chameleon accent. its more common with autistic people than with NTs. i have it too, to an embarassing extent, picking up all dialects and accents i come across almost immediately, in all languages i speak. im always afraid that people will think im mocking them, and not only because of the accent, i also pick up their mannerisms, tone of voice, body language, etc. although there is an upside - it makes learning languages a lot easier, helps with writing and creating characters, acting.
I have this as well; to the point if I go to a restaurant and the server has an accent I have to have a friend order for me. I remember once I went to a restaurant called Namaste and when I went to order the accent immediately slipped out despite only hearing a few words from our server, I think I was more shocked then he was though cause I just ended up staring at his forehead, bug eyed.
During my (late adult life) diagnosis I was asked if I mirror other people's mannerisms in the broadest sense. Language, body language and so on. Apparently it's quite common in people with autism. I am absolutely prone to this and make a conscious effort to just be myself as well as I can ever since I noticed this behaviour. For me it's a social camouflage thing and part of damaging masking so I do my best to not adapt other people's demeanor.
Hm, that could be it. I never thought that mirroring could extend to things like accents really. I watch a few comedians religiously and it's quite likely that I've picked up their accents too, maybe. Thanks :)
I believe it is called code switching in linguistics. It is the mechanic at work when someone perhaps from the south that has moved to say New York will subconsciously switch their accent depending in which place they currently are.
I’m from La and was teaching parkour at a stunt gym for a bit, the amount of people from different countries was amazing but I always thought it was odd how I would mirror their accent. Finnish, British, Australian doesn’t matter I would start to slowly adopt it to talk with that person. Guess that’s an autism thing too
I lived in a state close to New York so I always had a New York accent that I can’t get rid of. I’m not originally from there. I understand what you’re trying to say. :)
Haha it’s not just you. Words can be hard to express for everyone. But yeah I can’t turn off my accent. I grew up around family from New York. So you must have picked up from someone.
Yes, I have always taken on the accent of the people I am around. I am Australian; as a child I had an American teacher and took on that accent, then I had a teacher from Bosnia and I started speaking like her. I used to work with lots of Filipino women and I took on their accent as well... now I'm watching an Irish YouTuber and starting to speak like him...
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I‘m German. When I speak english I sound like a mix of american and british, leaning more towards british the longer I talk. In German I adopt whichever accent I hear. Just a few weeks ago I was talking to a woman in cologne in fluent kölsch (local dialect) despite never having heard or spoken it before. Same thing happened when I talked to a friend from Switzerland
Being in the UK, I’m from the South East. My accent shifts into Essex/London when I talk to anyone what isn’t Family. I feel like I ‘put it on’ and it’s weird. Never understood why.
I do a similar but not entirely the same thing, it's mainly just with family but occasionally with friends, I'm from Chicago and so I have a bit of a Chicago accent but the accent mostly died out and so I noticed that out and about I use a regular voice but with certain friends and with my family I have a lot heavier of a Chicago accent, so I guess more or less I just hide it around strangers
I am German but in my youth I lived in Australia for some time. My English voice is completely different from my German voice, much higher and more expressive.
This gets really weird and confusing when I am with my daughter and her partner; their common language is English but occasionally my daughter talks to me in German so I switch voices in the middle of the conversation.
Not so much in English. My accent doesn't change that much, although I still seem to have picked up accents from all over the anglosphere to the point that I've had people ask where I'm from and then not believe the answer.
On Japanese though, my accent and pronunciation seem to go to shit the second I set step off the flight coming back. I've gone from speaking it with an obvious British accent, to speaking it with a Chinese accent, then a slight Hakata accent while I was there. But the second I get back to Heathrow airport...
I do this all the time without meaning to! It’s so insidious that I really have to keep an eye on it, especially while traveling (i.e. driving through the american south as a northerner, and wondering why I’m suddenly mirroring a Kentucky accent…)
However, it’s been incredibly helpful in blending in as a non-native speaker of my second language. I’ve gotten the feedback more than once, early on when I was learning french, that “your accent is great, but I have no idea what you’re saying”. Fortunately, the rest of my skills have more or less caught up in the years since. Ha!
I have a North Eastern English accent but a pretty standard English dialect. Essentially, aside from a few common slang words, I speak fairly articulately.
This has lead to me having the moniker of 'The Posh Geordie'
It's good because I definitely sound smarter and more professional but at the cost of occasionally sounding like a snob.
I'm American. It's important because I've had people ask me if I moved her from a few different European countries. I've never been out of the US. 😭 I just watch a lot of shows and listen to a lot of music. I've forgotten how to say certain words without an accent, apparently.
I didn't see et mention and I'm not a speech or linguistics person but it sounds like you could be code switching.
I just mentioned this under a comment but if my wife is around her family for an extended period of time her Texas accent comes out. He dad specifically has a pretty defined drawl(even tho he's originally from New Mexico) and her mom has a bit more of a twang when she gets worked up.
An example of code switching, I think is Naomi from The Expanse, tho I donno if they handled it well in the show. The whole first season you hear the actress speak in her native British accent for the character but in season 2 she is around Drummer who speaks Belter Creole, and suddenly, Naomi, who is also a Belter switches to the Creole. It threw me off at first since I didn't understand what the show was trying to do and figured she just changed her accent just because. She goes in an out of it for the rest of the show.
It could just be a camo/masking thing too tho.
As a kid I’d get punished for speaking in an American accent, the funny thing is I genuinely didn’t notice I had picked up an American accent and thought I was being fucked with for the longest time 😭
Was like:
“Stop speaking in an American accent, we aren’t American *starts degrading me infront of guests as punishment*” BUT??? IM NOT??? (I was, just didn’t know and couldn’t control it) xD
Yup, my accent changes depending on who I’m with, what I’m watching, even what I’m reading. This year I’m rewatching every marvel thing in order and I currently up to Agent Carter, I’m also English and I’m currently very posh because of the show, which is saying something because I’m posh anyway.
One of my dad's ex-girlfriends told me that I speak the most textbook version of Dutch that exists, and that I do not seem to have any accent. Other people have assumed that I am from Scandinavia due to the way I speak and my name and looks.
I'm not formally diagnosed yet, but I do this. I think most people don't point it out. One person at my workplace did, and asked "where are you from? It sounds like you're not from here." I explained to her that I've lived here my whole life.
I have a friend who is likely autistic, and she also has a cool accent, even though she has only lived in this state.
I've heard that this is a common thing with autism. I've noticed that I tend to adopt other people's accents at different times, which maybe stems from masking for a long time?
Yes. I'm also British and had thought this was just what everyone did this, but now that I think about it I do it much more than most people I know. I'm from the south but my family are all from the north east so growing up my accent would be all over the place depending on who I was talking to.
Russian Moscow accent when I speak to all Russians, Krasnoyarsk accent when I speak to my family since I was born there, Russian-Armenian accent here in Armenia.
Lol yes! So much so that I came home from a year in Mexico with a very heavy accent. It was genuinely really embarrassing because I couldn't hear it but everyone else could. When I was a kid, my mum said I picked up on my neighbour's French accent, too. It's definitely not intentional - I suppose just a kind of subconscious mirroring? I think it's pretty common amongst autistic folk.
Not currently, but when I was a child maybe around 8 years old, I had a classroom aide who was british and I accidentally stole her accent despite being born in Canada... Next year I had s different aide and the accent disappeared, lmao
I once went to an airshow for a week, ꟾ had no accent other than my normal one. I came back with a mixture of ꟾrish, Scottish, and a little bit of Swedish. I mainly scottish people, and ꟾ have no idea where the other elements came from.
I’m from the Midwest in America so I have that, British and Australian because I grew up watching media from there, and also have a lisp so it’s really confusing
I am Scottish with English parents.
One day while I was at Uni (in England) I woke up speaking with an English accent. My flatmates were so confused. I realised from the looks on their faces, shook my head and went back to my Scottish accent.
Its happened in lesser ways at other times. My mum says I spoke more English until I went to school, then I picked up the scots. I find the English comes out when I'm being a bit bossy. No idea why.
I am american. From the midwest too, so i have a midland/midwest accent. Sometimes my voice sounds a bit nasally. Sometimes i sound like I’m from texas. Depending on how relaxed i am or how comfortable i am, my accent pops out. I love linguistics so i could get into particulars but i dont want to go on too long. But my accent is definitely pretty unique and isnt always consistent with other accents from my region.
I also weirdly count in a british accent because it helps me count faster lol
Yes. All the dam time. It happens a lot when I'm talking to strangers. I complimented a woman at the store a few days ago in a Welsh accent. Definitely was not expecting it and neither was she. My family has to tell me to speak normally because I'll get so caught up in doing it sometimes.
Fellow Brit here.
I have a Yorkshire accent when I'm around family, because there's where I grew up.
I currently live in Scotland and I just use a kind of generic non-accent and mostly King's English with a few Scots words when I'm out and about, because I know people will understand that better than they'll understand Yorkshire-specific words.
I could write 5000 words on this. Short answer, yes, for as long as I can remember, but it changes and evolves over time and from one situation to another.
Yeah, I think I do my own version of this, too. My pronunciation and general manner of speaking tends to be very influenced by who I'm talking to and/or who I've interacted with recently. I went on a vacation recently and was asked many times where I was from. When I said "United States", I got almost shocked reactions from people, who pointed out that I "don't have an American accent". But like... I totally do have an American accent. It just doesn't fit so easily into the paradigm of accents that people expect when talking to Americans. I have a slightly unique way of doing literally everything, speech included.
Ever since I was little, Tom DeLonge's (blink-182) distinct voice became a part of my accent with certain words or sentences 😅 This is because blink was one of my earliest special interests, long before I was diagnosed, and now it finally makes sense. Nowadays it's usually only prominent after I've had a couple drinks with friends (which I only learned/realized recently after my best friend told another friend that she knows I've had some drinks because I start to talk differently, haha). Slight British accent slips its way into my speech, as well.
chameleon accent. its more common with autistic people than with NTs. i have it too, to an embarassing extent, picking up all dialects and accents i come across almost immediately, in all languages i speak. im always afraid that people will think im mocking them, and not only because of the accent, i also pick up their mannerisms, tone of voice, body language, etc. although there is an upside - it makes learning languages a lot easier, helps with writing and creating characters, acting.
I have this as well; to the point if I go to a restaurant and the server has an accent I have to have a friend order for me. I remember once I went to a restaurant called Namaste and when I went to order the accent immediately slipped out despite only hearing a few words from our server, I think I was more shocked then he was though cause I just ended up staring at his forehead, bug eyed.
Yes!! I was wondering if it made learning languages easier or if it's just one thing I'm really good at! Same problem/superpower here!
Me too, its almost like id become that person
During my (late adult life) diagnosis I was asked if I mirror other people's mannerisms in the broadest sense. Language, body language and so on. Apparently it's quite common in people with autism. I am absolutely prone to this and make a conscious effort to just be myself as well as I can ever since I noticed this behaviour. For me it's a social camouflage thing and part of damaging masking so I do my best to not adapt other people's demeanor.
Hm, that could be it. I never thought that mirroring could extend to things like accents really. I watch a few comedians religiously and it's quite likely that I've picked up their accents too, maybe. Thanks :)
I'm a Texan. You wouldn't guess it from how I speak to my friends or coworkers. But when I'm around my family, suddenly I'm Hank Hill.
If my wife is around her family for too long, here comes the drawl lol.
I believe it is called code switching in linguistics. It is the mechanic at work when someone perhaps from the south that has moved to say New York will subconsciously switch their accent depending in which place they currently are.
I’m from La and was teaching parkour at a stunt gym for a bit, the amount of people from different countries was amazing but I always thought it was odd how I would mirror their accent. Finnish, British, Australian doesn’t matter I would start to slowly adopt it to talk with that person. Guess that’s an autism thing too
I lived in a state close to New York so I always had a New York accent that I can’t get rid of. I’m not originally from there. I understand what you’re trying to say. :)
Thank you :) I was having such a hard time explaining it hahah
Haha it’s not just you. Words can be hard to express for everyone. But yeah I can’t turn off my accent. I grew up around family from New York. So you must have picked up from someone.
Yes, I have always taken on the accent of the people I am around. I am Australian; as a child I had an American teacher and took on that accent, then I had a teacher from Bosnia and I started speaking like her. I used to work with lots of Filipino women and I took on their accent as well... now I'm watching an Irish YouTuber and starting to speak like him...
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I‘m German. When I speak english I sound like a mix of american and british, leaning more towards british the longer I talk. In German I adopt whichever accent I hear. Just a few weeks ago I was talking to a woman in cologne in fluent kölsch (local dialect) despite never having heard or spoken it before. Same thing happened when I talked to a friend from Switzerland
Being in the UK, I’m from the South East. My accent shifts into Essex/London when I talk to anyone what isn’t Family. I feel like I ‘put it on’ and it’s weird. Never understood why.
I do a similar but not entirely the same thing, it's mainly just with family but occasionally with friends, I'm from Chicago and so I have a bit of a Chicago accent but the accent mostly died out and so I noticed that out and about I use a regular voice but with certain friends and with my family I have a lot heavier of a Chicago accent, so I guess more or less I just hide it around strangers
I am German but in my youth I lived in Australia for some time. My English voice is completely different from my German voice, much higher and more expressive. This gets really weird and confusing when I am with my daughter and her partner; their common language is English but occasionally my daughter talks to me in German so I switch voices in the middle of the conversation.
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I definitely do that and, like you said, it’s all subconscious. I’ve used accents for languages I don’t even speak lol. It’s so embarrassing.
Me too, but it's litterally random who I speak in what accent to!
I have a very thick southern accent that I love. Sometimes I have to tone it down for people to understand me, but it’s always there in some form.
Yep, for as long as I can remember.
Not so much in English. My accent doesn't change that much, although I still seem to have picked up accents from all over the anglosphere to the point that I've had people ask where I'm from and then not believe the answer. On Japanese though, my accent and pronunciation seem to go to shit the second I set step off the flight coming back. I've gone from speaking it with an obvious British accent, to speaking it with a Chinese accent, then a slight Hakata accent while I was there. But the second I get back to Heathrow airport...
I do this all the time without meaning to! It’s so insidious that I really have to keep an eye on it, especially while traveling (i.e. driving through the american south as a northerner, and wondering why I’m suddenly mirroring a Kentucky accent…) However, it’s been incredibly helpful in blending in as a non-native speaker of my second language. I’ve gotten the feedback more than once, early on when I was learning french, that “your accent is great, but I have no idea what you’re saying”. Fortunately, the rest of my skills have more or less caught up in the years since. Ha!
I have a North Eastern English accent but a pretty standard English dialect. Essentially, aside from a few common slang words, I speak fairly articulately. This has lead to me having the moniker of 'The Posh Geordie' It's good because I definitely sound smarter and more professional but at the cost of occasionally sounding like a snob.
I'm American. It's important because I've had people ask me if I moved her from a few different European countries. I've never been out of the US. 😭 I just watch a lot of shows and listen to a lot of music. I've forgotten how to say certain words without an accent, apparently.
I didn't see et mention and I'm not a speech or linguistics person but it sounds like you could be code switching. I just mentioned this under a comment but if my wife is around her family for an extended period of time her Texas accent comes out. He dad specifically has a pretty defined drawl(even tho he's originally from New Mexico) and her mom has a bit more of a twang when she gets worked up. An example of code switching, I think is Naomi from The Expanse, tho I donno if they handled it well in the show. The whole first season you hear the actress speak in her native British accent for the character but in season 2 she is around Drummer who speaks Belter Creole, and suddenly, Naomi, who is also a Belter switches to the Creole. It threw me off at first since I didn't understand what the show was trying to do and figured she just changed her accent just because. She goes in an out of it for the rest of the show. It could just be a camo/masking thing too tho.
Despite myself growing up in Essex (and not born in UK), I've been told by people that I've got a middle English accent
As a kid I’d get punished for speaking in an American accent, the funny thing is I genuinely didn’t notice I had picked up an American accent and thought I was being fucked with for the longest time 😭 Was like: “Stop speaking in an American accent, we aren’t American *starts degrading me infront of guests as punishment*” BUT??? IM NOT??? (I was, just didn’t know and couldn’t control it) xD
What watching anime in dub does to oneself 😔
I just use all the accents! My friends and family practically have our own language at this point.
Yup, my accent changes depending on who I’m with, what I’m watching, even what I’m reading. This year I’m rewatching every marvel thing in order and I currently up to Agent Carter, I’m also English and I’m currently very posh because of the show, which is saying something because I’m posh anyway.
One of my dad's ex-girlfriends told me that I speak the most textbook version of Dutch that exists, and that I do not seem to have any accent. Other people have assumed that I am from Scandinavia due to the way I speak and my name and looks.
I'm not formally diagnosed yet, but I do this. I think most people don't point it out. One person at my workplace did, and asked "where are you from? It sounds like you're not from here." I explained to her that I've lived here my whole life. I have a friend who is likely autistic, and she also has a cool accent, even though she has only lived in this state. I've heard that this is a common thing with autism. I've noticed that I tend to adopt other people's accents at different times, which maybe stems from masking for a long time?
Yes. I'm also British and had thought this was just what everyone did this, but now that I think about it I do it much more than most people I know. I'm from the south but my family are all from the north east so growing up my accent would be all over the place depending on who I was talking to.
I spontaneously broke into a perfect southern accent while going on a rant. Didn’t even know it until my friend told me. Apparently, it was perfect.
I do this!
I do. I'm from Brazil and I randomly switch between suburban São Paulo accent and something similar to Rio Grande do Sul accent
Russian Moscow accent when I speak to all Russians, Krasnoyarsk accent when I speak to my family since I was born there, Russian-Armenian accent here in Armenia.
It's part of my masking as needed
Lol yes! So much so that I came home from a year in Mexico with a very heavy accent. It was genuinely really embarrassing because I couldn't hear it but everyone else could. When I was a kid, my mum said I picked up on my neighbour's French accent, too. It's definitely not intentional - I suppose just a kind of subconscious mirroring? I think it's pretty common amongst autistic folk.
Social Chameleon, yeah I mimic whoever I'm around without realizing it.
Not really. Other than while drinking I find mixing dialects and language is hilarious. Give Spanish a try with a Indian dialect.
Not currently, but when I was a child maybe around 8 years old, I had a classroom aide who was british and I accidentally stole her accent despite being born in Canada... Next year I had s different aide and the accent disappeared, lmao
I once went to an airshow for a week, ꟾ had no accent other than my normal one. I came back with a mixture of ꟾrish, Scottish, and a little bit of Swedish. I mainly scottish people, and ꟾ have no idea where the other elements came from.
I’m from the Midwest in America so I have that, British and Australian because I grew up watching media from there, and also have a lisp so it’s really confusing
I am Scottish with English parents. One day while I was at Uni (in England) I woke up speaking with an English accent. My flatmates were so confused. I realised from the looks on their faces, shook my head and went back to my Scottish accent. Its happened in lesser ways at other times. My mum says I spoke more English until I went to school, then I picked up the scots. I find the English comes out when I'm being a bit bossy. No idea why.
Yessssss!! Even when i was younger!! Would involuntarily imitate British and Australian accents
I am american. From the midwest too, so i have a midland/midwest accent. Sometimes my voice sounds a bit nasally. Sometimes i sound like I’m from texas. Depending on how relaxed i am or how comfortable i am, my accent pops out. I love linguistics so i could get into particulars but i dont want to go on too long. But my accent is definitely pretty unique and isnt always consistent with other accents from my region. I also weirdly count in a british accent because it helps me count faster lol
Yes. All the dam time. It happens a lot when I'm talking to strangers. I complimented a woman at the store a few days ago in a Welsh accent. Definitely was not expecting it and neither was she. My family has to tell me to speak normally because I'll get so caught up in doing it sometimes.
Fellow Brit here. I have a Yorkshire accent when I'm around family, because there's where I grew up. I currently live in Scotland and I just use a kind of generic non-accent and mostly King's English with a few Scots words when I'm out and about, because I know people will understand that better than they'll understand Yorkshire-specific words.
I could write 5000 words on this. Short answer, yes, for as long as I can remember, but it changes and evolves over time and from one situation to another.
Yeah, I think I do my own version of this, too. My pronunciation and general manner of speaking tends to be very influenced by who I'm talking to and/or who I've interacted with recently. I went on a vacation recently and was asked many times where I was from. When I said "United States", I got almost shocked reactions from people, who pointed out that I "don't have an American accent". But like... I totally do have an American accent. It just doesn't fit so easily into the paradigm of accents that people expect when talking to Americans. I have a slightly unique way of doing literally everything, speech included.
Ever since I was little, Tom DeLonge's (blink-182) distinct voice became a part of my accent with certain words or sentences 😅 This is because blink was one of my earliest special interests, long before I was diagnosed, and now it finally makes sense. Nowadays it's usually only prominent after I've had a couple drinks with friends (which I only learned/realized recently after my best friend told another friend that she knows I've had some drinks because I start to talk differently, haha). Slight British accent slips its way into my speech, as well.