Australian teens take on American accents

Joined: 30 Apr 2003 Location: In the Goatshed in Melbourne

Australian teens take on American accents

By Robyn Ironside

July 04, 2008 01:59am
Article from: The Courier-Mail

FOR decades Australia has taken its lead from America in everything from fashion trends to food and diet fads.

But now it seems our love affair with everything American has been taken to the next level with some young Australians adopting US accents.

University of Queensland linguistics expert Roly Sussex said that as the most impressionable group in society, teenagers were very susceptible to imitating what they saw as being "snazzy or powerful".

"It's called the prestige model," Professor Sussex said. "Prestige is a very powerful motive and they (teenagers) will go with the pronunciation that belongs to the most impressive context.

"At the moment and this has been the case for some time now, that's American English.

"They see or hear these things being used by people like in MTV for example, and think 'gee, I want to be like that'."

He said one of the most notable differences in pronunciations was the emphasis put on the first syllable of a word.

"We're now hearing DIS-tribute, RE-search and CIG-arette quite regularly. This is an American pattern we are starting to pick up and follow."

It was not just pronunciations that were being Americanised but our spelling, vocabulary and grammar as well, he said.

"We're seeing more and more examples of American words used in place of Australian words such as sidewalk for footpath and park brake, instead of handbrake," Professor Sussex said.

"There is a service centre at Hervey Bay spelt 'center' and a 'fitness center' on the way to Cleveland.

"Most of the words of approval we use now are American - great, cool, neat, filthy and phat. Australian terms like ace and grouse are now almost invisible, as is 'hooroo' for goodbye."

He said it did not help that most of Australia's singers used an American accent - singing "lurve" instead of "love".

"We follow all sorts of American patterns of behaviour," he said.

Speech teacher June Finney said anything American was highly regarded by young people and it "stood to reason" pronunciations were changing to mimic the American accent.

"We live in a period where anything goes and sadly that seems to apply to our speech as well," Ms Finney said.

But Professor Sussex said it was unlikely the Australian accent would ever be completely erased.

"The original identity will persist," he said.

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,23963970-421,00.html

Joined: 25 Oct 2003 Location: Melbourne Australia

I have caught myself saying "hood" and "fender", to my great shame.

But... on the upside from all this, I can remember when Aussie TV was full of pseudo-brit accents; at least you get to hear more real voices these days.

Joined: 18 Nov 2006 Location: Boganville

i have a slight American accent, mostly because i don't like the stupid drawl of the australian red neck accent.

Joined: 27 Nov 2002 Location: Lost in Melbourne.

Rice_Boy wrote:

i have a slight American accent, mostly because i don't like the stupid drawl of the australian red neck accent.

Why cant you just talk normally without pretending to be what you arent?

Joined: 29 May 2003 Location: hidin frm da wiminz!!!

bogged wrote:

Rice_Boy wrote:

i have a slight American accent, mostly because i don't like the stupid drawl of the australian red neck accent.

Why cant you just talk normally without pretending to be what you arent?

dats like not ma shiz y0 dawg!

Joined: 27 Nov 2002 Location: Lost in Melbourne.

GRIMACE wrote:

bogged wrote:

Rice_Boy wrote:

i have a slight American accent, mostly because i don't like the stupid drawl of the australian red neck accent.

Why cant you just talk normally without pretending to be what you arent?

dats like not ma shiz y0 dawg!

sorry like y'allz, like ma azz was like wrong like yo..

Joined: 02 Oct 2006

Teenagers have been imitating American accents for years. I remember when I was at school some kids would think it was cool to talk "American". Kids go through these stages but will eventually grow out of it. How many adults do you hear talking with fake american accents?

More of a concern to me is the acceptance of American terms like hood, glove compartment, etc. Even heard someone recently refer to petrol as gas! Mad

. There's an ad on TV at the moment for a cake mixture where the kid says he loves the "frosting" (instead of "icing"). The way advertisers force americanisms on young people p1sses me off. Hopefully we will keep our Australian terms and not succumb to the Americanisation of our language.

Joined: 27 Nov 2002 Location: Lost in Melbourne.

plasnart wrote:

Teenagers have been imitating American accents for years. I remember when I was at school some kids would think it was cool to talk "American". Kids go through these stages but will eventually grow out of it. How many adults do you hear talking with fake american accents?

More of a concern to me is the acceptance of American terms like hood, glove compartment, etc. Even heard someone recently refer to petrol as gas! Mad

. There's an ad on TV at the moment for a cake mixture where the kid says he loves the "frosting" (instead of "icing"). The way advertisers force americanisms on young people p1sses me off. Hopefully we will keep our Australian terms and not succumb to the Americanisation of our language.

I hate the fact that they use overseas ads at all in aussie, specially for cars, the ones they show are usually not available here and the ads are always LHD.... . em, they wanna sell here, you show the car here.

Joined: 02 Oct 2006

Rice_Boy wrote:

i have a slight American accent, mostly because i don't like the stupid drawl of the australian red neck accent.

So you prefer to speak with the stupid drawl of the American redneck accent? Rolling Eyes

Go on mate....don't be afraid to be an Aussie.

Joined: 02 Oct 2006

plasnart wrote:

Rice_Boy wrote:

i have a slight American accent, mostly because i don't like the stupid drawl of the australian red neck accent.

So you prefer to speak with the stupid drawl of the American redneck accent? Rolling Eyes

Go on mate....don't be afraid to be an Aussie.

Oh crap, I said redneck! Pretty sure that's American terminology.

Oh crap, I said crap! Think that's American for......dunno.....what's an original Aussie word for faeces?

Uh-oh, think I'm losing my Australian identity. Crying or Very sad

Joined: 27 Nov 2002 Location: Lost in Melbourne.

plasnart wrote:

Rice_Boy wrote:

i have a slight American accent, mostly because i don't like the stupid drawl of the australian red neck accent.

So you prefer to speak with the stupid drawl of the American redneck accent? Rolling Eyes

Go on mate....don't be afraid to be an Aussie.

Oh crap, I said redneck! Pretty sure that's American terminology.

Oh crap, I said crap! Think that's American for......dunno.....what's an original Aussie word for faeces?

Uh-oh, think I'm losing my Australian identity. Crying or Very sad

Joined: 05 Sep 2003 Location: Darwin

Let's bring back the thread with all the Aussie slang!!!!!

Joined: 02 Oct 2006

DeWsE wrote:

Let's bring back the thread with all the Aussie slang!!!!!

That'd be bonza mate!

Joined: 13 Aug 2004 Location: Newy

Rice_Boy wrote:

i have a slight American accent, mostly because i don't like the stupid drawl of the australian red neck accent.

Australian Red Neck? WTF

last time i checked "red neck" was an american term for An uneducated, unsophisticated, or poor white person, typically used to describe residents of the rural Southern US; The nickname given to miners who wore red bandanas for identification during the West Virginia mine war of 1921

Joined: 13 Aug 2004 Location: Newy

plasnart wrote:

Oh crap, I said crap! Think that's American for......dunno.....what's an original Aussie word for faeces?

bog?

Joined: 05 Aug 2004 Location: VIC

Pyrotech wrote:

... The nickname given to miners who wore red bandanas for identification during the West Virginia mine war of 1921

Well there ya go, i thought it was because they're always sunburnt Embarassed

BTW, i'm still embarrassed when i use the word 'truck' to describe a 4x4.

Joined: 27 Nov 2002 Location: Lost in Melbourne.

dogbreath_48 wrote:

Pyrotech wrote:

... The nickname given to miners who wore red bandanas for identification during the West Virginia mine war of 1921

Well there ya go, i thought it was because they were always sunburnt Embarassed

BTW, i'm still embarrassed when i use the word 'truck' to describe a 4x4.

thats right... it should be rig.

Joined: 02 Oct 2006

Pyrotech wrote:

plasnart wrote:

Oh crap, I said crap! Think that's American for......dunno.....what's an original Aussie word for faeces?

bog?

That'll do nicely.

So just had a bog before I bogged me dacks. Would hate to have bogged them. Being bogged is not good!!

Laughing

Joined: 13 Aug 2004 Location: Newy

plasnart wrote:

Pyrotech wrote:

plasnart wrote:

Oh crap, I said crap! Think that's American for......dunno.....what's an original Aussie word for faeces?

bog?

That'll do nicely.

So just had a bog before I bogged me dacks. Would hate to have bogged them. Being bogged is not good!!

Laughing

i hate to think what bogged is gunna say when he reads that....
u could be in the bog, or up bog creek...

Joined: 27 Nov 2002 Location: Lost in Melbourne.

Pyrotech wrote:

plasnart wrote:

Pyrotech wrote:

plasnart wrote:

Oh crap, I said crap! Think that's American for......dunno.....what's an original Aussie word for faeces?

bog?

That'll do nicely.

So just had a bog before I bogged me dacks. Would hate to have bogged them. Being bogged is not good!!

Laughing

i hate to think what bogged is gunna say when he reads that....
u could be in the bog, or up bog creek...

trying to work it out

So just had a shit before I shit me dacks. Would hate to have shit them. Being shit is not good!!

So just had a poo before I pooed me dacks. Would hate to have pooed them. Being pooed is not good!!

So just had a excrement before I excreted me dacks. Would hate to have excremented them. Being excrement is not good!!

Joined: 09 Sep 2005 Location: Bendigo

The red neck was a rash from vitamin B3 deficiency from eating mostly corn based foods and little else.

Joined: 13 Aug 2004 Location: Newy

or if ur yank, would it be?

So just had a shiz before I shized me dacks. Would hate to have shized them. Being shiz is not good!!

Joined: 02 Oct 2006

bogged wrote:

Pyrotech wrote:

plasnart wrote:

Pyrotech wrote:

plasnart wrote:

Oh crap, I said crap! Think that's American for......dunno.....what's an original Aussie word for faeces?

bog?

That'll do nicely.

So just had a bog before I bogged me dacks. Would hate to have bogged them. Being bogged is not good!!

Laughing

i hate to think what bogged is gunna say when he reads that....
u could be in the bog, or up bog creek...

trying to work it out

So just had a shit before I shit me dacks. Would hate to have shit them. Being shit is not good!!

So just had a poo before I pooed me dacks. Would hate to have pooed them. Being pooed is not good!!

So just had a excrement before I excreted me dacks. Would hate to have excremented them. Being excrement is not good!!

Exactly! Who want's ploppy pants?? Wink

Joined: 30 Apr 2003 Location: In the Goatshed in Melbourne

plasnart wrote:

Rice_Boy wrote:

i have a slight American accent, mostly because i don't like the stupid drawl of the australian red neck accent.

So you prefer to speak with the stupid drawl of the American redneck accent? Rolling Eyes

Go on mate....don't be afraid to be an Aussie.

Oh crap, I said redneck! Pretty sure that's American terminology.

Oh crap, I said crap! Think that's American for......dunno.....what's an original Aussie word for faeces?

Uh-oh, think I'm losing my Australian identity. Crying or Very sad

IIRC, crap comes from the name of the dude who invented the dunny... Mr Crapper? Very Happy

One of my pet hates is pOOper or pOOp, with the emphasis on the "OO".

Joined: 18 Nov 2006 Location: Boganville

Pyrotech wrote:

Rice_Boy wrote:

i have a slight American accent, mostly because i don't like the stupid drawl of the australian red neck accent.

Australian Red Neck? WTF

last time i checked "red neck" was an american term for An uneducated, unsophisticated, or poor white person, typically used to describe residents of the rural Southern US; The nickname given to miners who wore red bandanas for identification during the West Virginia mine war of 1921

Welcome to Globalisation, Pazza.

Joined: 30 Apr 2003 Location: In the Goatshed in Melbourne

Globalisation doesn't have to mean homogenisation of culture.

I also REALLY REALLY REALLY hate it when Aussies use "Mom". cussing

Joined: 27 Nov 2002 Location: Lost in Melbourne.

AJFeroza wrote:

Globalisation doesn't have to mean homogenisation of culture.

I also REALLY REALLY REALLY hate it when Aussies use "Mom". cussing

dont hear that one very often than fuq.

Joined: 10 Jun 2004 Location: North West Qld

I'm worried about the influence watching too much Impaja TV might cause me.

I might finish up sounding like Regae Reg: "Don't sleep on da road, eh" Laughing

Joined: 18 Nov 2006 Location: Boganville

Barnsey wrote:

I'm worried about the influence watching too much Impaja TV might cause me.

I might finish up sounding like Regae Reg: "Don't sleep on da road, eh" Laughing

Aye Brudda, got a dolla?

Joined: 02 Oct 2006

Barnsey wrote:

I'm worried about the influence watching too much Impaja TV might cause me.

I might finish up sounding like Regae Reg: "Don't sleep on da road, eh" Laughing

Imparja ads are certainly different to the ones we get down here. I recently saw some Imparja ads which warned against piling 10 people into an XD Falcon and recommending carrying spare outboard fuel when travelling overseas in a tinny!! Shocked

I suppose they're good messages though. Many people in the southern states have no idea what actually happens up north.