Is the NZ Accent that bad?

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LennonNZ

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Topic # 148825 1-Jul-2014 21:49

I had a conversation with a few people today who are not from NZ about the NZ Accent...

They could not tell the difference between Deck and Dick (They both sounded the same to most of them) but NZers could tell the difference quite easily. If they then said the words themselves they sounded like what I just had said :-(

Do we all sound like John Key or Lynn of Tawa and just not aware of it?

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Reply # 1078295 1-Jul-2014 21:51

Live overseas for a while and then come home and see how it sounds. It took me a while to get used to it again after living in Oz for a few years. Ads on the radio and TV shows are particularly noticeable.

rscole86

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Reply # 1078297 1-Jul-2014 21:53

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Yus eet is.

NZtechfreak

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Reply # 1078298 1-Jul-2014 21:53

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No accent is good or bad, it's all relative. Some people are more gifted than others at understanding different accents (although sometimes I think it is more a matter of some people care to try to understand, entitled white people tend to be the worst for being unable to understand others accents).

(actually, now that I think of it, it's probably not so much the white bit, but the entitled bit that makes some people have more trouble understanding others, it only seems like entitled white people are the worst because they make up the majority of obnoxiously entitled people)

Twitter: @nztechfreak
Blogs: HeadphoNZ.org

LennonNZ

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Reply # 1078303 1-Jul-2014 21:59

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Found this.. I presume they had no idea what the NZer was saying at all. All sounds perfectly good English to me.

MikeB4

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Reply # 1078307 1-Jul-2014 22:03

Accents are part of life's rich tapestry, none are bad.

Mike
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solaybro

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Reply # 1078310 1-Jul-2014 22:11

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Here is a good video of how bad the rural NZ accent can sound.

1eStar

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Reply # 1078312 1-Jul-2014 22:13

I grumussed a but whun i got buck to nyoo zullind afta a while awuy.

jonb

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Reply # 1078319 1-Jul-2014 22:23

As an immigrant, some of the signature sounds of the NZ/Auckland accent are

Man = Min
Unknown = Unknowen
Bear = Beer

It's a pretty mild accent though, and difficult to tell apart from Australian without spending time in either of the countries.

This is a good tour round some of the accents of the UK, where I lived for a while in Barnsley had a totally different accent from places just 20km away.

http://www.bbc.com/travel/feature/20140619-one-woman-17-british-accents

LennonNZ

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Reply # 1078333 1-Jul-2014 22:42

This is what we sound like :-)

mattwnz

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Reply # 1078337 1-Jul-2014 22:49

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That sounds more like an Aussie accent. I think their accent is worse when saying the word 'deck'.

LennonNZ

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Reply # 1078343 1-Jul-2014 22:58

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I wonder who did Ben Kingsly NZ Accent Coaching... no body?.. I cringed thru-out the movie.. . It more like a South Africian who lived in Aussie for a while and emigrated to New Zealand but worse.

Detruire

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Reply # 1078349 1-Jul-2014 23:26

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LennonNZ: I wonder who did Ben Kingsly NZ Accent Coaching... no body?.. I cringed thru-out the movie.. . It more like a South Africian who lived in Aussie for a while and emigrated to New Zealand but worse.

It is like a weird mash-up of the three. Some sentences sound South African, others Kiwi, and a few words here and there sound Australian.

rm *

PhantomNVD

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Reply # 1078352 1-Jul-2014 23:42

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I lol'd

As a Saffa in Nz for the last 10 years, after 7 years in East London (Uk) I can't imagine what _I_ sound like! :D

Coil

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Reply # 1078353 1-Jul-2014 23:50

The emphasis on DEAD where is said, DID!
Poor interpretation.

Sidestep

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Reply # 1078372 2-Jul-2014 03:09

Having a NZ accent's great...

Last night at the bar it got me free beer!

Wife disappointed my circle of admirers by making us leave after I did the Fred Dagg song...

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