Brit Reacts to American Accents Ranked EASIEST to HARDEST to Understand

[@Americans4Israel4Ever]

Cajun country most definitely the most difficult. Been married to a crazy Cajun for a decade and still have no idea what he or his family is saying. Lol

[@missdebrami6862]

Agreed

[@miaquinn5791]

That’s so funny. Never been to Louisiana before, I lived in Houma. One day I got lost so I stopped into a store and asked for directions. I know he was speaking English, I think. I didn’t understand a word he said. He had a very heavy Cajun accent. I had to go to the fire station to get help. 😂

[@mybluefly5845]

I was raised there, and I have a hard time understanding those crazy Cajuns. They sure know how to cook though!

[@LaurieRein]

I totally agree - hardest accent ever for a Minnesotan. I can understand if you talk slow. I don’t really care how you talk - I’m there for the food!

[@LaurieRein]

Yes, I can pretty much all states - some harder but all English with some personal area speech.

[@mybluefly5845]

I was born and raised in the deep south of Louisiana Cajun country and married myself a Texan. I have somehow combined the two accents and can't even understand myself🤣😄

[@hannakinn]

I lived in Texas four different times. I used to think it was funny how when friends would talk about WhatABurger it sounded like they were saying Water Burger. I liked Texans.

[@JaimeMesChiens]

@mybluefly5845. I love deep Louisiana accent so much. Mashed with Texan, (which part of TX?) accent must sound delightful. You got accent lucky! ❤

[@truthisfreedom6492]

lol 😂

[@truthisfreedom6492]

Lewis, is your accent considered “Cockney?” The reason I ask is because I noticed when you say “you know what I mean”, it sounds like one word. “Y’noahmeen?” lol, please don’t take offense; I find it delightful, and such fun! But, if you want to try affecting an American accent, I can help you with some of them. You’d have to choose the region first. Some of them are like foreign languages, even to me, but I can teach you enough that you could blend in to some areas of the Southeast, and some parts of NYC.

[@jaymac4448]

@mybutterfly5845 i'm a southern Va boy that grew up overseas, taking 5 years of french. Creole is the most confusing thing i have ever heard.

[@delphy2478]

fun fact, the midwestern accent was chosen to become the 'general american accent' deliberately, during the advent of radios. they did some studies in the early days, and found that the midwestern accent was most easily understood broadly, so they carefully curated only people with that accent for radios, and then for early television, and especially for news, so it is the one accent that was broadcast across the united states, and eventually outside of it.

[@briantbmoth6472]

I believe it. I’ve traveled all over the USA. I’ve only been told I speak like a newscaster outside of Ohio. First time was in Kentucky and Georgia while on a road trip. I never noticed that before then😂.

[@SheaTheSarcastic]

My Ohio-born husband loves telling me that he doesn’t have an accent. I beg to differ.

[@HakeemTheDream616]

I always wondered being a Michiganander if I have what's considered an accent.

[@terryjones3827]

For sure! I grew up in Central Illinois, and have traveled all over the U.S., and people constantly comment about MY accent?! I'm like, "i'm the one in the room WITHOUT an accent!!!"

[@Hotdoglipstick1980]

I disagree midwestern accent is very obvious, ie the movie Fargo. The generic tv accent is actually more accurately N. California, Oregon, and Washington

[@amyramirez736]

If the Southern accent gives you a warm, fuzzy feeling, just wait. There is nothing like the way a southern elderly black woman calls you "baby."

[@vordt4139]

Best thang in the world.

[@owlsbane]

Bay -bay

[@deborahhodges342]

Oh my gravy you are so right.

[@BloodSweatandFears]

Omg isn’t that just the best 😊 I used to go to church in Alabama with my grandmother and the ladies were SO sweet.

[@alwaysaa4199]

​@@BloodSweatandFearsI'm from Baldwin County, Alabama and everybody says they love the way we talk down here. I don't hear it, I think we sound like everyone else. Louisiana though, they on a different level with that Southern French Creole. I love it.

[@yellowiris123]

The guy categorized all the deep south as having one accent. Everyone sounds different in Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia. Even areas within each state has different accents. He just generalized the whole area.

[@sakisaotome6753]

in another video he actually mentions that there are at least 7 southern accents. i believe though that those accents while different are more similar to each other they they are to other more broader accents like GA, new york, boston, Minnesota

[@CaptainLoganPhillips]

Yup the south is so diverse in dialects it is amazing.

[@blakett88]

yeah as an Alabamian the accent here can vary between North Alabama and South Alabama

[@pamswafford9994]

And north and South Carolina

[@whitneyhuskins3677]

I came to say this too. Especially considering I'm in the Appalachians in Tennessee but I'm originally from NC. We all sound different.

[@0maj0hns0n3]

Fun note: a lot of African languages that made it to America didn't conjugate verbs. So while in most american English speakers would say "i am, you are, they are" African americans adapted that as "i be, you be, we be"

[@Ohgrowup1]

…not ALL of us. 🙄 Most of us speak STANDARD ENGLISH!

[@0maj0hns0n3]

@Ohgrowup1 catch me when "a lot of"="all".

[@Ohgrowup1]

@@0maj0hns0n3 you people make such racist statements and think it’s okay! I HATE THAT 😡

[@ElPerroGrandeNessi]

@@0maj0hns0n3she thought she ate with that one bro lol

[@vinnymack822]

Lewis, I was laughing so hard with the guy from Chicago. I was like "this guy doesn't have an accent" but when it said Chicago i was like "That's where I'm from" LOL. 😂😂

[@TheRagratus]

I'm from Chicago and know what it sounds like. I was away in the Army for 12 years, when I came back I REALLY noticed it lol.

[@basedjrock]

Nah I had a jaw drop moment when the chicago guy popped up bc my immediate thought was "I thought we were still doin regional accents" lmaoooo

[@kimkearney5419]

Ugh. Me too. What accent?,???

[@rhondapease8516]

😂 Our accents are so much fun!

[@abelgreen5046]

I couldn’t really hear it either, and I grew up in NY, VA, and MO. I got the STL one right though! Thought it was STL & Memphis but it was Florida instead lol

[@Zak.Moa365]

"We British have have a very sharp accent" British: boaol o wa'ah. American: bottle of water.

[@dit100]

Yeah have someone in Boston say that.

[@icequake1]

​@@dit100Boston accents are sharper and more nasal. "Baaaahttle of waaaaahtah"

[@jaimeegrinage2580]

😂😂😂😂

[@aclonymous]

@@dit100at least they actually say bottle instead of bo🔇le

[@DJBSharpMusic]

I think bo'ol o' wa'ah is more Scottish

[@sunnybearbuds]

For New York: if you want to hear Italian New Yorker, watch movies Saturday Night Fever or A Bronx Tale. If you want to hear Jewish New Yorker, watch Judge Judy. If you want WASPs from Queens, watch All in the Family. If you want to hear Puerto Rican New Yorker, watch White Men Can't Jump and pay attention to Rosie Perez. That's just a few of the MANY so-called New York accents. Yes, I'm a native New Yorker.

[@Aw-ns1qx]

Not political but I saw a very interesting study that talked about Trumps NY accent vs Bernie Sanders.

[@sunnybearbuds]

@@Aw-ns1qx Yes; one is Queens WASP, one is Brooklyn Jewish

[@RJAllykat]

@@sunnybearbuds So WASPs from Queens sound like they're from Chicago? That's interesting 🤔

[@sunnybearbuds]

@@RJAllykat Just telling what I grew up with; those are the accents I heard in Queens...never been to Chicago except the airport. I just know how all my public school teachers spoke. It's ok to think I'm an idiot, but I'm just saying what I heard.

[@RJAllykat]

@sunnybearbuds I never accused you of being an "idot" and never perceived you as such. Sorry if I came across that way. ✌️

[@shannonmcdonald6896]

As a midwest American I've always loved the way I talk and love southern drawls, but we ALL have tried to sound British at least once in our lives. We all think British accents are so cool!

[@bluskyz7398]

Agree, I love any accent!! I'm from Ohio, where I don't think we have any accent at all.

[@timcarr6401]

@@bluskyz7398 That remains to be heard.

[@bluskyz7398]

@@timcarr6401 OK! 😊

[@johnbeard6717]

As a southern American, when I watch British movies or movies with British accents I have to turn on the captions.

[@shotintheface]

The English are easier to understand than southerners.

[@hannakinn]

I thought my Southern mother would love Dowton Abby but she can't understand any of the dialogue and she doesn't want to read captions. I can understand all of the actors and actresses perfectly well as if they have no accents at all.

[@johnalden5821]

My wife is second-generation Greek American, and she has the same problem with strong British accents. One time, when we were watching a Harry Potter movie, she said she could pick up Hermione perfectly, Harry most of the time, but Ron hardly ever. She gets the "posh" or standard, king's English OK, but anything much off from that is unintelligible to her.

[@revgurley]

I bought some earphones that Bluetooth to the TV. I usually use the phones after my husband goes to bed to stay quiet. But they're very helpful for any foreign accent show I'm watching. Much easier to understand the words.

[@kimstyles5842]

😮😂🎉😅

[@sevynlira]

I have an accent curse. I was born in Texas. But moved to Minnesota. The mixture of those two absolutely wild accents is hilarious af😂. Everyone is confused when they hear how I mash up the two.

[@frequentdiner4635]

"Wait. Boston's in New England?" Check out the Boston Tea Party. You may be impressed! 🤣

[@nataliewalters2759]

Too funny!😂😂😂

[@catherinewetzel417]

😂

[@forestcatkay14]

😂😂oh thats good!

[@BloodSweatandFears]

Lmao 🦅

[@katw3070]

Just in case you didn’t know, Boston is in the state of Massachusetts.

[@nathanlawrence2484]

Whats fun is when two accents marry into each other. I was born in the midwest. My mother's side of the family is from Tennesee. My father's side is from the midwest. As a result, i have a very distinct midwestern accent, but the minute i detect another accent, regardless where its from in the world, my Tennessee accent slips out and makes me sound like a fast talking southerner, which compared to my sister who lives in that state, i am lol

[@yeshevishman]

My mom's pure Connecticut, my stepdad has a weird mix of Boston and NY, and I have what I think of as "general North-eastern" but it slips between that and North Carolina (where I spent much of my early years learning to talk). It's a weird hybrid that often confuses people being a mix of BOTH north and south! 😂

[@beckieweadon8158]

I swear a couple of those were from Tennessee!

[@aortiz233]

What’s even more fun is being a military brat 😂 I grew up in England, NorCal, New Mexico, Texas, Indiana, and now I live in SoCal. My accent changes based on when I am so I’m basically a chameleon cause no one can guess where I’m from. To add to that my dad is also a military brat and he mainly grew up in New York and Puerto Rico so that creeps into my accent sometimes too 😆

[@sleepingwolf_8]

I was raised in Chicago and moved to East Tennessee in my 50s. When I go back to Chicago they say I'm a hillbilly but here in Tennessee I'm a Yankee just because of my accent.

[@Not_a_witch]

My husband is from Texas and I’m from Nevada (standard American accent) and I’ve noticed I sometimes sound like I have the slightest Texan accent. It’s rubbing off on me 😂

[@FateTheArcher]

As someone who grew up in New England (Rhode Island) the "Whoa there buddy way to cut us off" then the quiet "Massachusetts" made me laugh so much.

[@darkchia00]

The moment he mentioned Dunkin Donuts I knew it was going to be Boston. That general area uses Dunkin Donuts as landmarks for giving directions.

[@CateK617]

I can verify that this directions are very accurate 😂😂😂. They were at the time. I think one of those dunks closed. The one on spring st. Is the good one.

[@yoppathedon4908]

25:37- we didn't always have no electricity, didn't have no running water. We'd running it all... Got it out the spring. But they eventually got the electricity up to you

[@kathyolney4083]

😂😂😂

[@lucydotg]

Spot on for the actual words. If I might add on to clarify the meaning of it for those that might still have some confusion: “in the past we didn’t have electricity. We [even] didn’t have running water. We had to carry it in ourselves out from the spring. Eventually they got electricity up to us.”

[@kathyolney4083]

@@lucydotg So funny!! When I was young we traveled from the city to the "country" and I was amazed to watch my aunt get well water, and crank it back up!! It was the best cold water!!

[@oldcodger4371]

Where I live in North Cackalacky, they finally got municipal water in maybe 10 years ago. I'm still drinking spring water cause I don't trust Government water.

[@crazypianokid1]

Naw we didn’t have no electricity we didn’t have no electro… runnin water either. We run it out of the… got it out of the spring (sprang). But they eventually got uh electricity up through here

[@guidingkeyblade7834]

As a Pennsylvanian, I knew immediately it was Pittsburgh from "yinz". That word is a dead giveaway.

[@paranoidbeing1191]

The NY accent is always so exaggerated when people talk about it. There’s so many different accents around NYC and they’re typically a lot more subtle than how they’re made out to be.

[@AliciaHudson-ui6dh]

Agreed, I'm from here. Never feel represented in these videos.

[@EricaGamet]

I went to college in the 80s in southern California (from Colorado)... had a really good friend there who was from Brooklyn. I had to have him repeat half of what he said. He had that real slowww accent where like every letter was sounded out. 35+ years later and whenever I hear the accent I think, "Jaaaayyyy frommm Brooooklynnnn!"

[@MySunshine0315]

I’m a west coaster who went to university in NYC. I rarely had people I couldn’t understand. Maybe it’s because of growing up with my Cajun family. 🤣

[@OpposingPony]

Same for the southern accents. Are there some crazy back woods people who sound like that? Yes and they're always interviewed after a tornado. But the vast majority of us, especially under the age of 50, don't sound like that.

[@MrCho14]

You can really only judge that if you're not from there. I have a number of NY friends (now and in the past) and what you hear on TV is not far off at all.

[@PhillipArnold-ej2ts]

Died laughing at him saying “that’s not fair”. I love speaking Cajun when I’m in other states because of this exact reaction.

[@dead-claudia]

the cajun dialect formed out of a french-english creole so it's not at all surprising.

[@desimosi579]

As someone from the Appalachian area I thought I had understanding southern gibberish down pat, But y'all talk like you don't know what consonants are. Had a guy from Louisiana come in asking if I know where the tin foil was, and I just stared at him like a deer in headlights until my manager took over 😂

[@jean6453]

@@desimosi579 hahaha

[@bethscott4330]

Your face is priceless watching really strong accents.

[@HikingPNW]

I have a cousin that grew up all around the Appalachian mountains and has a extremely strong accent. I grew up on the west coast and I can't understand him at all but after hanging out with him for a day or 2 I'll start understanding him and that freaks me out.

[@dead-claudia]

lol that's funny i grew up in wv so i'm used to readily understanding all but the absolute thickest of accents there. and when i say "thickest" i mean like it almost doesn't sound like english 😅

[@johnalden5821]

When I was a teenager, my family moved from the Mid-Atlantic to Upstate South Carolina. A couple of the kids in school had Appalachian accents so thick I could not understand them. I started with a couple of words that jumped out from their sentences, like "fishin'" and "boat" and worked my way forward from there.

[@Quick15]

The NorthEast has such a diverse set of accents. I'm from Southern Maine and obviously everyone around here sounds normal (To me) but I'll go to conventions and people from Vermont will say "you have an accent" and we'll talk for a bit and then someone from Massachusetts will come along and now all three of us are trying to understand each other. Very funny interactions.

[@sallyperrie3007]

I’m a native Californian. I was born in a beach town in SoCal and moved to Norcal in my early 20’s. People from California don’t sound like that. It’s a movie industry parody and people actually buy into it

[@pepelucho1751]

Ya, I'm from san diego and so is my mom. Sure grew up on the beach in Coronado, and neither she or I talk like that. I've only heard a couple talk like that, and usually heavy stoners. I'm in San antonio now, and they don't really have an accent either, unless you're mexican. LA and San Diego talk like they do in the movies because it is in LA so we have no accent. I did and still do on occasion say dude a lot though

[@danac4106]

I totally agree. I'm from SD too and we don't talk with vocal fry. It's a stereotype from Fast Times that ppl think is real now

[@julioreyes4698]

I agree with you, I'm from L.A. and that surfer dude, valley girl accent comes from the movies and tv. I never heard it from friends or family

[@germandog123]

I’m from SD and I think there are some words and affectations that we have and the movie California accent is just like taking those real things and taking it to the extreme. I worked on the beach for years and definitely some people have that “beach” vibe in their speech

[@rbrtgrdn]

Yeah. Totally a fake accent. What Californian uses the word 'supper'?

[@Chan12282]

New England is a region that includes Massachusetts, Connecticut, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont… Boston is more specifically in Massachusetts

[@stephenanderson1594]

I am African American from Texas and I can understand people from Louisiana, all types of African American Vernacular English, and strangely enough I can understand 85% of Jamaican Patois and 60% of Nigerian Pidgin English.

[@rockymontanagarciamane]

wish theyd use more african americans in other accent vids i do appreciate thus dude for adding the ones that he did, but we definitely needed one for chicago cuz that mf had a weak accent

[@firstnamelastname4427]

​@@rockymontanagarciamane I'm kinda glad they didn't. I don't want them understanding our lingo! 😂

[@firstnamelastname4427]

Same here

[@safloyd6903]

@@rockymontanagarciamaneYes, many of these sounded very familiar to me, VERY much the same as the African American accents I hear here in NW Georgia.

[@safloyd6903]

@@firstnamelastname4427😂😂😂

[@abbynormal2111]

I recognized the Pittsburgh accent immediately because my parents are from the area. I'm from Southern California, but every now and then a "yinz" slips into my speech!

[@johnalden5821]

I was a bit surprised by some similarities between the vowel sounds and those of the Philly and Baltimore accents. They're definitely distinct, but I heard some similar sounds.

[@chab1rd155]

Pittsburgh girl here too! 🙌 Woo-hoo! 😂

[@Parker-rl9ou]

I live around there too. I can always understand what they are saying.

[@marylousaunders3069]

From the ‘Burgh myself.. although I don’t have a strong yinzer accent..

[@chab1rd155]

@@marylousaunders3069 lol. Well, I never thought that I did either, but I guess, apparently to others, I do...🤷

[@CakeCakeCake]

Also, I find it funny that many non-Americans find certain southern accents attractive, because you'll get mixed opinions about them here in the States. I was born in Texas and had a very southern accent, but when my family moved to northern Illinois when I was a kid, the other kids at school made fun of me for it. So, I did everything I could to have a non-regional accent. Whenever I've traveled abroad, and someone asks about where I'm from, I like to see if they can guess. No one has gotten it so far. But the moment I'm around other southern accents, specifically Texans, my accent comes back real quickly haha.

[@yomama...isaverynicelady]

I used to try real hard to talk "regular" myself, but realized I didnt like how I sounded and it was too much work to always be censorin myself. And no matter how hard I tried, Id slip up one word and people laugh and mimick the way I say it, so I quit tryin. Now everyones like "wow i love your 'accent' what country are you from?" xD Well that's how it goes in the city or outside the real cultural South. Back home and in country areas people don't bat an eyelash.

[@DuelScreen]

25:37 Translation "No, we didn't have no electricity, didn't have no water... running water either... we run it out of the... got it out of the spring. But, they eventually got electricity up through here." I live in western North Carolina which is one place to find the smoky mountain dialect. It's hard when it's that broken (he interrupts and repeats himself several times for clarity). It took me listening a few times to get it.

[@gingersnap22]

Yinzer here! I've been told my Pittsburgh accent sounds like gravel in a blender. However, that was told to me by my dad, who has the strongest West Virginia Appalachian accent you've ever heard. 😂❤

[@chab1rd155]

Burgh girl here too! My cousins husband actually wanted to record me bcuz he said I have the heaviest Pittsburgh accent he's ever heard. Lol

[@jodiuhron1979]

My husband has a Pittsburgh accent. I wouldn’t say it’s a ridiculously strong one, but you can tell when he talks. I was born and raised in Johnstown, but I don’t really have an accent as far as I know.

[@chab1rd155]

@@jodiuhron1979 he must be a good dude then!!! 🙌🤣

[@Rubbertape_Gaming]

Also a yinzer here! Ive been asked countless times what certain words that i was just raised with mean, but Im proud to say Im from Pixburgh😂

[@jodiuhron1979]

@@chab1rd155, love him with all my heart! And, OF COURSE, we had a black and gold wedding almost 21 years ago! 🙌🖤💛

[@francesbundy6472]

I’m a Southerner… and the first time we traveled to Scotland, my husband had to be my translator! 😂🤣 Bless your heart!

[@JennyLeigh5309]

Northern Louisianans near Shreveport sound like Texans. Not Cajuns. We don’t understand them half the time. 😂

[@cannibalvince]

I was just gonna say that in Texas we have a ton of accents, I'm sure it bleeds together with our neighbors in the east as well. East Texas is its own thang

[@EricaGamet]

@@cannibalvince I have a friend from Nacodoches, TX and her accent is 🔥. I lived for a couple years in El Paso and that's a whole different sound!

[@nachoakajrod]

Bienville parish confirms

[@GoddessFourWinds]

@@nachoakajrod Calcasieu Seconds

[@BeCreativewithTerryJeanette]

Truth....lol

[@ExTiNkT91]

Damn. When Chicago guy came on I thought to myself "he sounds normal" ... then they said Chicago and I started laughing. That's where I'm from.

[@crazyirish8358]

I'm from Michigan and had the same reaction. Like, what accent? Oh. Mine.

[@somegingerchicktarot]

Texan here! I have that accent! I grew up in Piney woods LOL it's the drawl part :) and yes - I can tell what part of Texas they are from when I hear them talk.

[@AZHITW]

I got the St. Louis Missouri accent immediately because I worked with a guy from there and every other word out of my mouth was "pardon," "say what," "huh?"

[@Awood2207]

What's crazy is that I live in the southeastern part of Missouri or the bootheel as we like to call it and I immediately picked up the St. Louis accent. I've lived in the bootheel all my life, but I've been told that I have a southern accent, but I just tell them that it's Midwestern which depending on where you live can be a mix between southern and just a general accent.

[@paulbyland]

@@Awood2207 and @AZHITW I'm from near Columbia and the very northern tip of the ozarks. I feel like we are right on the border between the standard midwestern and southern. Most of us have the classic midwester but there's still a lot of people with a bit of that twang. Lol when I visit friends in Texas, I get told I sound like a yankee. When I'm out east, I get asked if I'm from Texas. Go figure. I agree with both of you about StL. While nobody talks like that here, there isn't a soul here who can't pick out the St. Louis accent. Everyone knows people from St Louis.

[@MissWWE20]

Missouri is just a odd combo of Midwest and Southern lol I'm 30 miles east of KC and I have lived here my whole life. I have a combo of midwest and southern. Southern comes out when I'm mad lol

[@Amber94566]

My family is from deep in Appalachia. Elizabethan words like breeches are still used daily. I had to learn to speak all over again when we moved north. Lol.

[@kristinwright6632]

Appalachia. I have now learned how to pronounce the name. I could hardly catch every third word and I'm American. But when he gave the Shakespeare and Scottish references I knew what he was talking about.

[@Softsqueakyduck]

Being from Appalachia he said it wrong! It is Ap-ill-a (like apple)-shia).

[@kristinwright6632]

@@Softsqueakyduck thank you!

[@sarahreese4285]

The Outer Banks of North Carolina has a little place called Harker's Island. That last clip is a perfect example of their dialect which is called "high-tiders" but the way they say it sounds like "hoy-toy-ders". Its a trip.

[@thegrumpypapa5549]

America is just like England, but better. I few hundred years ago the best of the Brits came over and stayed. They were the first Americans and over the years we changed these Brits and they became better, Americans. And before I get heat from this, it was a joke. My grandmother was from England and I loved her as if she was a real person, just like an American. Love your vids man.

[@truthisfreedom6492]

lol, I see what you did there. 😅

[@elainemiller145]

I was born and raised in Texas. Haven’t lived there for 45 years. I will never lose my accent 😂

[@LiqdPT]

32:07 to me (a Canadian/American) the presenter sounds definitely British. Nothing else. And his name is Ollie, which I've only ever heard of in England in modern times.

[@coolmantoole]

Being from SE Georgia, I've encountered an accent that's about as hard as any of the difficult ones at the end of the video. That's the Geechee from the Georgia barrier islands.

[@johnalden5821]

Oh definitely. I could be wrong, but I think linguists classify Gullah-Geechee as more than just an accent. It's a dialect (different vocabulary, maybe different word order, etc.). But possibly you might hear people with just a Gullah-influenced accent, which would be hard enough to parse on its own.

[@stacym31]

I was wondering why they didn't cover that accent.

[@paulamyers4985]

YASs! The Geechee people… I thought that would be the hardest one. Because they maintained some of their West African dialect and language from Slavery.

[@Sweet_Pea_12]

I think that’s what he was referring to in the beginning of the video.

[@midwestfpv4360]

Hey dude, first time watching your American accents ranked video. I'm from St Louis Missouri, there's a rapper that's from our city that's big, his name is Nelly. You should listen to the song, country grammar sometime!

[@lavonbowling5580]

Midwesterner here. I was always told by people from other regions we spoke too fast but to us, we sound like every movie or news character out there. One thing I wanted to say to L3WG concerns the “right on red” rules in the U.S.. Perhaps the confusion for you comes from the Brits driving on the opposite side of the road. You guys would have to dodge traffic to turn right on red. Think of it as left on red for the Brits. If there’s no one coming and you’re not crossing traffic flowing the opposite direction, it makes much more sense to not wait for the light change to change. It’s no wonder you think Brit’s would be plowing into each other!

[@satsunada]

ooh no.. not da stop an go lights

[@sistersabotage1367]

I’m a Cajun! lol love the the Boudreaux and Thibodeaux joke. That’s my family too. My accent ain’t that thick but my cousin is. I do throw random French in and people get confused. I love it tho! 😂

[@GhostPenelope13]

1:50 as a 4th gen Californian (SoCal), this is what we sound like. (I wish I had that woman’s Texan accent) I actually randomly switch to different accents sometimes without meaning to. A hybrid of Southern & Texan (really bad you can tell it’s fake), British Australian (No clue what it is), Romanian (don’t ask how, I have no clue how, never been outside the US in my 19 years of living), Scottish (I actually slipped into this one time without meaning to and it takes quite an effort to keep up), and Irish (Hell. Takes so much effort. I have to remove the ‘th’ and turn them into a harsh T if it’s in the middle of a word, if it’s at the end it’s a mix of a soft d and t. And sometimes I will switch from one accent to another like from Romanian to Scottish to Southern for no apparent reason other than my emotional mood or escalation. It’s hilarious when I accidentally do it around people I know because they look so surprised and confused by what just happened.

[@rebeccadavis3522]

You would be surprised by the "outerbanks" accent. It sounds a lot like people from Cornwall. The reason is that many of its people are decendants of the English that came from Cornwall and surrounding areas, especially in Orocoke. There were many pirates in that area. The most famous was Edward Teach, who was famously known as Black Beard. Orocoke, North Carolina, was a favorite hideout for him.

[@truthisfreedom6492]

I always thought Blackbeard liked to hang out in New Orleans, in the French Quarter.

[@honorsilverthorne7227]

Ocracoke.

[@honorsilverthorne7227]

​@@truthisfreedom6492No. He may have sailed there, but he was from North Carolina.

[@LaurieRein]

Boston is in Massachusetts in the East. Chicago is Midwest. I was born in Minnesota - only northern Minnesotans really talk like that. Minneapolis is fairly normal. I also lived in Chicago - your accent depends on what part of the city you are in.

[@Lasers666]

Also depends on socioeconomic background to a decent extent. Most of the folks with a strong Chicago accent tend to be lower-income blue collar folks. My parents were both white collar workers (A teacher and a government office worker) and I basically have no accent at all unless I’m talking super emphatically (or maybe when I’m drunk)

[@SgtSchultz-ICNothing]

I grew up in Duluth, the only people I can recall sounding like that would have been people who would have real close ties to Scandinavia, but most people would have the midwest accent. But when I have travelled a lit of people think I am Canadian. Eh!

[@LaurieRein]

@@SgtSchultz-ICNothing My husband’s family are all in Duluth - ya, you bettcha - nothing Canadian there.

[@LaurieRein]

@@Lasers666 Not true - accents of Chicago were heavily ethnic (usually a mix of Irish & Italian) for example Bridgeport - if you remember both our old mayors - the Daily’s, father and son - not poor, not blue collar, although many are with the accent, had heavy Chicago accents, brother of Mayor, John Daily, also heavy accent - chief of staff at the White House. A lot of socioeconomic blue collar workers do have heavy accents but it wasn’t their financial status. More to do with ancestors. A lot depended on where you lived and your background. Irish held heavy Chicago accents for example another person, Michael Flatley, Riverdance.

[@ophilianecr]

There's also a mex/american Chicago accent in the mexican neighborhoods, a mix of the Chicago "ah" sound, and the mexican diction and the tone of English words

[@LadyLiet]

The British forget that the letter "t" even exists!! Born and raised in South Texas. Each area of Texas has a different accent. West Texas is flater, more like the western states, north Texas sounds more like the midwest. Oh, my goodness, East Texas, the Piney Woods has a twang that will knock your esrs off. Probably because they are close to Louisiana and Cajun country. LOL!! I don't think South Texas is near as bad. But I do know Texas is pretty colorful in word choices to describe things. I lived in New Jersey for a while and felt totally lost. I actually asked people to please speak slower because I couldn't hear that fast! 😊 They thought it was funny! They told me I didn't have an acent. Then I would zing them with an east Texas twang and they would lose it!!! 😊😊😊

[@picmajik]

"Southern"--bless their hearts ❤ There are SO many variations and dialects in the South that someone raised in Georgia will sound different than Alabama or Mississippi. There are at least 10 different dialects in Georgia alone. The majority of my relatives speak "Georgia Coastal Plain" which is slower than what I use here in Atlanta. Good luck lumping all of us together as "Southern". I can find speakers where you'll wonder if you are even hearing English. 😇

[@AyBayBay196]

Yup! I’m from Alabama and I can at least tell the difference between accents from Alabama and Tennessee. But I could maybe pick out Georgia’s accent as well. For whatever reason, I struggle to be able to tell the difference between Alabama and North or South Carolina. There seems to be some overlap there somehow.

[@catherinewetzel417]

The southern Cal one was definitely exaggerated. Grew up in a beach city but moved away. We also don’t usually say “supper.”

[@bythewxyside]

I feel like we got did dirty cause ion speak like that at all 😭. There’s just too many different accents out ere. Every damn city or county folks speak differently.

[@DaisiesInMercury]

​@@bythewxyside I agree, I'm tired of that stereotype. It's kind of annoying to be honest.😅

[@armrugatewood9110]

Really cool video and your reactions. I knew about 60% of them, especially the Minnesota- your facial expression made me laugh. They sound crazy, right. Been watching your videos this weekend starting visiting the US. Really hope you get to, the country is really amazing! And I really like your reactions; you seem to be an open and friendly person-God bless you! Greetings from Oklahoma, USA

[@mikesmith-xv4vt]

Boston Massachusetts in New England, we had a fab tea party there...back in the day!!

[@janiefk]

As an American I think the hardest to understand accents are: 1. Creole 2. Appalachian 3. Any accent that is super thick AND where the person talking is a fast talker 🤣

[@holly-gv8zp]

love, LOVE your channel and you! found you last night, forever subscribed! cheerio!

[@danatate8803]

Yes, New England, including Boston, is on the East Coast, mainly in the more northern regions. Remember, the colonists were mainly British so landing where there did -- Plymouth Rock -- makes perfect sense. Greetings from Portland, Oregon, my cuz across the pond!

[@SuperDrLisa]

Ok I gave up and I've been speaking American English for 67 years.....

[@allibrown8960]

I have family in Michigan. And every time I call my cousins, it takes me a few minutes to adjust to their accents and speed of talking (I'm in Texas). It's really hilarious!

[@KimThirion]

25:52. Understood every word! I’m from the south and I don’t speak with a thick accent, but I’ve been exposed to enough different versions of it, that they’re pretty easy to understand.

[@sky-ms3eb]

I’m from Appalachia and I understood every word. My grandparents talk like that😂

[@crazypianokid1]

The difference in accents in the state of North Carolina line is staggering. I love my home state ❤

[@unclisa]

Agree. So many great accents, and being isolated in our little communities through much of even the 20th century, we've held on to them somewhat. I'm coastal. I've been asked if I'm British by people from other countries whose native tongue isn't English. Even in a 50 mile radius, so many accents, and I guess you can hear the lingering licks of English, Irish, Scots. Sadly, as people have figured out how awesome coastal NC is in the last 30 years or so (except the mosquitoes....we all hate the mosquitoes) and moved here, the various acccents seem to weakening to me.

[@hollycook5046]

Check out Carolina Brogue or Outer Banks accent. It's North Carolina with their own unique accent. Kind of British, kind of Irish

[@LadyLiet]

You hit a hot topic Lewis.😊 We are very aware of the mind boggling number of accents. But by and large we happily get along enjoying each others differences. 😊

[@joecrachemontange4613]

I'm an Acadian from northern maine and can talk the old french that the cajuns speak in louisiana.

[@ssg558]

My daughter in law is from Maine, and I could listen to her talk for hours. I love that accent

[@erikofthenorse]

Same here Joe. I'm from the pi area. I always wonder why these accent videos always lumps the whole state in with the coastal accent when we have valley French Acadian accent up here

[@chill214]

I'm a Cajun from Louisiana and that would mean we are cultural cousins.

[@gbruton101]

I was born and raised in the Carolinas but now live in L. A.,, I have pretty much lost my accent over the last 25 years. But I still understand it, when I talk to my family back there, I immediately pick it back up for a little while after the call.

[@briandelaney9710]

My mom would always revert to her southern Ohio/Kentucky accent when she would talk with relatives despite living in California for more then 40 years

[@honorsilverthorne7227]

North or South Carolina? Because those "two" accents (NC alone has at least six) are different.

[@gbruton101]

@@honorsilverthorne7227 Harnett County North Carolina

[@HisLilyPrincess]

Raised in Texas, yet i have a midwest accent. Southern bell doesnt come out to play unless you put me in a room full of farmers and cowboys.

[@kariimora]

I find it really crazy that the Midwest doesn’t get explored enough for accents - Here in St Louis Missouri there’s a dialect that’s highly different than the Chicago accent aswell, the area here has a blend of slang and t & d drop example: “I don’t want none of that” becomes “idondwon nunnadat” - “it’s pretty cold out” becomes “it’s burry”

[@colleenmcbride3656]

I'm a Michigander living in Arizona and my Fiance is from Nevada. He laughs when I say different words and says "I've never heard someone add more vowels to an already long word. VEEAAALEINTEEINEE." Even when I say Michigander I say "Michigeeander" We tend to add vowels and shorten or not say the last consonant if the word ends with one. It's almost minnesotian.

[@ScootsMcPoot]

Same with the Chicago accent

[@KarenLWhiting]

I'm a native southern Californian, I don't know anyone who speaks like that. Maybe the younger folks, but it's put on.

[@csailer2353]

I lived in Ca for a couple of years. I was shocked when I met someone once who had a valley girl accent. I didn’t think it existed……lol

[@cassandranash5059]

The Southern California accent is always so exaggerated in these videos.

[@Razataz49]

The last Texas one was Actor Montana Jordan From Young Sheldon. And he was Born in Longview, Texas.

[@jennessabeckett3949]

I'm from an Appalachian family. I don't sound that deep holler, but my elders do.

[@Roadtrip635]

I'm from Texas and in college, my roommate was from West Virginia. Neither one of our accents were real heavy, until we started drinking..... lol

[@jennessabeckett3949]

@@Roadtrip635 Oh when I get mad, or drunk no one can understand me.

[@DoubleCrochet-DIANA-]

I have a thick Boston accent, I've lived here my entire life, I also did some digging in my family, I got 200yrs back and both sides of my family were here in Boston!

[@bellegraves]

Michigan is extra fun because most of us in the lower part of the mitten sound like we're from Chicago, and the ones from like, the thumb up including the upper peninsula all sound like they're from Minnesota. Wild.

[@MissWWE20]

My fiance is from Portage In and I find his accent adorable . Mines the ood Missouri accent lol

[@DrnkTheWildAir]

😂I have a twang. Southern Indiana. But I think the hardest to understand is French Quarter in New Orleans, Louisiana!! BTW I typed this BEFORE I watched. 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@jodimerusi3250]

Many years ago I went to Louisiana and took a boat tour through the Bayou. The tour was run by a very nice Cajun man who spoke with a mean Cajun dialect. The thing is my family is French Canadian and I had no trouble understanding him especially when he added more French when he spoke. I loved it and I could have listened to him for hours. It was great!

[@sherrymorris9690]

I’m from Houston Texas and yes I can tell what part of Texas y’all are from.

[@AdamNisbett]

13:50 I’d agree with you - that seemed like multiple distinct varieties of Southern accents. To me a “Southern” accent isn’t a single accent but a whole family. It’s kinda like saying something is a “British” accent. There’s loads of very different varieties within it.

[@ronaldpippen8164]

All are still recognizable as southern though.

[@AdamNisbett]

@@ronaldpippen8164 but there’s a lot more variety in the different examples of “southern” that he gave than there is between Minnesota and upper peninsula Michigan, but he made those completely separate categories .

[@ronaldpippen8164]

@@AdamNisbett there are so many different southern accents that we would need our own video to cover them all, North Carolina alone has 4 or 5 atleast.

[@andimproud]

Gotdammit, Lewis!! "Oh, lord, Jesus, it's a fire!" fucking sent me!!

[@kathyolney4083]

Where was that... I'll have to listen again...😂😂

[@andimproud]

​@kathyolney4083 or wait, do you mean timestamp on lewis' vid? It's 24:25.

[@ironear7748]

it's a far, not fire!

[@siscaudle8715]

I am originally from CA but have lived in Indiana and the Northwest and travelled to every state except HI. I don't understand a lot of accents! A guy once asked me for a "lodge coughy". I said, "if you can tell me how it's made". He looked at me like i was making fun of him. My friend said "large coffee"! 🤦‍♀️

[@yomama...isaverynicelady]

Youll have to be forgiving. We do get made fun of alot for how we talk. lol

[@kimharding2246]

I was so surprised, Lewis! You guessed right! The most difficult was from Tangiers Island, Virginia!!

[@lauraweiss7875]

Easiest = Midwest Hardest = Appalachian

[@STRAIGHTJXCKET]

Specifically Colorado easiest Alabama hardest

[@kathyolney4083]

Carolina's are harder that Alabama..but Alabama has the most friendly, wonderful people!!

[@FreedomAndLiberty2024]

I was born and raised in So. Cal, but my entire family is from the deep backwoods of Kentucky, but even being raised with my parents and siblings having strong accents, I needed an interpreter to understand a lot of my Appalachian kin.

[@johns7283]

Appalachian is easy once you hear it for awhile

[@Americans4Israel4Ever]

❤😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@DJBSharpMusic]

The moment we got into that one guy talking about fishing, I recognized that accent immediately. It was the word "pasties" that gave it away. Thank you very much, Jeff Daniels. Also helps that one of my friends from childhood was a boy from Michigan. His mother's accent was stronger than a cup of Navy coffee.

[@johnmince6311]

I once heard Jimmy Carr open his comedy set in the US by saying "I know some of you will have trouble understanding ne because of my accent, but this is what English sounds like when it's pronounced properly!"

[@squirrel2000]

25:40 "We didn't have no electricity, didn't have no (sounds like he said electric again?), or running water, any way, running out of the...got it out of the spring. But, they (eventually?) got electricity up through here." I can mostly understand all of these but don't catch every word. My mom was from the eastern shore of the Chesapeake bay (last clip where the guy was talking about his Mom) and I grew up on the border with Quebec, so I speak a good amount of French. That helps with Cajun. I've lived all over the world but now live near Appalachia, so the accent in the above clip I transcribed is heard around here sometimes. But all of this makes it difficult for others to guess where I am from.

[@squirrel2000]

@tonkabeanpumpkin-fh4fz I took an extensive one and it was confused. But it was actually quite accurate since it picked up not only many of the places I have lived, but also where my parents were from. The strongest was where I lived from about age 9 to age 12 (northern NY state). It picked up Baltimore and Eastern shore Chesapeake bay from where my parents grew up, western Maryland where my Mom's family lived (and where she spent the summers). It also located me near Ottawa as the strongest component (I spent 3 years an hour south in NY). It also detected Rochester (I lived in the finger lakes for 2 1/2 years, from ages 5 to 7). It also placed me in Chicago, but I only lived there for 6 months. My guess is that I may have picked up the generic American accent (which is similar to Chicago) from watching American entertainment from all the times I lived overseas growing up. I had lived in Central Ohio for a while, but as an adult. It didn't pick that up. Seeing as I have lived in many countries and most sections of the US, and since no one can guess where I'm from (except somewhere in the US or Canada), I was amazed that it figured anything out.

[@carrielynne3491]

Having an Appalachian/Midwest accent isn’t noticeable until you travel out talk to someone that’s not from someone from the same area😂😂

[@Arkryal]

I'm in New York, and I can identify about 20 different regional accents in this state alone, lol. In some cases, you can hear what neighborhood someone grew up in. This is especially true in the city, as a lot of different immigrant groups cluster in various neighborhoods. It's easy to differentiate Brox from Queens for example. But even outside the city, it's easy to tell the Adirondak region, from Syracuse, Rochester, and Buffalo. There's a lot of similarities in those, but if you listen closely, you can definitely hear it. I agree with you, women with a South Carolina accent sound hot, lol. Definitely my favorite accent for women. A voice as sweet as honey, but those girls can spit venom when they want, but do it in the kindest tone of voice you've ever heard, lol. Of course, the least attractive accent for women is the New Jersey accent, nasal and grating. Boston accents, like New York accents are also very distinct. There's a "General Accent" that sounds fairly mid-western, there's the Boston Irish accent (which doesn't sound too bad), and then there's the old-school Cambridge accent, which I'm sorry to say, I can't hear without laughing, lol. As everyone else has stated, Cajun is by far the most difficult, but worse, there's like a dozen different Cajun sub-accents. Get down into the former slave areas, and shit gets weird. Imagine 30 generations of French and Dutch immigrants whose kids were raised by Jamaican and Haitian nannies, lol. It's barely even English in some of the rural areas. Now if you really want to go down a deep rabbit-hole, the Native American accents are usually (with a few exceptions) distinct to individual tribes. But then some tribes have unofficial off-shoots. They share the same heritage as the larger tribe, but broke off for various reasons, and can be relatively isolated from the main population. Now here's where it get's really interesting. "Variable Idiosyncratic Diction". A lot of us grew up in many different places, so we have hybrid accents, where one or the other becomes dominant under different circumstances. I was born in NY, but grew up in Arizona, which was largely Hispanic, with a lot of mid-westerners and my neighborhood was filled with people from Kansas and Texas who all moved with a big manufacturer that relocated to the area. So I've picked up a bit of all of those. I cycle through them, quite involuntarily. If I'm flirting with a pretty girl, a southern accent kicks in automatically, I'm not even really aware of it unless it's pointed out. If you hear a strong New York accent, run for your life, I'm pissed. 90% of the time, I just have the general American accent you normally think of.

[@simabelsky3471]

The only accent I got right away is the one from NYC and I go there a lot and know lots of people there. I even went to school there for five years. I kind of have the new York accent but a little different. I'm from the Hudson valley. It's a little different here. Would you be able to tell my accent and where I'm from?

[@singwithAshley]

I follow the “skater dude” family on KZbin and they actually have a thick southern accent naturally! So funny to hear him mimicking a “surfer dude” accent. Like crush from the movie Finding Nemo

[@adrienmerliss9927]

Southern makes sense! He said "supper", and I knew he faking.

[@edcampbell7484]

Lewis, you are so American! I would take you around no questions asked! Southeast Texas.

[@Roosterboy_00]

I was just watching this guy yesterday do a video on accents and two of them were people from Robeson County NC which I grew up in and around. It’s kind of a Southern drawl with extra syllables and a hint of Cajun. Yeah is Yay-yuh and they call everyone Pa. It’s also the most dangerous town (Lumberton) per capita in North Carolina, maybe the country.

[@rossihendrix6150]

Im a minnesotan from minneapolis, NO ONE talks like that in the cities if you go up north then yes they do its crazy lol

[@jaebee9308]

Totally true. When I visit Minneapolis and St. Paul, I'm always excited the RARE times I run into someone with that stereotypical accent.

[@paulbyland]

Yea, you guy sound mostly midwestern. That being said it does seem like you guys still just a bit of that strong O sound...

[@csailer2353]

Yeah it gets old when everyone thinks you sound like the movie Fargo. I have NEVER heard anyone with an accent that pronounced before. Not even Canadians.

[@erincurtis1523]

@@csailer2353 Same, from Northern MN and I sound more Canadian/Midwest than the stereotypical Fargo accent. I watched Supernatural with the episodes from up north and they sounded like they were from Fargo.

[@susangates7575]

The Southern CA accent is fairly new. No one had vocal fry or spoke like that before 1980.

[@MissShelly]

I understood Rocky Mountain perfectly, I grew up in Florida (backwoods & swamp people sound similar), but I've been living in Arkansas for almost 2 decades. (The hill people accent here is pretty similar, too, honestly. 😅 ) Here's your translation: He said back then they "didn't have electricity, indoor toilet, or running water either, they had to run it over, got it out of the spring but they eventually got the electricity up through here." A lot of Americans do struggle to understand them also. I had an older homesteader from the hills call the store I was working at to have me talk on the phone for him because the guy at a call center couldn't understand what he was saying. He told me he tried having his "nice talking" neighbor talk to the guy, but the call center guy still couldn't understand. So he asked if he could add me to the call so I could try talking "Florida" to him. 😂😂😂 I told him to come on then. Gotta love our hill folk. They're a riot. ❤

[@garycamara9955]

My grandmother was from Missouri. She actually had lived in Nebraska before moving to California in 1926. She had a Missouri accent her whole life. We all had a little of it.

[@jaebee9308]

Speaking of Nebraska- that area of the Country definitely has an accent all it's own. Montana, Nebraska, Wyoming... It's subtle, but I can immediately recognize it when I hear it.

[@GingerGrutzius]

California is probably the most exaggerated, acquired accent of all USA accents. Most folks are from everywhere other than the West Coast. It's an acquired gnarly/dimwitted accent. Texas, North and South Carolina, Virginia, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana accents vary; if you are brought up in an upper-middle-class environment, we sound very similar; when we visit London, I've been told that our accent sounds lovely. Some of us sound country that would be hard for Brits to understand. New England is harsh and abrasive to the ear, very unpleasant. The midwestern USA, like Chicago, is more nasal and a bit thuggery. Most Americans enjoy listening to a British accent. JMOP. GG Texas.

[@Charlee1776]

25:37 You asked if anyone understood that- Here is what I heard: "...*cuts in*.. we didn't have no electricity, we didn't have no oil. No running water either! We run it out of... we got it out the spring!.. but, they eventually got the electricity up through here."

[@Blend-24]

Here I am an American and I have never heard anyone talk like some of these peoples let alone understand any of it.

[@timothysexton2086]

yeah the cajun i heard giberish fish giberish

[@Quick15]

Tbf the guy making the original video picked the strongest accents he could find. The Maine accent was way stronger than any I've heard and the Minnesotan was stronger than most of the Canadians I've talked to. And the broad generalizations of the Northeast and South were pretty well, broad. Both of those areas will have several smaller accents as well.

[@csailer2353]

Yeah the Minnesota accent was not even close. Those were skits of people parodying what they think we talk like. It gets old when everyone thinks you talk like the movie Fargo. 😒😒. No one talks like that.

[@Blend-24]

@tonkabeanpumpkin-fh4fz well over here in the desert, you control the wadder you control everything 😂

[@alynneflanery9918]

one of them that he's claiming was minnesota was actually north dakota-- the one with the "eh" at the end--watch movie FARGO

[@enicole1203]

I cracked up when your guess was "Arkansas" for St. Louis & Florida AAVE.

[@bpcj4891]

Same 😂

[@TNugent]

Montana Jordan was that Texas accent he played on Young Sheldon. That's his real accent.. peace from Central Texas Hook'em Horns 🤘

[@markmartin6466]

I frequently get asked where I am from. They think I am from Britain but the British think I am from the West Country of England, kids think I am a pirate. The hardest just happens to be mine. I am from Tangier Island, lived a short time Occacroak Island. Now I live in Richmond, Virginia.

[@teerat8451]

My accent was formed from people who were too busy to work on a real accent right in the middle of the country

[@Atheos-1]

No one "works" on having an accent. Fyi, the Midwest works no harder or longer hours than any other region of the country.

[@yvonneconte3040]

Rural central New York state here. We don't have the NYC accent. The Brooklyn NY'rs are difficult to understand.

[@jaebee9308]

Ohhh yes you DO have an accent to these Ohio ears.😂 But you're 100% right. It's not The Bronx, Queens or Brooklyn. Not at all.

[@bloo8677]

I'm from eastern ky (Appalachia) and I understood everything they were saying 😂 The old man with the beard (right before you paused to ask if anyone understood that) said: "Well no, didn't have no electricity, didn't have no lake for no running water either. We run it out of the - got it out of the spring. But, they eventually got the electricity up through here."

[@DANIxDANGER]

This video makes me giggle because I can understand everyone that Lewis couldn't understand, but I'm sure there's British and other UK accents he can understand that I'll probably need captions for haha