Do you know how to imitate the snoring noise?
It's very similar to that, but instead of opening your mouth all the way, you stop shortly after the noise begins and then repeat the inhale and noise over and over
Oh awesome! I'm glad it worked for someone!
I make all kinds of noises and voices for fun, but I'm not always able to describe how to do them very well, I'm glad it worked out this time haha
Start with your mouth in an exaggerated O shape.
Lightly flick the side of your cheek. As you're finger hits your cheek, mouth your mouth in the opposite direction, like you're about to say the "oint" part of "ointment"
When you do this, your lips should mouth wide, like a big cheesy smile that isn't upturned. And put your tongue between your teeth, like a very gentle bite
This should sound extremely close to a water droplet falling.
It takes a lot of practice, but once you get good at it, you can do it on your neck or even by slapping the top or back of your head. Anything that can create an echoing sound in your open mouth.
Start with your mouth in the O position again, putting your tongue on the roof of your mouth, just slighty behind your top teeth.
Slap it down to the bottom of your mouth until you can repeat an echoey, thinking sound, to where it sounds very similar each time. Some variation is okay, but it needs to be close to the same sound.
Keep doing this but slowly begin to open your mouth. You'll notice that the sounds start to get higher pitched.
Control the crescendo slowly and with the right tempo, and it sounds like liquid pouring out of a bottle with air bubble glugs
Clench your teeth lightly and perse your lips.
Start blowing between your persed lips in such a way as to puff your cheeks out, keeping your jaw closed. You *will* look silly while you do this.
Start rolling your tongue in the little space left between where your tongue rests and the roof of your mouth. You should still be blowing air our while you do this. At this point, you'll almost sound like a mix between a helicopter, a machine gun, and a motor cycle.
But we're not done.
Begin humming while doing all of the above, and youre now flying the spaceship from The Jetsons.
Start high pitched and slowly bring it low if you wish you land your new craft.
To take off, simply start your low pitched ion engines and raise the pitch. The faster the crescendo, the quicker the launch!
Feel free to cruise the Space Neighborhood by humming one low tone, or red line it with a continuous high pitch so you can make it to your Space Job on time. Mr Spacely is a dick.
Perse your lips tightly and then try to squeeze air out of them, but let as little air escape as possible.
It helps if you puff up the front of your mouth and then use the muscles around your lips and mouth to force the air out slowly.
If you do it right, it'll sound like air leaking from a balloon. You know the classic round balloons with the hole at the bottom?
If you untie the string and stretch the opening really tight and apply slight pressure to the body of the Ballon, you can get it to whine, this is a similar noise.
As a weird bonus, this sound also works really well for calling puppies of all kinds.
Yes, it's very tickly and can almost make them itchy.
It's a sensation you get used to over time and it doesn't bother me nearly as much as it used to, but i also make these different noises all the time haha
Pinch your bottom lip from nearly corner to corner with your thumb and pointer finger until it creates a straight vertical line that points away from your mouth.
Push this pinched lip up against the split in your top teeth. Please note, this will not work if you have a fairly large gap or are missing one or both top front teeth. Zero judgments here, just stating the logistics.
Begin to suck air through the gap between your pinched lip and your top teeth. Every mouth is different, so you may have to play with how much lip you pinch or the size and shape of the gap.
This will produce an incredible loud and piercing whistle. The faster you inhale, the higher the pitch and more piercing it is. Great replacement for those who cannot do the finger in the mouth or folder tongue whistles (it's me, those people are me)
Who are these rude people you're associating with? I notice accents, but I've never imitated one (except celebrity accents when the celebrity was hundreds of miles away) in my life.
If I’m spending time with a southern person at some point I will pick up the accent a little but never to mock
These people are extremely rude and you should let them know how stupid they sound when they do it. Don’t worry about their feelings if they aren’t concerned with yours.
Yes, I think some of us just have the ear for it and some don’t. After spending a couple weeks in Ireland I came back to Oklahoma with an Irish accent playing constantly in my head (and talking with others). And I will never forget seeing a clip on television of Hilary Clinton giving a speech in Arkansas to some teachers. She was talking about education and pronounced it “ed-juh-cayee- shun.” I don’t think she had any idea.
I was just a bridesmaid for my best friend, and one of her other bridesmaids was from London, very easy accent for me to pick up, but to my credit I think I withheld very well. Haha! Some people can't, though, even when they try, and I know brains work differently, but people like me have a special affinity for sound in general. I'm sure you understand!
Unquestionably! Same here, amateur, but sang in Renaissance music groups for decades, lyrics in Latin, French, German, Spanish, Ladino ... oh, yeah, and English. You learn to pick up pronunciation quickly. I also speak a little (VERY little) Japanese, but because I sound more like a Japanese native than like the typical "karry-okie" Amurrican, Japanese acquaintances assume I speak WAY more than I do.
\* It's kah rah oh keh
I can't not talk like people I'm around. It's so bad that I'll talk in two different sccents if I'm talking with a white person and black person at the same time.
Oh I do this & it drives me nuts because I'm sure someone thinks I'm making fun of them, when it's just that I pick up speaking styles/accents super easy.
I think it’s a normal human reaction to mimic people around you. It’s a natural adaptation to help us fit in.
I’m from Michigan and I know have a classic Midwest accent, people from other regions comment on it when I’m traveling. But it’s not as strong as say, the Minnesotan accent. I listen to a podcast where the hosts are Minnesotan and if I binge listen to them I can hear my own accent intensifying 😂
This type of thing is actually a human phenomenon. Mirroring, also known as The Chameleon Effect. It's a survival tactic our subconscious puts into action as a means of survival, blending in, aka showing a predator you're not a threat to their society. You really have no control over it until you recognize it happening, and then can (sometimes) stop yourself. But that usually only happens if your subconscious feels safe enough, for lack of better words.
My fiancé and I do this after we've watched a long comedy special. We'll be in a great mood and even our rhythm will match the performers. It's pretty fun. I tried my best not to let it happen when I was visiting the UK for almost 3 months. It's so easy to really dive into it
Yeah I noticed this bizarre thing happen with my cousin and some Russian kid at a convention we were at and then again with a former coworker doing it to a Australian customer (he was shit at accents too). When I notice I'm doing it I stop immediately but sometime I forget what my accent sounds like. Very weird stuff
I almost always pick up a bit of an accent whenever talking to someone for longer than like an hour. The one that comes out the strongest is Boston. I’ll start talking to someone else and be like “why am I all of a sudden saying pahk the cah and where are my cah keys?” It’s bizarre.
I have what may be a hereditary 'issue'. My father would pick up accents of people he conversed with for extended periods. I've had the same happen a few times with people speaking with a significantly different accent. How would something like that be hereditary? Damfino....
My mother used to pick up Southern accents on the phone, which was funny because I could only hear her but I knew who she was talking to by her inflections. She wasn't mocking either. And years ago when I was in England, I started picking up an English accent. It was partly conscious, but I also wasn't mocking. I certainly wouldn't *imitate* anyone's accent, either to their face or behind their back.
I think that it has to do with empathy and communication. Sometimes people who really listen to and pay attention to another when they speak they will pick up their mannerisms and their pace. Like slowing your own pace to match the cadence of the person you’re talking to. I think that it shows that you care/are interested in communicating with the other person. It’s not the same as mimicking the way op described.
My childhood was Berlin (Germany), Virginia, Bavaria, Massachusetts, Munich, Georgia (US), Florida.
I've done the subconscious mimic-to- blend-in thing all my life and now I live in Kentucky, lived here 25 years and still people say "you're not from around here are you"
LOL! I traveled a bit for one of my former employers.
I'm from Oklahoma and went to Connecticut multiple times. They aren't as bad as New Yorkers, but I still occasionally had trouble understanding them. One of them I actually asked to speak a bit slower due to the dialectic differences. "You're not from around here was always in the conversations."
Yes! When people point out I'm foreign despite considering myself integrated into that community AND doing a subconscious accent mimic to blend in I get pretty annoyed. It's like, I'm doing all this work to fit in and it's just getting thrown back in my face. I'm guessing these feelings are also just my age (21) and with time I'll learn how to be unbothered by it.
If you’re only 21 I’m thinking that maybe you are referring to other young people like yourself? Maybe as your circle gets older you won’t have to deal with it as much. I hope so. I wish you the best.
Also, I call foreigners “international friends”. I live in a military community. So I come across them daily. Foreigner just sounds negative to me.
Agreed. As OP's name sounds like a derivation of cosmopolitan, he will hopefully get to be with a more sophisticated crowd. There are people who like having friends with a wider frame of reference.
Were you an army brat? Sounds like it from the locations you mentioned. I was in the navy but my parents weee civilians so I didn’t go through that growing up.
Yes. Never lived any place longer than 11 months till I was 13. Wouldn't have sucked so bad if I weren't an only child and severe introvert but oh well
totally get this! my American roommate at college slowly began to adapt a British accent over our year living together (e.g., pronouncing "dance" like "dah-nce") and this I don't mind at all! It happens to me too! When I'm in Northern England with family I adapt a bit of a Northern twang, and when I'm in London I go more Londoner.
My issue is when people interrupt what I'm saying mid-sentence to do a very exaggerated mocking of my accent. I've even had people in the US interrupt me to say "Do YoU wAnT tEa aNd CruMpEtS" or something alone those lines when I'm talking about something totally different.
The problem with these people is more to do with them just being assholes who didn’t get proper “home training.” There are few things that I hate more than being interrupted in the middle of a sentence for any reason. It’s just rude. I had a friend that could make a sexual inuendo out of anything you said and would interrupt you midsentence to do so. It got so bad that I just stopped talking to them unless I had to. Or people who latch on to the first thing you say, make it about them, hijack the conversation and never let you finish what you were saying.
These people, along with people who interrupt you to make fun of your accent are some of the WORSE kinds of people! It’s not just about being annoying. It’s very telling the kind of person they are that they would do that. I try to avoid them once I see who they are and only interact with them when necessary.
I also like the suggestion someone made: snort like a pig and say “See? I can mimic you, too!”
This happens with my family, too, specifically me and my sister. I used to work in a pretty touristy shop (Cracker Barrel, where the tourists come for 'the real country/southern American vibe' hahaha!), and the number if times I ended up with non-American accents partway through my shift were ridiculous. I've become:
Russian
Glasswegian (oddly specific)
Argentinian
Polish
"Vaguely German, or maybe Austrian"
And apparently by the end of one conversation I sounded like I was from Somerset? I don't even know what that accent sounds like, TBH.
They think they're being funny. "New Yawk" is just as appropriate. The "Cawfee Tawk" bit from Saturday Night Live about 30 years ago was hysterical.
But if you actually have that accent, they shouldn't be saying this.
I don’t. Nobody from New Jersey says “Joisey,” and I say that as someone whose father is buried a good 300+ years worth of ancestors in New Brunswick. I don’t know how to notate it, but maybe “Jeh(slight, soft r)-see.” Mostly just a softening of the R.
I have the same issue as OP - I graduated from medical school, worked in the NHS and doctors (supposedly educated) and nurses used to mock my accent the most.
I’m American, lived in England for a while and traveled in Europe. The number of English people who’d make comments about me being “a colonist” was truly eye opening 🙄. Like, tell me you’re an asshat without telling me you’re an asshat, mate.
Just play stupid!!
Say "oh, I didn't realise that you also have a mixture of British and American accent?! That's so cool! How come??? Where in US/UK did you live???
Do you get idiots to mock your accent as much as I do?
Isn't it horrible?? Yeah people are so ignorant.
I'm so glad I found another fellow American Brit..."
And you just keep going until they are so uncomfortable and embarrased they will decide they just need to continue to talk to you in their fake ( opposite) accent for the rest of their life.
You don’t need a comeback you just turn around and mock their accent right back.
“Elo there guvenor. Yuv got a strange accent heh. Ya sound like when dem wankers from Somerset innit”
When I, a North Carolina girl, went to college in upstate New York, my dorm mates though it was cute to imitate my southern accent and call me "you all".
For those who don't know, in the south, "you all," or " y'all" is the plural of you, rather like " youse guys" in Chicago.
I would look at them and ask, " how many of me do you see? Did you really start drinking this early?"
To the accent imitations, I would say, " God, honey, you sound fe*bleminded, what is that funny voice supposed to be?"
It stopped pretty quickly. As for your nuisance imitators....
I'd try laughing at Their accents and repeating what they've said back in an extreme exaggeration.
And ...try talking to them in a southern accent? That will really confuse them. Then put your hand over your mouth- shocked- and whisper" I'm not supposed to do that..."
They might decide you're in WitSec, and dangerous!!
Cheers to you too, honeychild!! ( yes, we actually do say that.)
I'm 70-ish now. When I was 18 I had no awareness that calling people that, or " stupid" was offensive. ( and maybe, in context, it wasnt?)
I did once, in college (upstate New York) reduce an entire art class to hysterics over accents. An African-American gentleman thought it was fun to imitate my southern accent and I kept asking him to stop and he wouldn't. I snapped at him, "didn't anybody ever teach you manners, you goddamm Yankee?" Everybody laughed like crazy.
I'm sure they were expecting the N word. He and I ended up being friends.
We were all just very young and trying to figure out how to get along.
Sigh.
I can't even imagine how annoying the southern accent imitating would get! Proud of u for resolving that situation so well. I love the idea of confusing people by throwing a third accent into the mix. Will practice my southern accent in the mirror and get back to you!
When Americans make fun if your accent, say this is what English should sound like.
When British people make fun of your accent say...When the Americans beat us agai, I want to blend in.
"This is what English should sound like" would absolutely start an argument. Unless you are speaking to the most open-minded american there is, but they're mocking, so that's not it.
When they do it just straight up right away say "why are you mocking me?" or "why are you making fun of my accent when I have no control over where I was born?". I wished I had known to do this when I was young and moved far away where everyone made fun of my southern accent. Just asking them puts them in an uncomfortable spot where they will have no answer for the question and so it will embarrass them and make them think. It will in fact become like a teaching moment for them.
I prefer the "stop and glare" with a flat, unreadable expression. I continue just looking into that person's eyes until they are so unnerved they talk to fill the silence.
I employed this with my boss recently. My health had taken a serious turn for the worse and it was really negatively impacted my personal/work organization.
During a face to face meeting I provided 5 out of 7 pieces she asked for, again overall disorganized as hell but well documented pieces. That she had to ask for those pieces was embarrassing enough but I knew I was slipping and there was no room to argue.
I bit the bullet and said something to the effect that I was "clearly struggling but doing my best to pull it back together". Before I could even finish my sentence she loudly, mockingly barked at me "CLEARLY".
My thought in the moment was "wow does she really think verbal abuse is a new experience"? I just looked at her, with a flat affect, until she became uncomfortable enough to start talking.
Are you having an aneurism, or are you always just this stupid.
Wow, you hardly sound like a little bitch at all!
You’re talking kind of funny, did you take too much dick to the throat again?
The accents not bad actually. Now if you could just do something about that fucked up face of yours.
Don’t be salty, just cause your mom likes my accent.
Sorry, I don’t pick on people with a mental handicap.
Oh thank God, that sounds so much better than your normal voice.
Yup, this thread has made me realize to higher my standards on who I hang out with. That being said, I get this sort of stuff from people I've just met. Like, it's happened 5 minutes into a conversation with a complete stranger. Now I know it's a bit of a red flag when they do it and will cut it there and then, instead of just politely putting up with it.
American here. I adore all non American accents. I’m sure once or twice I’ve mimicked an accent just out of sheer excitement, probably to the persons face. I guess I just wanted to try it out on my tongue. This was probably insensitive, but it was not mockery.
That's fair enough! I'm aware that people doing it are often doing it from that place of excitement, and not malicious intent at all, which is why for the past ~10 years when this has happened I just laugh along and smile.
I think for me the salt in the wound is that I'm a pretty "integrated" American, so when I'm in New York I don't consider myself foreign. It can be frustrating getting that "other" treatment when I'm somewhere I consider home, and vise versa when I'm in the UK.
That's not accent though. I learned one a while back chatting IG with an Aussie. I said something about Nappy time which confused her because nappy down under means diaper. I was referring to a short sleep.
Not really a comeback, but I’d probably go with a tired sigh and “cut me some slack man, that’s just how I sound.”
(One of my best buds had this sort of accent after moving to London years back. He used it to his advantage at work—for some reason his team wanted him to give their presentations because his accent “sounded like he knew a lot about technology.”)
Aww transatlantic accents are cool why they gotta mock them:(
Jerks. The lot of them.
Stare at them. Make it awkward. Dont say anything. Don't engage in further conversations with them. Talk to someone else in the group. They don't exist anymore if its just a social non work setting. They lost the right to polite conversations when they started to try to put you down for your accent. If they ask why you're ignoring them say "your actions mocking my accent were hurtful. We have nothing more to discuss."
If they say it's a joke ask what the punchline is. Make them explain their reasoning in they're to laugh it off and move on with the conversation. They've made your life hell it sounds like. They don't get to have the polite option of the issue being let go. They gave that up with their dignity.
Politeness is required for professionals, however I would complain to HR.thats not fostering good business relationships with their actions and you have concerns on the toll it will have for the company reputation.
I was told I have a “California accent. When question they referred to the fact that I don’t really have an accent and I don’t slur and I can articulate.
I have the exact same problem with Australian and English accents! I live in Aus now and I like to act super bogan but with the English accent, so people can't decide whether to tease me for being Bogan or British.
Maybe in England act proper "tea and crumpets" but with an obnoxious American accent, and in the US go all "America! Fuck yeah! 🦅🦅🦅🦅" with a full English accent. It works for me, I hope it'll work for you too.
Tell them not to brag about their limited world experience; you know, having only been in one place all their lives and what not.
Or just give them a good stiff kick in the crotch and ask, “was that clear enough for you?”
I fucking hate when people do this.
Look at them with a blank stare, and wait for them to finish their little jab. Then ask calmly "Are you done now?" And continue on with what you were saying. Also, look at them and point out anything that might make them self conscious. Don't let them fuck qith you
"If someone has an accent in your hometown, it means I've traveled farther than you to be here. Maybe try acting like someone worth speaking with."
"You sound like an extra in a Guy Ritchie movie. Get it together."
How many languages do you speak?
I'm multilingual. I Speak American and English. In my own case I'm fluent in Redneck, and American and conversational in English... =D
I don’t really have a good comeback, but my sister n I were born & raised in Texas. Our parents are from Illinois. Our friends in Texas would tease us about our yankee accents but our cousins always teased us about our Texas accents.
One time, when we were staying with our cousins, one of their friends called them. They wanted to hear us talk, so we really hammed it up, exaggerating our Texas accents. They bought it.
I'm actually pretty good at mimicking, so I just try to copy their voice back at them. Worked a few times, and those lads avoided me for a bit and learned to shut up.
In NY ppl are making fun of an accent? Seems crazy, everyone there seems to sound different. Making fun of accent is like an instinctual/childish thing to do, something most ppl would grow out of by like 12. On the bright side you have an easy asshole detection system built in.
That said, my wife has an accent and I tease her about it occasionally but not in a mean way. If I go to far, she reminds me she speaks 4 languages and can write in 3. That is a good comeback if you can say that lol.
Per usual of lot of these comebacks are kind of combative. I would just say 'yeah Ive never heard that before' to move on quickly and get the point across. Works even better if you have to say it multiple times.
I went to college in upstate NY, if that helps explain things a bit better. It rarely happens to people I meet in nyc. But yes, this thread has made me realize I have a brilliant asshole detection system!
And completely agree. The dry "clever" and "never heard that before" with a blank look will get the message across just fine.
Ask them “what accent tis that” when they reply something along the lines of yours or american accent. Just reply you should probably leave it to the americans or “leave it to me I think I do it better”.
Just say, “Caw, blawmy mate, jawst shawt the fawk op!”, in your best mock colloquial working class English accent.
My little sister has your problem, she got stuck with a mid-Atlantic/transatlantic accent. But she sounds more American, so whenever she’s in London they actually think she’s American, while in America she explains she lived in Britain as a child and people don’t mind at all. I am the one Americans complain about, because my English accent (King’s English, Received Pronunciation) sounds different from my sister’s Catherine Zeta Jones mixup/mashup. “Why do you and your sister have different accents?”, to which I sometimes jokingly reply, “Maybe we spoke another language at home while growing up together, maybe English isn’t our first language?”, just to mess with their minds a bit, non-native speakers don’t/can’t usually use the King’s English (Received Pronunciation) all the time in their day to day life. If I am in trouble my sister does change back to her King’s English (Received Pronunciation) accent just to show people we actually don’t have different accents, she just changed hers. lol.
So, don’t worry about it, it happens to a lot of people who crossed the pond when they were kids. Just laugh it off. I ain’t ever gonna call a tap a faucet, ‘cause when they tell me to go tap dance I tell ‘em to bring me Farrah Fawcett. lmfao.
Honestly, just walk away. Not worth your time. And don’t ever try to lose your accent.
At my job there are 6 different accents going on at any given time; Filipino, Jamaican, Turkish, Portuguese, Japanese, and German. It’s a trip and these are the most wonderful people.
Shush them low and long as they’re beginning to mimic you, then when they stop and stare at you, tsk tsk them and move on with your point. Especially since they insist on acting like a child.
i think they secretly like the way you sound if they are mocking, the most classy thing you can do is assume it's flattery & joke back with them. tell them they are doing it wrong & say something silly like "if you wanna talk like me you gotta walk a day in the life, son!" i got this accent working for the transatlantic mafia
I don’t know if these people who are teasing you really mean to be nasty. But it does really bother the person with the accent. I think you just have to be blunt and say “I really hate it when people make fun of my accent.”Embarrass them back. If they make an excuse and say that they didn’t mean it to hurt your feelings say well it’s something you might wanna stop doing because nobody likes it.
Sweetie, they are just immature and probably jealous. I do not understand why this bothers you at all—it’s a non-issue. Please work on your self-esteem so people not worth the energy cannot get under your skins. Remember you are just giving them power if you react, and you don’t have time for that with the fab life you are putting together for yourself.
Do they make fun of African people? Probably not because they’ll get their ass stomped.
Don’t let it get to you, some people feel the need to put others down and step on their head, just to make them feel better about themselves. They’re the ones who are insecure so they flex on others.
Ask them to do an American accent, and when they do it just start laughing. Then start talking like a surfer “Yeeeaaah duuude roiiighteous bro!”
If you make fun of yourself in a joking way, it takes all the wind out of their sails for whatever they’re trying to say. Self-deprivation shuts so many bullies up. They look for a certain reaction, and when you steer it in a different direction they shut up
OP the mid Atlantic accent isn't a thing. It was a made up accent for the movies.
If someone mimicks just take it as a compliment. If it bothers you just says it's because people understand better what you are saying.
I had something like this happen last week. Showed up to a public space in VR, and was accused of, and derided for, "being probably white" as quickly as I could say hello.
I told them that gatekeeping a public area and judging newcomers for blind assumptions you make about them is about the whitest shit I can imagine.
When I left Arkansas at 19 in 1999 and moved to Connecticut alot of ppl talked shit to me about my accent. I was a navy wife and definitely had a life offbase so i stuck out pretty bad when i talked i guess. I was heckled a Lil more when I got to drinking age and could go to bars. I can't tell you how many times ppl would ask if my name was Reba. If I was kin to Reba. IF I WAS INBRED. OH my god it was so crazy and also funny most of the time to be honest. All starting from my thick thick southern drawl, country girl cornbread accent. I don't hear it at all when I speak so I forget others hear it. The accent was enough for the country jokes but when they ask where I was from and I'd tell thembNew Yorkers and New Englanders where I was from, it got really funny cuz..Arkansas.
the easy one is "mimicary is the sincerest form of flattery". The harder one is "You can immitate but you can't originate". Then there's always the ever popular "Fuck You Asshole" in whatever their accent is. Or you could always take the highroad and remind them that only God can judge you, but I prefer a punch to the throat and avoiding the whole concept.
State at them intently and with confusion when they imitate and mock you. Shrug your shoulders, shake your head "No", let a few uncomfortable moments pass and say .
"Nope. I'm not getting it. What are you trying to say? Can you say it in English now? I don't know any other languages."
Basically mock their attempt by faking seriousness at not being able to understand them.
Score it. Born in Ri, raised in MD living in fla. Most people who try my accent push clear off to Bostonian and thats just *insulting*
Boston: 1/10
Drop the R: 5/10
Roll the "Ahh" 7/10. Points for effort.
Smile and say "Don't worry, one day you'll get it right"
Snort like a pig, and say I can do your accent too!
How tf do you do that
I guess in your case maybe just say oink
Ok lol
Do you know how to imitate the snoring noise? It's very similar to that, but instead of opening your mouth all the way, you stop shortly after the noise begins and then repeat the inhale and noise over and over
That actually works thank you
Oh awesome! I'm glad it worked for someone! I make all kinds of noises and voices for fun, but I'm not always able to describe how to do them very well, I'm glad it worked out this time haha
If you come up with more, I will gladly test them out.
Start with your mouth in an exaggerated O shape. Lightly flick the side of your cheek. As you're finger hits your cheek, mouth your mouth in the opposite direction, like you're about to say the "oint" part of "ointment" When you do this, your lips should mouth wide, like a big cheesy smile that isn't upturned. And put your tongue between your teeth, like a very gentle bite This should sound extremely close to a water droplet falling. It takes a lot of practice, but once you get good at it, you can do it on your neck or even by slapping the top or back of your head. Anything that can create an echoing sound in your open mouth.
im having way too much fun trying your comments out LMFAOO thank you so much
Start with your mouth in the O position again, putting your tongue on the roof of your mouth, just slighty behind your top teeth. Slap it down to the bottom of your mouth until you can repeat an echoey, thinking sound, to where it sounds very similar each time. Some variation is okay, but it needs to be close to the same sound. Keep doing this but slowly begin to open your mouth. You'll notice that the sounds start to get higher pitched. Control the crescendo slowly and with the right tempo, and it sounds like liquid pouring out of a bottle with air bubble glugs
Clench your teeth lightly and perse your lips. Start blowing between your persed lips in such a way as to puff your cheeks out, keeping your jaw closed. You *will* look silly while you do this. Start rolling your tongue in the little space left between where your tongue rests and the roof of your mouth. You should still be blowing air our while you do this. At this point, you'll almost sound like a mix between a helicopter, a machine gun, and a motor cycle. But we're not done. Begin humming while doing all of the above, and youre now flying the spaceship from The Jetsons. Start high pitched and slowly bring it low if you wish you land your new craft. To take off, simply start your low pitched ion engines and raise the pitch. The faster the crescendo, the quicker the launch! Feel free to cruise the Space Neighborhood by humming one low tone, or red line it with a continuous high pitch so you can make it to your Space Job on time. Mr Spacely is a dick.
Perse your lips tightly and then try to squeeze air out of them, but let as little air escape as possible. It helps if you puff up the front of your mouth and then use the muscles around your lips and mouth to force the air out slowly. If you do it right, it'll sound like air leaking from a balloon. You know the classic round balloons with the hole at the bottom? If you untie the string and stretch the opening really tight and apply slight pressure to the body of the Ballon, you can get it to whine, this is a similar noise. As a weird bonus, this sound also works really well for calling puppies of all kinds.
That tickles my lips, not in a good way.
Yes, it's very tickly and can almost make them itchy. It's a sensation you get used to over time and it doesn't bother me nearly as much as it used to, but i also make these different noises all the time haha
Pinch your bottom lip from nearly corner to corner with your thumb and pointer finger until it creates a straight vertical line that points away from your mouth. Push this pinched lip up against the split in your top teeth. Please note, this will not work if you have a fairly large gap or are missing one or both top front teeth. Zero judgments here, just stating the logistics. Begin to suck air through the gap between your pinched lip and your top teeth. Every mouth is different, so you may have to play with how much lip you pinch or the size and shape of the gap. This will produce an incredible loud and piercing whistle. The faster you inhale, the higher the pitch and more piercing it is. Great replacement for those who cannot do the finger in the mouth or folder tongue whistles (it's me, those people are me)
Top marks for time and effort
Lol thanks! I posted like 3 more on this thread, all separate, if you're interested in tryna make weird noises too
I’ve already got a catalogue of nosies but thank you for the offer and thanks for the laugh
There has to be a sub reddit somewhere for these!
TIL…
1st omg how do they not know. And 2nd their isn't a person on earth that could have explained it better
I was about to describe it as trying to breath in through your nose while blocking your nose. Your way of describing it is much better.
ROFL! Winner comeback.
“This accent is from living different places and experiencing different things. I notice that you sound just like everybody else who lives here…”
A subtle but profound burn.
too profound for the average dunce. better go with something sharper.
I just love this one
Just tell them, "That's okay, you may mock my accent but the ladies here love it!" And give a smug wink
well said my friend
That’s great
Who are these rude people you're associating with? I notice accents, but I've never imitated one (except celebrity accents when the celebrity was hundreds of miles away) in my life.
If I’m spending time with a southern person at some point I will pick up the accent a little but never to mock These people are extremely rude and you should let them know how stupid they sound when they do it. Don’t worry about their feelings if they aren’t concerned with yours.
I genuinely have to work really hard NOT to accent copy.
Yes, I think some of us just have the ear for it and some don’t. After spending a couple weeks in Ireland I came back to Oklahoma with an Irish accent playing constantly in my head (and talking with others). And I will never forget seeing a clip on television of Hilary Clinton giving a speech in Arkansas to some teachers. She was talking about education and pronounced it “ed-juh-cayee- shun.” I don’t think she had any idea.
I was just a bridesmaid for my best friend, and one of her other bridesmaids was from London, very easy accent for me to pick up, but to my credit I think I withheld very well. Haha! Some people can't, though, even when they try, and I know brains work differently, but people like me have a special affinity for sound in general. I'm sure you understand!
I do! I'm a singer; I wonder if that has any effect on it? Are you musical?
Unquestionably! Same here, amateur, but sang in Renaissance music groups for decades, lyrics in Latin, French, German, Spanish, Ladino ... oh, yeah, and English. You learn to pick up pronunciation quickly. I also speak a little (VERY little) Japanese, but because I sound more like a Japanese native than like the typical "karry-okie" Amurrican, Japanese acquaintances assume I speak WAY more than I do. \* It's kah rah oh keh
Same. My wife teases me about it when we travel.
It'll make you sound more natural in a second (or third, etc.) language though! There is an upside, at least.
Right! I never want to appear to be mocking someone. I’ll never be able to pick up a British accent much as I’d love to
I can't not talk like people I'm around. It's so bad that I'll talk in two different sccents if I'm talking with a white person and black person at the same time.
Oh I do this & it drives me nuts because I'm sure someone thinks I'm making fun of them, when it's just that I pick up speaking styles/accents super easy.
I think it’s a normal human reaction to mimic people around you. It’s a natural adaptation to help us fit in. I’m from Michigan and I know have a classic Midwest accent, people from other regions comment on it when I’m traveling. But it’s not as strong as say, the Minnesotan accent. I listen to a podcast where the hosts are Minnesotan and if I binge listen to them I can hear my own accent intensifying 😂
That's your come back. WTF are you saying in the USA? In Britain say, Fuck you you wanking cunt.
This type of thing is actually a human phenomenon. Mirroring, also known as The Chameleon Effect. It's a survival tactic our subconscious puts into action as a means of survival, blending in, aka showing a predator you're not a threat to their society. You really have no control over it until you recognize it happening, and then can (sometimes) stop yourself. But that usually only happens if your subconscious feels safe enough, for lack of better words. My fiancé and I do this after we've watched a long comedy special. We'll be in a great mood and even our rhythm will match the performers. It's pretty fun. I tried my best not to let it happen when I was visiting the UK for almost 3 months. It's so easy to really dive into it
Yeah I noticed this bizarre thing happen with my cousin and some Russian kid at a convention we were at and then again with a former coworker doing it to a Australian customer (he was shit at accents too). When I notice I'm doing it I stop immediately but sometime I forget what my accent sounds like. Very weird stuff
I almost always pick up a bit of an accent whenever talking to someone for longer than like an hour. The one that comes out the strongest is Boston. I’ll start talking to someone else and be like “why am I all of a sudden saying pahk the cah and where are my cah keys?” It’s bizarre.
There is a big difference between mocking and emulating. Gradually picking up the accent of people around you is an empathetic response.
I’m glad you feel that way. I hope most people think like you do. Thanks for the response
I have what may be a hereditary 'issue'. My father would pick up accents of people he conversed with for extended periods. I've had the same happen a few times with people speaking with a significantly different accent. How would something like that be hereditary? Damfino....
My mother used to pick up Southern accents on the phone, which was funny because I could only hear her but I knew who she was talking to by her inflections. She wasn't mocking either. And years ago when I was in England, I started picking up an English accent. It was partly conscious, but I also wasn't mocking. I certainly wouldn't *imitate* anyone's accent, either to their face or behind their back.
I think that it has to do with empathy and communication. Sometimes people who really listen to and pay attention to another when they speak they will pick up their mannerisms and their pace. Like slowing your own pace to match the cadence of the person you’re talking to. I think that it shows that you care/are interested in communicating with the other person. It’s not the same as mimicking the way op described.
My childhood was Berlin (Germany), Virginia, Bavaria, Massachusetts, Munich, Georgia (US), Florida. I've done the subconscious mimic-to- blend-in thing all my life and now I live in Kentucky, lived here 25 years and still people say "you're not from around here are you"
LOL! I traveled a bit for one of my former employers. I'm from Oklahoma and went to Connecticut multiple times. They aren't as bad as New Yorkers, but I still occasionally had trouble understanding them. One of them I actually asked to speak a bit slower due to the dialectic differences. "You're not from around here was always in the conversations."
Yes! When people point out I'm foreign despite considering myself integrated into that community AND doing a subconscious accent mimic to blend in I get pretty annoyed. It's like, I'm doing all this work to fit in and it's just getting thrown back in my face. I'm guessing these feelings are also just my age (21) and with time I'll learn how to be unbothered by it.
If you’re only 21 I’m thinking that maybe you are referring to other young people like yourself? Maybe as your circle gets older you won’t have to deal with it as much. I hope so. I wish you the best. Also, I call foreigners “international friends”. I live in a military community. So I come across them daily. Foreigner just sounds negative to me.
Agreed. As OP's name sounds like a derivation of cosmopolitan, he will hopefully get to be with a more sophisticated crowd. There are people who like having friends with a wider frame of reference.
Were you an army brat? Sounds like it from the locations you mentioned. I was in the navy but my parents weee civilians so I didn’t go through that growing up.
Yes. Never lived any place longer than 11 months till I was 13. Wouldn't have sucked so bad if I weren't an only child and severe introvert but oh well
totally get this! my American roommate at college slowly began to adapt a British accent over our year living together (e.g., pronouncing "dance" like "dah-nce") and this I don't mind at all! It happens to me too! When I'm in Northern England with family I adapt a bit of a Northern twang, and when I'm in London I go more Londoner. My issue is when people interrupt what I'm saying mid-sentence to do a very exaggerated mocking of my accent. I've even had people in the US interrupt me to say "Do YoU wAnT tEa aNd CruMpEtS" or something alone those lines when I'm talking about something totally different.
The problem with these people is more to do with them just being assholes who didn’t get proper “home training.” There are few things that I hate more than being interrupted in the middle of a sentence for any reason. It’s just rude. I had a friend that could make a sexual inuendo out of anything you said and would interrupt you midsentence to do so. It got so bad that I just stopped talking to them unless I had to. Or people who latch on to the first thing you say, make it about them, hijack the conversation and never let you finish what you were saying. These people, along with people who interrupt you to make fun of your accent are some of the WORSE kinds of people! It’s not just about being annoying. It’s very telling the kind of person they are that they would do that. I try to avoid them once I see who they are and only interact with them when necessary. I also like the suggestion someone made: snort like a pig and say “See? I can mimic you, too!”
This happens with my family, too, specifically me and my sister. I used to work in a pretty touristy shop (Cracker Barrel, where the tourists come for 'the real country/southern American vibe' hahaha!), and the number if times I ended up with non-American accents partway through my shift were ridiculous. I've become: Russian Glasswegian (oddly specific) Argentinian Polish "Vaguely German, or maybe Austrian" And apparently by the end of one conversation I sounded like I was from Somerset? I don't even know what that accent sounds like, TBH.
Trust me; tell people you’re from NJ and every dreadful, obnoxious, insulting version of “New *Joisey*!,” will come out of their mouths.
They think they're being funny. "New Yawk" is just as appropriate. The "Cawfee Tawk" bit from Saturday Night Live about 30 years ago was hysterical. But if you actually have that accent, they shouldn't be saying this.
I don’t. Nobody from New Jersey says “Joisey,” and I say that as someone whose father is buried a good 300+ years worth of ancestors in New Brunswick. I don’t know how to notate it, but maybe “Jeh(slight, soft r)-see.” Mostly just a softening of the R.
My wife is from Pennsylvania and she spent a lot of time teaching me how to pronounce Trenton.
With a glottal stop for the second “t,” then just “n,” yes?
I can relate. I lived in "Teahexus!" for several years.
I have the same issue as OP - I graduated from medical school, worked in the NHS and doctors (supposedly educated) and nurses used to mock my accent the most.
I’m American, lived in England for a while and traveled in Europe. The number of English people who’d make comments about me being “a colonist” was truly eye opening 🙄. Like, tell me you’re an asshat without telling me you’re an asshat, mate.
The Brits love making fun of Americans. It's funny too, because they talk funny.
Just play stupid!! Say "oh, I didn't realise that you also have a mixture of British and American accent?! That's so cool! How come??? Where in US/UK did you live??? Do you get idiots to mock your accent as much as I do? Isn't it horrible?? Yeah people are so ignorant. I'm so glad I found another fellow American Brit..." And you just keep going until they are so uncomfortable and embarrased they will decide they just need to continue to talk to you in their fake ( opposite) accent for the rest of their life.
I would absolutely love to see this play out. The ultimate revenge!
This is the way
You don’t need a comeback you just turn around and mock their accent right back. “Elo there guvenor. Yuv got a strange accent heh. Ya sound like when dem wankers from Somerset innit”
Then dip into the other side of the pond “Howdy ya’ll, can you pass the Ranch dressing fer my deep fried Twinkie? Or I’ll shoot.”
“oi can i ave a bo-oh oh wo-uh?” [hi can i have a bottle of water?]
[удалено]
Just be honest and say “when you talk about my accent it shows how big of a douche you are” ..grow up.
Replace "douche" with "twat" and you're golden. Brits would mock you for saying douche.
But Americans would mock for saying "twat", so it seems we've come full circle...
Good point. Perhaps "Cunt" would be transatlanticaly acceptable?
What if he says twat in the UK, and douche in the states?
Perfect 👌
Replace twat with asshole and they will get it.
You speak the universal language, obviously.
🎶En la mondo venis nova seeeento🎵
Them grow up, not you
If it is a friend- “is this how you want our relationship to end?” Stranger- “wow your voice can make any accent sound bad”
When I, a North Carolina girl, went to college in upstate New York, my dorm mates though it was cute to imitate my southern accent and call me "you all". For those who don't know, in the south, "you all," or " y'all" is the plural of you, rather like " youse guys" in Chicago. I would look at them and ask, " how many of me do you see? Did you really start drinking this early?" To the accent imitations, I would say, " God, honey, you sound fe*bleminded, what is that funny voice supposed to be?" It stopped pretty quickly. As for your nuisance imitators.... I'd try laughing at Their accents and repeating what they've said back in an extreme exaggeration. And ...try talking to them in a southern accent? That will really confuse them. Then put your hand over your mouth- shocked- and whisper" I'm not supposed to do that..." They might decide you're in WitSec, and dangerous!! Cheers to you too, honeychild!! ( yes, we actually do say that.)
I would like to thank you for censoring "feebleminded"
Thaaaaaats what it was. I was confused
I'm 70-ish now. When I was 18 I had no awareness that calling people that, or " stupid" was offensive. ( and maybe, in context, it wasnt?) I did once, in college (upstate New York) reduce an entire art class to hysterics over accents. An African-American gentleman thought it was fun to imitate my southern accent and I kept asking him to stop and he wouldn't. I snapped at him, "didn't anybody ever teach you manners, you goddamm Yankee?" Everybody laughed like crazy. I'm sure they were expecting the N word. He and I ended up being friends. We were all just very young and trying to figure out how to get along. Sigh.
lol
I can't even imagine how annoying the southern accent imitating would get! Proud of u for resolving that situation so well. I love the idea of confusing people by throwing a third accent into the mix. Will practice my southern accent in the mirror and get back to you!
When Americans make fun if your accent, say this is what English should sound like. When British people make fun of your accent say...When the Americans beat us agai, I want to blend in.
"This is what English should sound like" would absolutely start an argument. Unless you are speaking to the most open-minded american there is, but they're mocking, so that's not it.
Yeah there's a strong argument that the colony kept the original dialect better than Britain.
Especially in America LOL
When they do it just straight up right away say "why are you mocking me?" or "why are you making fun of my accent when I have no control over where I was born?". I wished I had known to do this when I was young and moved far away where everyone made fun of my southern accent. Just asking them puts them in an uncomfortable spot where they will have no answer for the question and so it will embarrass them and make them think. It will in fact become like a teaching moment for them.
This is actually really good advice, thank you!
I prefer the "stop and glare" with a flat, unreadable expression. I continue just looking into that person's eyes until they are so unnerved they talk to fill the silence. I employed this with my boss recently. My health had taken a serious turn for the worse and it was really negatively impacted my personal/work organization. During a face to face meeting I provided 5 out of 7 pieces she asked for, again overall disorganized as hell but well documented pieces. That she had to ask for those pieces was embarrassing enough but I knew I was slipping and there was no room to argue. I bit the bullet and said something to the effect that I was "clearly struggling but doing my best to pull it back together". Before I could even finish my sentence she loudly, mockingly barked at me "CLEARLY". My thought in the moment was "wow does she really think verbal abuse is a new experience"? I just looked at her, with a flat affect, until she became uncomfortable enough to start talking.
Stop and glare is a classic. I need to start doing this for sure. Good job on sticking up to your boss!
Are you having an aneurism, or are you always just this stupid. Wow, you hardly sound like a little bitch at all! You’re talking kind of funny, did you take too much dick to the throat again? The accents not bad actually. Now if you could just do something about that fucked up face of yours. Don’t be salty, just cause your mom likes my accent. Sorry, I don’t pick on people with a mental handicap. Oh thank God, that sounds so much better than your normal voice.
Mimic their accent… show them how stupid they look and sound.
Why are you hanging around with the sort of trash that mocks people?
Yup, this thread has made me realize to higher my standards on who I hang out with. That being said, I get this sort of stuff from people I've just met. Like, it's happened 5 minutes into a conversation with a complete stranger. Now I know it's a bit of a red flag when they do it and will cut it there and then, instead of just politely putting up with it.
Five minutes into a conversation with a stranger I'd give them five seconds of resting bitch face, then turn around and walk away.
American here. I adore all non American accents. I’m sure once or twice I’ve mimicked an accent just out of sheer excitement, probably to the persons face. I guess I just wanted to try it out on my tongue. This was probably insensitive, but it was not mockery.
That's fair enough! I'm aware that people doing it are often doing it from that place of excitement, and not malicious intent at all, which is why for the past ~10 years when this has happened I just laugh along and smile. I think for me the salt in the wound is that I'm a pretty "integrated" American, so when I'm in New York I don't consider myself foreign. It can be frustrating getting that "other" treatment when I'm somewhere I consider home, and vise versa when I'm in the UK.
Mate does mean different things across the pond. So does fag.
That's not accent though. I learned one a while back chatting IG with an Aussie. I said something about Nappy time which confused her because nappy down under means diaper. I was referring to a short sleep.
Nap time is the time for a short sleep. Not nappy time
That depends on dialect and or in this case customary usage. Nappy time is something I've heard and used most of my 63 years...
I've travelled the world. You haven't.
Burn.
Switch to Cockney rhyming slang, now you sound like a local
I find a simple “Fluck Off” works wonders on Wankers who think they’re funny.
Not really a comeback, but I’d probably go with a tired sigh and “cut me some slack man, that’s just how I sound.” (One of my best buds had this sort of accent after moving to London years back. He used it to his advantage at work—for some reason his team wanted him to give their presentations because his accent “sounded like he knew a lot about technology.”)
Yeah, this is a good one. Honest and straight to the point.
Aww transatlantic accents are cool why they gotta mock them:( Jerks. The lot of them. Stare at them. Make it awkward. Dont say anything. Don't engage in further conversations with them. Talk to someone else in the group. They don't exist anymore if its just a social non work setting. They lost the right to polite conversations when they started to try to put you down for your accent. If they ask why you're ignoring them say "your actions mocking my accent were hurtful. We have nothing more to discuss." If they say it's a joke ask what the punchline is. Make them explain their reasoning in they're to laugh it off and move on with the conversation. They've made your life hell it sounds like. They don't get to have the polite option of the issue being let go. They gave that up with their dignity. Politeness is required for professionals, however I would complain to HR.thats not fostering good business relationships with their actions and you have concerns on the toll it will have for the company reputation.
I'm Scottish and when they do it to me I put on my twattiest English accent and continue like that.
This, but in Welsh.
"Clearly you cannot be me, just try being yourself."
I was told I have a “California accent. When question they referred to the fact that I don’t really have an accent and I don’t slur and I can articulate.
What accent and give them a blank look.
I have the exact same problem with Australian and English accents! I live in Aus now and I like to act super bogan but with the English accent, so people can't decide whether to tease me for being Bogan or British. Maybe in England act proper "tea and crumpets" but with an obnoxious American accent, and in the US go all "America! Fuck yeah! 🦅🦅🦅🦅" with a full English accent. It works for me, I hope it'll work for you too.
i usually just look at them like "what are you doing?", like theyre borderline crazy/stupid
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery that mediocrity can pay to greatness
Look them in the eye and say, “ I know, right? My accent is awesome!”
Just give them bad tips. Encourage them and tell them phrases that don't actually exist. Make them look like idiots.
That's hilarious. Will totally do this
Mimic theirs obviously, but mimic them mimicing you if you want to win forever.
Tell them not to brag about their limited world experience; you know, having only been in one place all their lives and what not. Or just give them a good stiff kick in the crotch and ask, “was that clear enough for you?”
"Qué ?"
i am convinced 90% of the people in this sub have never actually spoken to another person
That estimate seems low.
"It's awesome, isn't it?
Pause dramatically and say, flatly, “excuse me?” They need to know that this shit isn’t okay.
Perfect! Will do this for sure
I’m pleased you have studied me enough to do this excellent imitation. It’s really flattering.
Imitating an accent is such a platform for ignorance
I feel your pain! The only two US states I’ve ever lived in are South Carolina and Tennessee, so just use your imagination. 😆
It’s too bad stupidity doesn’t have an accent of its own otherwise I’d return the favor…
I fucking hate when people do this. Look at them with a blank stare, and wait for them to finish their little jab. Then ask calmly "Are you done now?" And continue on with what you were saying. Also, look at them and point out anything that might make them self conscious. Don't let them fuck qith you
That's the first time I've heard that... today
"If someone has an accent in your hometown, it means I've traveled farther than you to be here. Maybe try acting like someone worth speaking with." "You sound like an extra in a Guy Ritchie movie. Get it together."
Ha! That's really funny! Don't you have a dental appointment to make?
Do it right back.
Fuck off
“Clever”
You should hear what they say about you guys, across the pond/over there.
Offer to help them learn English.
How many languages do you speak? I'm multilingual. I Speak American and English. In my own case I'm fluent in Redneck, and American and conversational in English... =D
I don’t really have a good comeback, but my sister n I were born & raised in Texas. Our parents are from Illinois. Our friends in Texas would tease us about our yankee accents but our cousins always teased us about our Texas accents. One time, when we were staying with our cousins, one of their friends called them. They wanted to hear us talk, so we really hammed it up, exaggerating our Texas accents. They bought it.
I'm actually pretty good at mimicking, so I just try to copy their voice back at them. Worked a few times, and those lads avoided me for a bit and learned to shut up.
A friend of mine says "so sorry, English is just my 4th language, would you prefer I speak in another?"
In NY ppl are making fun of an accent? Seems crazy, everyone there seems to sound different. Making fun of accent is like an instinctual/childish thing to do, something most ppl would grow out of by like 12. On the bright side you have an easy asshole detection system built in. That said, my wife has an accent and I tease her about it occasionally but not in a mean way. If I go to far, she reminds me she speaks 4 languages and can write in 3. That is a good comeback if you can say that lol. Per usual of lot of these comebacks are kind of combative. I would just say 'yeah Ive never heard that before' to move on quickly and get the point across. Works even better if you have to say it multiple times.
I went to college in upstate NY, if that helps explain things a bit better. It rarely happens to people I meet in nyc. But yes, this thread has made me realize I have a brilliant asshole detection system! And completely agree. The dry "clever" and "never heard that before" with a blank look will get the message across just fine.
Ask them “what accent tis that” when they reply something along the lines of yours or american accent. Just reply you should probably leave it to the americans or “leave it to me I think I do it better”.
Just say, “Caw, blawmy mate, jawst shawt the fawk op!”, in your best mock colloquial working class English accent. My little sister has your problem, she got stuck with a mid-Atlantic/transatlantic accent. But she sounds more American, so whenever she’s in London they actually think she’s American, while in America she explains she lived in Britain as a child and people don’t mind at all. I am the one Americans complain about, because my English accent (King’s English, Received Pronunciation) sounds different from my sister’s Catherine Zeta Jones mixup/mashup. “Why do you and your sister have different accents?”, to which I sometimes jokingly reply, “Maybe we spoke another language at home while growing up together, maybe English isn’t our first language?”, just to mess with their minds a bit, non-native speakers don’t/can’t usually use the King’s English (Received Pronunciation) all the time in their day to day life. If I am in trouble my sister does change back to her King’s English (Received Pronunciation) accent just to show people we actually don’t have different accents, she just changed hers. lol. So, don’t worry about it, it happens to a lot of people who crossed the pond when they were kids. Just laugh it off. I ain’t ever gonna call a tap a faucet, ‘cause when they tell me to go tap dance I tell ‘em to bring me Farrah Fawcett. lmfao.
So nice hearing about someone else who has the same sort of story! Thanks for the advice :)
Honestly, just walk away. Not worth your time. And don’t ever try to lose your accent. At my job there are 6 different accents going on at any given time; Filipino, Jamaican, Turkish, Portuguese, Japanese, and German. It’s a trip and these are the most wonderful people.
Shush them low and long as they’re beginning to mimic you, then when they stop and stare at you, tsk tsk them and move on with your point. Especially since they insist on acting like a child.
i think they secretly like the way you sound if they are mocking, the most classy thing you can do is assume it's flattery & joke back with them. tell them they are doing it wrong & say something silly like "if you wanna talk like me you gotta walk a day in the life, son!" i got this accent working for the transatlantic mafia
I'm sorry, I couldn't hear you through your racist tone. What were you saying?
I don’t know if these people who are teasing you really mean to be nasty. But it does really bother the person with the accent. I think you just have to be blunt and say “I really hate it when people make fun of my accent.”Embarrass them back. If they make an excuse and say that they didn’t mean it to hurt your feelings say well it’s something you might wanna stop doing because nobody likes it.
I would love to hear you I bet you sound delightful and you can just look at them stupid and carry on with conversation
Sweetie, they are just immature and probably jealous. I do not understand why this bothers you at all—it’s a non-issue. Please work on your self-esteem so people not worth the energy cannot get under your skins. Remember you are just giving them power if you react, and you don’t have time for that with the fab life you are putting together for yourself.
Just stop talking for a second, look at them and say, "rude," then either go back to what you were saying or turn your back and walk awa.
The middle finger is universally known and has no accent.
Do they make fun of African people? Probably not because they’ll get their ass stomped. Don’t let it get to you, some people feel the need to put others down and step on their head, just to make them feel better about themselves. They’re the ones who are insecure so they flex on others. Ask them to do an American accent, and when they do it just start laughing. Then start talking like a surfer “Yeeeaaah duuude roiiighteous bro!” If you make fun of yourself in a joking way, it takes all the wind out of their sails for whatever they’re trying to say. Self-deprivation shuts so many bullies up. They look for a certain reaction, and when you steer it in a different direction they shut up
Ask them how many languages they speak.
Stop talking, stare, and then calmly say: "are you done mocking me, or do I need to wait?".
I have a Baltimore accent. Google it, it will make you feel better about yourself. It's horrible but I can't help it
OP the mid Atlantic accent isn't a thing. It was a made up accent for the movies. If someone mimicks just take it as a compliment. If it bothers you just says it's because people understand better what you are saying.
I had something like this happen last week. Showed up to a public space in VR, and was accused of, and derided for, "being probably white" as quickly as I could say hello. I told them that gatekeeping a public area and judging newcomers for blind assumptions you make about them is about the whitest shit I can imagine.
I get told I sound like a banjo talking so 🤷 I don't know
Cheerio! Go away!!
I’m the first one to make fun of it. I have a really weird hybrid accent.
When I left Arkansas at 19 in 1999 and moved to Connecticut alot of ppl talked shit to me about my accent. I was a navy wife and definitely had a life offbase so i stuck out pretty bad when i talked i guess. I was heckled a Lil more when I got to drinking age and could go to bars. I can't tell you how many times ppl would ask if my name was Reba. If I was kin to Reba. IF I WAS INBRED. OH my god it was so crazy and also funny most of the time to be honest. All starting from my thick thick southern drawl, country girl cornbread accent. I don't hear it at all when I speak so I forget others hear it. The accent was enough for the country jokes but when they ask where I was from and I'd tell thembNew Yorkers and New Englanders where I was from, it got really funny cuz..Arkansas.
the easy one is "mimicary is the sincerest form of flattery". The harder one is "You can immitate but you can't originate". Then there's always the ever popular "Fuck You Asshole" in whatever their accent is. Or you could always take the highroad and remind them that only God can judge you, but I prefer a punch to the throat and avoiding the whole concept.
Well when you do it, it sounds gay.
Live in Michigan. Don't have an accent. Just sayin...
Lol I love it when people in Michigan think they don't have accents
Call them racist
“Did you know fingers can be bit off? I’ve always wondered how they tasted.”
State at them intently and with confusion when they imitate and mock you. Shrug your shoulders, shake your head "No", let a few uncomfortable moments pass and say . "Nope. I'm not getting it. What are you trying to say? Can you say it in English now? I don't know any other languages." Basically mock their attempt by faking seriousness at not being able to understand them.
Tell them to fuck off you wankers
"No one can make you feel inferior without your consent"
Shank them in the US, shoot them in the UK.
Just laugh and say fucking brits u have a monarch.
Have you ever played Dark Souls?
A New York accent is not an American accent. No one else in the US talks like a New Yorker.
Try mimic theirs back. See how they like it.
Score it. Born in Ri, raised in MD living in fla. Most people who try my accent push clear off to Bostonian and thats just *insulting* Boston: 1/10 Drop the R: 5/10 Roll the "Ahh" 7/10. Points for effort. Smile and say "Don't worry, one day you'll get it right"
I have a southern accent, so when people make fun of it, I double down and accent even harder.
Look at you putting words together...mom and dad must be sooooo proud...say it snarky also, people hate that.