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AIBU?

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Original poster

Friend and her accent

193 replies

ByKindLilacFinch · 18/01/2025 19:47

Not an AIBU, just interested if anyone else has experienced this.

my friend has never had any kind of accent (well spoken, sounds like a news reader). Over the last few months has started pronouncing words differently. She sounds a bit like she’s from Russia but has been in the UK a very long time and the accent is subtle but it’s there.

I’ve asked her why she is speaking with an accent and she just looks at me blankly. I know I’m not imagining it as we both met someone new last week and they asked where she was from as she didn’t sound British.

I’m curious as to whether anyone can shed any light, just really curious.

OP posts:
EmpressOfTheThread · 18/01/2025 20:37

Does she respond to the name Grey Squirrel?

Dotto · 18/01/2025 20:37

She's probably just got into a good TV show, something nordic maybe.

dynamiccactus · 18/01/2025 20:37

If you know her name and date of birth you can look up where she was born- get a trial of Ancestry or FindmyPast. If you can't find her she might not have been born in the UK.

tachetastic · 18/01/2025 20:32

ByKindLilacFinch · 18/01/2025 19:47

Not an AIBU, just interested if anyone else has experienced this.

my friend has never had any kind of accent (well spoken, sounds like a news reader). Over the last few months has started pronouncing words differently. She sounds a bit like she’s from Russia but has been in the UK a very long time and the accent is subtle but it’s there.

I’ve asked her why she is speaking with an accent and she just looks at me blankly. I know I’m not imagining it as we both met someone new last week and they asked where she was from as she didn’t sound British.

I’m curious as to whether anyone can shed any light, just really curious.

Only read page 1 so not sure if this was already suggested, but has she had her teeth done or any oral surgery? It's amazing how even a tiny change to someone's teeth can impact how they pronounce some words.

It sounds like a strange accent to fake. It would be different if she was trying to sound more posh, or conversely less posh ("mockney").

PandaChopChop · 18/01/2025 20:32

I pick up accents if I have been in a place for more than a few days or so. It's really odd and even I catch myself doing it but that doesn't sound like that's what's going on here. Learning a different language maybe?

VonHally · 18/01/2025 20:31

Don't pack anything belonging to her in your suitcase if travelling abroad. 😊

AMurderofMurderingCrows · 18/01/2025 20:30

You're friends with a beautiful Russian spy. It's like a James Bond movie 😱

But seriously, can you ask to record her to see if she can hear what you can hear. I'd go down the route of saying you're worried about foreign accent syndrome and would like her to get checked because you're worried about her.

Mirabai · 18/01/2025 20:30

I was at school with a girl who some days she’d be Italian some days Deep South some days New York. She’d blank you if you said anything. She was very bright as well. I’m guessing your friend isn’t 16 though.

VonHally · 18/01/2025 20:29

v4life · 18/01/2025 20:27

I think this is very likely as well

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Would it happen suddenly after so many years of an "ordinary" accent?

ohidoliketobe · 18/01/2025 20:28

Another erring towards sleeper agent.

v4life · 18/01/2025 20:27

WynneWu · 18/01/2025 20:19

Is she autistic?

I am and copy people's accents all the time subconsciously, it's called mirroring and I hate doing it.

I think this is very likely as well

BrownTableMat · 18/01/2025 20:27

dogfoodbargain2025 · 18/01/2025 20:08

Haha my sister is the same - we are actually Yorkshire born and bred but she now speaks in a “posh London” accent - it grates on me so much as it just sounds completely fake to me. She’s always been the same and adapted her accent to whoever she is around, whereas mine has not really changed even though I’ve lived all over the country. When she’s spent some time with me I can hear her Yorkshire accent coming halfway back - it’s like she conflicted in how to speak - it’s bizarre.

Edited
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My sister might say the same of me. I was brought up somewhere with a strong regional accent but for my whole adulthood have lived and worked in a professional career in London. I now sound generic educated southern English. But when I visit my family my accent slips back into regional. It is totally unconscious and most of the time I only notice if I hear myself recorded speaking. I’m not “fake”, “conflicted” or trying to be something I’m not, it’s just a natural human process to pick up the speech patterns of those we spend most time with.

Aligirlbear · 18/01/2025 20:26

ByKindLilacFinch · 18/01/2025 19:52

no we don’t have mutual friends. Hopefully she hasn’t had a stroke but presumably there would be other symptoms

She could have, every stroke / TIA presents differently and changes can be subtle. It might present as 1 symptom or could be more ( it depends what area of the brain and for how long it was affected) I would suggest she gets checked out by her GP. It's very possible a sudden change like this could be due to something neurological.

Original poster
ByKindLilacFinch · 18/01/2025 20:25

WynneWu · 18/01/2025 20:19

Is she autistic?

I am and copy people's accents all the time subconsciously, it's called mirroring and I hate doing it.

This is interesting - no idea if she is autistic. She doesn’t have any typical ASD traits but it’s such a wide spectrum which of course affects people in different ways it’s not necessarily obvious is it? She’s very pragmatic, and smart - maybe she’s an Aspie who’s been watching spy movies? Who knows? I want to broach it with her again but really don’t want to piss her off

OP posts:
Stardogchampion · 18/01/2025 20:25

Does she speak any other languages? Wondering if she's maybe switching in and out of languages (e.g. when speaking to relatives/friends abroad) then it's influencing her accent in English?

Choccyscofffy · 18/01/2025 20:24

Some people start speaking like people they’re with.

SabreIsMyFave · 18/01/2025 20:23

As a few posters have suggested........

She is definitely a spy! 🕶🕵🙊

Nn9011 · 18/01/2025 20:22

Sometimes we change as we interact with people or hang out with them but if nothing else has changed I would be somewhat worried. Have you heard of foreign accent syndrome? People often joke that the people who have it are speaking with a foreign accent but what is actually happening is the way their brain controls their muscles in their mouth has been impacted causing them to no longer speak properly. Absolutely not saying she has this but I'd be worried if it persisted that it could be a potential neurological problem.
I'd bring it up once and if she doesn't listen, I'd just be aware of it and if it got worse revisit.

Rachie1973 · 18/01/2025 20:22

CautiousLurker01 · 18/01/2025 20:19

My teen went through a phase of sounding American (lockdown, online gaming/tiktok etc). Fortunately it passed after enough people asked if she was from Canada/the US… she’d just tuned into the accent and absorbed it.

ETA (in response to a PP below… she is autistic, too. I am as well and can mimic after a limited exposure, so there may be something to that theory too.)

Edited

My kids often okay in an American accent! Peppered with candy and diaper references! Drives me crazy lol

i had a southern Hampshire accent I didn’t realise I had until I moved to Essex! People still heard it after 20 years. Until I visited family back in the New Forest who said I sounded Essex! So I have a hybrid weird thing going on.

Greyish2025 · 18/01/2025 20:21

ByKindLilacFinch · 18/01/2025 20:18

Yes, I understand that, but she works locally.

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Is she multilingual
If so, do you know what other languages she speaks?

BlueSilverCats · 18/01/2025 20:21

Yes, I understand that, but she works locally.

If I spend a day or two with my best friend I go slightly American. Maybe she has a new influence in her life (boyfriend,family,friend or even online stuff) that's influencing her accent.

leftorrightnow · 18/01/2025 20:21

If she has a Russian background originally, she may not be keen to come clean about this now with the state of the world. No need to be a spy. I have several close Russian friends and they all try to avoid people finding out they’re Russian as far as they can, a lot of prejudice going on at the moment due to the war in Ukraine (which of course is beyond horrible but it’s sad that civilian Russians who may have lived outride the country for decades are being subjected to prejudice now)

LegoBingo · 18/01/2025 20:21

User457788 · 18/01/2025 20:10

In that case she potentially is a spy and I'd report her.

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Yes maybe a spy

WynneWu · 18/01/2025 20:19

Is she autistic?

I am and copy people's accents all the time subconsciously, it's called mirroring and I hate doing it.

historyismything82 · 18/01/2025 20:19

Marylou2 · 18/01/2025 20:00

How long have you known her? Do you know her background? What does she do for work? Any chance she's actually Russian and slipping up a bit? I might have been watching too many spy movies.

Was thinking the same 🤣