Whether you realize it or not, you have an accent. We all have an accent. You may not notice your accent when all of your friends and family have the same accent, but you probably notice an accent right away from someone from another part of the world or another part of the country comes to town.
There are over 7,100 languages in the world, and there are many dialects and accents within those languages. Take the English language, for example. There is a British accent, an Australian accent and numerous accents within the United States.
What accent you have depends on where you live, and a recent survey of 2,000 Americans revealed which accents we tend to love and which ones we tend to loath. While all Americans tend to like British and Australian accents, there are many accents within our own country that we find unappealing.
Scroll down to discover which American accents Americans find annoying in order from most annoying to least annoying.
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Boston
The Boston accent typically includes not pronouncing the letter “r.” For example, “car” becomes “ca.” Learn to master the accent Americans find most annoying with the help of actor Matt Damon.
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Southern
Typical words you might hear someone with a southern accent say include “y’all” and “howdy.” There is also a distinctive southern drawl. Here’s a funny video that points out what exactly a Southern accent sounds like.
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New York
According to the New York Times, a New York accent is really a combination of multiple accents, including Italian, Irish, Jewish, Puerto Rican, Jamaican and Dominican. True New Yorkers can even distinguish separate accents for different parts of New York.
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Texas
A Texas accent is different from a Southern accent. Texans have a certain twang to their speech and a slower way of speaking than in other parts of the country.
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Chicago
Just like with other accents, the Chicago accent involves substituting certain letter sounds for other letter sounds. For example, “th” is pronounced like “d” and “u” becomes “aww.”
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Long Island
The Long Island accent is similar to but distinctive from the New York accent. For example, just listen to the word “coffee.”
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Midwestern
If you pronounce the words “cot” and “caught” the same way, you might have a Midwestern accent.
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Philadelphia
The Philadelphia accent is difficult to imitate and is slightly different with each generation.
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Hawaiian English/Pidgin
While Hawaiian English may be one of the accents that Americans don’t find as annoying as others, apparently Siri has trouble understanding this accent.
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Pittsburgh
Not sure what the Pittsburgh accent sounds like? This guy nails it.
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New Orleans/Cajun English
The New Orleans accent is a mix of multiple languages including Irish, Italian and French combining to become one accent.
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Appalachian
There are several things that make the Appalachian accent distinctive. For example, “pin” and “pen” are both pronounced like “pin.” In addition, sometimes and “r” is added where it doesn’t belong and the word “reckon” is quite common.
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Minnesota
The runner up for least annoying American accent is the Minnesota accent. According to dialect coach Keely Wolter, people in Minnesota don’t move their jaw very much when they speak.
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Southern California
Americans tend to find the Southern California accent the least annoying. Maybe that’s because many of the TV shows and movies we watch are filmed in Southern California, perhaps making this accent more acceptable. A true So Cal accent is Valley Girl meets surfer dude. Think of movies like “Clueless,” “Valley Girl” or “Fast Times at Ridgemont High.” Or, watch this skit from SNL.