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American and British accents explained

Words Unravelled

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Why do Americans and Brits have the accents they have? Sociolinguist, professor and author Valerie Fridland joins Rob and Jess this week to discuss why we talk funny.

🍮 Does 'caramel' have one or two syllables?
🪶 Do Americans sound more like Shakespeare than Brits?
🎩 Why do some accents sound 'posher' than others?

These questions answered, an many more, in another gloriously nerdy episode of Words Unravelled.

📘 VALERIE'S BOOKS 📕
Why We Talk Funny: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/bo...
Like, Literally, Dude: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/bo...

👕 OUR MERCH 👚
US SHOP: https://wordsunravelledshop.myspreads...
EU/UK SHOP: https://wordsunravelledshop.myspreads...

👂LISTEN: https://podfollow.com/words-unravelle...
or search for "Words Unravelled" wherever you get your podcasts.

==LINKS==
Rob's YouTube channel: robwords
Jess' Useless Etymology blog: https://uselessetymology.com/
Rob on X: x.com/robwordsyt
Jess on TikTok: tiktok.com/@jesszafarris

#etymology #wordfacts #English

20 Comments

@Kirly-n6t 2 months ago

I have never once heard or said “photgraph”. I hear and say photagraph with an “ah” sound.

@John-g6x1h 2 months ago

We adopted a baby from France so of course, we started studying French. You know, so we'd be able to understand the baby when she started to talk.

@NigelFortune 2 months ago (edited)

Rob doesn't look entirely convinced by some of Valeries points.

@skyhawk_4526 2 months ago

Literally NO ONE says "photgraph." In 50 years on this Earth living in the UK and the US, I have never heard anyone say it like that except for her.

@infoscholar5221 2 months ago

Reckon and yonder are used throughout the South.

@DavidFell 2 months ago

When I was a kid in the 60s, there was a commercial for chocolate cake. As the camera zoomed in to a cake being cut, the word “moist” is used. So to this day, “moist” has a rich chocolaty association for me. You can say it around me any time!

@GuanoLad 2 months ago

"Reckon" is definitely common here in Australia.

@BionicDance 2 months ago

No... I have never said "phote-graph" in my entire life.
The 't' mighta gotten a little flappy, but "foh-dah-graph" is what comes outta my face.

@geniegenie2823 2 months ago

I'm surprised that you did not mention the influence of television on the blending of accents.

@reindeer7752 2 months ago

Fo-to-graf
Caramel with 3 syllables
I grew up in the southern USA.

@jrob8931 2 months ago

I have lived in 7 states and Europe, and have never heard “photgraph” in my 55 years. Nickelback would have a hard time singing that.

@Qual3n 2 months ago

I do negatively judge my kids teacher when she says "libary"

@curaderana 2 months ago

This was a great episode!

@paigeherrin29 2 months ago (edited)

Literally every Southerner anywhere are rolling their eyes at the idea that we do not say reckon. I reckon I say reckon nearly every day.

@91Bear 2 months ago

Jess said "nev-AH-da." I think natives say, "nev-AA-da" with a flat a, like "at."

@jerseydevs2000 2 months ago

As a non Southern American, I always thought "reckon" was still common synonym for "think" or "guess" in the South as well as in the UK.

@JoeMama410 2 months ago

I have a friend from Ireland; his dad is English and his mom is from Minnesota. He spent high school in Louisiana, college in Texas, and did his post-grad in Minnesota before moving to Hawaii. He has the strangest accent that isn't quite any of the constituent accents.

@reachthroughreality 2 months ago

It's interesting that she just brushed off social media, and didn't mention legacy media at all. National TV networks really took off in the 50s and 60s, just in time for Gen X. How much did Leave it to Beaver and Scooby Doo contribute to the homogenization of accents?

@Jaba207 2 months ago

One of my pet peeves is when professional speakers, i.e., newscasters, say their vowels wrong. For example ahmergency vs. eemergency.

@robinnoel1396 2 months ago

I’m a southern US person living in the Midwest now. I say “caramel candy” (three syllables) but “carmel rolls” (two syllables). That’s because we had caramel candy when I was growing up but I never had caramel rolls until I moved here.