AIBU to think Apple Maps voice has developed a West Country accent?

[AvantCharde]

OK hear me out on this one. For the last maybe month or so, whenever I’ve been using Apple Maps when driving, Terry (the name given by DD to the voice on the maps), has developed a distinct west country twang. Not all the time, and just on certain words, but I’ve heard it too many times now to be imagining it. Even DD agreed with me tonight that he was doing it.

And yes I live in Somerset, so he’s down with the locals. I’m wondering if anyone else has noticed this, either in the west country, or in other parts of the UK if Terry is getting a bit familiar with their dialect?

Have I accidentally activated pirate setting or is Terry just taking the piss?

This is weird as mine has gone Northern - I think I must have clicked on something during an update!

How bizarre, and are you ‘oop north’, or is that just random on Terry’s behalf?

The Somerset accent thing is weird, it’s just the odd word he drops in, he’s talking in perfect RP and then all of a sudden drops in a word in the accent of Wurzel Gummage. I noticed it today on the words ‘corn’ and ‘farm’, both quite west country relevant words!

And I’m pretty sure I haven’t clicked on anything in the settings, I wouldn’t actually know how to do that even if it was an option.

I’ll find out this weekend, as I’ve got a long drive up north, so I’ll check Tezza out.

I’m West Country too, but we are more of a very slow “ooooo arrrr” down here.

Not sure about a burr, but mines been adding a random ‘a’ at the end of street and place names for a while.

Eg ’Main-a Street’

Might be something To do with this.

Voice 3 is very “flat cap, tin bath and whippet”.

I am up north. I quite like it

I haven’t used it for a while but since I got a new phone my Siri announces messages in a very different tone to the one I’m used to.

mine is Sri Lankan which I chose because it reminds me of a lovely lady I worked with and it’s really calming.

Yes!! I noticed this last time I was using it, I'm also in Somerset so wondered if it was mimicking the accents it hears. I'd totally forgotten until I saw this thread, I meant to ask some friends if they'd had the same thing.

Just tested it, he definitely has! I’m also in the south west but travelling up to Newcastle tomorrow so I’m curious to see if he changes as we go up the motorway 😂

eez gottn whur thee cassnt backn hassnt 😉

I knew I wasn’t imagining things! It’s how it’s just the random odd word that gets me - Terry goes from regular Terry to Young Farmer after 8 pints of cider on a Friday night in the same sentence. I’d love to know the science behind it, whether it’s a creepy extension of listening in and then mimicking, or whether it just gives you an accent local to where it knows you’re based as standard.

Will be interested to hear back from those who are travelling around the UK to see if it changes en route.

Dunnum

dis az ‘it too deep. i’ gwoam. 😘😴

Sorry, insomnia ez ‘ittin deep tunight… But a few years ago me and our gud awld acker went to London for a day trip and noticed that the underground voice anywhere west of Paddington would say “Mind the gap” in a very west country way… “Miind thic gaaap btwin the train and thi platfarm.”