Accent slip - real or fake? (Not too serious)

[Idkrealorfake]

M dp has a friend who visits sometimes after moving away some months ago to live in the region where they spent the first few years of their childhood.

I noticed that when they arrived to visit, we had a full conversation together and they spoke the same as they ever did, before the move.

Then a couple of hours later we were out in a restaurant and when speaking to the staff, the friend's accent changed entirely, taking on a different lilt and pronouncing words completely differently. The new accent didn't match that of the people running the restaurant either, who were from a different region to all of us.

After the meal, and for the rest of the visit, speaking to others etc the new accent didn't reappear again once.

We didn't say anything in the restaurant to the friend, but I mentioned it to dp afterwards. I thought the accent change seemed odd, especially as it didn't last long and never reappeared that weekend. Dp agreed they'd not heard that accent before from them, but suggested it could be something that happens naturally to people sometimes. I'm curious about it, and wondered what caused it and if it would be terribly rude to point it out if it happens again. I felt weird that neither of us mentioned it at the time, it was such a change.

I'm aware of code switching which makes sense to me and I find myself doing it sometimes myself, but it's not really a conscious thing and not a change to an entirely different regional accent.

This was more like switching from their regular Leeds accent to a Somerset one and then back to Leeds for the rest of the time.

What do you think caused it?

YABU, it's perfectly normal in these circumstances
YANBU, it's odd

I'm from the North and have lived in Singapore, Australia, LA and Hong Kong where, overtime, I lost my old UK accent and returned home with an accent that was quite annoying I think. Relatives who I hadn't spoken to in years, like cousins, thought I sounded American, but looking back it was just the result of hanging around an international group of people and somehow letting my accent change. Similarly when I left Australia and moved to Singapore, the expat Aussies there thought I was one of them. I've also noticed that I'm the type of person whose accent changes depending with whom I'm speaking and I can have a bit of a phone voice. All annoying, I know, just fessin' up.

I could well imagine myself being this person you describe in that restaurant: not aware that my accent had changed slightly when ordering food. I can't quite put my finger on it, but speaking to certain people triggers my international transatlantic accent. I've been home for years now so it happens much less.

You should mention it to your 'friend' - why not? Say you watched Split with James McAvoy and all of the different voices intrigued you, haha!

@Idkrealorfake I was making a sweeping generalisation rather than referring to your specific situation. :) We have a family friend who grew up in the north (east) but moved to London when he was quite young and now moves between Geordie, Cockney and RP, typically - I'll have to listen out to see if it's situation-dependent.

I confuse myself with my accents. My husband has a strong accent which he has retained since living in uk for 25 years, however I pick up his accent. My voice definitely changes depending on who I'm talking to, how tired I am and if I've had a drink. I think it started as my mother made us speak really 'properly' but that didn't go down well at my rough school so I would switch accents depending on where I was. Potty mouth at school, never allowed to swear at home.

Meh. I get very posh when I’m drinking. Maybe it’s because I find it tricky to pronounce things when my mouth is feeling sloppy?! 🤣
I lived overseas for a few years, and I went to Uni at the other end of the country for 2 years. I flattened out my definitely Scottish accent, but I am not broad spoken originally.

I once confused a linguist anthropology specialist, who thought I might have lived in Canada or New Zealand, and brought up with an Irish accent in the house. (She used to guess people’s origin through accent, as a party trick! 🤣) None of those were correct.

I suspect you’d also find my switching around a bit confusing/annoying. 🤷🏻‍♀️

I've never heard of code switching so I'll have to Google that! I think it's probably normal for many people. I have 2 accents despite living in one place my whole 34 years and my accent on any given day will depend on factors such as mood and energy level. I'm Welsh 20% of the time but the rest is a weird non specific English/Canadian blend 😬 I didn't know that I did it until people told me. It doesn't seem to change depending on who I'm speaking to though, so weird.

I've lived in many parts of the uk and I do it to apparently wen South my accent changes when I'm back home north the same. I never realised till hubby pointed it out lol

My accent can cross three counties in one sentence.

Then sometimes I open my mouth and I think, "I don't talk like that" as my mouth does talk like that.

I'd been at my dad's a while ago and I was packing the car, one of my dad's neighbours came out to chat and a thick Lancashire accent came out, matching the neighbours.

I wouldn't describe what the OP refers to as code switching, that's where two or more people swap languages or language varieties when talking to each other.

So for example a couple of cousins who are born and bread in England and usually speak to each other in English, but Granny is from a country with another language and they both speak to gran in her own language might say something like, "I love when Granny cooks ...." and what the food is is said in Granny's language.

"I love when granny makes papas bravas"

"I love when granny makes golabki"

"I love when granny makes murgh makhani"

The same speaker would use English words to say the same thing to someone who did not share the same language.