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Fla. Woman Has Stroke, Gets British Accent ~ Extremely Rare 'Foreign-Accent Syndrome'
WKMG ^
| 11.19.03
| WKMG
Posted on 11/19/2003 3:45:18 PM PST by RedBloodedAmerican
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Well, this explains it.
To: RedBloodedAmerican
This explains Madonna.
2
posted on
11/19/2003 3:47:41 PM PST
by
Argus
((Ninety-nine and forty-four one-hundredths percent Pure Reactionary))
To: RedBloodedAmerican
But if you eat lead paint chips you can sound like Ted Kennedy.
To: RedBloodedAmerican
Perhaps if her brain were damaged more severely she'd be speaking French.
4
posted on
11/19/2003 3:48:02 PM PST
by
Tabi Katz
To: RedBloodedAmerican
It's all Bush's fault.
To: RedBloodedAmerican
Um. Isn't it more likely that the stroke gave her a kind of speech
impediment which superficially
sounds like a British accent?
I'm not trying to slur British accents or anything. I'd consider it equally likely that someone with a British accent could get a stroke and end up with a speech impediment which makes her sound "American".
It's just that the idea that there's some kind of "accent-switching" syndrome which can mysteriously, spontaneously switch you from Cockney to Indian to Aussie (or whatever) accents strikes me as rather wacky and fantastical.
For the record, I once knew and worked with a woman who, I was certain, spoke with a British accent. Then one day I asked her where in England she was from (or somewhere along those lines) and it turned out, it was a speech impediment, she was from Texas or somewhere like that. And she wasn't offended (or claimed not to be), she said she heard the "you sound British" comment a lot.
That's why I see this as the most likely explanation, I have precedent.
To: Argus
This explains Madonna LOL. Nothing explains Madonna...
7
posted on
11/19/2003 3:51:36 PM PST
by
Lijahsbubbe
(Today we did what we had to do. They counted on America to be passive. They counted wrong. -R.R.)
To: gov_bean_ counter
...only if you eat lead paint chips and then murder a young groupie while you're in a drunken stupor.
8
posted on
11/19/2003 3:51:39 PM PST
by
Mr. Lucky
To: RedBloodedAmerican
She became a recluse and even contemplated moving to England until she read about the disorder last spring and contacted experts. My first wife swore I would talk Japanese and Russian in my sleep. I know how to count in Japanese (well, in a rudimentary fashion), but I don't speak the language. And I know maybe a half-dozen Russian words. It's unlikely I learned the languages without knowing about it, so perhaps I was speaking gibberish in those two accents.
My guess is that there is a part of the brain used to normalize different accents into recognizable speech, and this woman's stroke somehow linked this ability with her own speech.
9
posted on
11/19/2003 3:51:42 PM PST
by
TrappedInLiberalHell
(Do Muslim androids dream of electric goats?)
To: RedBloodedAmerican
In a related story:
FLORIDA WOMAN MIRACULOUSLY RECOVERS FROM A COMA AFTER 6 YEARS OF BEING EXPOSED TO THE BBC 24/7
To: RedBloodedAmerican
Roberts now speaks with a higher-pitched British accent. By George, I think she's got it!
To: RedBloodedAmerican
This isn't so unusual. People who have strokes often acquire Swedish accents. No joke.
To: Dr. Frank
Um. Isn't it more likely that the stroke gave her a kind of speech impediment which superficially sounds like a British accent? In reality, and all joking aside, that was my first thought.
To: Argus
This explains Madonna. OK, but what is the explanation for Julia Child?
That accent is from another dimension.
So9
14
posted on
11/19/2003 4:03:11 PM PST
by
Servant of the 9
(I am not reptilian, I just have a low basal metabloism.)
To: RedBloodedAmerican; Chad Fairbanks; martin_fierro; Senator Pardek; LurkerNoMore!; Sir Gawain
Heheh...ping! (Sir G, I would have sworn YOU posted this story.)
To: RedBloodedAmerican
But did her spelling improve? :-)
To: Servant of the 9
BLODDY HELL!!!!
17
posted on
11/19/2003 4:07:49 PM PST
by
wiseone
To: Dr. Frank
Back in my college days, there was a person in one of my classes that spoke with a strong New Jersey accent (or at least what I thought was one). I found out that he lived in the Midwest and asked how he got the NJ accent. He said that he had a speech impediment and had never been in NJ. I felt pretty small.
To: Dr. Frank
Isn't it more likely that the stroke gave her a kind of speech impediment which superficially sounds like a British accent? Either that or she watched too many British shows in PBS.
I have a friend, raised in the South, who can impersonate a great British accent. He learned the accent watching PBS.
If he ever had a stroke that made the learned British accent the default accent in his brain, he might prefer to speak with the British accent.
My $0.02
To: jim_trent
He said that he had a speech impediment and had never been in NJ. I felt pretty small. I felt the same way when I couldn't hide my surprise that the "British" woman was from Texas. The ironic thing is, I always thought her accent was beautiful and melodious. Oh well. :)
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