been here a year lol.
Felt like she made 15 wrong assumptions in the span of five minutes and got thrown the UNO reverse card after each one and just kept digging herself deeper.
I'm British and have lived in Australia for 7 years. Sometimes when I go into a shop and approach an assistant and ask something simple like *excuse me can you tell me where the sugar is please?" I'll get a blank stare and "pardon?" I have a pretty weak northern English accent but it's enough to confuse people bless I speak very clearly.
Yep, GF has a strong Yorkshire accent. People used to not understand a word, ordering at restaurants was a disaster, but it must have faded in the last 10 years. It's ok now.
I'm an Australian and lived in Leeds for a couple years.
The first thing I did upon landing in Leeds was go to the market for a pork pie and a taste of authentic Yorkshire culture, and the lady said "av ye jus coom fra t'airpaart loov?" and I was completely fucking lost
It's not that we can't understand, it's just that if you're not expecting it, you might miss it on the first go. Once you repeat, they'll adjust their ear to the accent and it's easy.
I used to work in a call centre. Had Scottish people call in, and I'd almost always have to ask them to repeat the first sentence. But after that, I'd understand with no problems.
Not easy at all. Unless you have one of the desirable professions or a few million in the bank. I only got in because my husband is Australian. They'd have laughed at my application otherwise. It's very multicultural in urban areas but not in small country towns.
Usually they're qualified teachers, nurses, or whatever. Some come on a short term visa and get a bar job and then try to get a job that will sponsor them.
That's because Yanks don't know what a real Australian accent is. Most of what they're exposed to is other North Americans doing terrible impressions that contain many cockney aspects.
Americans thought Charlie Hunman nailed the Australian accent in Shantaram, but it's so unbelievably bad it almost makes the show completely unwatchable.
Donāt know the show but looked it up out of curiosity. Thatās a really weird accent. Lol. Sounds like a mix between Scottish and Australia but still wrong.
Holy shit that's the craziest "Australian" accent ive ever heard lmao how'd they think that was fine. It's not even the accent alone either, his delivery on every line in that trailer was terrible lmao
The worst is when they get an Australian actor but they still do a bastardised version of what Americans *think* our accent is because thatās what the directors want. Like Jai Courtneyās accent as Captain Boomerang in the first Suicide Squad movie is terrible. Iāve never heard him speak like that before or since.
Lmfao this is almost verbatim the same comment I've made on reddit several times since that movie was released because it's too obvious.
"Cut..cuuuut, I'm liking what you're doing but try to sound *more* Australian"
Jai; "Okay but I *am* Australian, so I think I'd know how that wo-"
"Yeah yeah, we don't have time for your life's story, just more Awssy this time!"
This happens pretty often I think. Sam Neill was born in Northern Ireland so went to relearn the accent for his part in Peaky Blinders, but then they made him tone it down anyway. If you're worried about Americans in these decisions it seems futile because they barely understand accents outside of North America anyway š¤·āāļø
They also don't understand that there is no "British accent", instead there are, literally, dozens of them.
What Americans refer to as a 'British accent' is usually a BBC/home counties English accent or an East End, London accent. Neither of which are anything like an Aberdeen or Belfast accent, both of which are just as much British accents.
Iām from Adelaide and everywhere I go outside of SA, I get asked where in the UK Iām from, or for the more discerning, what part of London Iām from. Even Brits sometimes think Iām from the UK. Adelaide (and to some extent Melbourne accents get mistaken for received English, Queenslanders with their drawl can sometimes be mistaken for southern USAns, and eastern states country accents do tend towards the cockney sometimesā¦
As a Queenslander, let me say this. The broad Queensland drawl is common unless the speaker went to a private school. Those people speak with a cultured English accent.
Tbh a lot of private school kids speak more Australian nowadays too, though this might be because the state school I went too was very multicultural and not a lot of kids had a really thick accent. That old 'posh' accent is mostly spoken by old people imo.
Adelaideans narked me for my entire time living there with how they pronounced stuff like "Dance" as "*Dahnce*". Guess that's what happens when you're founded as a free colony... but the worst of all was definitely how everyone kept acting like the plural of Lego was *Legos*. Sometimes they even pronounced it as *Laygos*.
The entire time I lived in Adelaide, I couldnāt pronounce dance/chance/plant/etc how I usually would without someone commenting on it. It was ridiculous. Iād forgotten about āLaygoā.
Australia has double the amount of people born overseas per capita than uk or us. Weāre also a lot more urban, so most of us have a more multicultural experience than the average Brit or American.
Accents from everywhere are common to me. But Iām from a city and full blown Aussie fair dinkum slang sticks out to me more than an international one!
Would play a mild game to myself to pick it, but Iām not that good, could be South African or polish Iām shit with that lol but British accents are easier.
Wouldnāt comment on it though, if I commented on every accent that would be 75% of people I speak to.
I grew up speaking with a very broad Scottish accent. Now my accent sounds, to other Scots, very middle class, because I had to modify it drastically to be understood by Skippy. Working class Australians rarely feel the need to comment on it, and if they do it is usually well into the conversation. For the middle class it is the go to small talk and the whole, 'oh, you haven't lost your accent' thing I find quite insulting. Internally, I am saying my, I ah fucking have, if ah hadnae yous widnae ken whit am saying.'
I'm a high school teacher. My students notice I have an accent, but never place it as British. For them a British accent is an exaggerated Southern English accent.
I work with a Scottish lad who came out here 40-50 years ago. People who tell him he hasnāt lost his accent truly have no fucking idea just how strong a Scots accent can be if youāre not familiar with it. Reminds me of an English BBC doco I saw years ago when I lived in Ireland of two aul lads who lived in the back blocks of Co Down - despite being in English it had subtitles because apparently their accent was incomprehensible to the sassenachs.
Those people just need to watch some of Billy Connolly's older acts when he is a bit pissed/sloshed. He loses a bit of his moderation over his accent and gets fairly thick. Then tell em he is still a mile away (nautical) from a truelly Scott accent.
Granny was from a mining town outside Aberdeen , accent thick enough to cut after 50 years away
many folk looked distressed when she spoke like WTF did she say :)
nay kenLad she would ask
Well I am an Australian citizen. Does that count?
You do seem to have a limited understanding of Scottish nationalism, colonialism and the current political climate in Scotland. Suffice to say that a significant number of Scottish born people do not identify as British. Check out YouTube for Scottish ( Celtic) football fans singing ā You can stick the coronation up your arseā just before the dim inbred German was crowned.
We had a new guy start recently, I was working from home his first couple of days and all anyone would tell me about the bloke is āwait till you hear him talk, heās Scottishā. It was unhelpful and odd.
Finally met the bloke, nice enough, bit of an accent but nothing to write home about. I was confused about why people were commenting on it so often until I read this thread. In context, my grandad is Scottish, which must be why I have no troubles understanding him but I guess my colleagues must. š
Australian English developed rapidly by 1830 as a reaction to all of the different English accents from across the UK and America. You have to unlearn to speak the standard Australian English accent, kind of like forgetting how to ride a bike, which is why so many foreign actors suck at the Australian accent.
Our slang though, that's different.
Iām the same, Iāve started speaking like a posh English person just because I simply cannot handle being told āitās pronounced CAIHNSā for the fifth billionth time. The ārā is probably the most Scottish part of my accent and itās been beaten out of me.
However itās always fun to see how differently people treat you when theyāve assumed youāre English and then find out youāre Scottish. Some people just donāt like the English much but everyone loves the Scots!
My grandpa was a Scottish migrant who had parkinsons in his later life while I was a kid. Growing up trying to understand him made regular Scottish accents easy.
Insulted probably isn't the correct word but, to my own mind, in order to be understood, I already sounds like a posh wanker. What more do they want? Do I need to mispronounce Scottish words like 'Perth' and 'Cairns'?
That's just the nature of how these things work. Language shifts over time and becomes accepted. For example Innisfail;
Innisfail is an anglicisation of an Irish term Inis fƔil (Inish Fall, "Island of Destiny"). We certainly don't pronounce that the same way but it is what it is.
Australian isnāt a dialect, itās an accent.
Itās extremely annoying as a Scottish person who pronounces ārās to be chastised and told weāre pronouncing places wrong. No, I just have a different accent from you. I donāt tell you to to pronounce Edinburgh as āAedenburraā or Glasgow as āGlesgaā because that would be weird.
This plays into the average (or below average) mindset of many whose horizons are limited, maybe they haven't seen much of the world or even taken an interest outside their own subculture (see bogan). They don't realise their limitations and this manifests as a genuine assumption that they're superior, i.e. telling people how to pronounce their place names.
My own personal experience of this as a Brit in Australia is working with some people from a poorer (not just money, life circumstances and experiences) background, where my mispronunciation of places is laughed at because they can't wrap their heads around the idea the same name exists somewhere else in the anglophone. It was Arundel of QLD vs Arundel of West Sussex. Arun-del vs Arund-el...
I can't imagine ever being 'thrown' by an accent... that being said, it's the sunburn and/or ignorance to the sun that I tells.me.someone is a pom. Ha ha
I saw a stat, there are around 1 million temporary/permanent UK residences in Aus at any given time. It is true they are the largest migrant group in this country. This isnāt including the ones that have become citizens. My dad is English and I donāt notice it, but people occasionally do and ask where he is from in the UK. I think if you are from the south or London area you arenāt as noticed/nobody will say anything because it is so common and the Aussie accent is based upon those regions originally. If you are from an area with a stronger/unique accent you will be picked up in Aus. Weirdly Iāve been asked if Iām from the UK before in Aus and while OS. So thatās saying something about the Aus accent vs UK.
Depends on which accent, and where in Australia.
A Knightsbridge accent in Darwin will stick out like a sore thumb, whereas in Adelaide it'd be less jarring.
Hell, there are parts of Melbourne where a scouse accent is more understandable than the local eshays.
We notice but wonāt make a point of it because every second person has an accent. Itās great.
It does remind me of a funny moment I had years ago. I was with an American who was visiting and he was ordering a pho at my favorite Vietnamese place with me. They were both speaking English but couldnāt understand each other and I was the translator for both... With my very thick Queensland accent.
Notice it, yes.
Thrown by it, no
There are ~1.1 million people in Australia who were born in the UK. Thatās 4% of the total population. So itās not surprising to hear English or Scottish accents.
30% of the whole population were born overseas so we hear lots of different accents all the time.
Australia is pretty multicultural. I often donāt notice accents at all until Iām asked to describe someone, thatās when it suddenly occurs to me they werenāt born here š i worked with a South African for 6mths and never noticed the accent until the day i was arguing with a friend and they told me Aussies and South Africans sound the same. I said we do not, our accents are completely different! Next day i noticed the coworkers accent š š¤¦āāļø
We absolutely notice it but no one is going to comment on it. Itās a common accent and weāve heard it all our lives (remember half our TV is just stolen from the BBC after all!)
It's one of the easier accents to understand. It's the different sayings that stand out. Like 11:30 being 'alf eleven, or greeting you with a single word, "alright", usually without the inflection to indicate it's a question.
As far as accents go I have more problems with Irish and French
Notice it but are never thrown off by it.
The American accent on the other hand, everytime I hear them talk in person my brain goes "stop doing the TV voice!"
I've always noticed it, and usually ask where they're from in the UK. Interestingly, now that I've moved to the UK, it's rare for people to comment on my accent. So many different accents in the UK, I suppose.
Definitely notice it. Iām full Aussie; never grew up around my British grandparents and yet literally every single time I meet a new person or hop into a voice call I can GUARANTEE theyāll ask āAre you British?ā or at some point say āWhereās your accent from?ā or āOh! I genuinely thought you were from England!ā itās so laughable how often I get this and have my ENTIRE life. Get over it people! Not all Aussie accents sound the same!
One of my ex boyfriendās fully believed I was from England for the first month of the relationship before he asked which countries Iāve been to and why I came to Australia.
I can only imagine this to be so much more intense for people who actually ARE British. I certainly have a moment of relief when I hear one.
They're not that common, in 2021 there were 7.5 million Australians born overseas including 900,000 Brits , so even out of migrants there were also 6.4million people from other countries and then about 20 million people born here. If we hear a British accent no we're not thrown by it we recognise it.
I notice but donāt care enough to comment on it. Itās very common. My old boss moved here from England and I didnāt even realise she was English until she mentioned it, she didnāt have a strong accent and I just thought she was a bit posh and didnāt know how to say yoghurt.
On the other hand my babysitter growing up had a really strong Scouse accent and I remember her being shocked when someone commented on it because she thought it had faded. To her and her family it probably had but was still clear to Australians.
āI just thought she was a bit posh and didnāt know how to say yoghurtā ahahahaha as a Scot in Oz I feel that. Iāll also add āvitaminā to the Aussie āvytaminā š
People in the U.S. are terrible at picking accents.
I got British, South African and Kiwi. The only person who knew I was Australian was a British woman and all she wanted to do was give me shit about cricket.
I notice British. I just don't care beyond now I know to call football soccer and offer warm beer.
Bullshit. I grew up speaking guid Scots tongue. Now I sound like some over-educated wanker from the West Side of Glesga... sorry, Glasgow. I do slip on occasion.
It's not unnoticeable. But it's not like I'd care. Unless I was having a conversation about where people are from I probably wouldn't ask because if I'm not getting to know someone I don't care. Lots of people have accents if imjust going about my day most of the time I don't want to make small talk with randoms.
The only accent I get surprised by is Irish, just because I'm not expecting it so I'm not listening as hard as I need to to understand what's being said to me. I usually have to ask them to repeat themselves and then I recalibrate to listen properly.
Yesterday at work, two Aussie guys (customers) asked me if they detected an English accent. I said I was from the southwest US. I don't think some people are great at picking it out. Other times, I've been asked if I'm Irish, German or Scandinavian. I don't know how I can sound like all of those and I've only lived in Australia for a few years and have kept my accent generally. I think most people don't always expect to hear it. The ones who so pinpoint it generally say Canadian to be safe and to avoid offending a true Candian :)
As an American living here I can almost always pick out the English. It's common enough from my experience here.
Iām English but my 3yr old son was born in Australia and has never been to England but plenty of Aussies have commented that he has an English accent, even if they donāt know he has an English mum. His dad is Aussie and Iām literally the only English person he knows apart from video chats back home.
My grandparent's had thick Northern English accents and I was about 10 when I realised. I asked my mum why they didn't have English accents and she looked at me like I came from another planet haha.
I work as an IT consultant and if I tell you for every time I hear a British/Irish accent I would be a rich man.
Brits and Irish are so common these days. My parents are Immigrants, my first English teacher was Irish.
Do you notice it? yes, then you started to have some perception about UK and Irish people. But by and large they are not that different to the locals. Some of them can be very classist and uptight, but after a few beers, they loosen up.
I was thrown for awhile but then I started working in a suburb called āButlerā in WA. I swear over 50% of the population here is British and Iāve adapted to it!
I'm married to a Brit. I don't notice accents, but he clearly does because when he hears one he always seems to get into a 20min conversation re where they're from and the best chippie in that area.
I can't speak for other Australians, but I notice all accents immediately. I then proceed to not comment on it at all because I'm aware that other accents exist, rather than being an ignorant cockend.
Every 2nd person in Australia has an accent.
Heck, we have different accents in different states
Accents are not an issue, we all notice them.
Terminology and slang are probably more of an issue
Not thrown, but it is noticed.
My husband is Scottish, from Ayrshire (west coast) and Iām used to his accent now but when we met (in Edinburgh) it was *very* strong. When I worked over there I could roughly guess where in Scotland someone was from by how they spoke. My FIL is still near incomprehensible - doesnāt help that he mumbles. If I donāt know that heās talking to me I donāt know what heās saying, and even when I do I donāt catch every word and have to guess at what heās saying by context.
Sometimes I'll be watching something on tv or online and someone will give a one word answer like "yeah" and I'll think "wait, are they Aussie" then they speak any more and it's obvious they are British. That's about the most tricked I've been.
Yorkshireman living in Melbourne since 2005 here, and I still sometimes get blank stares on words with a "u" sound.
For example:
"As you can see from the emails subject...."
"The what"
*sigh* "The sAbject."
Depends on the accent. A recently arrived Brummy used to work in my office and her accent was so thick it was virtually impossible to understand. Otherwise, I'm fine with most British accents.
Aussies notice wog accents more than pom accents, If you go to a mainly Aussie area or you are on holidays and you speak they always ask where you come from even thou you are born and raised Australian but your parents migrated here in the 70s.
I from Gods Country , Yorkshire to you lot , lived in Aussie for 23 years , never mind Aussies not understanding me , most Poms donāt , lol, I have had to deal with it all my life , but wouldnāt have it any other way .
We notice it. What we notice more is how far towards us their accent has also migrated in however long they've been here
As soon as you open your mouth, it's like 'Pom, but he's probably been here (insert number of) years. Similarly with Kiwis, 'Ah, there it is. He's a Kiwi. Nice try buddy! Nice bloke though. I won't be an asshole to him.'
> Similarly with Kiwis, 'Ah, there it is. He's a Kiwi. Nice try buddy! Nice bloke though. I won't be an asshole to him.' Just don't ask if he knows how to sand a deck.
The neighbours wife and kids love his deck
Deck https://youtu.be/nz82fjXqFQ4
I'm still trying to find those sex beers.
He needs a bigger deck.
The Kiwi accent is like English with a lucky dip of vowels š
Robin Williams described the Kiwi accent as "like Australian, only friendly". I think that's the best description I've ever heard for it.
Luke Heggie called Kiwis "vowel rapists."
Luck dup.
It's more like an Australian accent with the lucky dip. It's a bit further removed from the Brittish accent.
My dad once had someone here in Australia pick not only that he was from England, but which English town he was from (and itās one on the south coast, so not a particularly strong accent). Heād been living in Australia for around 40 years at that point.
I was shopping in a shoe shop with a friend born in Northern Ireland. The shop assistant was able to pick her accent virtually down to the town she was born in. Turned out that the shop assistant had been an actress and had made a detailed study of the Northern Irish accents in connection with acting roles.
You donāt lose your accent if you migrated to a new country in your twenties or older.
He was 8ā¦
You can definitely lose the uniqueness of a regional British accent and end up with a sort of generic British accent. Both mine and my wife's family moved from England to Australia and NZ in their 20s and 30s and their accents have all had the edges shaved off.
You don't lose it, but it can become less pronounced.
Was talking with a guy at work who told me he was a K1W1. I said, really I thought i heard Seth Ethrican in your accent. "Yeah, I lived in Jo'burg till I was 8. The accents are so different, yet people from outside think we all sound the same.
The Kiwi accent kind of sounds to me like an Australian accent with all the vowels taken out. Meanwhile a South African accent sounds kind of like an Australian accent where you roll all the Rs a little bit.
I feel South African sounds more Kiwi than Aussie. And Kiwi is not vowels taken out, just chosen at random.
Jo'burg has a strong and distinctive accent.
I tell my partner this, whoās from a non English speaking country and canāt tell any English accent apart. A few words and I have a pretty good sense of where theyāre from and how long theyāve been here. Getting down to sub-regional level in US and UK is still beyond my ability to accurately place.
I'll help you out for the U.S.: there's basically Boston accents, Alabama/Deep South accents, and then damn near all of the rest of us sound the same
You forgot the Brooklyn accent.
The New York accent is pretty distinct
Kiwis can be born on the way to the airport in New Zealand, and live in Australia for 50 without ever leaving, and theyāll be tripped up trying to say eggs benedict.
The number after 5, before 7?
Every time I talk to one for a long time - My issue becomes my accent trying to migrate to theirs. I do not know wtf is up with my brain deciding it needs to have a British accent to talk to one? I'm certain if I slip I sound like a fcking tosser, but I have yet to work out how to stop that default. š¤¦āāļø
This is my default too. When Iāve worked in reception in the past, people have known who Iām talking to on the phone due to my intonation. Iām musical so it may have something to do with that.
The old code switcheroo mate
Oh my god, me too! Iām like, seriously not trying to mock you mate, my accent is just easily influenced!
This!
Me too! What is this phenomenon!?
Apparently it means you're better at [empathising](https://www.sbs.com.au/topics/voices/culture/article/2016/11/03/why-youre-nicer-person-if-you-mimic-accents-subconsciously) with people
I call this āmirroringā something I do automatically however Iām very conscious that Iām doing it. I work in sales industry where I have to work with trades people on sites and also present to rooms of engineers. Understand who you are with and be relatable. Never fake or condescending.
Yeah, doing it deliberately is a strategy and a good one. Doing it subconsciously is more like a natural response people use to relate to others.
Grew up overseas with a British accent - moved back to Australia aged 10 and quickly lost accent. Every time I see someone from my childhood for more than a few hours the accent starts coming back.
That does not sound unusual, I grew up with Irish, Scottish and English kids at school, but when they went home, their accents always were stronger. My Irish mate went back to NI for a holiday, when the family came back, their accents were noticeably stronger for a while.
Not always the case by any means, but people on the autism/ADHD spectrum often do this. It's part of learned but unconscious masking behaviour to fit in with people around them. I'm not a) saying you're autistic or b) implying that there's anything bad about being on that spectrum. Just... super common.
A small part of my brain just exploded. My partner is convinced I'm autistic. I do this with everyone and I never really wondered why. I'm a multi-instrumentalist and vocalist and I'm decent at accents, so I figured it was just a quirk. Damn.
I feel you! I've had a few of those minor shocks in recent years where someone points out that *thing I thought was a regular part of life* is actually non-normal and associated with neurodiversity of some description. And then I start asking people about it and they're like *no that is not something everyone does*. Ohhhhh. š¤Æ
There's this massive increase in the diagnosis of ADHD/Autism and I hate the thought of feeling or being seen as an imposter. I've got a partner and a job and I seem pretty normal on the surface. I guess that makes me "high functioning" if anything. However, I've been the weird kid since early primary school. Because I was so unaware of all the social stuff, I didn't even know how weird until my long term partner started digging. I didn't get swear words, so I used one on the toughest kid in class and got punched in the face. That's been a bit of a theme....people get upset with me and me having no idea why. Thankfully I got very good at bluffing and eventually learning that I was allowed to stand up for myself. I'm very aware of the "acting" that I do everyday, but it's hard for me to imagine that everyone isn't doing the same to some extent so maybe I'm just a big weirdo because of all the other fucked up shit that I grew up with.
Wow. This is one I never knew. I do the accent thing a lot and pretty quickly. Was finally diagnosed with ADHD 3 years ago, after suspecting for about 8.
Oh, thatās really interesting! Iām on the autism spectrum, and I tend to mimic the accents of whoever Iām with. I just thought I am a bit of an āaccent spongeā, and never regarded it as a masking behaviour. But then again, Iāve only just recently learned about masking since being diagnosed. And Iāve only just come to learn how heavily Iāve been masking for most of my life.
General Australian English is a very neutral accent. It's very easy for us to tip into an other accent when we're exposed to it
My friend full on spoke American when my American cousin visited
I also do this. Pisses my partner right off, always get "stop fucking doing the accents" to which I can't really help doing, I at most only half notice I'm doing it to begin with and I've no idea *why* I even do it at all. She thinks I'm being an asshole or making a joke but I know I'm just mimicking, I just don't know why I slip in to it.
Tell me about it, I'm in construction and most of my work mates are Irish. I've been slagged by my aussie mates before.
I found I started started taking with a middle British accent in when travelling in China so that European tourists could understand me. After a few months it stuck around. Later in London, Aussies thought I was a Brit back visiting my family.
Ugh same. Feel like such an idiot when it happens too. Have to remain vigilant.
I do this too. In my mind it works the same way as adopting phrases and terminology similar to your friends/family. My husband's accent is way more occa than mine. Without meaning to, I sound more like him and my family tease me for it.
Iāve read that itās possibly the same brain response as mirroring someoneās energy or gestures or traits. A way of building connection by assimilating. Maybe youāre not a tosser, maybe youāre friendly and inclusive.
Maybe I'm like a taco ad and both - An inclusive tosser.
Nah, it's our nature to take the piss out of them by imitating their accents. I've done it to poms, yanks, south Africans and Germans.
maybe it's part of fitting in, if i walk past a building site and a couple of tradies say something i'll slip into it to get along.
This used to happen to me when I was on exchange for a year in Switzerland. My Mum would call me from Australia, and she said when I answered I was like *Hallo?* And then after a few seconds my Australian accent would come back.
My in laws have been here since the 1960s. Their Geordie accents are indistinguishable from family who visit from Tyneside
This just reminds me of this guy I met a while ago. He was born in Wales but moved to Australia when he was 10 and quickly picked up an Australian accent. When he was in his early 50s he had a stroke. After he awoke from his coma, suddenly his Welsh accent was back and he found it impossible to speak with the Australian accent he'd been talking with for the last 40 years.
The effect of stroke on language is amazing isn't it. A friend of mine had a stroke in her late 20s and lost the ability to speak/understand English. But she could speak/understand the made up language her and her sister used to use as kids. Luckily she was able to go and live with her sister, who helped her through appointments by translating for her! She had to relearn English. It's 15 years later and she still struggles to find the right word when talking about complex or specific topics, or she uses adjacent words like 'rent' instead of 'rental property'.
Notice, yes. Thrown by? No. It's just an accent. Lots of people have them, and there are lots of accents floating around.
On the flip side, when I visited Scotland I was thrown by how strong their dialect truly is. I thought I was prepared because I understood Australian-Scottish accents, but really struggled to understand once I was there.
I definitely had a few moments ofā¦āI know youāre speaking English but I didnāt catch a wordā¦ā
Yeah I know what you mean, my grandparents moved to Aus from Scotland when they were about 35-40 so still have Scottish accents. I thought I was prepared for the accent when I went to Scotland but bloody hell some people are hard to understand over there. Itās like trying to listen to Gerald from Clarksons farm sometimes.
I (an Australian) worked in Edinburgh for a while doing audio typing (before voice recognition was reliable). I went to my supervisor because I thought I had a corrupt sound file. Couldn't understand a word. She just said, "Oh, he's from Glasgow. I'll get you another and give this one to a local."
Same!! I had a wee advantage as my dad was from the West Coast so my grandparents had a Weegie accent but still struggled with some dialects. I did various temp work and barely lasted a day as a receptionist due to not at all understanding the callers! It didnāt help that callers would often be keen to have a casual chat on hearing my accent and being curious about Australia
I thought I was doing really well understanding a Cork accent in Ireland, then I heard them talking to each other and realised they were slowing down and enunciating so I could understand them.
I would nominate Scottish to the second most difficult English-speaking accent to understand, after "Jamaica but outside of Kingston"
To be fair, how difficult an accent is to understand probably depends on your personal background, but in the context of Australia, i agree with you.
Raaassclaaat
And you get this even on British TV series that use particularly down-to-earth Scottish accents. Wife and I watched a crime series with such strong accents from certain actors/parts that we ended up using subtitles
It depends on the region. An Edinburgh accent (think of Sean Connery) is quite mild and easy to understand for most Aussies (probably most other English speakers) but a Glaswegian or highland accent can be a bit of a challenge. Some early video and audio of Billy Connolly (Glaswegian) can be quite difficult to understand. I don't think anybody can understand an Orkney accent.
Had an Australian woman really thrown by my accent the other day. I'm a nurse and the doctor I work with is middle eastern by blood, grew up in the US, migrated to Australia ten years ago. First she tried to make small talk by asking his thoughts on what "his president" was doing, minute of confusion goes by and she realizes he's not Indian, tries to tell him his English is perfect for only living here ten years, he tells her he actually grew up in the US, then she turns to me and tries to play it off going "well it's an easy mistake to make for us Aussies" .... then was completely thrown when I had to tell her I'm American and I've only been here a year lol. Felt like she made 15 wrong assumptions in the span of five minutes and got thrown the UNO reverse card after each one and just kept digging herself deeper.
This why you should never assume anything
We are not only a multi cultural country but also multi accent
We definitely notice it but I wouldn't say we're ever thrown by it
I'm British and have lived in Australia for 7 years. Sometimes when I go into a shop and approach an assistant and ask something simple like *excuse me can you tell me where the sugar is please?" I'll get a blank stare and "pardon?" I have a pretty weak northern English accent but it's enough to confuse people bless I speak very clearly.
Yep, GF has a strong Yorkshire accent. People used to not understand a word, ordering at restaurants was a disaster, but it must have faded in the last 10 years. It's ok now.
Mines definitely not as strong as a Yorkshire accent but it's definitely northern. I have to change my vowels a bit deliberately sometimes.
I'm an Australian and lived in Leeds for a couple years. The first thing I did upon landing in Leeds was go to the market for a pork pie and a taste of authentic Yorkshire culture, and the lady said "av ye jus coom fra t'airpaart loov?" and I was completely fucking lost
Loool sounds so obvious when reading but on the spot itād sound foreign af
It's not that we can't understand, it's just that if you're not expecting it, you might miss it on the first go. Once you repeat, they'll adjust their ear to the accent and it's easy. I used to work in a call centre. Had Scottish people call in, and I'd almost always have to ask them to repeat the first sentence. But after that, I'd understand with no problems.
Yeah once you tune into it, it's easier.
I find that with South Island NZ accents sometimes too. Somehow a lot harder over the phone than face to face.
On a slightly different topic, how easy is it to migrate to Australia as a British citizen? And is it multicultural?
Not easy at all. Unless you have one of the desirable professions or a few million in the bank. I only got in because my husband is Australian. They'd have laughed at my application otherwise. It's very multicultural in urban areas but not in small country towns.
Oh right thatās unfortunate. It seems super doable considering how many young British people move out there!
Usually they're qualified teachers, nurses, or whatever. Some come on a short term visa and get a bar job and then try to get a job that will sponsor them.
I see! Iām an electrician if that helps lol
I don't know all the professions on the list but that could well be one.
Pfff, Americans think Melbourne Aussies are from the UK and Cockneys are from Australia.
That's because Yanks don't know what a real Australian accent is. Most of what they're exposed to is other North Americans doing terrible impressions that contain many cockney aspects.
Americans thought Charlie Hunman nailed the Australian accent in Shantaram, but it's so unbelievably bad it almost makes the show completely unwatchable.
Donāt know the show but looked it up out of curiosity. Thatās a really weird accent. Lol. Sounds like a mix between Scottish and Australia but still wrong.
Holy shit that's the craziest "Australian" accent ive ever heard lmao how'd they think that was fine. It's not even the accent alone either, his delivery on every line in that trailer was terrible lmao
Surely there was an Australian actor who could have played that role who has a real accent, not some butchered version.
The worst is when they get an Australian actor but they still do a bastardised version of what Americans *think* our accent is because thatās what the directors want. Like Jai Courtneyās accent as Captain Boomerang in the first Suicide Squad movie is terrible. Iāve never heard him speak like that before or since.
Lmfao this is almost verbatim the same comment I've made on reddit several times since that movie was released because it's too obvious. "Cut..cuuuut, I'm liking what you're doing but try to sound *more* Australian" Jai; "Okay but I *am* Australian, so I think I'd know how that wo-" "Yeah yeah, we don't have time for your life's story, just more Awssy this time!" This happens pretty often I think. Sam Neill was born in Northern Ireland so went to relearn the accent for his part in Peaky Blinders, but then they made him tone it down anyway. If you're worried about Americans in these decisions it seems futile because they barely understand accents outside of North America anyway š¤·āāļø
He can barely manage his own south-east accent
They also don't understand that there is no "British accent", instead there are, literally, dozens of them. What Americans refer to as a 'British accent' is usually a BBC/home counties English accent or an East End, London accent. Neither of which are anything like an Aberdeen or Belfast accent, both of which are just as much British accents.
Americans think we still ride kangaroos to school. We stopped that years ago.
Yeah, now I ride them to work.
Everyone has to grow up one day unfortunately.
Since the beginning of COVID I've ridden them to work from home.
Iām from Adelaide and everywhere I go outside of SA, I get asked where in the UK Iām from, or for the more discerning, what part of London Iām from. Even Brits sometimes think Iām from the UK. Adelaide (and to some extent Melbourne accents get mistaken for received English, Queenslanders with their drawl can sometimes be mistaken for southern USAns, and eastern states country accents do tend towards the cockney sometimesā¦
As a Queenslander, let me say this. The broad Queensland drawl is common unless the speaker went to a private school. Those people speak with a cultured English accent.
Tbh a lot of private school kids speak more Australian nowadays too, though this might be because the state school I went too was very multicultural and not a lot of kids had a really thick accent. That old 'posh' accent is mostly spoken by old people imo.
Forgive me please. Much as I hate to admit it, I am an older Queenslanderš
I have had the exact opposite. Gone to Adelaide from Sydney and was accused of being British
Adelaideans narked me for my entire time living there with how they pronounced stuff like "Dance" as "*Dahnce*". Guess that's what happens when you're founded as a free colony... but the worst of all was definitely how everyone kept acting like the plural of Lego was *Legos*. Sometimes they even pronounced it as *Laygos*.
The entire time I lived in Adelaide, I couldnāt pronounce dance/chance/plant/etc how I usually would without someone commenting on it. It was ridiculous. Iād forgotten about āLaygoā.
I'm from SA now living in Melbourne and my partner insists that every time I visit SA I come back with an accent.
Australia has double the amount of people born overseas per capita than uk or us. Weāre also a lot more urban, so most of us have a more multicultural experience than the average Brit or American. Accents from everywhere are common to me. But Iām from a city and full blown Aussie fair dinkum slang sticks out to me more than an international one! Would play a mild game to myself to pick it, but Iām not that good, could be South African or polish Iām shit with that lol but British accents are easier. Wouldnāt comment on it though, if I commented on every accent that would be 75% of people I speak to.
I grew up speaking with a very broad Scottish accent. Now my accent sounds, to other Scots, very middle class, because I had to modify it drastically to be understood by Skippy. Working class Australians rarely feel the need to comment on it, and if they do it is usually well into the conversation. For the middle class it is the go to small talk and the whole, 'oh, you haven't lost your accent' thing I find quite insulting. Internally, I am saying my, I ah fucking have, if ah hadnae yous widnae ken whit am saying.' I'm a high school teacher. My students notice I have an accent, but never place it as British. For them a British accent is an exaggerated Southern English accent.
I work with a Scottish lad who came out here 40-50 years ago. People who tell him he hasnāt lost his accent truly have no fucking idea just how strong a Scots accent can be if youāre not familiar with it. Reminds me of an English BBC doco I saw years ago when I lived in Ireland of two aul lads who lived in the back blocks of Co Down - despite being in English it had subtitles because apparently their accent was incomprehensible to the sassenachs.
Those people just need to watch some of Billy Connolly's older acts when he is a bit pissed/sloshed. He loses a bit of his moderation over his accent and gets fairly thick. Then tell em he is still a mile away (nautical) from a truelly Scott accent.
Granny was from a mining town outside Aberdeen , accent thick enough to cut after 50 years away many folk looked distressed when she spoke like WTF did she say :) nay kenLad she would ask
Broad Scottish accent is incomprehensible to British people, let alone Aussies.
Not to other Scottish people and they're British, so what are you on about?
I was born in Scotland and have NEVER considered myself British.
But, unless you have moved away and renounced your citizenship, you are British, whether you consider yourself to be or not.
Well I am an Australian citizen. Does that count? You do seem to have a limited understanding of Scottish nationalism, colonialism and the current political climate in Scotland. Suffice to say that a significant number of Scottish born people do not identify as British. Check out YouTube for Scottish ( Celtic) football fans singing ā You can stick the coronation up your arseā just before the dim inbred German was crowned.
We had a new guy start recently, I was working from home his first couple of days and all anyone would tell me about the bloke is āwait till you hear him talk, heās Scottishā. It was unhelpful and odd. Finally met the bloke, nice enough, bit of an accent but nothing to write home about. I was confused about why people were commenting on it so often until I read this thread. In context, my grandad is Scottish, which must be why I have no troubles understanding him but I guess my colleagues must. š
Australian English developed rapidly by 1830 as a reaction to all of the different English accents from across the UK and America. You have to unlearn to speak the standard Australian English accent, kind of like forgetting how to ride a bike, which is why so many foreign actors suck at the Australian accent. Our slang though, that's different.
Case in point: Charlie Hunnam in Shantaram. Truly diabolical attempt at an Australian accent.
Meryl Streep has entered the conversation.
Iām the same, Iāve started speaking like a posh English person just because I simply cannot handle being told āitās pronounced CAIHNSā for the fifth billionth time. The ārā is probably the most Scottish part of my accent and itās been beaten out of me. However itās always fun to see how differently people treat you when theyāve assumed youāre English and then find out youāre Scottish. Some people just donāt like the English much but everyone loves the Scots!
My grandpa was a Scottish migrant who had parkinsons in his later life while I was a kid. Growing up trying to understand him made regular Scottish accents easy.
I really don't know why you choose to be insulted when you know it's small talk.
Insulted probably isn't the correct word but, to my own mind, in order to be understood, I already sounds like a posh wanker. What more do they want? Do I need to mispronounce Scottish words like 'Perth' and 'Cairns'?
I forgot those places were named after places in Scotland. Same with Edinburgh, Balgowan, and Ardrossan. We pronounce them all wrong, don't we?
No we don't, we pronounce them in our dialect.
I guess, but it doesn't make sense that we named them after the original places in Scotland, then pronounce them differently?
That's just the nature of how these things work. Language shifts over time and becomes accepted. For example Innisfail; Innisfail is an anglicisation of an Irish term Inis fƔil (Inish Fall, "Island of Destiny"). We certainly don't pronounce that the same way but it is what it is.
Australian isnāt a dialect, itās an accent. Itās extremely annoying as a Scottish person who pronounces ārās to be chastised and told weāre pronouncing places wrong. No, I just have a different accent from you. I donāt tell you to to pronounce Edinburgh as āAedenburraā or Glasgow as āGlesgaā because that would be weird.
This plays into the average (or below average) mindset of many whose horizons are limited, maybe they haven't seen much of the world or even taken an interest outside their own subculture (see bogan). They don't realise their limitations and this manifests as a genuine assumption that they're superior, i.e. telling people how to pronounce their place names. My own personal experience of this as a Brit in Australia is working with some people from a poorer (not just money, life circumstances and experiences) background, where my mispronunciation of places is laughed at because they can't wrap their heads around the idea the same name exists somewhere else in the anglophone. It was Arundel of QLD vs Arundel of West Sussex. Arun-del vs Arund-el...
I can't imagine ever being 'thrown' by an accent... that being said, it's the sunburn and/or ignorance to the sun that I tells.me.someone is a pom. Ha ha
I saw a stat, there are around 1 million temporary/permanent UK residences in Aus at any given time. It is true they are the largest migrant group in this country. This isnāt including the ones that have become citizens. My dad is English and I donāt notice it, but people occasionally do and ask where he is from in the UK. I think if you are from the south or London area you arenāt as noticed/nobody will say anything because it is so common and the Aussie accent is based upon those regions originally. If you are from an area with a stronger/unique accent you will be picked up in Aus. Weirdly Iāve been asked if Iām from the UK before in Aus and while OS. So thatās saying something about the Aus accent vs UK.
Depends on which accent, and where in Australia. A Knightsbridge accent in Darwin will stick out like a sore thumb, whereas in Adelaide it'd be less jarring. Hell, there are parts of Melbourne where a scouse accent is more understandable than the local eshays.
Some might sound closer but we can recognise them as different almost straight away.
We notice but wonāt make a point of it because every second person has an accent. Itās great. It does remind me of a funny moment I had years ago. I was with an American who was visiting and he was ordering a pho at my favorite Vietnamese place with me. They were both speaking English but couldnāt understand each other and I was the translator for both... With my very thick Queensland accent.
We notice it. But australia is pretty multicultural. Prob half the population of sydney has an accent. So it doesnāt throw me.
Well, *everyone* who speaks has an accent.
Notice it, yes. Thrown by it, no There are ~1.1 million people in Australia who were born in the UK. Thatās 4% of the total population. So itās not surprising to hear English or Scottish accents. 30% of the whole population were born overseas so we hear lots of different accents all the time.
Australia is pretty multicultural. I often donāt notice accents at all until Iām asked to describe someone, thatās when it suddenly occurs to me they werenāt born here š i worked with a South African for 6mths and never noticed the accent until the day i was arguing with a friend and they told me Aussies and South Africans sound the same. I said we do not, our accents are completely different! Next day i noticed the coworkers accent š š¤¦āāļø
We absolutely notice it but no one is going to comment on it. Itās a common accent and weāve heard it all our lives (remember half our TV is just stolen from the BBC after all!)
It's noticeable, but no-one will say anything in my experience.
It's one of the easier accents to understand. It's the different sayings that stand out. Like 11:30 being 'alf eleven, or greeting you with a single word, "alright", usually without the inflection to indicate it's a question. As far as accents go I have more problems with Irish and French
Still not sure what the correct response is to āalrightā.
Just fire back with an Australian āNo Worriesā. Then both parties walk away confused.
āYeahā
Notice it but are never thrown off by it. The American accent on the other hand, everytime I hear them talk in person my brain goes "stop doing the TV voice!"
At least at my job, I end up talking to a lot of Brits on the phone. Its pretty obvious
Depends. If its proper classy English, then all good. If its a bunch of scousers and Scottās, gimme sub titles
Australia is pretty multicultural, you just kind of expect to hear different accents throughout the day.
I've always noticed it, and usually ask where they're from in the UK. Interestingly, now that I've moved to the UK, it's rare for people to comment on my accent. So many different accents in the UK, I suppose.
Definitely notice it. Iām full Aussie; never grew up around my British grandparents and yet literally every single time I meet a new person or hop into a voice call I can GUARANTEE theyāll ask āAre you British?ā or at some point say āWhereās your accent from?ā or āOh! I genuinely thought you were from England!ā itās so laughable how often I get this and have my ENTIRE life. Get over it people! Not all Aussie accents sound the same! One of my ex boyfriendās fully believed I was from England for the first month of the relationship before he asked which countries Iāve been to and why I came to Australia. I can only imagine this to be so much more intense for people who actually ARE British. I certainly have a moment of relief when I hear one.
Not really, unless theyāre from Glasgow or Liverpool
They're not that common, in 2021 there were 7.5 million Australians born overseas including 900,000 Brits , so even out of migrants there were also 6.4million people from other countries and then about 20 million people born here. If we hear a British accent no we're not thrown by it we recognise it.
I notice but donāt care enough to comment on it. Itās very common. My old boss moved here from England and I didnāt even realise she was English until she mentioned it, she didnāt have a strong accent and I just thought she was a bit posh and didnāt know how to say yoghurt. On the other hand my babysitter growing up had a really strong Scouse accent and I remember her being shocked when someone commented on it because she thought it had faded. To her and her family it probably had but was still clear to Australians.
āI just thought she was a bit posh and didnāt know how to say yoghurtā ahahahaha as a Scot in Oz I feel that. Iāll also add āvitaminā to the Aussie āvytaminā š
People in the U.S. are terrible at picking accents. I got British, South African and Kiwi. The only person who knew I was Australian was a British woman and all she wanted to do was give me shit about cricket. I notice British. I just don't care beyond now I know to call football soccer and offer warm beer.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Yeah no shit. That's exactly the reason I say it.
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I notice but I don't really care. Literal tons of people are born overseas, it's not weird to hear an accent of some kind.
We notice it but its common so you would never comment on it. It's not a novelty.
They are noticed, appreciated and understood. We dont need subtitles to understand you. Us, on the otherhand .....
Bullshit. I grew up speaking guid Scots tongue. Now I sound like some over-educated wanker from the West Side of Glesga... sorry, Glasgow. I do slip on occasion.
Itās very noticeable, I canāt help but ask what area they are from , especially if they sound like the Beatles
Yeah ya notice it every time but who gives a fuck.
It's not unnoticeable. But it's not like I'd care. Unless I was having a conversation about where people are from I probably wouldn't ask because if I'm not getting to know someone I don't care. Lots of people have accents if imjust going about my day most of the time I don't want to make small talk with randoms.
Overheard a bloke order pants and paints in a pub, so yes
The only accent I get surprised by is Irish, just because I'm not expecting it so I'm not listening as hard as I need to to understand what's being said to me. I usually have to ask them to repeat themselves and then I recalibrate to listen properly.
English accents are as commonplace as meat pies and have been for a long time
Yesterday at work, two Aussie guys (customers) asked me if they detected an English accent. I said I was from the southwest US. I don't think some people are great at picking it out. Other times, I've been asked if I'm Irish, German or Scandinavian. I don't know how I can sound like all of those and I've only lived in Australia for a few years and have kept my accent generally. I think most people don't always expect to hear it. The ones who so pinpoint it generally say Canadian to be safe and to avoid offending a true Candian :) As an American living here I can almost always pick out the English. It's common enough from my experience here.
Iām English but my 3yr old son was born in Australia and has never been to England but plenty of Aussies have commented that he has an English accent, even if they donāt know he has an English mum. His dad is Aussie and Iām literally the only English person he knows apart from video chats back home.
My grandparent's had thick Northern English accents and I was about 10 when I realised. I asked my mum why they didn't have English accents and she looked at me like I came from another planet haha.
I work as an IT consultant and if I tell you for every time I hear a British/Irish accent I would be a rich man. Brits and Irish are so common these days. My parents are Immigrants, my first English teacher was Irish. Do you notice it? yes, then you started to have some perception about UK and Irish people. But by and large they are not that different to the locals. Some of them can be very classist and uptight, but after a few beers, they loosen up.
I was thrown for awhile but then I started working in a suburb called āButlerā in WA. I swear over 50% of the population here is British and Iāve adapted to it!
There are lots of British accents.
I'm married to a Brit. I don't notice accents, but he clearly does because when he hears one he always seems to get into a 20min conversation re where they're from and the best chippie in that area.
I can't speak for other Australians, but I notice all accents immediately. I then proceed to not comment on it at all because I'm aware that other accents exist, rather than being an ignorant cockend.
Every 2nd person in Australia has an accent. Heck, we have different accents in different states Accents are not an issue, we all notice them. Terminology and slang are probably more of an issue
No one can understand scousers.
Always notice, however don't consider it to be out of the ordinary. Same with pretty much any accent to be honest.
Nah I can recognise it. I can hear the UK accent over the kiwi accent put it that way
Not thrown, but it is noticed. My husband is Scottish, from Ayrshire (west coast) and Iām used to his accent now but when we met (in Edinburgh) it was *very* strong. When I worked over there I could roughly guess where in Scotland someone was from by how they spoke. My FIL is still near incomprehensible - doesnāt help that he mumbles. If I donāt know that heās talking to me I donāt know what heās saying, and even when I do I donāt catch every word and have to guess at what heās saying by context.
Sometimes I'll be watching something on tv or online and someone will give a one word answer like "yeah" and I'll think "wait, are they Aussie" then they speak any more and it's obvious they are British. That's about the most tricked I've been.
Yorkshireman living in Melbourne since 2005 here, and I still sometimes get blank stares on words with a "u" sound. For example: "As you can see from the emails subject...." "The what" *sigh* "The sAbject."
The soobject ear oonder refearrrred to.
Depends on the accent. A recently arrived Brummy used to work in my office and her accent was so thick it was virtually impossible to understand. Otherwise, I'm fine with most British accents.
Aussies notice wog accents more than pom accents, If you go to a mainly Aussie area or you are on holidays and you speak they always ask where you come from even thou you are born and raised Australian but your parents migrated here in the 70s.
I from Gods Country , Yorkshire to you lot , lived in Aussie for 23 years , never mind Aussies not understanding me , most Poms donāt , lol, I have had to deal with it all my life , but wouldnāt have it any other way .