Why Kevin Spacey's accent in House of Cards sounds off

[@jedtalk]

Thanks, never thought I'd understand less by learning more.

[@AdmiralPrice]

You learned more about learning less by learning less when learning more.

[@pomegranateemporium]

I so entirely agree with u. I'm so glad u said this. I was watching the video like, _"Oh okay. Oh, okay. Haa. Okay. Oh..hmmm...okay_ *Wait huh - what - where am I?"*

[@nurbsenvi]

Yup it wasn't coherent.

[@danielhall8943]

How else are you meant to learn

[@popcornfilms1]

Then you are a fool and a child

[@dmon007]

Spacey went from dropping R's to being dropped altogether.

[@randomskywalker3267]

Megamaniaco Lol

[@geraldsturgill3122]

He dropped trou

[@squamish4244]

He tried to - just that person was...young.

[@C4CH3CH3]

Megamaniaco nice

[@marcogh]

Megamaniaco LMAO

[@zestyitalian2610]

... But it's not "off", per se. It's just an older accent that's associated with the southern aristocracy. It's not extinct- just less common than it used to be. And considering the character background of Frank Underwood- poor boy, self-made man from the small town south- it's not unreasonable to suggest that he affected a highborn, genteel southern accent, just as Scots and Irish of a certain generation (think Peter O'Toole) affected a semi-aristocratic RP English accent to bolster their careers and statuses. And trust me- Spacey leaves nothing to chance- least of all something as essential as an accent. Spacey is a technician. One of the most technical of all American actors, in fact. He draws characters out as if they had blueprints or schematics. Nothing he does, physically or vocally, is an accident. And I have a very hard time believing that he didn't do his research into the specific type of dialect Frank Underwood would have. I've always thought he sounded a lot like Jimmy Carter.

[@theutopianoutopioan464]

ZestyItalian2, Kevin Spacey's accent is quite realistic. I have a non rhotic southern accent similar to this, except mine is real. You should remember however, that Hollywood has only two southern American accents it uses in movies, those are the old fashioned completely non rhotic ' plantation ' accent and the stereotypical ' hillbilly ' accent . Hollywood fails to realize that there's MANY southern accents, There's the non rhotic Cajun accents, there's the heavily rhotic south Appalachian accents that exist in northwestern Georgia, much of Tennessee, Kentucky, northern Alabama and the western regions of the Carolinas and there's Mississippi with native accents of it's own, not to mention Texas which has a more nutral version of the ' hillbilly ' accent! Yet Hollywood tends to ignore them all.

[@TheShakey99]

@@theutopianoutopioan464 spot on. Visited the mountains in western NC every year for 20 years. All my family have the Appalachian drawl to them over there. But I've got the arkansas/texas accent from growing up there.

[@knoxgraham1181]

I agree, but I'd also like to say that maybe it's an example of the character he is. I don't think it is necessarily that he (Underwood)has adopted this accent, it's just a manifestation of him being sophisticated. After all, the accent was attributed to people in power in the 1800s, white plantation owners, and the fact that he is in power shows itself with a similar accent.

[@futerofiari5353]

It's not as common anymore, but that plantation non-rhotic southern accent still is around! There's even younger people with similar non-rhotic southern accents, mainly in Louisiana and certain parts of Virginia

[@thebrutusmars]

@@futerofiari5353 I know some people who sound like that along the Mississippi River, on the border of MS and LA.

[@emeyeenaych]

"white southerners essentially abandoned r-dropping" without the context this sounds like straight cap

[@calebangell77]

They prefer dropping N's and hard R's

[@mithrandir404]

So why does Kevin Spacey's accent sound off? You didn't really address that.

[@tommyhaynes521]

+mithrandir404 Right , I kept waiting for that

[@georgewang2947]

He relies on dropping r's, which is no longer done by southerners except in african american dialects. He sounds more like Scarlett O'Hara than a modern South Carolinan.

[@rohitguptahpf2]

+mithrandir404 It did. Frank Underwood should talk like Lindsey Graham, and he doesn't.

[@XiaolinDraconis]

+mithrandir404 they explained it. but what they failed to understand is that his accent as he states in the show had changed while he was in military school.

[@toastymcgee9788]

Well that to sound southern, he doesn't make the "ah" sound but drops his "rs" which is antiquated. He has more of an antebellum old timey southern accent. Still fantastic, I love it.

[@cervineia]

But isn't Frank Underwood's accent an affectation that he himself admits to? I recall in some episode, he mentions that he didn't grow up "talking like this" in Gaffney, and that his accent was cultivated whilst in military college in the '70s.

[@johnwilson1094]

That's a good point. I've noticed a lot of real soldiers seem to acquire a sort of generic southern accent (less than 1970's CB talk) after a couple of years of service. I thought it was a sort of effort to fit in. Somewhere, also is a clip of Brian Keith doing three or four accents from Georgia in about as many minutes.

[@copiacopia12ictvohi76]

Is it really an affectation if you talk like that all the time? It really isn't.

[@WiggaMachiavelli]

@@copiacopia12ictvohi76 It really is an affectation if it's something consciously adopted.

[@HuyLy94]

What about how he pronunces the "w" on words starting with a "wh" strangely, like how he says whip as huip

[@KevinFromTheOffice]

every time he says that it reminds me of Stewie from family guy lol

[@BRBallin1]

Cool Hwip lol

[@cheeseontoast9418]

do you mean he pronounces the H?

[@HenryMiller17]

titanium hwite

[@Rachulie]

lol I'm from Gaffney, SC and we do not sound like him nor these R-dropping actors when they try to play our accent. Nope. Lots of R sounds. Think the misconception is gone with the wind and such movies

[@Graysonhd]

Kevin Spacey's accent is pretty darn authentic. As a native South Carolinian, I have a few minor winces with it, periodically, as does the author of this (excellent) article/video on linguistics. But overall I give it an A-. Most actors deserve Fs for their southern accents. Southern accents, and their finer or lesser points, are (were) absolutely critical... to the southerner at least. As they instantly denote whether or not there has been any education in one's family background.

[@melstrashbin]

he is extremely manipulative, so it would make sense that he got this right

[@beckiejbrown]

WOW! I learnt so many new things watching this, goodness me!

[@jamesburgess2k]

When you tryna figure this out, but you have no idea because you already talk like this...

[@edg6762]

10,000 Subscribers without Videos you're Black aren't you

[@shilohschwartz8671]

*when you trahna figah this out, but yah have no idea because yah alrahday talk like this....

[@alykhairy1998]

James Burgess its so haaaaad -Scott Herman

[@yeahmylo]

I read this comment in a southern accent and am Canadian.

[@burningknight7]

why is this a thing ^ Ed?

[@WanquanLoot]

2:22 it should be noted that that's because in General American, /aɪ/ is realized as [aɪ] before voiced consonants and in word-final position, but as [əɪ] before voiceless consonants. (the difference between "light" and "lied".) So, /aɪ/ monophthongization ("ay-ungliding") makes the difference between the General American and that Southern accent even wider-when it's not pre-voiceless, you hear [a] as opposed to [aɪ], but when it is, you hear [a] as opposed to [əɪ], and those don't share any vowels.

[@Sherkel]

I learned something new today.

[@adampanagopoulos2979]

Also something they claim in this video is that southern accents are Rhotic while most Southern Accents have inconsistent rhoticity. So perhaps in South Carolina they may be Rhotic but with most Southern Accents the pronouncing of the "R" is not consistent just like in the extract they took from Woody Allen who speaks with a New York Accent.

[@ryancampbell8618]

Adam Panagopoulos It's a little hard to quantify, because here in South Carolina, there are at least 3 totally different and distinct accents that really don't sound very alike.

[@theutopianoutopioan464]

Adam Panagopoulos, There's several southern accents that are non rhotic, Though you can hear the R's in words like work and girl, even though the R's get dropped elsewhere in some dialects. Most southern accents today tend to be semi rhotic ( that is, the pronunciation of R after vowels is inconsistent ) . Hollywood has only two southern accents it uses, the old fashioned, completely non rhotic ' plantation' accent and the hard R ' hillbilly' accent, Both of those generic accents are only spoken by a minority of southerners. What Hollywood fails to realize is that there's MANY southern American accents! Someone from Charleston SC sounds wildly different from a person from the mountains of Tennessee, who in turn has a vastly different variety of English to someone from the Cajun areas of Louisiana!

[@SilverDT1]

This feature (Canadian raising) is certainly becoming more common, but I don't think it's trickled into "General American" speech yet. From both research and my own experience, it seems to be restricted to the Upper Midwest, the Mid-Atlantic, and New England; I don't hear it as much in the Lower Midwest (supposedly the region with accents closest to General American) or in the West.

[@morgancook4288]

Did anyone else stop midway and ask for themselves."Why the fuck am I watching this"?

[@mohamedalfatahmirghani7513]

me

[@prinzsalamander]

+Morgan Cook i'm from germany. it's 1 o'clock and I only understand half of it.

[@kylec7968]

I was actually hoping for a better explanation. I like Kevin Spacey a lot, and am a political junkie, so I thought HOC would be a really interesting show. I got about three episodes in and couldn't focus on the plot because his accent is so fake. As a Florida native, I've been exposed to just about all of the southern accents. The "r-dropping" he does is more common in gulf coast places like MS and AL, but is coupled with a considerable amount of drawl and slower speech patterns (think Haley Barbour). Southerners from Appalachian states sound a little faster and more pronounced, much like Lindsey Graham. Native Floridians are a little more in the middle, usually featuring the slower drawl of MS and AL, but more pronounced and deliberate like SC or NC. Bill Nelson is a good example of a native Floridian accent. In much the same way that the northeast has many nuanced accents, so does the southeast, which is why Kevin Spacey's grab-bag southern accent sounds too much like Steel Magnolias

[@lilhogfella]

+Morgan Cook no, i like to learn sometimes.

[@nerirodriguez9299]

Joss Fong is the reason

[@BlankCanvas88]

I'm always confused when actors use this southern accent outside of a period film b/c I rarely hear it used where I'm from (I've lived in Georgia, Texas, and Louisiana). I feel like British people actually do a better job of the southern accent than non-Southern Americans, and I think that's b/c southern accent has more similarities to it.

[@Suite_annamite]

John Oliver is a British guy who does an awesome job mimicking southern Americans, yet curiously can't do a regular American accent.

[@theutopianoutopioan464]

BlankCanvas88, Actually Louisiana does have similar non-rhotic accents to this one, don't believe me? Watch Swamp People and or my videos! Then you'll see non rhotic southern accents exist

[@mysterioso2006]

Love this kind of stuff.

[@peachabutt]

Just like he loves kids... ving!

[@XBLArmory]

As a southerner I find it interesting but by no means is it authentic; he sounds more like Foghorn Leghorn to me than any real southerner.

[@xkrntylsekkix]

LOL

[@dboydustin]

XBLArmory I'll second that lol

[@2Majesties]

As awful as Tom Hanks in 'Gump.' Terrible.

[@xkrntylsekkix]

so funny, i came back to say that in one of the episodes of this season, they make a reference that he does sound like foghorn leghorn. (episode 9 hint hint)

[@ScytaleZero]

I'm from South Carolina. While Frank Underwood's accent isn't that of the typical Carolinian (today), I met an old-money owner of a canning plant when I first started working that sounded very much like the Frank Underwood accent. It kind of fascinated me at the time. So, he does sound like at least 1 real southerner.

[@primarypenguin]

It would have been easier to understand if there was one person demonstrating all the subtle differences instead of cutting around to short clips of random different people saying different things quickly. It was hard for me to follow

[@excitedaboutlearning1639]

The problem is that the video included too much linguistic explanations that commoners don't understand. The production team should've paid a little bit of more attention on making the video more accessible for everyone by simplifying the message.

[@nicolaszunker4938]

i mean its definitely interesting but like.... i really really couldnt keep up with those subtle differences sorry haha

[@akizeta]

Yeah, the KZbin trope of delivering all the voiceover as quickly as possible is really not the kind of exposition a subject like this needs. If you're familiar with the subject I guess you can kind of follow it, but if you're familiar you probably don't need to have it explained to you. For the rest of us, a little of "Tell them what you're going to tell them, tell them, then tell them what you've told them" wouldn't go amiss. And slower!

[@radanv2535]

NelC: I'd agree if this were an educational video. But it isn't. It's still the wild-west-style internet ;-)

[@dysonsquared]

Nicolas Zunker as a Bostonian, I immediately got it. I guess it's a "takes one to know one" kind of thing!

[@brianloper6669]

Go to Virginia, you'll here it

[@HaloMasterMind117]

IDK - listen to the Governor of South Carolina, Henry McMaster. He talks just like this.

[@TheJagjr4450]

Exactly... it is a lower state sound, not a Gaffney sound. McMaster is from the low country and the low country and up country were settled by different peoples entirely. IT was not easy to travel from Charleston to Greenville Gaffney Cherokee area, this upcountry was settled by people traveling down the Cherokee path from Pennsylvania and Virginia who ended up in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains... Thus the slower low country drawl which is prevalent amongst those raised in affluent Charleston or Low Country society is not part of the up country dialect.

[@sirmount2636]

TheJagjr4450 Governor McMaster is from Columbia. Nowhere near the low country.

[@erfling1]

It's also generational. My grandmother sounded very much like that. I happened to recently come across a recording of Flannery O'Connor, and she sounded very similar, too. She's from a small town in eastern Georgia

[@katan0625]

I live right near Gaffney and I’ve never heard anyone talk like Frank Underwood in my entire life 😂

[@leisuresuitspam5636]

“Slaves dropped r’s and passed it down to their descendants” Huh so that’s where that word came from

[@WanquanLoot]

if you were confused at the chart at 2:19, that's because it's confusing, and it looks intentional. they're not matched up. here is a list of pairs of voiceless and voiced consonants: /p/ /b/ /w/ /ʍ/ (wh) /f/ /v/ /θ/ /ð/ (th: voiced as in "the", voiceless as in "thick") /t/ /d/ /s/ /z/ /ʃ/ /ʒ/ (sh is voicelss and /ʒ/ is the "s" in "treasure") /tʃ/ /dʒ/ (ch and j) /k/ /g/

[@aimeelies]

Wanquan Loot Wh is two sounds and definitely voiced, but I'm not sure it matters as I can't think of an example where it occurs after a vowel.

[@WanquanLoot]

it was inaccurate of me to put /ʍ/, because I think it's phonemically /hw/ in Modern English, but is usually realized as [ʍ] (one allophone). that sound is the voiceless labialized velar approximant; and I find it hard to make an argument that the /h/ would be a voiced glottal fricative /ɦ/, so all-in-all it's voiceless. and yeah i am pretty sure it's always word-initial.

[@Xbawkslaggo]

am i the only one who tried to pronounce the r-dropping and stuff while watching

[@darthghitza8037]

hell... I even tried to pronounce them while reading you comment

[@june4135]

yes. you freak.

[@barryschwarz]

Nope

[@julianfree2394]

The motion graphics really kept this interesting. Well edited, too.

[@KyleJPie10]

1) I don't think his accent sounds "off" 2) and if anything, this video explains how it doesn't sound "off"

[@georgewang2947]

Basically he drops his R's too much and that southerners today actually don't talk that way anymore.

[@georgewang2947]

I don't care if it's true or not. I'm just paraphrasing the video for people who need better listening comprehension skills.

[@Omar-zo6ro]

I expect a sexual assault joke in the comment section.

[@AliKhan-mg3mj]

why ? u weird ?

[@UnknownUser-in1hd]

Spacey is innocent, so a joke would be lame

[@jsb7546]

Been searching

[@UnknownUser-in1hd]

@George Magnus who died "CASUALLY" ?? send a link to proof your point

[@LethalPoisonForThrSystem]

@@UnknownUser-in1hd 3 women that were gonna testify against him conveniently died

[@SageKStroke52]

I'm from Kentucky and I learned so much about my own dialect. I never thought I had much of an accent but I went to New York last year and everyone there was like "you're from the south aren't you?". crazy how different people sound from other areas of the same country

[@organicnoob3080]

How southerners count to 10: 1 - wun 2 - tew 3 - tree 4 - foe 5 - fih 6 - seeyucks 7 - seeyevin 8 - ayut 9 - nahn 10 - tin

[@SanaSaleh]

This is stylistically fascinating, adding yet another cool layer to the show. Substantively, I found out last weekend that the creator of House of Cards was a playwright, which really explains some of the unique creative choices, Shakespearean language, and stylistic and narrative technique to have Underwood break the fourth wall and talk directly to the audience. It doesn't hurt that the creator's college buddy and current Political consultant is an actual major political operative either. Without spoiling it for new viewers, knowing what campaigns they worked on (especially the Howard Dean campaign) explains *a lot* about the show's commentary on idealism versus realpolitik in the public sector, why Underwood has his specific party affiliation, and even the use of/commentary on digital media (which seemed rather dated and off to me) and the journalistic storylines and characters within the series. There's so much rich ground to explore with this series, whatever your opinion of the protagonist. (Generally, I respect the creative potency of the series, but am wary of Beltway folks that lionize someone so ethically bankrupt). I'd really be interested in hearing what people thought of Frank -- having fully been (d)evolved into Politics Personified -- systematically alienated everyone in his circle who was long-term invested in his enterprise: Jackie, Remy, and finally (in apparently the final straw of a season-long process) even his staunchest advocate, Claire. It goes beyond just the usual arrogance and blithely throwing these people under the bus - you saw the wheels turning behind their eyes in each of their final stand-offs with Frank, in such a way that there was a lot of symmetry there between the disintegration of his core relationships with the longtime associate/subordinate (Remy), the political protege/mentee of sorts (Jackie), and of course his rock, the other side of his coin, ride-or-die Claire. It seems in House of Cards, like Washington in the flesh -- it's when the most loyal of a leader's folks just stop talking to the 'Emperor' and no longer bother to air their concerns candidly, that he should seriously worry. What's interesting is that someone who orchestrated the artificial dissolution of so many loyalties in seasons past (using essentially what amounts to emotional manipulation on a basic 'high school' level - slowly sowing discontent, suspicion, distrust, fear, and among key allies/friendships and advisers...who never bothered to *communicate* with each other candidly enough to figure out who was the common rotten denominator) -- well, Frank himself, just didn't see any of it coming with his strongest trifecta of supporters willfully extricating themselves from his fight.

[@OrisStories]

Great video! Very interesting! One question, where is this music from???

[@Vox]

Ori's Stories thanks! We get our tunes from APM music.

[@OrisStories]

Thank you very much! I look forward to more of your videos :)

[@nickyoung1668]

+Vox what's the name of this song?

[@yaesar]

+Nick Young darude- sandstorm

[@heinrichb]

***** Was leaving a comment a part of your plan?

[@jacobcorbin1]

So true, got family from south-eastern Kentucky, almost kind of creepy how spot on the accent was at times

[@billypinto7306]

I appreciate every video Vox makes about english accents. Please make more.

[@bagrisham]

Grew up in the South of the US and actually having a video that describes this effect is invaluable. Language is Language. Dialect and Accent is individual, and based on the learned use of vocal chords. Thankfully, you can change your voice.

[@catelu0915TT]

vox you guys did a really good job!!

[@seanbperiod]

Actually, this season I noticed Spacey's accent coming in and out.. It seemed to be more pronounced and southern when he was in public, and much more muted when just talking to his wife.. At times, he even sounds northern.

[@the_rock_warrior]

The shift in accent could potentially be psychological. Pandering to your hometown supporters versus campaigning to a Northern crowd could be a sociolinguistic tactic. Perhaps it's just a flaw in his acting, which is more likely, but identifying with others on a linguistic level happens every day with everyone.

[@pamelacowley4587]

Andrew Hansen Spot on, Mr. Hansen. We all tend to echo vocal nuances with peers or people we’re trying to connect with. I’m sure any salesman does this everyday. Personally I believe Frank Underwood DOES very much lay it on thick when it best serves him, and his dialogue with Claire is his most true voice. I don’t think Kevin Spacey is capable of a flaw like that. I call it brilliant.

[@PrincessAllie]

Pamela Cowley I love your use of the phrase "lay it on thick." I do this sometimes without realizing it. I grew up in South Georgia but now live in Atlanta. When I go back home, I tend to sound more "country" then I ever did before. My mother calls this "throwing on the dawg."

[@MultiSciGeek]

This was great! Please upload more of these

[@anthonychilders9549]

“As we used to say in Gaffney...” As a person who lived the town over from Gaffney, I can guarantee no one said that.

[@simplythebest286]

hhahahahahaha exactly !!

[@Nanapoo]

Loved this video. I took English Phonetics as a course and even though I had a hard time with it, I find it fascinating.

[@lilpwnige]

It's pretty futile to judge media through the lens of reality. While Kevin Spacey's accent may in actuality not reflect a South Carolina accent, he reflects the "popular" idea of what a South Carolina accent is in the minds of people who aren't from the region. It sounds plausible enough to potentially be from that region, and it's dramatic enough to be compelling in the series. In most of the scenes i would hate to see Kevin Spaces impression, replaced by this guy's (1:19) actual voice.

[@jsdigital]

This is an awesome video. Props Vox.

[@kjgarvin]

Actors almost never get the southern accent right. The stereotypical southern accent (Dolly Parton, Kelly Pickler, etc) is usually isolated to certain small areas in the south and is not as wide spread as people think. I have never heard some one talk like Kevin Spacey unless the person was joking and being dramatic.

[@kjgarvin]

Fritz is ancient like jimmy Carter. The video talked about that.

[@rainernotes]

+Ken G It's an older southern accent. Go talk to people from SC who are in their 70's and I bet you'll find more talking like Kevin Spacey than you'd expect.

[@kjgarvin]

+Andrew Rainer I am from Columbia and I have talked to people from SC all of my life of all ages. I am 37.

[@rainernotes]

I've split my time between Aiken, Columbia, and now Charleston. I've met a few people who talk much like Frank, always fairly older people. Different experiences I guess, but I have definitely heard this accent, not as a joke.

[@lisalu1718]

+Ken G I totally agree. I''m from Tennessee and we only use this accent when we are joking. I love Kevin Spacey, but his accent gets on my nerves in this series.

[@watchmeasifly]

Something I never knew I would find so interesting. Great video, good job with the editing and pacing.

[@daviddavidson1090]

So if he was an ambitious southerner who constantly had to endear himself to rich folks in order to further his political career, as an intelligent individual, might he not alter his speech to sound more like one of them, so as not to come off as uneducated? It's not completely beyond comprehension, and that's why his accent doesn't bother me at all. I have lived in the South my entire life.

[@xxLivvy212xx]

Excellent editing and music in this.

[@wilkersonrose]

You know, I don't agree that a professional actor such as Kevin Spacey is just ignorant of the dialect he's "supposed to" portray based on where his character is from. It seems to me that the reason for Spacey to use the dialect of an antebellum Aristocratic Southerner would have to do with the characterization of his character, Frank Underwood. Remember that as an actor you take literary license when portraying a character. If we were talking about a run-of-the-mill Hollywood actor then I'd perhaps agree that the dialectal portrayal is based on ignorance, but Spacey is a highly accomplished theater actor (he's been the artistic director of The Old Vic in London for over a decade) as well as a Hollywood actor. I'm sure he put some serious thought and research into how he would portray his character.

[@neelparmar6690]

I think House of Cards is generally a good series but, though I'm from Australia, I've never bought Spacey's accent. It doesn't sound authentic and quite often as though he's going over the top and accenting words and word combinations in a way no one would say actually them.

[@peter5z]

How refreshing to get such excellent scholarship so well presented. Thank you!

[@mind-of-neo]

I'm southern, and I LOVE Kevin Spacey's accent in House of Cards!

[@snow_blind_08]

+dennis robinson yeah its hilarious

[@concain]

+dennis robinson house of caaaahds

[@huitzilopochli1976]

+Rauno Vihtre give this man an Oscar

[@noroxus]

+dennis robinson I live in Gaffney, and while I am fine with his accent, it is definitely not from here.

[@larsjohanbjorkman]

+noroxus I hear you ... but Frank Underwood is a sociopathic faker about almost everything and openly flaunts to the viewers how he misrepresents (to the public) his upbringing in Gaffney. That he affects a different and crafted accent seems to make sense for his character.

[@jamkwon]

so interesting. i got here because i was genuinely fascinated by kevin spacey's accent in this show, and if it were real, and this content was so fulfilling. thanks, vox.

[@leroyrockwell4837]

How would he say “rape” tho

[@desertfalcon2786]

It’s pronounced in the beginning of words

[@anakinvandyke]

Probably the same way as bill cosby tbh

[@need4spe3dBeast]

Ape😆

[@Chillednfunked]

Yawn...funny not

[@AK-xi9fp]

@@Chillednfunked what

[@alexsh4517]

I love the video quality of this channel

[@wildbum03]

your voice changes when you think of little boys all the time

[@geraldsturgill3122]

Mitchell Fuchs Fuchs yeah he does.

[@jamescannon4925]

This aged well...

[@homersimpson6585]

Rumple Stillskin he just made a public speech in Rome

[@melstrashbin]

decent content from Vox... amazing!

[@Dan1elAndrade]

Ok, opinions from a non-native english speaker here: I never noticed he wasn't sounding as an appropiate southerner, I'd bet that even native english speakers wouldn't recognize that neither. For me he always sounded as an enigmatic, rich southerner. Anyway, maybe Spacey didn't master the appropiate pronounciation, however I like to think this is due to southerners, specially in politics trying to lose their accents to sound more 'neutral' and consider Spacey may have tried to sound like a southerner trying to lose his accent. Thoughts?

[@TerribleTF2]

I'm from the south, Spacey doesn't sound like anyone I know I just figured it was more of an aesthetic choice than trying to sound genuinely southern

[@MotionPictureMuse]

I'm from the Midwest US. I honestly wouldn't have known it was off, although I'm well aware that Hollywood actors rarely get regional accents (esp. Southern ones) correct. I agree that it helps define the character though, even if it may not be accurate. His accent brings to mind the Southern Democrats of old, as well as wealthy, well-connected Southerners in general.

[@Dan1elAndrade]

Midwestern! I still speak english to this day with the yah! expression :)

[@Dan1elAndrade]

Midwestern! I still speak english to this day with the yah! expression :)

[@GelidGanef]

My family's from the south. He doesn't sound at all like a "real Southerner". But I sort of figured that was a conscious choice. I seem to remember they explain in the show that Claire Underwood has intentionally changed her accent as an adult (Which is of course still not her native Australian accent). Frank's accent sounds Southern, stately, and dignified. And it sounds somewhat like the popular conception of "Savannah Plantationer Drawl". But it still never quite sells "real Southerner". Which tells me that Frank has _modified_ his natural speaking voice to something that he believes will be perceived as old-fashioned and trustworthy and electable. Which would just be perfectly on par for the show. Everything about Kevin and Robin's performances is layers and layers of acting deep. Everything they do seems to just naturally come out as "calculated to look natural." So I really just feel the same vibe of "fake-genuineness" from Kevin's accent as from everything else about their crafted personas.

[@hishamalaker491]

Imagine researching for hours or days and coming with numbers and Historical numbers just for a way that people talk... impressive.

[@nazarenovallejos]

I love the southern accent, sounds pretty cool

[@maggieanne322]

thanks

[@phoenixwing50]

Maggie, where are you from?

[@maggieanne322]

Arkansas, how about you?

[@ninjapro9812]

depends, in the poor parts of south carolina the accent just sounds like you are about to commit a crime

[@phoenixwing50]

Maggie Anne Sorry, I never responded. I live in Massachusetts, but I'm from Georgia.

[@copychef]

Vox clips are just too good.

[@JonahTyree]

One thing I've noticed about accents is finding a balance, and a "Que word". So, the biggest mistake I hear people making with accents is overdoing it. They try far too hard, and it just ends up sounding corny. Now, there is people with REALLY thick Cockney, but that doesn't mean you have to talk like that. :D Secondly, a "Que word". For my Australian accent, it's "Nebuchadnezzar". It just seems to "Jolt" my brain into that talking style. For my Russian accent, it's "Nogrovia". I don't know if this is an actual Russian word, but it simply puts me into the mindset of that accent. Do you have a "Que Word"?

[@WalterWhiteFromTheBlock]

+Jonah Tyree There's no such word as 'Nogrovia' in Russian.

[@franciscoandrade8588]

+Jonah Tyree when I was trying to get the hang of my rolling r's for my Spanish Roberte was my "que word"

[@mtache4652]

Do you mean a CUE word?

[@JonahTyree]

M Tache Haha! Yeah, I realized that after I wrote it. 🙈

[@laramurphy258]

I was born in Ireland but lost my accent cause I moved as a toddler. To slip into an Irish accent I usually imagine my Irish relatives calling my name, it's weird but it works

[@joshywashy4ever]

I'm from the 5th congressional district in South Carolina, about 45 minutes from Gaffney. We sound nothing like he does.

[@reeeems]

Josh Sinclair I agree, they should have made his district closer to the coast. People actually do talk that way in SC, just not in Gaffney.

[@jamesb.6196]

I reckon they chose his accent because it sounds quite "old south", and sort of matches with the persona of a blue dog southern Democrat.

[@Pantano63]

You sound bad then.

[@slappy8941]

It's also important to note that Southerners tend to drag out and fully pronounce dipthongs, a trait shared by many in the Northeast, whereas Midwesterners tend to shorten dipthongs to a single vowel sound. Some examples include: bought, caught, and fault, which in the South are pronounced as "bawt", "cawt", and "fawlt", in some parts of the Northeast as "bowt", "cowt", and "fowlt", but in the Midwest as "boht", "coht", and "fohlt". New Englanders tend to split the difference between Southern and Midwestern with "baht", "caht", and "fahlt". There is also the use of the pronounced "t" and the glottal stop, but that's for another time.

[@ZackEdwards1234]

First Vox video that I've actually found rather interesting.

[@ajud24]

Amazing video, learned a lot. So why does Kevin Spacey's accent in House of Cards sound off?

[@PejmanMan]

Alonzo U r dropping isnt common now since 1944. and spacey is much too young. what they forgot is that spacey came from a more lower class background, while Graham is a mighty high class southurn gentleman.

[@ajud24]

PejmanMan Oh right, didn't make that connection.

[@Moumpt305]

The biggest thing is that his accent doesn't really fit anywhere. Take my native NC, there is a distinctive dialect difference between those from the eastern and western sides of the state. While Spacey's accent isn't bad, it is very generalized. It does not fit into any form of southern dialect. He borrows from a bunch of different ones. Listen to someone from NC, AL, TX, and KY and they all sound different.

[@savannae6898]

Moumpt305 I disagree. You don't recognize his accent not because it is too generic, but too specific. It is an old rich Charleston, SC accent. Look up ex-Charleston mayor Joe Riley. He sounds very similar.

[@apseudonym]

because he talks like foghorn leghorn

[@pickleballer1729]

Fascinating video. I've lived in Texas for 40 of my 60 years, and I've noticed this "ay-ungliding". What's ironic to me is that while many Texans will say "mahl for "mile" and "Bach" or "back" for "bike", they also, believe it nor not, do the exact REVERSE! My favorite mix-up is one that has resulted in an actual mix-up/reversal of the definition of a word, as a result of the fact that so many hear the two words "Lack" and Like", not as the same word, but as EACH OTHER! I've often heard Texans say "I only 'Like' two semesters of graduating, but I really 'lack' my classes..." , but then if you ask them to WRITE it, they may write, "I only lack two semesters..." or they may write "I only like two semesters, but I really like my classes..." Now, many Texans actually think the word "like" means "to be missing or short of", but the don't think the word 'lack' means to enjoy of prefer. In fact, many do not even realize it's a separate word. Weird.

[@muffincita5]

+Kevin Ruback That just sounds lack these people can't spell. Ha!

[@edg6762]

Philadelphia never adopted this r-dropping phenomenon. Philadelphia has historically been rhotic and has influenced American English

[@cathallawlor989]

Its Aquatii ahahahahahahahha you see the subject matter?

[@almatt386]

Its Aquatii vox and pedos go hand in hand. I guess the pics of rapey spacey with shirtless Asian boys are just mere accusations

[@edg6762]

Al Matt Kevin pulled a Keyser Soze on everyone. walks off without a limp

[@isoblah]

I love all these analysis on accents.

[@ezekielchojnacki5047]

Didn't even watch the video, just came for all the Spacey jokes. This didn't age well 😂

[@sylentlight6771]

GREAT video! This is a topic I hold dear actually and can very much confirm what you are saying. I kinda have a unique perspective on the topic since I was born in Michigan but raised south of Nashville, TN from a young age. You covered a very broad but important part of the southern dialect. To get the full effect though would take a LONG series because something I've noticed down here is that it's a lot like old England where an accent can change from town to town. In bigger towns like Franklin and Columbia, it's a more generic southern accent, however, when you go outside the county seats into the small communities such as Theta or Santa Fe (pronounced like FEE, not FA... They WILL run you out of town for that... Seriously.) it's totally different to where even people that have lived in the south their whole lives can have a hard time understanding them.

[@xXFluffers]

Ay-ungliding. So glad I know what that phonetic mechanism is now.

[@caffetiel]

Or monophthongisation

[@DavidKirkwood]

I'm from the south and I found this so enthralling, especially the part about why some accents sound fake. Thanks Vox

[@westechmedia4567]

Kevin Spacey's fake accent is the least of his f*cking problems.

[@selimfurkandalgic9548]

Then dont watch this video. No one forces you to watch it what is your problem dude ?

[@AmitaWow]

I love your content!

[@jogonjohn205]

The first 9 seconds answer the question

[@MeanLeanGaming]

what a great actor, and a great video!

[@misso-y7d]

racist frog

[@davidm.480]

Oh what do you know? Ah just wish I had some rotten pepper. I'd rot yew such a angry letter on that pepper...

[@manchagrandecollisto5912]

Though in the cities like Charleston, southern American non rhotic accents are primary among the elderly, You can still find R-dropping among younger southerners in area like Virginia's Piedmont region as well as in and around New Orleans

[@yurismir1]

@ Tommy Shelby: Just because Aussie accents and southern American accents have 1 thing in common, doesn't mean they have _everything_ in common

[@S1aptasticSquadalah]

As someone from South Carolina who has spent a lot of time around older men and women who come from the old-school south, R-dropping is probably appropriate for Underwood, given that he was born sometime in the 60's when R-dropping was just on its way out. However, the practice was more prominent for those who grew up in the low country near the coast rather than the upcountry where Underwood is from (Gaffney). Even so, a man born in 1960's Gaffney who drops his R's is no where near unfathomable. Very interesting video.

[@libertopaeurekananarch7562]

Southern r-dropping can even be found in some younger people from Louisiana. I've got a non-rhotic southern accent and I'm in my late 20s. Watch some of my videos and or Swamp People and you'll learn non-rhotic southern accents are not limited to the elderly, even though they're less common nowadays.

[@DarkZerol]

Now we know the "actual" reason of Spacey accent. It's called F-Dropping.

[@bigmackdombles6348]

great job with this vid!

[@genartp.6499]

Bad touch BAD TOUCH

[@johnwilson1094]

A friend of mine used to have a dictionary with a map of US speech patterns. According to it a San Francisco accent was very similar to a New England accent due to them both being important seaports for 200 years.

[@manwittaplan9596]

all I got to say is southern accent is the most American awesome freaking accent in USA

[@claras9990]

i love your chanel keep doing it

[@SufferToResist]

Came here looking for all the comment about rapey spacey. Lmao

[@prodbyxanderjohan]

he didn't rape anyone

[@yarpen26]

It was 12 year old kids that raped him.

[@9thchild358]

Not a fan of how Vox leans, but wow what an incredibly concise, informative, and quality produced video.

[@chinamanandfriends]

Sounds OFF? It sounds beautiful.

[@netsurfer10000]

Awesome content. Seems like the animation quality dropped a little this tine, but it's still great.

[@EamonBurke]

I'm from Texas and this video was really hard to understand. I could barely understand the examples being given, they just sounded like people talking, lol.

[@JayronWhitehaus]

Wildly interesting!! I miss linguistics so much.

[@romandal8770]

This... has not aged well....

[@mcmarkmarkson7115]

Dayem. Great work!

[@prolucio5502]

*protect your children*

[@exodos2499]

Pro Lúcio stop plz

[@dimmimoto]

Got a masterclass ad with Spacey before the video. Neat.

[@dalevlog]

so many accents, who would have thought all of this would derive from a small group of people living on an island off of the european continent.

[@saltyman7888]

its not the size of the brush that matters, but how you use it hon hon hon

[@gordian1259]

You do realize the island of Great Britain has more dialectical variation than the whole of the US, right?

[@MessiSeconds]

god I love videos like this

[@mingraham47]

From a real Southern from South Carolina, just to let you know, each Southern State has it's on Southern sound. Some places in each State my sound some what different. So really it is much more complex than you make it sound. Bye y'all :)

[@JohnnysCoolStuff]

cynthia Ingraham Same with North Carolina. I'd say we have 3 main accents: mountain, piedmont and Eastern, but there are variations among those, especially the extreme coastal areas where they talk like pirates. But Virginia has more of that by far.

[@scottiejobe1030]

+John Cox agree 100%. I was born in the NC mountains, but my dad was born and raised in a small town not far from Greensboro. I would definitely say I have a piedmont accent, not an Appalachian one. I also hear the difference between the two rather strongly. I can very clearly hear the difference between someone from South Carolina, Mississippi, and Louisiana, and since I was raised in NC, I can usually tell what region of the state someone is from by their accent.

[@mingraham47]

+John Cox, Thanks, I hope people understand that just because one person is from one part of the South, they are we all sound the same. Like Charleston South Carolina, they have a little bit more of a draw to their sound. But we all still carry a Southern draw when we talk. But it does not sound like a hillbillies which I love hill hillbillies. We just sound different.

[@theutopianoutopioan464]

cynthia Ingraham, Right, there's likely dozens of southern accents out there!

[@TurrisBlancus]

That is so cool! More Language videos!!!!

[@soisyourface1234]

I have disgraced my southern brothers by adopting a Yankee accent. I've been born and raised in Louisiana all my life and I talk like some random northern American.

[@gallivantingsprt]

I am from Kazakhstan and I don't really understand... what I'm doing here ) I just love Kevin Spacey and happy they dropped charges against him! Underwood 2020!

[@EenGamer.]

R

[@kataisa3]

Spacey's southern accent was positively sublime in "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil"

[@deepsquat600]

hummmm what about "R" adding?? where the f does that come in ...you know ..Tomater ..or potater ?? warsh ....

[@_sourgrapes_]

+deepsquat600 The r-insertion in "tomater" and "potater" is different than the pronunciation of "warsh" that many Americans have. R-insertion is kind of an over-extension of the rhotic rules you'll find in many non-rhotic speakers. The rule in question is when you have a word ending in an "r" preceding a word beginning in a vowel. For example: "The star is" would be pronounced by a non-rhotic speaker as "star" and not "staw" because "is" starts with a vowel. In rhotic speakers (i.e. most Americans and all Canadians), we already pronounce the "r" so it's not a change for us. However, when we have a word that ends in a vowel preceding a word that begins in a vowel, a rhotic speaker will simply add a glottal stop (which is a lot like the t's in the way many people say "button" as "bu'on"). A non-rhotic speaker will not use a glottal stop; they will use an "r" because it's a natural rule for them to add r's to avoid intervocalic glottal stops ("star is" and not "staw [glottal stop] is"). So really, you'll only ever hear "tomater" or "potater" if the word that follows them starts with a vowel. :)

[@herrfriberger5]

+deepsquat600 Ha, tomater and potäter, that's Swedish.

[@futerofiari5353]

@@_sourgrapes_ Not all non-rhotic accents add extra Rs, many non rhotic southern accents really don't add Rs where they really don't belong.

[@libertopaeurekananarch7562]

@@futerofiari5353 I for example doesn't add any additional Rs, and my accent is non-rhotic.

[@pinayabroad5015]

LeaSalonga is good at adopting accent althoughnshe is Native in the Philippines, like when she was in London for her MissSaigon she learned British accent then moving to America she can change it to American accent... She studied at a prestigious school in Manila.