1 00:00:01,120 --> 00:00:04,600 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Should Know from how Stuff Works 2 00:00:04,600 --> 00:00:13,800 Speaker 1: dot com. Hey, welcome to the podcast. I'm Josh Clark, 3 00:00:13,840 --> 00:00:16,239 Speaker 1: and there's Charles to w Chuck Bryant, and there's Noel 4 00:00:16,360 --> 00:00:20,720 Speaker 1: on the Wheels of Steel, So that makes this stuff 5 00:00:20,760 --> 00:00:25,680 Speaker 1: you Should Know the podcast. So Chuck, Yeah, how you feeling? 6 00:00:25,800 --> 00:00:29,360 Speaker 1: I before your answer, I am so excited about this 7 00:00:29,440 --> 00:00:32,560 Speaker 1: one because there's just no way it's not going to 8 00:00:32,680 --> 00:00:39,960 Speaker 1: be a Chuck accent Bananza. Well, I am super excited 9 00:00:40,000 --> 00:00:45,519 Speaker 1: about this because I love accents almost more than anything 10 00:00:45,520 --> 00:00:48,760 Speaker 1: in the world. I know it. Man not doing accents 11 00:00:48,800 --> 00:00:52,040 Speaker 1: because sometimes I'm okay, sometimes I'm terrible, but I'd like 12 00:00:52,120 --> 00:00:55,200 Speaker 1: to try, right, I just mean hearing. There's nothing in 13 00:00:55,240 --> 00:00:59,200 Speaker 1: the world I love more than talking with someone who 14 00:00:59,200 --> 00:01:03,160 Speaker 1: has a really heavy accent of some kind. I love it. 15 00:01:03,440 --> 00:01:05,839 Speaker 1: I love it, I love it. I love it. So 16 00:01:06,520 --> 00:01:09,080 Speaker 1: if you encounter somebody with a heavy accent that you're 17 00:01:09,080 --> 00:01:14,840 Speaker 1: having trouble understanding, how do you feel, oh, like in 18 00:01:14,959 --> 00:01:20,679 Speaker 1: say Scotland, Sure, well, what do you mean, Like, are 19 00:01:20,720 --> 00:01:22,960 Speaker 1: you just like, gosh, this is fascinating, or are you 20 00:01:23,000 --> 00:01:25,880 Speaker 1: like do you start to sweat and get nervous because 21 00:01:25,880 --> 00:01:30,920 Speaker 1: the communication is breaking down? No, I'm delighted beyond words, 22 00:01:31,520 --> 00:01:36,640 Speaker 1: and I will like laugh and say, man or a lady, 23 00:01:37,360 --> 00:01:41,320 Speaker 1: I like, I can barely understand you, and I love 24 00:01:41,360 --> 00:01:43,880 Speaker 1: it so much. I can hardly stand it. That's great, 25 00:01:43,959 --> 00:01:46,440 Speaker 1: that's a great way to handle it. It's just the best. Man. 26 00:01:46,520 --> 00:01:49,760 Speaker 1: I love it all accents, I mean there are very 27 00:01:50,160 --> 00:01:52,600 Speaker 1: I can't think of one accent I don't like hearing. 28 00:01:53,880 --> 00:02:00,280 Speaker 1: Uh what about Uh? No, I got nothing like. I mean, sure, 29 00:02:01,080 --> 00:02:02,840 Speaker 1: there might be some accents that might be a little 30 00:02:03,440 --> 00:02:07,160 Speaker 1: grating to your ear on a personal level, but I 31 00:02:07,240 --> 00:02:10,280 Speaker 1: even like hearing those just because it's just it's so 32 00:02:10,480 --> 00:02:14,120 Speaker 1: that person in that region, and especially when we travel 33 00:02:14,200 --> 00:02:17,359 Speaker 1: and for these shows and get to speak with fans 34 00:02:17,480 --> 00:02:25,440 Speaker 1: from you know, from Boston or from the Midwest or Canada. Yeah, 35 00:02:25,480 --> 00:02:28,519 Speaker 1: god's the best. I love it. Or on the UK 36 00:02:28,600 --> 00:02:31,880 Speaker 1: towards I was just like flipping out, you were I 37 00:02:31,919 --> 00:02:34,320 Speaker 1: had to calm you down, like every few minutes. It's 38 00:02:34,360 --> 00:02:37,120 Speaker 1: just amazing, and it makes me like, it makes you 39 00:02:37,160 --> 00:02:41,840 Speaker 1: feel a little self conscious that I have such a 40 00:02:41,919 --> 00:02:45,160 Speaker 1: non accent, but you do have an accent, you just 41 00:02:45,200 --> 00:02:49,760 Speaker 1: can't hear it. That's one of the hilarious parts of accents. 42 00:02:49,880 --> 00:02:53,040 Speaker 1: Is that person with the accent can't hear their own accent. 43 00:02:53,200 --> 00:02:57,840 Speaker 1: It just sounds normal than them sort of. But it's 44 00:02:57,880 --> 00:03:00,720 Speaker 1: like everyone has an accent, they even say in this article. 45 00:03:01,560 --> 00:03:06,520 Speaker 1: But unmarked speech technically is what we're talking about, which 46 00:03:06,560 --> 00:03:13,200 Speaker 1: is it doesn't have a hallmark sign of geographic area. Yeah, 47 00:03:13,560 --> 00:03:16,320 Speaker 1: because that's, if anything, what an accent is. It's a 48 00:03:16,840 --> 00:03:22,600 Speaker 1: telltale giveaway of where you where, where you live, where 49 00:03:22,600 --> 00:03:25,360 Speaker 1: you're from, where you were raised. Usually, Yeah, you don't 50 00:03:25,440 --> 00:03:27,720 Speaker 1: have I mean again, it's you know what I mean. 51 00:03:27,760 --> 00:03:30,280 Speaker 1: But you don't have an accent either. Now we have 52 00:03:30,400 --> 00:03:34,680 Speaker 1: those things are pretty unmarked. We have non regional accents, 53 00:03:34,800 --> 00:03:38,000 Speaker 1: non regional American accents, I think, yeah, or jen am, 54 00:03:38,040 --> 00:03:41,720 Speaker 1: I've heard it called general American. That makes sense. That's 55 00:03:41,720 --> 00:03:44,160 Speaker 1: that's good. It's lovely. I mean, listen to us right now. 56 00:03:45,520 --> 00:03:48,080 Speaker 1: I love this accent. But and I may have told 57 00:03:48,080 --> 00:03:51,160 Speaker 1: the story before. I heard a cassette tape of myself 58 00:03:51,200 --> 00:03:53,680 Speaker 1: as a like a twelve year old a couple of 59 00:03:53,760 --> 00:03:58,840 Speaker 1: years ago, and it was heavily southern. Oh really yeah. 60 00:03:58,960 --> 00:04:01,560 Speaker 1: And I didn't try to lose it. I didn't work 61 00:04:01,600 --> 00:04:04,680 Speaker 1: on it. I never thought about it. Um, where did 62 00:04:04,760 --> 00:04:07,240 Speaker 1: go Chuck, I have no idea what you do. I 63 00:04:07,320 --> 00:04:11,000 Speaker 1: don't know, I really it just I was shocked. I 64 00:04:11,040 --> 00:04:14,240 Speaker 1: was like, that's not me. Wow, that's really surprising because 65 00:04:14,320 --> 00:04:16,920 Speaker 1: I mean from from and we'll talk about it a 66 00:04:17,000 --> 00:04:21,919 Speaker 1: little bit, but accents they tend to develop in childhood 67 00:04:23,160 --> 00:04:27,200 Speaker 1: and they tend to stick. I don't know, man, I 68 00:04:27,200 --> 00:04:29,680 Speaker 1: can't explain it. That's pretty interesting. The only thing I 69 00:04:29,760 --> 00:04:33,159 Speaker 1: can say is that at the time, I was friends 70 00:04:33,160 --> 00:04:37,640 Speaker 1: with a lot of rednecks. Oh, I guess, and I'm 71 00:04:37,680 --> 00:04:41,080 Speaker 1: not now, even though I love the right kind of redneck. 72 00:04:41,600 --> 00:04:45,839 Speaker 1: Don't get me wrong, Um, I love the right kind 73 00:04:45,839 --> 00:04:49,760 Speaker 1: of redneck, the salts of the earth. Good to each 74 00:04:49,839 --> 00:04:52,920 Speaker 1: his own kind of redneck. Yah. Sure, that's a good 75 00:04:52,960 --> 00:04:57,520 Speaker 1: redneck good the best. Plenty of other kinds too, plenty 76 00:04:57,520 --> 00:05:00,520 Speaker 1: of other kinds. Um, boy, do you know what? This 77 00:05:00,560 --> 00:05:02,360 Speaker 1: is kind of off topic, but you don't hate More 78 00:05:02,400 --> 00:05:08,640 Speaker 1: than anything is when a fellow like I'll just go 79 00:05:08,640 --> 00:05:12,560 Speaker 1: ahead and say it, when a fellow white dude thinks 80 00:05:12,600 --> 00:05:14,560 Speaker 1: you think like them just because you're a white dude. 81 00:05:15,000 --> 00:05:17,080 Speaker 1: Oh yeah, and they you don't know them, and they'll 82 00:05:17,080 --> 00:05:20,080 Speaker 1: just start saying stuff right, And I'm just like, dude, 83 00:05:20,720 --> 00:05:24,680 Speaker 1: that's awful. I'm not like that, and please don't presume 84 00:05:24,760 --> 00:05:26,960 Speaker 1: them like that. You just throw your hands to your 85 00:05:26,960 --> 00:05:29,599 Speaker 1: ears and stomp up and down and go no, no, 86 00:05:29,600 --> 00:05:33,560 Speaker 1: no until they run off. That's the worst. I hate it. 87 00:05:33,560 --> 00:05:38,040 Speaker 1: It's pretty bad. We're all that way. Yeah, all right, 88 00:05:38,320 --> 00:05:43,440 Speaker 1: let's get into this. Oh we're not into it already. Well, 89 00:05:43,480 --> 00:05:46,680 Speaker 1: I guess the first thing technically we should say, uh, 90 00:05:46,800 --> 00:05:50,120 Speaker 1: is that dialect and accents are two different things. Yeah. 91 00:05:50,279 --> 00:05:53,239 Speaker 1: Accent is how something sounds when you talk. And again, 92 00:05:53,279 --> 00:05:58,880 Speaker 1: it's usually related to where you're from and usually where 93 00:05:58,880 --> 00:06:03,279 Speaker 1: you're raised, right, yeah, and in your family too, Yeah, yeah, 94 00:06:03,320 --> 00:06:05,680 Speaker 1: and a dialect you're probably going to pick up from 95 00:06:05,720 --> 00:06:07,840 Speaker 1: where you're from, from your family, that kind of thing. 96 00:06:08,160 --> 00:06:11,800 Speaker 1: But dialect more has to do with the vocabulary you use, 97 00:06:11,960 --> 00:06:14,800 Speaker 1: the like, the words you use, the slang, that kind 98 00:06:14,800 --> 00:06:18,520 Speaker 1: of thing. Um, there's grammar rules that that can be 99 00:06:18,760 --> 00:06:23,039 Speaker 1: different than you know, the standard grammar of the language. 100 00:06:23,400 --> 00:06:27,720 Speaker 1: So it's it's more like, what you're saying is dialect 101 00:06:27,880 --> 00:06:30,480 Speaker 1: how your how you sound when you're saying it. That's 102 00:06:30,520 --> 00:06:32,920 Speaker 1: the accent. That's the big difference. Yeah, have you ever 103 00:06:32,960 --> 00:06:37,320 Speaker 1: taken one of those dialect tests online? No, it's pretty neat. 104 00:06:37,360 --> 00:06:39,159 Speaker 1: And the New York Times has one where you basically 105 00:06:39,160 --> 00:06:43,640 Speaker 1: go through like twenty questions that say things like, um, 106 00:06:43,800 --> 00:06:47,600 Speaker 1: what do you call the the strip of land between 107 00:06:47,640 --> 00:06:51,240 Speaker 1: two streets? Or what do you call a house on 108 00:06:51,360 --> 00:06:55,120 Speaker 1: the opposite corner of your own? Um? And stuff like that. 109 00:06:55,200 --> 00:06:59,159 Speaker 1: It's not just like soda pop um. I gotta okay, Yeah, 110 00:06:59,160 --> 00:07:01,320 Speaker 1: that would be interesting. Like I say median, I say 111 00:07:01,360 --> 00:07:04,640 Speaker 1: kitty corner. Oh, I say catty corner. No, see, that 112 00:07:04,720 --> 00:07:06,599 Speaker 1: was one of the choices, but I would say median 113 00:07:06,680 --> 00:07:09,720 Speaker 1: as well. Right, some people say devil stra. One of 114 00:07:09,720 --> 00:07:11,520 Speaker 1: them was interesting was what do you call it when 115 00:07:12,960 --> 00:07:15,800 Speaker 1: it's No, that's a thing. That's not a thing it is. 116 00:07:16,560 --> 00:07:18,680 Speaker 1: What do you call it when the when it's raining 117 00:07:18,680 --> 00:07:23,160 Speaker 1: with the sun shining? Apparently that's highly regional raining with 118 00:07:23,240 --> 00:07:25,640 Speaker 1: the sun shining. I didn't even know there was a 119 00:07:25,720 --> 00:07:28,600 Speaker 1: name for that. Yeah, people call it different things. We 120 00:07:28,800 --> 00:07:31,880 Speaker 1: grew up calling it the devil's beating his wife. But 121 00:07:31,960 --> 00:07:34,480 Speaker 1: what's up with all this devil's stuff? Don't know, it's 122 00:07:34,480 --> 00:07:37,680 Speaker 1: all the devil's beating his wife? Is what you call that? 123 00:07:37,760 --> 00:07:41,760 Speaker 1: When rain it's coming down while sun was shining. That 124 00:07:41,880 --> 00:07:46,000 Speaker 1: crazy yeah, anyway, it's got It has an interactive map 125 00:07:46,440 --> 00:07:48,960 Speaker 1: that as you answer the question, it turns different colors, 126 00:07:49,000 --> 00:07:53,400 Speaker 1: like from red to blue. How heavy You're like, no, no, no, no, 127 00:07:53,840 --> 00:07:56,560 Speaker 1: it's like that went back, well not politically, um. And 128 00:07:56,600 --> 00:08:00,760 Speaker 1: then eventually after the last question, the reddest hot zones 129 00:08:00,800 --> 00:08:04,600 Speaker 1: will be where you are from. And mine was like 130 00:08:04,680 --> 00:08:12,080 Speaker 1: Atlanta or not Decator specifically, but Atlanta Decatur or Atlanta, Birmingham, Alabama, 131 00:08:12,080 --> 00:08:15,360 Speaker 1: and I think like Nashville. Huh, so I was in 132 00:08:15,400 --> 00:08:19,200 Speaker 1: the zone. So cosmopolitan southern is your dialect? Basically it 133 00:08:19,200 --> 00:08:23,640 Speaker 1: sounds cosmo southern. Yeah, southern Mo. Anyway, I highly recommend 134 00:08:23,640 --> 00:08:26,000 Speaker 1: it's gonna be a fun test. Yeah, it sounds pretty fun. 135 00:08:26,040 --> 00:08:28,280 Speaker 1: But nothing to do with accents. What what I mean? 136 00:08:28,360 --> 00:08:31,680 Speaker 1: Can you put like not applicable for the one about 137 00:08:31,720 --> 00:08:34,839 Speaker 1: the rain when the sun shining? Yeah? Most of them 138 00:08:34,880 --> 00:08:36,640 Speaker 1: have an option that says I know what this is, 139 00:08:36,679 --> 00:08:39,080 Speaker 1: but I don't have a name for it. Gotcha, Okay? Cool, 140 00:08:39,160 --> 00:08:42,640 Speaker 1: Well then yeah, i'll take it. I'll take it right now. 141 00:08:43,040 --> 00:08:47,679 Speaker 1: All right, So we've established what dialect is, we've established 142 00:08:47,679 --> 00:08:51,200 Speaker 1: what accents are, and apparently now that we're diving into 143 00:08:51,200 --> 00:08:55,400 Speaker 1: that world of accents. If you are a linguist, there 144 00:08:55,400 --> 00:09:00,840 Speaker 1: are basically two categories that you would put accents into. 145 00:09:00,880 --> 00:09:03,520 Speaker 1: If you want to start talking accents with linguists, they're 146 00:09:03,559 --> 00:09:06,440 Speaker 1: gonna be like, wait, wait, wait, are we talking about 147 00:09:06,480 --> 00:09:08,719 Speaker 1: the accent that a person has when they're speaking their 148 00:09:08,760 --> 00:09:11,920 Speaker 1: native language or are you talking about the accent of 149 00:09:11,960 --> 00:09:15,599 Speaker 1: person has when they're speaking what is not their native language. 150 00:09:15,920 --> 00:09:20,240 Speaker 1: Explain yourself, says the linguist. Right, and when you go 151 00:09:20,360 --> 00:09:24,560 Speaker 1: to learn a second language as a a non you know, 152 00:09:24,720 --> 00:09:28,680 Speaker 1: developing infant, like let's say high school, middle school, or 153 00:09:28,679 --> 00:09:33,280 Speaker 1: beyond um, you have to I mean, you took language 154 00:09:33,280 --> 00:09:36,920 Speaker 1: class in high school, right, sure, French? But was this 155 00:09:37,000 --> 00:09:42,000 Speaker 1: in Georgia or yes? And there are plenty, plenty of 156 00:09:42,240 --> 00:09:46,280 Speaker 1: thick Southern accents speaking French and it is about as 157 00:09:46,320 --> 00:09:49,240 Speaker 1: grading as it gets. Well, it's funny because that's a German. 158 00:09:49,360 --> 00:09:52,120 Speaker 1: It was the same thing. And I always had a 159 00:09:52,200 --> 00:09:57,280 Speaker 1: knack for Um speak and a Deutch. Yeah that's how 160 00:09:57,320 --> 00:09:59,360 Speaker 1: it sounded. And it was always funny to me because 161 00:09:59,360 --> 00:10:02,240 Speaker 1: our teacher would you know, dictating or say something in 162 00:10:02,320 --> 00:10:05,760 Speaker 1: perfect German and we would repeat it back individually. And 163 00:10:05,800 --> 00:10:09,440 Speaker 1: I always had a pretty good knack for not accents, 164 00:10:09,440 --> 00:10:11,240 Speaker 1: but just sort of parenting. I'm much better if I 165 00:10:11,320 --> 00:10:13,840 Speaker 1: hear someone say something, I can kind of say it 166 00:10:13,880 --> 00:10:16,600 Speaker 1: back like they say it. And I just figured, like, 167 00:10:17,400 --> 00:10:20,920 Speaker 1: just do that and then you're speaking correct German. And 168 00:10:21,040 --> 00:10:24,280 Speaker 1: some of these dudes would, you know, prekin ze Deutsche 169 00:10:24,960 --> 00:10:26,760 Speaker 1: And I would just be like, how can you just like, 170 00:10:27,240 --> 00:10:30,680 Speaker 1: can you not pretend to speak German, like with a 171 00:10:30,720 --> 00:10:34,080 Speaker 1: German accent? And they couldn't, And it's just fascinating. I 172 00:10:34,160 --> 00:10:36,400 Speaker 1: just thought everyone could pare it something back, and that's 173 00:10:36,400 --> 00:10:38,800 Speaker 1: when I realized, no, not at all. Well they have 174 00:10:39,160 --> 00:10:44,719 Speaker 1: those people have very well formed, non plastic synapses, is 175 00:10:44,760 --> 00:10:46,520 Speaker 1: really what it comes down in a lot of ways. 176 00:10:47,360 --> 00:10:49,440 Speaker 1: Do you, uh, you want to take a break before 177 00:10:49,480 --> 00:10:52,600 Speaker 1: we get into the development of accents? I guess, so, well, 178 00:10:52,679 --> 00:11:23,160 Speaker 1: let's do that, m all right, Chuck. So, there's been 179 00:11:23,200 --> 00:11:26,520 Speaker 1: a lot of study about accents about when we developed language. 180 00:11:26,600 --> 00:11:28,920 Speaker 1: There's a lot of debate about whether we're born with 181 00:11:28,960 --> 00:11:32,400 Speaker 1: a language instinct or if it's just something we we 182 00:11:32,840 --> 00:11:36,520 Speaker 1: naturally develop as a result of being social animals. Who knows, 183 00:11:37,240 --> 00:11:42,800 Speaker 1: but one of the studies on accents specifically has found 184 00:11:42,840 --> 00:11:49,280 Speaker 1: that apparently babies they recognize accents in the womb. They've 185 00:11:49,320 --> 00:11:53,600 Speaker 1: tested newborn kids. I don't know what parents let this happen, 186 00:11:54,280 --> 00:11:59,000 Speaker 1: but apparently in the delivery room or shortly after um delivery, 187 00:11:59,400 --> 00:12:01,440 Speaker 1: the baby was born. It's another way to put it. 188 00:12:02,400 --> 00:12:06,520 Speaker 1: They've had people speak with different accents to the baby, 189 00:12:06,600 --> 00:12:09,560 Speaker 1: and the baby just based on their gaze, tend to 190 00:12:09,600 --> 00:12:12,240 Speaker 1: prefer the accent that they heard while they were in 191 00:12:12,280 --> 00:12:16,640 Speaker 1: the womb. It is pretty interesting, right, And apparently from 192 00:12:16,679 --> 00:12:21,240 Speaker 1: that moment on, even from the time their brains developed 193 00:12:21,320 --> 00:12:25,800 Speaker 1: enough to to start hearing and soaking this in, and 194 00:12:25,840 --> 00:12:29,640 Speaker 1: then after they're born, they're they're taking all of these 195 00:12:29,800 --> 00:12:33,600 Speaker 1: these little things we take for granted when we speak, 196 00:12:33,600 --> 00:12:36,680 Speaker 1: when we use dialect, when we when we um form 197 00:12:36,720 --> 00:12:39,199 Speaker 1: an accent. All of the stuff is sinking in their 198 00:12:39,240 --> 00:12:45,120 Speaker 1: little baby brains and it's helping them develop UM what 199 00:12:45,559 --> 00:12:49,440 Speaker 1: is called basically a map, a language map, a dialect map, 200 00:12:49,480 --> 00:12:53,280 Speaker 1: and accent map, and they're hearing how to talk, learning 201 00:12:53,280 --> 00:12:56,120 Speaker 1: how to talk just by listening to the people around them, 202 00:12:56,160 --> 00:13:00,599 Speaker 1: even before they're six months old. Yeah, this UM researcher 203 00:13:01,120 --> 00:13:05,199 Speaker 1: UH speech professor named Patricia cool k u h L 204 00:13:06,320 --> 00:13:11,599 Speaker 1: you dub go Huskies um. She said that she was 205 00:13:11,640 --> 00:13:14,200 Speaker 1: describing the map, and she said, you know, the sounds 206 00:13:14,240 --> 00:13:18,600 Speaker 1: they don't hear, their synapses aren't firing when they don't 207 00:13:18,640 --> 00:13:20,760 Speaker 1: hear those sounds, so they just sort of fall away. 208 00:13:21,160 --> 00:13:23,400 Speaker 1: And you can think of it as like pruning of 209 00:13:23,480 --> 00:13:27,079 Speaker 1: that network of the brain, which I thought was really interesting. 210 00:13:27,080 --> 00:13:28,920 Speaker 1: It just makes sense. You know, the sounds they hear 211 00:13:29,520 --> 00:13:33,400 Speaker 1: most often will be reinforced over and over, and that's 212 00:13:33,440 --> 00:13:36,520 Speaker 1: how a dumb little baby gets an accent. And there 213 00:13:36,640 --> 00:13:40,520 Speaker 1: there's a really good example, if not a super stereotypical one, 214 00:13:40,559 --> 00:13:45,520 Speaker 1: but um speakers of Japanese have a very hard time 215 00:13:45,880 --> 00:13:51,040 Speaker 1: saying L making the L sound right. So rather than lake, 216 00:13:51,280 --> 00:13:53,520 Speaker 1: they may say rake, they tend to they tend to 217 00:13:53,600 --> 00:13:57,360 Speaker 1: replace the L with an R sound. And it's simply 218 00:13:57,440 --> 00:14:00,240 Speaker 1: because that's what they were exposed to growing up up 219 00:14:00,800 --> 00:14:04,200 Speaker 1: and there they didn't learn to make the L sound 220 00:14:04,520 --> 00:14:06,280 Speaker 1: just in the same way that you and I might 221 00:14:06,360 --> 00:14:09,600 Speaker 1: have a lot of trouble rolling our rs, where if 222 00:14:09,640 --> 00:14:12,160 Speaker 1: we had been raised in a society or a group 223 00:14:12,240 --> 00:14:15,040 Speaker 1: or a family even that rolled there ares we could 224 00:14:15,080 --> 00:14:18,880 Speaker 1: probably roll our rs perfectly. But all of for all 225 00:14:18,920 --> 00:14:22,560 Speaker 1: of this research is starting to show that accents are 226 00:14:23,080 --> 00:14:29,520 Speaker 1: just acquired and developed, and they're reinforced through through exposure 227 00:14:29,640 --> 00:14:32,160 Speaker 1: by hearing other people around you and then speaking that 228 00:14:32,200 --> 00:14:36,640 Speaker 1: way yourself. And that map that that's formed starting before 229 00:14:36,720 --> 00:14:41,800 Speaker 1: even six months old. Um, it's what you it's what 230 00:14:41,880 --> 00:14:47,600 Speaker 1: you use to navigate through through spoken communication with the world. Yeah. 231 00:14:47,640 --> 00:14:51,640 Speaker 1: She found out this is cool still in studying babies 232 00:14:51,680 --> 00:14:55,880 Speaker 1: in Sweden, Japan, US and other places that at six 233 00:14:55,920 --> 00:14:59,560 Speaker 1: months old, Japanese babies could distinguish between the elm are 234 00:14:59,720 --> 00:15:03,320 Speaker 1: just American babies, but by the time they were one, 235 00:15:03,840 --> 00:15:06,080 Speaker 1: they had lost that ability again because that was just 236 00:15:06,120 --> 00:15:08,320 Speaker 1: sort of pruned away. Yeah, and I looked into this, 237 00:15:08,400 --> 00:15:11,160 Speaker 1: I'm like, how how would you set that up? And 238 00:15:11,200 --> 00:15:14,160 Speaker 1: this is actually pretty clever. Right, So they would put 239 00:15:14,160 --> 00:15:16,440 Speaker 1: these babies in a room and let them all hang out, 240 00:15:16,680 --> 00:15:19,040 Speaker 1: and then they'd be like a loud speaker and then 241 00:15:19,080 --> 00:15:24,400 Speaker 1: over the loud speaker, hopefully it a normal normal, right, 242 00:15:25,280 --> 00:15:27,960 Speaker 1: they would say they would just have a voice, a nice, 243 00:15:27,960 --> 00:15:31,920 Speaker 1: pleasant voice saying like la la la la la la 244 00:15:32,120 --> 00:15:36,040 Speaker 1: la la la la la la, right, and then every 245 00:15:36,040 --> 00:15:38,160 Speaker 1: once in a while the voice would say la la 246 00:15:38,440 --> 00:15:41,720 Speaker 1: ra la la, right, And when that r would come 247 00:15:41,720 --> 00:15:46,120 Speaker 1: out instead of a la a like a bear would 248 00:15:46,240 --> 00:15:49,240 Speaker 1: light up and start dancing and playing like a drum, 249 00:15:49,400 --> 00:15:52,880 Speaker 1: like something that babies would love would happen, right, So 250 00:15:52,920 --> 00:15:56,840 Speaker 1: they came to associate rather the like the what would 251 00:15:56,840 --> 00:16:00,440 Speaker 1: be construed as an error in the act center the 252 00:16:00,480 --> 00:16:04,480 Speaker 1: dialect um with something going on with the bear. So 253 00:16:05,160 --> 00:16:07,840 Speaker 1: the babies that were Japanese by the time they were 254 00:16:07,880 --> 00:16:10,800 Speaker 1: a year when there was an error, they wouldn't look 255 00:16:10,800 --> 00:16:14,640 Speaker 1: over at the bear any longer because they stopped hearing 256 00:16:14,760 --> 00:16:17,560 Speaker 1: that that la la la and just heard it as 257 00:16:17,640 --> 00:16:21,560 Speaker 1: la la la. Interesting, isn't it. Yeah, And apparently they 258 00:16:21,600 --> 00:16:25,600 Speaker 1: found that babies crying can even sort of mimic the 259 00:16:25,640 --> 00:16:33,120 Speaker 1: intonation of their nationality. So like French babies, apparently French 260 00:16:33,160 --> 00:16:35,760 Speaker 1: speakers go up an intonation toward the end of the sentence, 261 00:16:35,760 --> 00:16:39,680 Speaker 1: and so French babies would when they cried, I guess, 262 00:16:39,720 --> 00:16:43,240 Speaker 1: would go why wawa and go up at the end, 263 00:16:43,720 --> 00:16:49,360 Speaker 1: whereas German babies would go down just like Germans. Yeah, wow, 264 00:16:51,400 --> 00:16:57,360 Speaker 1: all right, they wouldn't say law no. Uh. Super interesting though, yeah, 265 00:16:57,400 --> 00:16:59,440 Speaker 1: And so all of this forms of the basis of 266 00:17:00,080 --> 00:17:02,000 Speaker 1: a lot of people already know but you might not 267 00:17:02,120 --> 00:17:06,240 Speaker 1: know why. But it is way, way easier to learn 268 00:17:06,760 --> 00:17:10,120 Speaker 1: multiple languages when you're younger than it is, say when 269 00:17:10,119 --> 00:17:12,639 Speaker 1: you're in high school. And there's a big push among 270 00:17:12,680 --> 00:17:19,520 Speaker 1: American educators to start language development second language, third language, uh, 271 00:17:19,640 --> 00:17:22,320 Speaker 1: when you're much younger, like even as young as nursery school, 272 00:17:22,560 --> 00:17:25,720 Speaker 1: rather than waiting until high school, which is little baby 273 00:17:25,760 --> 00:17:29,600 Speaker 1: is being raised bilingual from birth. Yeah, and that's a 274 00:17:29,680 --> 00:17:32,119 Speaker 1: really good way to raise a smart kid like you. 275 00:17:32,200 --> 00:17:34,720 Speaker 1: May speaks Japanese in English. She was raised in a 276 00:17:34,800 --> 00:17:38,440 Speaker 1: household that spoke Japanese in English, right, And I mean 277 00:17:38,440 --> 00:17:41,160 Speaker 1: it's the same thing. There's I read another article about 278 00:17:41,200 --> 00:17:44,920 Speaker 1: a woman who was raised in the Philippines and her 279 00:17:44,960 --> 00:17:49,120 Speaker 1: father was raised I think her father spoke Tagalog, which 280 00:17:49,119 --> 00:17:50,919 Speaker 1: is the national language, and then her mother spoke a 281 00:17:50,960 --> 00:17:55,400 Speaker 1: regional language. And um, so she spoke two forms two 282 00:17:55,480 --> 00:17:59,880 Speaker 1: languages from birth and then learned English as an older person. Yeah. 283 00:18:00,320 --> 00:18:02,960 Speaker 1: So the whole idea that you should wait until high 284 00:18:02,960 --> 00:18:05,480 Speaker 1: school to learn language because then you're old enough to 285 00:18:05,560 --> 00:18:09,160 Speaker 1: understand is the exact opposite of what you should be doing. 286 00:18:09,200 --> 00:18:12,800 Speaker 1: Like you're supposed to be teaching kids multiple languages from 287 00:18:12,840 --> 00:18:15,320 Speaker 1: a very young age because that's when their brains are 288 00:18:15,359 --> 00:18:18,879 Speaker 1: plastic enough, and they wanted to know how that's possible. 289 00:18:19,760 --> 00:18:24,879 Speaker 1: It turns out that you your brain creates multiple language maps. 290 00:18:25,160 --> 00:18:27,600 Speaker 1: So you have a language map for your native language, 291 00:18:27,600 --> 00:18:30,639 Speaker 1: you have another language map for this other one you 292 00:18:30,720 --> 00:18:33,280 Speaker 1: learned in school, than another one that you're for the 293 00:18:33,359 --> 00:18:36,760 Speaker 1: language your grandmother speaks, and you can just switch between 294 00:18:36,800 --> 00:18:40,800 Speaker 1: them depending. Amazing and that So when you do learn 295 00:18:40,840 --> 00:18:45,640 Speaker 1: another language, though, Um, and I guess it's probably true 296 00:18:45,640 --> 00:18:47,960 Speaker 1: for any age, but as an adult for sure, or 297 00:18:48,000 --> 00:18:50,720 Speaker 1: a teenager for sure, when you already have your your 298 00:18:50,720 --> 00:18:54,760 Speaker 1: own home language solidified, there's something called language transfer that 299 00:18:54,880 --> 00:18:58,240 Speaker 1: can happen, or that always happens, uh, And it can 300 00:18:58,280 --> 00:19:00,600 Speaker 1: be either good or bad. So, depending on what your 301 00:19:00,680 --> 00:19:04,720 Speaker 1: language is and what language you're learning, it might be 302 00:19:04,920 --> 00:19:07,200 Speaker 1: a little bit easier to learn that language and say 303 00:19:07,200 --> 00:19:09,200 Speaker 1: certain words, or it might be a little harder can 304 00:19:09,920 --> 00:19:12,480 Speaker 1: depending on how close it is to your native tongue 305 00:19:12,480 --> 00:19:18,960 Speaker 1: and accent. So Um, like a German learning to speak English, 306 00:19:19,480 --> 00:19:22,000 Speaker 1: UH may have a tougher time with the th h sound, 307 00:19:22,160 --> 00:19:24,760 Speaker 1: and they may say like a like a t z 308 00:19:25,560 --> 00:19:28,760 Speaker 1: or or harder s in place of it, like instead 309 00:19:28,800 --> 00:19:34,240 Speaker 1: of the German z Germans right or if you're Italian 310 00:19:34,280 --> 00:19:36,440 Speaker 1: and you're learning Spanish, you might have an easier time 311 00:19:36,920 --> 00:19:40,280 Speaker 1: because those are a little more similar, uh, like with 312 00:19:40,520 --> 00:19:43,919 Speaker 1: especially with the ps in Spanish, right, because in Spanish 313 00:19:44,000 --> 00:19:50,360 Speaker 1: the P is a non aspirated, short onset time sound right. Um. 314 00:19:50,760 --> 00:19:54,439 Speaker 1: In English we would have a hard time with the 315 00:19:54,520 --> 00:19:58,760 Speaker 1: P because we say P. We aspirate it, right, P 316 00:19:59,359 --> 00:20:04,080 Speaker 1: like your breathe when you say it he um, and 317 00:20:04,560 --> 00:20:07,400 Speaker 1: it's it's a It has a long on set time right. 318 00:20:07,840 --> 00:20:11,240 Speaker 1: So which is That also explains why native English speakers 319 00:20:11,280 --> 00:20:16,640 Speaker 1: often have trouble distinguishing between P and B when they're 320 00:20:16,680 --> 00:20:20,000 Speaker 1: listening to Spanish being spoken. Yeah, and so depending on 321 00:20:20,040 --> 00:20:23,040 Speaker 1: if it's um easier or harder, it's called negative positive 322 00:20:23,040 --> 00:20:28,200 Speaker 1: transfer or negative transfer um. And I remember in German 323 00:20:28,320 --> 00:20:31,560 Speaker 1: learning to roll those rs was probably the hardest thing 324 00:20:31,600 --> 00:20:34,280 Speaker 1: for most of the kids in the class. Sure, right, 325 00:20:34,520 --> 00:20:37,920 Speaker 1: And again it's the same thing. It's like the the 326 00:20:38,040 --> 00:20:42,240 Speaker 1: with the southern accent with German. Right. So their language 327 00:20:42,280 --> 00:20:47,920 Speaker 1: map is so well formed and so immovable that they 328 00:20:48,119 --> 00:20:52,320 Speaker 1: are following the rules of that language map even when 329 00:20:52,359 --> 00:20:56,000 Speaker 1: they're trying to speak this foreign language. Well, languages don't 330 00:20:56,040 --> 00:20:59,199 Speaker 1: have the same maps, which accounts for different languages and 331 00:20:59,240 --> 00:21:01,760 Speaker 1: accents and all all sorts of things like that. So 332 00:21:02,119 --> 00:21:05,040 Speaker 1: on the one hand, it's cognitive, but on the other hand, 333 00:21:05,240 --> 00:21:09,239 Speaker 1: there's also um differences in in motor function. Right, just 334 00:21:09,320 --> 00:21:12,359 Speaker 1: like when you say L but not are as a 335 00:21:12,440 --> 00:21:15,679 Speaker 1: kid and there they seem interchangeable to you. When you 336 00:21:15,720 --> 00:21:21,600 Speaker 1: grow up, you have trouble actually making the the the 337 00:21:21,920 --> 00:21:26,359 Speaker 1: L sound like making your tongue make the L sound instead, 338 00:21:26,400 --> 00:21:28,760 Speaker 1: it wants to make the R sound right, So you 339 00:21:28,800 --> 00:21:32,159 Speaker 1: have the cognitive trouble with your language map applying your 340 00:21:32,200 --> 00:21:34,760 Speaker 1: language map to this new language, and you also have 341 00:21:34,960 --> 00:21:38,720 Speaker 1: the physical trouble of actually making your mouth and your 342 00:21:38,760 --> 00:21:43,160 Speaker 1: tongue in your airway do the things that it has 343 00:21:43,200 --> 00:21:46,520 Speaker 1: to do to make those sounds like rolling in our Yeah, 344 00:21:46,560 --> 00:21:49,600 Speaker 1: it's just it's simply unpracticed in doing so. Yeah, but 345 00:21:49,680 --> 00:21:52,000 Speaker 1: that's it. That's what the good thing about it is 346 00:21:52,040 --> 00:21:55,320 Speaker 1: that you can learn a good accent, You can learn 347 00:21:55,400 --> 00:21:59,200 Speaker 1: to speak another language. It just is harder because your 348 00:21:59,240 --> 00:22:02,960 Speaker 1: brain is pretty well set. You can retrain it, though, 349 00:22:03,000 --> 00:22:05,760 Speaker 1: it just takes practice. And apparently, from what I saw, 350 00:22:06,160 --> 00:22:08,440 Speaker 1: the best way to learn an accent and to learn 351 00:22:08,480 --> 00:22:12,199 Speaker 1: a new language is lots and lots and lots of 352 00:22:12,280 --> 00:22:16,239 Speaker 1: listening up front, that you shouldn't just jump in and 353 00:22:16,280 --> 00:22:18,959 Speaker 1: start trying to speak. You should spend a lot of 354 00:22:19,000 --> 00:22:22,560 Speaker 1: time just sitting around listening to it first. Yeah, I'm 355 00:22:22,600 --> 00:22:26,720 Speaker 1: way out of practice now with remembering German and speaking it, 356 00:22:26,840 --> 00:22:29,320 Speaker 1: but I got pretty good at one point to the 357 00:22:29,440 --> 00:22:31,720 Speaker 1: um to the point where I went. When I went 358 00:22:31,760 --> 00:22:35,639 Speaker 1: to Germany, I had Germans saying, you know, you speak 359 00:22:35,760 --> 00:22:38,960 Speaker 1: very good German. And that's like the best best thing 360 00:22:39,000 --> 00:22:41,080 Speaker 1: that can happen when you traveled to a different country 361 00:22:41,240 --> 00:22:43,080 Speaker 1: and you're trying is for someone to say, wow, you 362 00:22:43,119 --> 00:22:46,840 Speaker 1: speak really good uh, French or German or whatever. Here, 363 00:22:46,880 --> 00:22:50,480 Speaker 1: have a schnitzel on me. It's funny. My buddy and 364 00:22:50,520 --> 00:22:52,959 Speaker 1: I Brett, who did my first big Europe trip with, 365 00:22:53,040 --> 00:22:57,600 Speaker 1: we went to a beer garden in Germany and um 366 00:22:57,640 --> 00:23:01,920 Speaker 1: in Munich and got uh had a lot of beers, 367 00:23:02,520 --> 00:23:05,880 Speaker 1: a lot of steins because this local dude who didn't 368 00:23:05,880 --> 00:23:09,199 Speaker 1: speak English and I spoke very little German. And we 369 00:23:09,320 --> 00:23:12,480 Speaker 1: drank with this guy for about four hours and bonded 370 00:23:12,520 --> 00:23:14,960 Speaker 1: in two different languages over the music of the Beatles, 371 00:23:16,000 --> 00:23:19,560 Speaker 1: and it worked somehow, and got our picture with the 372 00:23:19,560 --> 00:23:21,439 Speaker 1: guy and it was just one of those travel moments 373 00:23:21,480 --> 00:23:24,520 Speaker 1: that just one of the best travel moments of my life. 374 00:23:24,520 --> 00:23:28,520 Speaker 1: And I always wonder if this guy remembered that at all. 375 00:23:29,359 --> 00:23:34,720 Speaker 1: And that guy turned out to be christof Walls, Yeah, 376 00:23:34,800 --> 00:23:36,480 Speaker 1: I have a feeling this guy didn't remember. It's one 377 00:23:36,480 --> 00:23:38,520 Speaker 1: of those things like as a young American, I was like, 378 00:23:38,560 --> 00:23:40,640 Speaker 1: oh my god, that was a posting. Ever I could 379 00:23:40,640 --> 00:23:44,680 Speaker 1: see that happening in Germany. In France, no French person 380 00:23:44,720 --> 00:23:47,040 Speaker 1: has ever said, hey, your French accent is pretty good. 381 00:23:47,640 --> 00:23:52,400 Speaker 1: Exactly what's gonna help you? Right? Um, Well, let's talk 382 00:23:52,440 --> 00:23:54,000 Speaker 1: a little bit because this, to me is one of 383 00:23:54,000 --> 00:23:57,479 Speaker 1: the more fascinating parts of accents is the fact that 384 00:23:58,000 --> 00:24:04,760 Speaker 1: uh British English, uh and in England, as colonizers all 385 00:24:04,800 --> 00:24:07,640 Speaker 1: over the world, we still ended up with so many 386 00:24:07,760 --> 00:24:13,600 Speaker 1: variations of the English accent. Yeah, which makes sense, fascinating, 387 00:24:14,520 --> 00:24:17,960 Speaker 1: but it's basically like, um, Britain went around the world 388 00:24:18,000 --> 00:24:21,360 Speaker 1: and said, oh, we're we're gonna have an illegitimate child here, 389 00:24:21,400 --> 00:24:23,359 Speaker 1: and we'll have an illegitimate child here, and in an 390 00:24:23,400 --> 00:24:25,560 Speaker 1: illegitimate child here, and they all just kind of look 391 00:24:25,720 --> 00:24:28,400 Speaker 1: like us a little bit. Right, Okay, it's a little 392 00:24:28,440 --> 00:24:31,719 Speaker 1: bit like that, but language wise or accent wise. So 393 00:24:31,800 --> 00:24:35,280 Speaker 1: everybody um who speaks English, I should say, in India 394 00:24:35,760 --> 00:24:40,199 Speaker 1: and in Australia and in Canada and in the United States, UM, 395 00:24:40,240 --> 00:24:42,640 Speaker 1: they all speak English. All of us speak English. Were 396 00:24:42,640 --> 00:24:46,280 Speaker 1: speaking the same language, but we um speak it with 397 00:24:46,359 --> 00:24:49,760 Speaker 1: different accents. And when you start to look into why, 398 00:24:49,880 --> 00:24:53,600 Speaker 1: it just becomes extremely fascinating. Like you were saying, like Australia, 399 00:24:53,680 --> 00:24:56,960 Speaker 1: all right, the Australian accent. Anybody in the world can 400 00:24:57,000 --> 00:25:01,920 Speaker 1: pick out an Australian accent no problem, and it's such 401 00:25:01,920 --> 00:25:04,919 Speaker 1: a unique accent. But it's also a hodgepodge of English 402 00:25:04,960 --> 00:25:08,880 Speaker 1: accents because you had so many people coming from England, 403 00:25:09,840 --> 00:25:14,000 Speaker 1: UM in different parts of England fourth together in this 404 00:25:15,119 --> 00:25:18,359 Speaker 1: you know, these small pockets over this large geography, but 405 00:25:18,680 --> 00:25:23,199 Speaker 1: relatively small pockets of of um uh like cities and 406 00:25:23,280 --> 00:25:28,880 Speaker 1: towns and stuff, and they're disparate regional English accents came 407 00:25:28,920 --> 00:25:32,320 Speaker 1: together to form a common, unique one which is now 408 00:25:32,359 --> 00:25:36,840 Speaker 1: known as Australian English. It's pretty interesting. Yeah, I've always 409 00:25:36,920 --> 00:25:41,080 Speaker 1: heard that UM English actors have an easier time picking 410 00:25:41,119 --> 00:25:45,280 Speaker 1: up the Southern American accent because they're so similar, and 411 00:25:45,320 --> 00:25:47,399 Speaker 1: there's actually a lot to that. I read this great 412 00:25:47,520 --> 00:25:52,160 Speaker 1: article from PBS called Our Full Southern that's the letter 413 00:25:52,359 --> 00:25:56,720 Speaker 1: R f U L Southern U from John Fought and UM. 414 00:25:56,760 --> 00:26:02,080 Speaker 1: It basically kind of lays out the history of UM, 415 00:26:02,200 --> 00:26:07,200 Speaker 1: the Southern American dialect, where it came from, and how 416 00:26:07,240 --> 00:26:10,040 Speaker 1: it's changed over the years, and the fact there's kind 417 00:26:10,040 --> 00:26:12,360 Speaker 1: of two different ones there. They call one the are 418 00:26:12,480 --> 00:26:17,840 Speaker 1: less Southern accent and one the R full meaning UM 419 00:26:17,920 --> 00:26:21,040 Speaker 1: with words when you have an R before a consonant 420 00:26:21,880 --> 00:26:29,120 Speaker 1: um are less accents you drop that are altogether. So like, uh, 421 00:26:29,160 --> 00:26:32,679 Speaker 1: there are different variations UM. Because you see this in 422 00:26:32,720 --> 00:26:35,560 Speaker 1: like in New England, like in Boston, and then you 423 00:26:35,600 --> 00:26:39,280 Speaker 1: actually see it in places like coastal South Carolina, in 424 00:26:39,320 --> 00:26:42,959 Speaker 1: coastal Mississippi and Alabama. Uh, And so you think, well, 425 00:26:43,000 --> 00:26:46,600 Speaker 1: that's weird, But when you think about it, it's true. 426 00:26:47,040 --> 00:26:50,440 Speaker 1: If if you're talking about you know, poc in the 427 00:26:50,560 --> 00:26:54,600 Speaker 1: CA you're dropping the R as with that hard Boston accent, 428 00:26:55,240 --> 00:27:03,320 Speaker 1: but you can also pock the car in South Carolina. Joe, Sorry, 429 00:27:03,560 --> 00:27:06,479 Speaker 1: I get fired up, but it's the same thing and 430 00:27:06,520 --> 00:27:08,199 Speaker 1: it and it came from the same thing. So what 431 00:27:08,320 --> 00:27:14,520 Speaker 1: happened was these coastal plains of uri early European settlements. Um, 432 00:27:14,560 --> 00:27:17,120 Speaker 1: and we're talking not New York City and not New Orleans, 433 00:27:17,520 --> 00:27:20,800 Speaker 1: but all these other places came from our less areas 434 00:27:20,840 --> 00:27:24,680 Speaker 1: of southeastern England. And so as they were settled, they 435 00:27:25,080 --> 00:27:30,280 Speaker 1: set up shop, uh, and farmed around the coast, and 436 00:27:30,320 --> 00:27:35,800 Speaker 1: the coastline didn'tvert venture very far inland. And so then 437 00:27:35,840 --> 00:27:38,560 Speaker 1: there was the second wave that started coming from our 438 00:27:38,600 --> 00:27:43,240 Speaker 1: full areas and this started to change apparently. Um. And 439 00:27:43,280 --> 00:27:46,480 Speaker 1: what we're talking about is rhotic R H O T 440 00:27:46,640 --> 00:27:50,240 Speaker 1: I C and non rhotic dialogue or dialect. Rhotic is 441 00:27:50,240 --> 00:27:54,120 Speaker 1: where the R is hard, yes, like park and non 442 00:27:54,240 --> 00:27:57,679 Speaker 1: rhotic would be like poc. Yeah. And apparently in England 443 00:27:57,680 --> 00:28:02,720 Speaker 1: and especially in southeastern England, when they colonized America, they spoke, 444 00:28:03,000 --> 00:28:05,520 Speaker 1: or they sounded a lot more like what you would 445 00:28:05,520 --> 00:28:08,359 Speaker 1: think of as an American accent today. Yeah, probably a 446 00:28:08,359 --> 00:28:11,280 Speaker 1: lot more that we probably sound very much like they 447 00:28:11,320 --> 00:28:16,240 Speaker 1: sounded back then, which is just knocked my socks off man. 448 00:28:16,400 --> 00:28:20,280 Speaker 1: Fact of not just this podcast, maybe fact of the year. Yeah. 449 00:28:20,359 --> 00:28:22,600 Speaker 1: But at some point, uh, And I think there's a 450 00:28:22,600 --> 00:28:25,280 Speaker 1: little bit of debate on exactly when there became a 451 00:28:25,320 --> 00:28:29,120 Speaker 1: conscious shift in England for uh kind of to draw 452 00:28:29,160 --> 00:28:32,600 Speaker 1: class distinctions, to to have a more posh sounding accent, 453 00:28:32,680 --> 00:28:35,560 Speaker 1: Is that right? Yeah? Yeah, there's something called so the 454 00:28:35,600 --> 00:28:38,760 Speaker 1: typical British accent. When you listen to say, someone like 455 00:28:38,840 --> 00:28:42,280 Speaker 1: you Grant speak what you think of as like kind 456 00:28:42,280 --> 00:28:47,520 Speaker 1: of classy British, that's called Grant, right, classiest guy around 457 00:28:48,240 --> 00:28:51,000 Speaker 1: at the very least, he's one of the most charming, um, 458 00:28:51,040 --> 00:28:54,040 Speaker 1: which is how he gets away with so much. But uh, 459 00:28:54,080 --> 00:28:58,440 Speaker 1: that that that accent is called received pronunciation, and it 460 00:28:58,520 --> 00:29:03,280 Speaker 1: developed in England as kind of an aspirational accent among 461 00:29:03,320 --> 00:29:05,800 Speaker 1: the middle class. The middle class was starting to grow. 462 00:29:06,480 --> 00:29:08,880 Speaker 1: Um from what I saw that it was the mid 463 00:29:08,960 --> 00:29:12,680 Speaker 1: nineteenth century. I know you saw something like the sometime 464 00:29:12,720 --> 00:29:15,720 Speaker 1: in the eighteenth century, but regardless, it came out of 465 00:29:15,760 --> 00:29:19,080 Speaker 1: the middle class in England getting a little wealthier, sending 466 00:29:19,120 --> 00:29:22,080 Speaker 1: more and more middle class English kids off to boarding 467 00:29:22,120 --> 00:29:26,400 Speaker 1: school where they were kind of being instructed in this 468 00:29:26,560 --> 00:29:33,200 Speaker 1: received pronunciation accent, and it it became the the educated 469 00:29:33,640 --> 00:29:38,440 Speaker 1: southern England accepted way to speak, right, it was British 470 00:29:38,760 --> 00:29:43,480 Speaker 1: and that really got cemented in the nineteen twenties when 471 00:29:43,480 --> 00:29:47,120 Speaker 1: the BBC started broadcasting and they actually held a panel 472 00:29:47,160 --> 00:29:50,800 Speaker 1: to try to figure out what accent or accents their 473 00:29:50,840 --> 00:29:53,440 Speaker 1: broadcasters were going to speak in, and they settled on 474 00:29:53,600 --> 00:29:58,120 Speaker 1: received pronunciation. It became the one accent that all BBC 475 00:29:58,200 --> 00:30:02,160 Speaker 1: broadcasts were done in from nineteen twenties to the nineteen 476 00:30:02,240 --> 00:30:07,240 Speaker 1: seventies or eighties. It became quintessential British accents, despite the 477 00:30:07,320 --> 00:30:11,120 Speaker 1: fact that something like less than ten percent, maybe even 478 00:30:11,160 --> 00:30:14,320 Speaker 1: less than that, of the population actually speak with that accent. 479 00:30:14,520 --> 00:30:17,360 Speaker 1: But that's what everybody else in the in the world 480 00:30:17,680 --> 00:30:20,160 Speaker 1: typically thinks of when they think of a British accent. 481 00:30:20,400 --> 00:30:26,320 Speaker 1: It's fascinating and it's again, this came after America was colonized. 482 00:30:26,360 --> 00:30:29,719 Speaker 1: It came from what I understand, after Australia was colonized. 483 00:30:30,000 --> 00:30:35,280 Speaker 1: So at the time Americans and the British um sounded 484 00:30:35,360 --> 00:30:39,120 Speaker 1: very much like we do today. Yeah, So starting in 485 00:30:39,160 --> 00:30:41,960 Speaker 1: about picking back up with the R lesson R full 486 00:30:42,000 --> 00:30:45,880 Speaker 1: stories UH. Starting in about the middle of the eighteenth 487 00:30:45,880 --> 00:30:48,680 Speaker 1: century and for the next hundred years or so, you 488 00:30:48,800 --> 00:30:54,000 Speaker 1: had more people coming over from UH like northern and 489 00:30:54,080 --> 00:30:59,920 Speaker 1: western England, UH and Scotland and Ireland, and they appear 490 00:31:00,000 --> 00:31:04,200 Speaker 1: cly started entering the US, not along the coastline but 491 00:31:04,240 --> 00:31:07,480 Speaker 1: through like the port of Philadelphia, which um that was 492 00:31:07,520 --> 00:31:10,000 Speaker 1: the busiest in the nation at the time. So these 493 00:31:10,040 --> 00:31:13,000 Speaker 1: folks move inland instead of hanging around the coast, and 494 00:31:13,040 --> 00:31:17,120 Speaker 1: then west and southwest, and uh they had the r 495 00:31:17,200 --> 00:31:21,560 Speaker 1: full accents. And so you had these inland varieties of 496 00:31:21,640 --> 00:31:24,400 Speaker 1: accents that were are full, these coastal that were are 497 00:31:24,520 --> 00:31:28,760 Speaker 1: less and are less was far more prominent for a 498 00:31:28,760 --> 00:31:32,000 Speaker 1: long time just because of the way, um migration happened 499 00:31:32,000 --> 00:31:35,000 Speaker 1: and immigration happened. And then are full has since sort 500 00:31:35,040 --> 00:31:39,560 Speaker 1: of taken over. Our full Southern has taken over and 501 00:31:39,720 --> 00:31:43,200 Speaker 1: our full Northern because it's you know, sort of the 502 00:31:43,240 --> 00:31:47,240 Speaker 1: same version of the two different versions of the same thing. Uh, 503 00:31:47,320 --> 00:31:49,400 Speaker 1: and now are full is what you kind of think 504 00:31:49,480 --> 00:31:52,000 Speaker 1: more of us that sort of red nicky Southern accent 505 00:31:52,960 --> 00:32:00,400 Speaker 1: um like orange glad I said orange like that? Sure? Okay, 506 00:32:00,520 --> 00:32:03,160 Speaker 1: Uh what they say here in this PBS article is 507 00:32:03,160 --> 00:32:08,600 Speaker 1: is the prevailing prevailing dialect of like Nascar. You think Nascar, 508 00:32:08,880 --> 00:32:13,280 Speaker 1: you say that hard are instead of Nascar Nascar. I 509 00:32:13,320 --> 00:32:16,960 Speaker 1: feel like I'm going to yeah, just think of Judy 510 00:32:17,040 --> 00:32:21,280 Speaker 1: Davis and Barton Fink. Okay, well Boughton, you know that 511 00:32:21,360 --> 00:32:25,320 Speaker 1: kind of Uh, I always think of Charleston for some reason. 512 00:32:25,680 --> 00:32:29,840 Speaker 1: Oh yeah, because Charleston is super are less in that respect. 513 00:32:30,400 --> 00:32:33,360 Speaker 1: And yeah, I think just like in say England or 514 00:32:33,400 --> 00:32:38,200 Speaker 1: the UK, that um are less is associated with higher society. 515 00:32:38,280 --> 00:32:41,880 Speaker 1: I think, oh yeah, for sure, the non rhotic speech, 516 00:32:42,000 --> 00:32:46,240 Speaker 1: for sure. So then the sun Belt UM gets populated 517 00:32:46,280 --> 00:32:49,200 Speaker 1: and people keep going inland and more inland, and our 518 00:32:49,240 --> 00:32:53,720 Speaker 1: full accents, both northern and southern sort of became the 519 00:32:53,800 --> 00:32:58,040 Speaker 1: dominant UH speaking style in the United States. Well, you know, 520 00:32:58,120 --> 00:33:01,040 Speaker 1: you said that a lot of those UM those immigrants 521 00:33:01,320 --> 00:33:03,440 Speaker 1: came to the U. S and State in the coastal 522 00:33:03,480 --> 00:33:08,120 Speaker 1: areas or went inland. There's been a lot of um 523 00:33:08,520 --> 00:33:14,520 Speaker 1: a speculation that there's pockets of of UM accents, say 524 00:33:14,560 --> 00:33:18,320 Speaker 1: like tucked away in the Appalachians or in the Outer Banks, 525 00:33:18,400 --> 00:33:23,600 Speaker 1: or just kind of in less populated or trafficked areas 526 00:33:23,720 --> 00:33:27,320 Speaker 1: where those original accents were captured and kind of frozen 527 00:33:27,320 --> 00:33:31,560 Speaker 1: in time. Which apparently all of that's been debunked. Um 528 00:33:31,600 --> 00:33:35,719 Speaker 1: that that you can't find the original colonial slash British 529 00:33:35,760 --> 00:33:39,480 Speaker 1: imperial accent in you know, the people in the Outer 530 00:33:39,560 --> 00:33:42,680 Speaker 1: Banks or in the Appalachians. But it's pretty romantic to 531 00:33:42,720 --> 00:33:46,280 Speaker 1: think of and I have to say, I gotta say this, 532 00:33:46,360 --> 00:33:50,800 Speaker 1: speaking of the Appalachian accent. Um, I've said before, you 533 00:33:50,840 --> 00:33:55,520 Speaker 1: know that that that airline pilot talk, how all airline 534 00:33:55,560 --> 00:33:59,120 Speaker 1: pilots sound exactly the same, and they're all actually doing 535 00:33:59,240 --> 00:34:03,719 Speaker 1: Chuck Yeager, Chuck Yeager, whose Appalachian accent was kind of 536 00:34:03,760 --> 00:34:08,080 Speaker 1: famous because he broke the sound barrier. Um, all pilots 537 00:34:08,160 --> 00:34:11,160 Speaker 1: kind of aspired to sound like him. So that's why 538 00:34:11,200 --> 00:34:15,759 Speaker 1: all airline pilots sound exactly the same on the intercom, 539 00:34:15,840 --> 00:34:18,640 Speaker 1: because they're all, whether they know it or not, trying 540 00:34:18,640 --> 00:34:21,600 Speaker 1: to emulate Chuck Yeager, who actually did talk like that. 541 00:34:21,920 --> 00:34:24,840 Speaker 1: And that raises like something pretty pretty significant, Chuck is 542 00:34:25,320 --> 00:34:29,320 Speaker 1: you can acquire an accent just by aspiring to sound 543 00:34:29,400 --> 00:34:31,600 Speaker 1: like somebody. And that's how a lot of accents have 544 00:34:31,760 --> 00:34:35,800 Speaker 1: spread over time. That's how we received pronunciations spread. People 545 00:34:35,920 --> 00:34:38,799 Speaker 1: listen to the broadcaster on the BBC and said, I 546 00:34:38,880 --> 00:34:41,240 Speaker 1: like the cut of that guy's jib, and they started 547 00:34:41,640 --> 00:34:45,920 Speaker 1: mimicking him, and that's how that accent spread. You want 548 00:34:45,920 --> 00:34:48,200 Speaker 1: to take a break, Yeah, we'll take another break and 549 00:34:48,200 --> 00:34:53,279 Speaker 1: we'll talk about media and the movies and um, how 550 00:34:53,320 --> 00:34:55,960 Speaker 1: accidents can affect the perception of a person right after this, 551 00:35:22,760 --> 00:35:26,640 Speaker 1: all right, So I got a call one day from 552 00:35:26,800 --> 00:35:30,960 Speaker 1: John Hodgeman. Yeah, and he, uh, if you don't know, 553 00:35:31,080 --> 00:35:34,359 Speaker 1: as a writer and actor and more and more so 554 00:35:34,400 --> 00:35:38,560 Speaker 1: an actor, and he was auditioning for a part where 555 00:35:38,600 --> 00:35:41,719 Speaker 1: he had to speak with a Southern accent. So he 556 00:35:41,800 --> 00:35:45,840 Speaker 1: called me up and was like, dude, I need some help. Um, 557 00:35:45,840 --> 00:35:48,399 Speaker 1: what what do I do? Because I think he's heard 558 00:35:48,400 --> 00:35:51,040 Speaker 1: me complain a lot about bad Southern accents and movies 559 00:35:51,080 --> 00:35:53,960 Speaker 1: and TV and how that's just such an immediate turn 560 00:35:54,000 --> 00:35:56,640 Speaker 1: off for me, Like that's why I couldn't watch House 561 00:35:56,640 --> 00:36:00,799 Speaker 1: of Cards because Kevin Spacey. Oh his accent you mean? 562 00:36:00,920 --> 00:36:03,319 Speaker 1: Oh yeah, I just heard it off and how you 563 00:36:03,400 --> 00:36:05,680 Speaker 1: meant just Kevin Spacey in general. Now he kind of 564 00:36:05,680 --> 00:36:07,719 Speaker 1: bugs me in general these days. Yeah, I don't see 565 00:36:07,719 --> 00:36:10,400 Speaker 1: Baby Driver then, Oh no, I love Baby Driver and 566 00:36:10,520 --> 00:36:12,160 Speaker 1: I liked him in it. And that's the first thing 567 00:36:12,160 --> 00:36:15,000 Speaker 1: I'm really in a long time. Yeah, I thought it 568 00:36:15,040 --> 00:36:20,040 Speaker 1: was standard Kevin Spacey. Oh well it was, but I 569 00:36:20,120 --> 00:36:25,040 Speaker 1: used to love Kevin Spacey and what the oh just 570 00:36:25,160 --> 00:36:29,400 Speaker 1: in the early days like usual suspects and uh American beauty. 571 00:36:29,719 --> 00:36:34,120 Speaker 1: He was okay, no no qualms here, with American beauty. Yeah, 572 00:36:34,160 --> 00:36:36,640 Speaker 1: he just kind of just got tired of it. Yeah. 573 00:36:36,760 --> 00:36:40,520 Speaker 1: I think Pay It Forward really killed it from You 574 00:36:40,560 --> 00:36:45,040 Speaker 1: should go see it. Go see it, yeah, go to 575 00:36:45,080 --> 00:36:47,719 Speaker 1: my bedroom. Yeah that wherever you have to see it. 576 00:36:47,760 --> 00:36:50,200 Speaker 1: See it. Well, Baby Driver was great though. How about 577 00:36:50,239 --> 00:36:55,840 Speaker 1: that movie? Yeah, no batting Southern accents, and they're really 578 00:36:55,880 --> 00:36:59,240 Speaker 1: I mean they were, although the whole thing was shot 579 00:36:59,280 --> 00:37:02,520 Speaker 1: and setting it Atlanta. Yeah, I mean baby and the 580 00:37:04,000 --> 00:37:06,360 Speaker 1: oh yeah, the waitress had a bad Southern accent. It 581 00:37:06,400 --> 00:37:09,439 Speaker 1: wasn't bad. I thought it was okay, Okay, it wasn't 582 00:37:09,480 --> 00:37:12,920 Speaker 1: too bad by my standard at least. So anyway, Hodgeman 583 00:37:13,000 --> 00:37:15,239 Speaker 1: calls me and I told I basically told them that 584 00:37:15,360 --> 00:37:18,920 Speaker 1: even someone like me, who um doesn't have a very 585 00:37:19,000 --> 00:37:22,320 Speaker 1: strong Southern accent at the very least, there's still something 586 00:37:22,480 --> 00:37:25,960 Speaker 1: we do in the South, which is, um, we soften 587 00:37:26,000 --> 00:37:31,719 Speaker 1: our tease generally. Um. Many times tease become d's and 588 00:37:31,800 --> 00:37:37,360 Speaker 1: sometimes they become ends. Like no one from Atlanta says 589 00:37:37,440 --> 00:37:42,480 Speaker 1: Atlanta Atlanta. It would be spelled A D L A 590 00:37:42,719 --> 00:37:45,440 Speaker 1: N N A. You know it's funny, is it's exactly 591 00:37:45,480 --> 00:37:50,640 Speaker 1: how people from Toronto's Toronto Toronto. But like we're so 592 00:37:50,719 --> 00:37:54,719 Speaker 1: we live in Atlanta, but we say Toronto, right, But 593 00:37:54,719 --> 00:37:58,040 Speaker 1: whenever you hear someone say Atlanta, you just think, you know, 594 00:37:58,239 --> 00:38:02,680 Speaker 1: get the stick out of your butt, pal, Relax, don't 595 00:38:02,719 --> 00:38:05,319 Speaker 1: be so formal. Yeah, so I went through and I 596 00:38:05,320 --> 00:38:09,799 Speaker 1: took Hodgman's pages and sort of rewrote them phonetically. Well, 597 00:38:09,840 --> 00:38:12,719 Speaker 1: I hope you charged for this, No, of course not 598 00:38:13,120 --> 00:38:15,279 Speaker 1: um and yeah, and it kind of helped him out. 599 00:38:15,280 --> 00:38:17,200 Speaker 1: I think I don't think he got the part. But um, 600 00:38:17,719 --> 00:38:24,040 Speaker 1: that's because of his acting, not because of my just kidding. Uh. 601 00:38:24,200 --> 00:38:27,120 Speaker 1: But anyway, it's just it's an interesting lesson in that 602 00:38:28,040 --> 00:38:32,200 Speaker 1: um accents. I think oftentimes regional accents of the same 603 00:38:32,280 --> 00:38:36,759 Speaker 1: language often come down to such subtleties as softening certain 604 00:38:36,840 --> 00:38:41,320 Speaker 1: letters or dropping certain letters ours or teas or whatever. 605 00:38:41,520 --> 00:38:44,279 Speaker 1: But you also, yeah, you raised uh, you raised the 606 00:38:44,360 --> 00:38:48,400 Speaker 1: point earlier where you know, people in Boston and people 607 00:38:48,680 --> 00:38:53,520 Speaker 1: in Alabama both dropped their rs. There are lists, but 608 00:38:54,080 --> 00:38:58,520 Speaker 1: you would never confuse um in English speaker in Alabama 609 00:38:58,560 --> 00:39:01,080 Speaker 1: with an English speaker in Boston. In so there's a 610 00:39:01,200 --> 00:39:04,200 Speaker 1: lot more going on there. Well, it's just like the 611 00:39:04,239 --> 00:39:07,520 Speaker 1: Irish immigration in Boston that had a big impact because 612 00:39:07,520 --> 00:39:11,480 Speaker 1: they weren't immigrating to uh mobile, right. But I mean, like, 613 00:39:11,520 --> 00:39:15,719 Speaker 1: there's there's a lot more going on accent wise to 614 00:39:16,000 --> 00:39:19,759 Speaker 1: just dropping the R. But that's the reason why that 615 00:39:19,800 --> 00:39:21,799 Speaker 1: one has brought up so much is because it's such 616 00:39:21,840 --> 00:39:28,680 Speaker 1: a a common and identifiable beginning point to differentiate different accents. Yeah, 617 00:39:28,719 --> 00:39:30,799 Speaker 1: and I guess that's probably a good place to talk 618 00:39:30,840 --> 00:39:34,200 Speaker 1: about perception um because whether we like it or not, 619 00:39:35,560 --> 00:39:41,319 Speaker 1: if you hear a very thick like old school New 620 00:39:41,400 --> 00:39:47,360 Speaker 1: York Brooklyn thing or a very southern kind of Nascar talker, like, 621 00:39:47,560 --> 00:39:52,400 Speaker 1: you're gonna get stereotype like it it sucks. But you 622 00:39:52,440 --> 00:39:54,839 Speaker 1: have a very hard Southern accent, people are gonna think 623 00:39:54,840 --> 00:40:02,399 Speaker 1: you're dumb. That's because of the hookworm than anything. But 624 00:40:03,000 --> 00:40:07,239 Speaker 1: I think any really really heavy accent can um very 625 00:40:07,320 --> 00:40:09,680 Speaker 1: much affect what a person thinks initially when they talk 626 00:40:09,719 --> 00:40:13,719 Speaker 1: to you. Well yeah, um, so accents are at their 627 00:40:13,760 --> 00:40:17,359 Speaker 1: base and in group out group marker. Right. And we 628 00:40:18,440 --> 00:40:21,279 Speaker 1: despite how long we've been living in a larger, more 629 00:40:21,400 --> 00:40:25,920 Speaker 1: integrated society UM full of more and more people that 630 00:40:25,960 --> 00:40:30,239 Speaker 1: we interact with from different groups every day, Uh, we 631 00:40:30,360 --> 00:40:35,640 Speaker 1: still have this kind of evolutionary spark where we are 632 00:40:35,760 --> 00:40:38,920 Speaker 1: aware of people who are different from us, right, and 633 00:40:38,960 --> 00:40:42,799 Speaker 1: we surmise different things, whether correctly or incorrectly, based on 634 00:40:42,840 --> 00:40:46,240 Speaker 1: some of these markers. And one of the big easy 635 00:40:46,280 --> 00:40:49,520 Speaker 1: to identify markers that says, oh, you're from a different 636 00:40:49,560 --> 00:40:51,920 Speaker 1: group than me. Let me just put a little barrier 637 00:40:51,960 --> 00:40:56,000 Speaker 1: between us here is the accent. Yeah, for sure. Um, 638 00:40:56,480 --> 00:41:00,200 Speaker 1: they've even done studies. Uh, I know that the is 639 00:41:00,239 --> 00:41:04,600 Speaker 1: it babel or babel babel b A b b e 640 00:41:04,800 --> 00:41:08,080 Speaker 1: L the the language app. They've done studies and they've 641 00:41:08,239 --> 00:41:11,720 Speaker 1: um had people mark like what accents they thought were sexy, 642 00:41:11,960 --> 00:41:15,720 Speaker 1: which accents they thought were annoying, which ones they trust 643 00:41:15,719 --> 00:41:19,000 Speaker 1: and don't trust, And of course, like a French accent 644 00:41:19,719 --> 00:41:25,600 Speaker 1: was more favorable, the German accent was the least favorable. Um. 645 00:41:25,640 --> 00:41:29,160 Speaker 1: Just generally, they've done tests that find that people are 646 00:41:29,280 --> 00:41:33,839 Speaker 1: distrusting of someone with a foreign accent period. Yeah. And 647 00:41:33,880 --> 00:41:35,480 Speaker 1: I don't know if that has to do with the 648 00:41:35,520 --> 00:41:39,040 Speaker 1: fact that it is in group out group, or if 649 00:41:39,120 --> 00:41:42,000 Speaker 1: there's a UM there's like a kind of a much 650 00:41:42,239 --> 00:41:45,640 Speaker 1: lighter hearted explanation for it, which is that we tend 651 00:41:45,680 --> 00:41:49,359 Speaker 1: to prefer people with our own accents or people who 652 00:41:49,400 --> 00:41:52,279 Speaker 1: sound like us are close to us because that's what 653 00:41:52,360 --> 00:41:56,839 Speaker 1: we're used to. So we're just physically more comfortable hearing that, right, 654 00:41:57,320 --> 00:42:00,440 Speaker 1: makes sense, not in hearing something different puts on edge 655 00:42:00,520 --> 00:42:03,480 Speaker 1: or guards up or we're just a little more, um, 656 00:42:03,520 --> 00:42:07,760 Speaker 1: a little less comfortable physically just from hearing somebody speak 657 00:42:07,800 --> 00:42:12,839 Speaker 1: with an accent. And then another study suggested that cognitively, 658 00:42:12,960 --> 00:42:17,440 Speaker 1: we're having to work harder to um understand what a 659 00:42:17,520 --> 00:42:20,320 Speaker 1: person with an accent that's foreign to us as saying, 660 00:42:21,120 --> 00:42:25,120 Speaker 1: and uh that and one way to put is that 661 00:42:25,200 --> 00:42:27,920 Speaker 1: we kind of resent them for making us work harder, 662 00:42:28,280 --> 00:42:33,080 Speaker 1: so we're less trusting of what they're saying, right, which 663 00:42:33,120 --> 00:42:35,759 Speaker 1: is just weird. Well, yeah, and all of this is 664 00:42:35,800 --> 00:42:41,480 Speaker 1: reinforced and um borne out of and reinforced by movies 665 00:42:41,760 --> 00:42:46,359 Speaker 1: and television to a large degree, because anyone who's ever 666 00:42:46,400 --> 00:42:48,920 Speaker 1: seen a movie, they have these kind of go to 667 00:42:49,120 --> 00:42:52,960 Speaker 1: trope accents depending on what kind of character it is, um, 668 00:42:53,000 --> 00:42:57,600 Speaker 1: whether it's the dumb Southerner or in the case of crime, 669 00:42:58,480 --> 00:43:02,040 Speaker 1: um like this this new arc accent for like petty criminals, 670 00:43:02,640 --> 00:43:07,160 Speaker 1: whereas the criminal mastermind will usually have a British accent. Yeah, 671 00:43:07,280 --> 00:43:10,719 Speaker 1: I read an article on that about villains having accents 672 00:43:10,920 --> 00:43:16,320 Speaker 1: and usually it's British and apparently that's just kind of 673 00:43:17,480 --> 00:43:21,439 Speaker 1: lazy filmmaking in a way, like many years for sure. Yeah, 674 00:43:21,600 --> 00:43:24,040 Speaker 1: And so like the the no matter if it was 675 00:43:24,080 --> 00:43:29,680 Speaker 1: like on another planet or Russian villain, the villain typically 676 00:43:29,760 --> 00:43:32,520 Speaker 1: has a British accent, and they the article was saying 677 00:43:32,560 --> 00:43:36,040 Speaker 1: that they had to do with one. It's just an 678 00:43:36,040 --> 00:43:39,680 Speaker 1: easy cheap way of saying this person's foreign, this person's other, 679 00:43:40,840 --> 00:43:45,000 Speaker 1: so right there that they're the bad guy, right um, 680 00:43:46,000 --> 00:43:49,239 Speaker 1: and then secondly that it was British, so that we 681 00:43:49,320 --> 00:43:53,440 Speaker 1: can understand what they're saying still very easily, but on 682 00:43:53,480 --> 00:43:58,120 Speaker 1: an unconscious level again there other their foreign and then um, 683 00:43:58,360 --> 00:44:02,680 Speaker 1: the the In America, there's something called cultural cringe. It's 684 00:44:02,680 --> 00:44:05,799 Speaker 1: in America, it's in Australia that there's this idea that 685 00:44:06,000 --> 00:44:10,160 Speaker 1: the British colonized this country and they were originally like 686 00:44:10,239 --> 00:44:14,160 Speaker 1: the parent country, and there's still some kind of unconscious 687 00:44:14,200 --> 00:44:17,600 Speaker 1: resentment of them. So that making the villain British taps 688 00:44:17,640 --> 00:44:24,479 Speaker 1: into that unconscious disdain for British people, which obviously don't 689 00:44:24,480 --> 00:44:28,400 Speaker 1: have consciously. But it's called cultural cringe where you're just 690 00:44:28,480 --> 00:44:32,520 Speaker 1: kind of like unconsciously comparing your culture to their culture 691 00:44:32,560 --> 00:44:36,399 Speaker 1: and like irritation comes out of it. Yeah, it's funny. 692 00:44:36,440 --> 00:44:40,319 Speaker 1: Even the Star Wars universe, it was uh a long 693 00:44:40,360 --> 00:44:43,480 Speaker 1: time ago in a different galaxy, and yet you have 694 00:44:43,640 --> 00:44:47,560 Speaker 1: like some American accents and some English accents, and it's 695 00:44:47,600 --> 00:44:50,799 Speaker 1: kind of all over the map. Like uh, I mean 696 00:44:50,840 --> 00:44:54,480 Speaker 1: even in the in that first Star Wars movie, Carrie 697 00:44:54,480 --> 00:44:59,880 Speaker 1: Fisher sort of vacillated between English accent and regular Americans. 698 00:45:00,000 --> 00:45:04,279 Speaker 1: He almost adopted a mid Atlantic accent. Yeah, so that's, um, 699 00:45:04,640 --> 00:45:08,040 Speaker 1: we're not talking about Maryland. Um. In the early days 700 00:45:08,040 --> 00:45:10,440 Speaker 1: of the movies, they called it mid Atlantic, which basically 701 00:45:10,520 --> 00:45:14,319 Speaker 1: meant just somewhere between England and the United States. And 702 00:45:14,360 --> 00:45:18,200 Speaker 1: that's how almost all of the early movie stars spoke. Yeah, 703 00:45:18,239 --> 00:45:21,239 Speaker 1: and um, I think from what I saw, you could 704 00:45:21,239 --> 00:45:25,480 Speaker 1: trace it back to a single um dialect coach who 705 00:45:25,520 --> 00:45:30,080 Speaker 1: taught I think Katherine Hepburn to speak that way. And 706 00:45:30,520 --> 00:45:33,759 Speaker 1: that combined with Carrie Grant becoming a star and he 707 00:45:33,800 --> 00:45:36,160 Speaker 1: was born in England and raised there until he was sixteen, 708 00:45:36,480 --> 00:45:39,680 Speaker 1: and then moving to America. Those two becoming big stars 709 00:45:39,719 --> 00:45:42,799 Speaker 1: at the same time made this mid Atlantic accent just 710 00:45:42,840 --> 00:45:46,320 Speaker 1: spread like wildfire because that's what people saw in the movies. 711 00:45:46,480 --> 00:45:49,520 Speaker 1: That's what they aspired to. So some people started talking 712 00:45:49,600 --> 00:45:53,479 Speaker 1: like that, Yeah, super interesting. There was um a woman 713 00:45:53,560 --> 00:45:58,080 Speaker 1: named Nancy Elliott that did a sample of American actors 714 00:45:58,600 --> 00:46:02,320 Speaker 1: in American movies from the nineteen thirties to the nineteen seventies, 715 00:46:02,880 --> 00:46:07,239 Speaker 1: and she showed a steady decline and are dropping in 716 00:46:07,280 --> 00:46:10,160 Speaker 1: the artless accent, which would support that what you're talking 717 00:46:10,200 --> 00:46:13,560 Speaker 1: about with the mid Atlantic from sixty percent of actors 718 00:46:13,560 --> 00:46:16,880 Speaker 1: in the nineteen thirties to zero percent in the nineteen 719 00:46:16,920 --> 00:46:20,840 Speaker 1: seventies dropped their rs. And then she saw within people's 720 00:46:20,880 --> 00:46:24,800 Speaker 1: individual careers that had long careers in movies, they modified 721 00:46:24,800 --> 00:46:29,399 Speaker 1: their pronunciations over time. Really interesting. Yeah, so what one 722 00:46:29,400 --> 00:46:33,080 Speaker 1: more thing about the British villain or the villain no 723 00:46:33,120 --> 00:46:35,960 Speaker 1: matter where he's from, having a British accent. This article 724 00:46:36,560 --> 00:46:39,359 Speaker 1: called out and I thought, very very rightly, so um 725 00:46:39,480 --> 00:46:43,480 Speaker 1: inglorious bastards as doing it right because there's like whole 726 00:46:43,480 --> 00:46:47,879 Speaker 1: scenes that are spoken in German or Italian with subtitles. 727 00:46:48,560 --> 00:46:52,200 Speaker 1: So the Nazis spoke German, which they would have spoken German. Right, 728 00:46:52,560 --> 00:46:55,200 Speaker 1: you you have to read along English with the British accent, 729 00:46:55,440 --> 00:46:59,480 Speaker 1: right right? Yeah, exactly. That's pretty funny. I thought this 730 00:46:59,560 --> 00:47:03,680 Speaker 1: was interesting. Sing with the singers um generally, and there 731 00:47:03,719 --> 00:47:10,239 Speaker 1: are exceptions like the Proclaimers, an Oasis and Madness at 732 00:47:10,280 --> 00:47:13,560 Speaker 1: times Phil Collins, people that would sing with a distinct 733 00:47:14,320 --> 00:47:19,600 Speaker 1: British accent of some kind, but generally what you hear 734 00:47:19,640 --> 00:47:23,440 Speaker 1: on the radio is what this one linguists called pop 735 00:47:23,560 --> 00:47:26,800 Speaker 1: music accent, which is there are a couple of theories 736 00:47:26,840 --> 00:47:31,120 Speaker 1: on why you can't tell from Mick Jagger to Adele 737 00:47:31,640 --> 00:47:35,920 Speaker 1: to George Michael that they're um not American um. And 738 00:47:35,960 --> 00:47:37,640 Speaker 1: there's been a lot of debate over the years, but 739 00:47:38,280 --> 00:47:41,040 Speaker 1: there seemed to be a couple of accepted reasons. Um. 740 00:47:42,080 --> 00:47:45,400 Speaker 1: One is is that this is just the pop music accent. 741 00:47:45,480 --> 00:47:48,160 Speaker 1: This is what's popular, this is what sells, and so 742 00:47:48,280 --> 00:47:50,120 Speaker 1: this is what people do when they sing, no matter 743 00:47:50,160 --> 00:47:55,359 Speaker 1: where they're from. Uh. And the other is that intonation 744 00:47:55,560 --> 00:47:58,920 Speaker 1: has a lot to do with vowel quality, length of 745 00:47:59,000 --> 00:48:02,840 Speaker 1: your vowels, and that when you sing, you follow a 746 00:48:02,920 --> 00:48:07,160 Speaker 1: melody which sort of just cancels out or negates the 747 00:48:07,280 --> 00:48:10,879 Speaker 1: uniqueness of the accent. That one makes sense to mean 748 00:48:11,840 --> 00:48:14,200 Speaker 1: both of them do. Actually, yeah, I think it's pretty interesting. 749 00:48:14,239 --> 00:48:18,479 Speaker 1: I think I think you almost have to work. Well 750 00:48:18,520 --> 00:48:20,960 Speaker 1: maybe not. I was gonna say these bands and singers 751 00:48:20,960 --> 00:48:24,640 Speaker 1: that still sound very British are doing that on purpose, 752 00:48:25,960 --> 00:48:27,759 Speaker 1: and that may be the case. I don't know. Like 753 00:48:27,840 --> 00:48:30,480 Speaker 1: The Darkness, the guy from the Darkness sounds super British. 754 00:48:31,080 --> 00:48:34,239 Speaker 1: They're from Suffolk. Yeah, and then have you heard any 755 00:48:34,280 --> 00:48:39,880 Speaker 1: Have you heard of the genre UK grime? No, Apparently 756 00:48:39,880 --> 00:48:42,560 Speaker 1: that came along in out of East London the two thousands, 757 00:48:42,560 --> 00:48:46,000 Speaker 1: and it's sort of a descendant of Drummond bass and 758 00:48:46,120 --> 00:48:48,960 Speaker 1: dance hall and stuff like that. But it's just this 759 00:48:49,120 --> 00:48:54,319 Speaker 1: really heavily accented rap. Dizzy Rascal is the UK grime 760 00:48:54,480 --> 00:48:56,880 Speaker 1: I think, So okay, Well, then I have heard it 761 00:48:56,880 --> 00:48:58,759 Speaker 1: and kind of like it because I'm not hip at 762 00:48:58,760 --> 00:49:00,799 Speaker 1: all to this stuff, so I had to look it 763 00:49:00,840 --> 00:49:02,520 Speaker 1: all up, and I think he was on the list. 764 00:49:03,480 --> 00:49:05,840 Speaker 1: I listened to a couple of tunes from some of 765 00:49:05,840 --> 00:49:12,040 Speaker 1: these people and yeah, yeah, yeah, Dizzy Rascals, cool roots maneuver. 766 00:49:12,280 --> 00:49:15,839 Speaker 1: Check him out too, I think he was on the list. Yeah, man, okay, yes, 767 00:49:15,880 --> 00:49:22,160 Speaker 1: I like UK grime. Um speaking of Great Britain apparently, 768 00:49:22,239 --> 00:49:24,759 Speaker 1: like so here in the States, if you have a 769 00:49:24,760 --> 00:49:27,000 Speaker 1: different accent or whatever, especially if you have like a 770 00:49:27,080 --> 00:49:31,760 Speaker 1: southern drawl and you just kind of sound slow. People 771 00:49:31,800 --> 00:49:34,239 Speaker 1: elsewhere in the country think of you as slow. That's 772 00:49:34,280 --> 00:49:37,239 Speaker 1: just how they take you initially, until you have you 773 00:49:37,239 --> 00:49:40,880 Speaker 1: have to work a little harder to prove yourself, right. Um, 774 00:49:40,920 --> 00:49:44,080 Speaker 1: that's kind of aside from maybe like valley girl or 775 00:49:44,200 --> 00:49:47,800 Speaker 1: valley guy accent, that's really the only accent that's super 776 00:49:47,840 --> 00:49:52,040 Speaker 1: discriminated against hearing the States, but apparently in the UK 777 00:49:52,840 --> 00:49:59,160 Speaker 1: accents are taken very seriously and discrimination is quite possible. Um. 778 00:49:59,280 --> 00:50:02,160 Speaker 1: I wrote a tooth. I was in thirteen article from 779 00:50:02,160 --> 00:50:04,319 Speaker 1: The Guardian that was talking about a study that had 780 00:50:04,360 --> 00:50:08,600 Speaker 1: just taken place, and the study found that of the 781 00:50:08,680 --> 00:50:13,160 Speaker 1: employers surveyed admitted to discriminating against people based on their 782 00:50:13,200 --> 00:50:18,319 Speaker 1: regional accent, and that of Brits said that they felt 783 00:50:18,320 --> 00:50:21,200 Speaker 1: discriminated against based on their accents. I didn't see any 784 00:50:22,040 --> 00:50:24,799 Speaker 1: any study that's found the same thing in America, but 785 00:50:24,840 --> 00:50:27,880 Speaker 1: I guarantee those numbers would have been in the basement 786 00:50:27,960 --> 00:50:31,600 Speaker 1: compared to that. Yeah, it's definitely a thing in the 787 00:50:31,719 --> 00:50:34,680 Speaker 1: UK because I've heard even friends of mine that are 788 00:50:34,680 --> 00:50:36,759 Speaker 1: English when they talk to someone and also they're like, 789 00:50:36,800 --> 00:50:40,600 Speaker 1: oh yeah, he's he's a you know, from this area, 790 00:50:40,640 --> 00:50:46,680 Speaker 1: and not necessarily even disparaging. It's just, uh, I don't know, 791 00:50:46,719 --> 00:50:49,239 Speaker 1: it's just a bigger deal, I think. Yeah, I think 792 00:50:49,280 --> 00:50:53,080 Speaker 1: it is too over there. I wish they all talked 793 00:50:53,080 --> 00:50:57,160 Speaker 1: like Terrance Stamp from The Liney. I like Michael Caine's accent, 794 00:50:57,200 --> 00:51:00,560 Speaker 1: which apparently I had no idea, yeah that that was 795 00:51:00,600 --> 00:51:03,520 Speaker 1: a Cockney accent, although once I read that, I was like, oh, yeah, 796 00:51:03,560 --> 00:51:05,440 Speaker 1: I could hear that. Now. Well, it's funny that I 797 00:51:05,520 --> 00:51:08,239 Speaker 1: love the Terrance Stamp in The Limey. But I've read 798 00:51:08,280 --> 00:51:10,680 Speaker 1: an article that where one reviewer said it was like 799 00:51:10,719 --> 00:51:14,879 Speaker 1: the worst accent they'd ever heard in The Guardian. But there. 800 00:51:14,960 --> 00:51:17,600 Speaker 1: Did you see that movie? No? I didn't. Man, it's 801 00:51:17,640 --> 00:51:21,680 Speaker 1: so good, uh Steven Soderberg movie. This is where he 802 00:51:21,760 --> 00:51:25,120 Speaker 1: and his son built a house together. No, no, no, no, 803 00:51:25,719 --> 00:51:29,480 Speaker 1: it's uh he's he's plays a kind of a British 804 00:51:29,480 --> 00:51:32,280 Speaker 1: tough coming over to get revenge for his daughter's murder 805 00:51:32,440 --> 00:51:36,560 Speaker 1: and ends up working at a pizza place in Connecticut. Nope, man, 806 00:51:37,160 --> 00:51:39,319 Speaker 1: I know I haven't seen this movie. Yeah, it's called 807 00:51:39,320 --> 00:51:41,160 Speaker 1: The Limy. It's great, but there's this one scene where 808 00:51:41,200 --> 00:51:44,200 Speaker 1: he goes off in front of the great Bill Duke, 809 00:51:44,520 --> 00:51:47,239 Speaker 1: who I think late grade is built up no longer 810 00:51:47,280 --> 00:51:49,919 Speaker 1: with us. I don't know who that is. You would 811 00:51:49,960 --> 00:51:54,480 Speaker 1: recognize him, Uh, well build this plays an American. Uh, 812 00:51:54,719 --> 00:51:57,640 Speaker 1: I think he's a maybe a copper detective in the movie, 813 00:51:58,200 --> 00:52:00,160 Speaker 1: and Terence stamp has this great scene where he goes 814 00:52:00,200 --> 00:52:03,120 Speaker 1: into his office and goes off for like a minute 815 00:52:03,120 --> 00:52:06,359 Speaker 1: and a half straight in this very thick cockney not 816 00:52:06,440 --> 00:52:10,680 Speaker 1: only accent but dialect um, and Bill Dick's just sitting there. 817 00:52:11,480 --> 00:52:13,719 Speaker 1: At the end he goes. Bill Duke says, there's only 818 00:52:13,760 --> 00:52:17,839 Speaker 1: one thing I don't understand. I don't understand every mother 819 00:52:18,000 --> 00:52:22,720 Speaker 1: fan word that just came out of your mouth. So classic. 820 00:52:22,920 --> 00:52:25,680 Speaker 1: I gotta see that movie. Oh dude, it's really really good. 821 00:52:25,760 --> 00:52:29,480 Speaker 1: Wait a minute, Wait a minute. Does Terence Stamp hire 822 00:52:29,600 --> 00:52:32,440 Speaker 1: himself out as a toy for a rich kid and 823 00:52:32,560 --> 00:52:38,279 Speaker 1: Jackie Gleeson is the dad? No, that's the toy the 824 00:52:38,360 --> 00:52:42,120 Speaker 1: Limi Peter Fonde is in it. Okay, I'll go see it. Yeah, 825 00:52:42,120 --> 00:52:46,440 Speaker 1: it's excellent. Um, you got anything else? No, it's weird. 826 00:52:46,480 --> 00:52:48,759 Speaker 1: This is one of those where it was even kind 827 00:52:48,760 --> 00:52:50,960 Speaker 1: of long, and I feel like we just didn't even 828 00:52:51,040 --> 00:52:53,200 Speaker 1: cover half of what we could have. Yeah, no way, 829 00:52:53,360 --> 00:52:55,520 Speaker 1: and we definitely didn't. There's a lot to it. It's 830 00:52:55,520 --> 00:52:58,800 Speaker 1: pretty interesting. We'll do a part two one day. Oh yeah. Um. 831 00:52:58,840 --> 00:53:01,879 Speaker 1: In the meantime, I would direct everybody to I think 832 00:53:01,960 --> 00:53:06,040 Speaker 1: wired to look up movie accent expert breaks down thirty 833 00:53:06,080 --> 00:53:10,480 Speaker 1: two actors accents and this dialect coach is just doing well. 834 00:53:10,520 --> 00:53:14,080 Speaker 1: He talks about thirty two different characters and um, some 835 00:53:14,239 --> 00:53:17,280 Speaker 1: are really good, like um, Philip Seymour Hoffman doing Capodi 836 00:53:17,360 --> 00:53:23,919 Speaker 1: apparently is dead on, and um, Kevin Costner doing Robin 837 00:53:24,000 --> 00:53:27,439 Speaker 1: Hood is supposedly the worst accent of all time and 838 00:53:27,480 --> 00:53:30,520 Speaker 1: in movie history. You know who I love a lot, 839 00:53:30,880 --> 00:53:33,480 Speaker 1: but he can't do an American accent. But I'll still 840 00:53:33,480 --> 00:53:36,480 Speaker 1: watch him just because I love him. Is you and McGregor? 841 00:53:37,360 --> 00:53:40,320 Speaker 1: Oh yeah, he in uh. In this season of Fargo, 842 00:53:41,120 --> 00:53:44,360 Speaker 1: he was great and I loved it, but he's just 843 00:53:45,000 --> 00:53:47,319 Speaker 1: he just has such a hard time that Scott that's 844 00:53:47,520 --> 00:53:50,440 Speaker 1: Scottish accent just comes through. Yeah. Same with the men 845 00:53:50,520 --> 00:53:54,239 Speaker 1: who stare at goats. Yeah, he had trouble in there. 846 00:53:54,280 --> 00:53:56,279 Speaker 1: I mean it was fine, but you've noticed it every 847 00:53:56,280 --> 00:53:58,280 Speaker 1: once in a while. He really did the wet behind 848 00:53:58,320 --> 00:54:00,520 Speaker 1: the ears thing. He's so like a although I just 849 00:54:00,600 --> 00:54:02,600 Speaker 1: I don't care. I just get over it, whereas some 850 00:54:02,640 --> 00:54:04,120 Speaker 1: people I'm just like, no, I'm not gonna watch it 851 00:54:04,680 --> 00:54:08,200 Speaker 1: with you. Well, if you want to know more about accents, 852 00:54:08,239 --> 00:54:11,120 Speaker 1: get out there in the world, meet new people, listen 853 00:54:11,120 --> 00:54:14,120 Speaker 1: to their accents. Maybe try someone for size who knows. 854 00:54:15,360 --> 00:54:17,839 Speaker 1: Uh And since I said try someone for size, it's 855 00:54:17,840 --> 00:54:26,120 Speaker 1: time for a listener mail. I'm gonna call this uh switcheroo. 856 00:54:26,280 --> 00:54:28,560 Speaker 1: And it's kind of funny. It was not really accent related, 857 00:54:28,600 --> 00:54:30,920 Speaker 1: but voice related. Because we get a lot of comments 858 00:54:30,920 --> 00:54:35,319 Speaker 1: about people that differently you know, but this this one 859 00:54:35,400 --> 00:54:37,879 Speaker 1: was interesting. Hey guys, a little funny anecdote thought i'd share. 860 00:54:38,440 --> 00:54:42,120 Speaker 1: I listened to the podcast for about three years. Ah. 861 00:54:42,120 --> 00:54:44,440 Speaker 1: Shortly after I started listening, I pulled up a picture 862 00:54:44,960 --> 00:54:48,720 Speaker 1: of you guys, just to put faces to your voices. Yesterday, 863 00:54:48,760 --> 00:54:51,840 Speaker 1: for some reason, I pulled up a video he watched 864 00:54:51,840 --> 00:54:56,120 Speaker 1: our Google Talk at the Google headquarters, um, and he 865 00:54:56,160 --> 00:54:58,799 Speaker 1: realized that he had been picturing us backwards this whole time. 866 00:54:59,480 --> 00:55:01,360 Speaker 1: That that was jarring. So that's a little switch on 867 00:55:01,480 --> 00:55:05,000 Speaker 1: the usual story we get that people don't even know uh. 868 00:55:05,080 --> 00:55:07,319 Speaker 1: So he said, since I only saw a picture, I 869 00:55:07,320 --> 00:55:10,399 Speaker 1: guess it just assumed I knew by looking who had 870 00:55:10,440 --> 00:55:13,520 Speaker 1: which voice. I've had that image for all these episodes 871 00:55:13,560 --> 00:55:15,600 Speaker 1: as to who is who? Imagine how odd of an 872 00:55:15,600 --> 00:55:17,879 Speaker 1: experience it was to watch a video I saw Josh 873 00:55:17,880 --> 00:55:21,200 Speaker 1: speak with Chuck's voice, and Chuck and Josh's by far 874 00:55:21,239 --> 00:55:23,160 Speaker 1: one of the weirdest moments I've had in recent memory. 875 00:55:23,920 --> 00:55:25,920 Speaker 1: Thanks for all the great shows, Keep them coming. That 876 00:55:26,080 --> 00:55:31,760 Speaker 1: is Nick from Indiana. Thanks a lot, Nick, I appreciate that. Um. Yeah, 877 00:55:31,960 --> 00:55:34,239 Speaker 1: that's all I have to say about that. You just 878 00:55:34,239 --> 00:55:37,759 Speaker 1: so imagine that it was probably pretty funny. He's still 879 00:55:37,840 --> 00:55:41,000 Speaker 1: laughing about it. Uh. If you want to get in 880 00:55:41,040 --> 00:55:43,560 Speaker 1: touch with us, like Nick did, tell us a funny story, 881 00:55:43,640 --> 00:55:46,759 Speaker 1: We're always down to hear those. You can tweet to 882 00:55:46,880 --> 00:55:49,839 Speaker 1: us at s Y s K podcast or Josh um 883 00:55:49,920 --> 00:55:53,200 Speaker 1: Clark can hang out on Facebook at Charles W. Chuck 884 00:55:53,239 --> 00:55:55,880 Speaker 1: Bryant or Stuff you Should Know. You can send us 885 00:55:55,920 --> 00:55:58,120 Speaker 1: an email the Stuff podcast to how Stuff Works dot 886 00:55:58,160 --> 00:56:00,120 Speaker 1: Com and has always joined us at a home on 887 00:56:00,160 --> 00:56:07,040 Speaker 1: the web Stuff you Should Know dot com for more 888 00:56:07,040 --> 00:56:09,359 Speaker 1: on this and thousands of other topics. Is it how 889 00:56:09,400 --> 00:56:16,759 Speaker 1: Stuff Works dot Com m.