Posted on 06/04/2026 9:49:12 PM PDT by Cronos
You might think that early Americans sounded like Anthony Hopkins and Helen Mirren, and that the American accent developed after independence. It was probably the other way around. Up until the early 1800s, you couldn’t tell whether a person was British or American from their accents. When naval officers tried to free sailors who had been shanghaied into service in the War of 1812, they said they couldn’t tell for sure who was American or British by the way they spoke.
The hallmark of the British accent — pronouncing words like “path” and “fast” as “pahth” and “fahst” or “fah” for “far.” — developed only at the end of the 18th century. English in the United States and Canada sound so much alike because their language started as British English in the 1700s. Australian English sounds much like today’s British English because by the time British people were sent there after the 1820s, what we know as a British accent had emerged.
All of this allows some informed guesses on what the American language will be like in the future. Plenty of words are teetering into new meanings, the way “sensible,” which once meant “sensitive,” now means “having good sense.” Usages that were once derided as misimpressions become so common that we come to accept them and admit that the horse is out of the barn. For Americans in 2076, the first meaning of “aesthetic” that comes to mind may well be “attractive,” the way many young people use it today. Any sense that “nonplussed” means “perplexed” will be forgotten in favor of the common impression today that it means “unimpressed.” And the most intuitive meaning of “swipe” will relate to computer screens rather than stealing or a movement of the hand.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Word For The Day Ping!..................
Hard to believe this is true, as the world (and country UK) was so dispersed - there was no long range communications (radio, TV, phone, etc); and suddenly people groups in the furthest regions of the UK suddenly developed an accent in two generations ? … hard to believe
Thank you for reviving the WFTD thread.
Count me in!
No, that “english” sound is transatlantic accent. It was something developed here to sound more English and separate themselves from the rabble. Mr Howell is supposed to be using that also. 18th century, Hah-vud types.
I’m tired of hearing buzz words and phrases being repeated “over and over” again. It’s a real bummer to hear the word “insane” being used so much in describing occurrences and things that are just out of the ordinary. There are so many examples to list. Too much parroting and group think, I guess.
I can't help but think of this speaker (: time stamp 13:50 or so...
Thanks for the memories (Singin’ in the Rain) -
https://youtu.be/YZwZO40r4X0?si=RbPFlE-9-RTaR49G
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