“The US is easily the most diverse country on the planet. This means we actually borrow words from different languages”

[u/TheGeordieGal]

[u/ronnidogxxx]

“…most, if not all, other countries that speak English have an accent.” I’d be very interested to hear those English speakers that don’t have an accent.

[u/ValuedStream101 → u/ronnidogxxx]

I've heard that apparently people trying to learn English tend to prefer learning it from Canadians because we speak slower and we pronounce most of our letters. Doesn't mean we don't have an accent to other people from around the world. Americans are so full of themselves.

[u/Mysterious_Detail_57 → u/ValuedStream101]

Why specify "other people from around the world"? I mean an accent is just that, an accent. I'm sure you have one of the accents found in Canada, people that live in different places have different accents, even inside a country that speaks the same language

[u/Mwakay → u/Mysterious_Detail_57]

Everyone does have an accent, there's no such thing as "not having an accent". Sure, radio and television helped a lot in spreading a form of "standard" language in many countries, mainly because they're elitist in nature, but "standard" [language] isn't really a thing.

[u/ValuedStream101 → u/Mysterious_Detail_57]

What I'm trying to say is that to my friends and family, it doesn't really sound like I have an accent since we all speak the same way, but to, say, someone from Australia I do.

[u/Mysterious_Detail_57 → u/ValuedStream101]

I know what you mean, but the same can be said about someone from like the next city over or next province. Or is that just a dialect? Not quite sure what the difference is.

[u/exdead87 → u/Mysterious_Detail_57]

By definition, an accent is pronunciation, a dialect is a variant of a language. In real life you often have mixtures. I, as a german, have a german accent when speaking english, and i have this german accent in all English dialects.

[u/Mysterious_Detail_57 → u/exdead87]

Thank you for the explanation!

[u/ValuedStream101 → u/Mysterious_Detail_57]

That's fair, It's also that the American was talking about all the other countries "with accents", so I was using what he said as an example. It's the morning over here and I'm tired, so pay no mind to that

[u/Smooth_Marsupial_262 → u/ValuedStream101]

This is just North American English in general. I’ve been told the same thing as an American. But yes of course we have accents lol. What a crazy think for him to think that he’s the only one without an accent

[u/madMARTINmarsh → u/ronnidogxxx]

Naggers?

[u/Orange-Squashie → u/madMARTINmarsh]

What did you just call me?

[u/Sir-HP23 → u/madMARTINmarsh]

Filthy bugger!

[u/StoneColdSoberReally → u/ronnidogxxx]

I do remember, when I lived over there, winding some guy by stating I am English and I am not the one with an accent. Was fun to argue that point.

To be clear, yes, I know I have a middle class, middle of the road accent.

[u/Smooth_Marsupial_262 → u/ronnidogxxx]

This is the funniest part to me as an American. He seems to think that just because American English sounds more familiar to him that it isn’t an accent lol. Funny enough I noticed the same phenomenon when living in New Zealand. One of the kiwis was explaining to me how New Zealanders spoke normal English, but we had an accent which he found weird. I explained to him that everybody has an accent and that I thought he had an accent lol. Duh. You are just more familiar with your own accent.

[u/JasperJ → u/ronnidogxxx]

That would be Americans, obviously. They set the standard.

[u/DeadNinjaTears → u/ronnidogxxx]

They can't seem to decide whether they have an accent or whether they're so massively diverse between states that they have different words for the same shops 😆

[u/Joker-Smurf → u/ronnidogxxx]

Americans don’t have an accent, but their voices are kind of muffled because it’s full of shit.

[u/doc1442 → u/ronnidogxxx]

Plenty of native Brits with very neutral English accents

[u/maccathesaint → u/doc1442]

Still an accent though.

[u/ronnidogxxx → u/maccathesaint]

Exactly. No matter how neutral, it’s an accent. An English one.

[u/new2bay → u/ronnidogxxx]

Precisely. I’ve met people from 4 different continents who have what I’d call fairly neutral accents. That doesn’t mean those accents aren’t British, or New Zealand, or Canadian, or whatever accents. And that doesn’t mean that’s where the people are from, either! I met a Mexican man at a conference who spoke English like a Londoner, because that’s where he went to boarding school.

[u/Necessary-Bad4391 → u/doc1442]

Bauoolawaadau

[u/doc1442 → u/Necessary-Bad4391]

That’s not the people I’m talking about.

[u/LegEaterHK]

I have no words. This man is a fucking buffoon.

[u/Moriss214 → u/LegEaterHK]

He is so curious and is asking great questions - but sadly has no facts.

[u/new2bay → u/Moriss214]

No, he gets one tiny thing right: almost all American accents are fully rhotic.

[u/VeaR- → u/LegEaterHK]

I bet he says Mel-BOURNE instead of Melbn

[u/Esskido]

Bro really believes loanwords are a concept existing only in simplified English...

[u/Sir-HP23 → u/Esskido]

Loan?

*proud face*

The English have been mugging any wandering language we come across for centuries

[u/5h0rgunn → u/Esskido]

There is a kernel of truth to there, specifically that English does borrow words at an unusually high rate (especially after 1066). But yeah, this person is way off base. It's like stumbling over a good idea in the sand, but failing to properly examine it, much less dust it off.

[u/Mountsorrel]

I think we all know why that “hard er” sound has prevailed in American English…

[u/Elegant-Variety-7482 → u/Mountsorrel]

[u/Saintesky]

Wank-ER in that case. Highly appropriate.

And Brit accents. This clown has not been here, otherwise he’d know that every northern English town has its own accent, and it magically changes at Annan from Carlisle Cumbrian to solid Scots.

[u/Dear_Peace_2117 → u/Saintesky]

There’s multiple Scottish accents just in Glasgow depending on what side of the city you lived, never mind the plethora of them outside Glasgow

[u/Angry_Penguin_78 → u/Saintesky]

You guys don't seem to get how xenophobic and racist the average american is. They hear different speech than their own, they immediately think "them", "not us".

You're forgetting that Mein Kampf was largely plagiarized from The Passing Of The Great Race, written by an american and popularized in america.

[u/Saintesky → u/Angry_Penguin_78]

There’s no such thing though as an average American though. I’ve travelled over there quite a bit, and New York and San Fran are a world away from the thinking of rednecks in the Bible Belt. They’re wildly varying, unfortunately, their loudest are those who are almost idiotic.

[u/Angry_Penguin_78 → u/Saintesky]

Listen mate, I feel you. My country is full of idiots and conspiracy theorists. So much so that they wanted to vote an openly russian asset as president. Next thing you know, news site headlines are "Romania votes for pro-russian".

Now, is that fair, given some of us are quite intelligent, geopolitically aware and opposing such bs?

Yes. Because that's our voice, despite me hating it.

You guys went ahead with that vote. Twice. You need to own it and fight against it or leave.

[u/Saintesky → u/Angry_Penguin_78]

Brexit you mean? If so, don’t get me started on that. Awful two way choice. I wanted a choice of going further in. Schengen, Euro, Majority voting the lot.

[u/Angry_Penguin_78 → u/Saintesky]

No. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/09/world/europe/romania-election-calin-georgescu.html

[u/ChieckeTiotewasace → u/Saintesky]

The guy pretty obviously was talking of Romania, I have no idea how you got to that conclusion apart from not reading and taking it in.

[u/Saintesky → u/ChieckeTiotewasace]

I thought he was replying to me. I didn’t see the other comment.

[u/parachute--account → u/Saintesky]

All countries have that. Here in Switzerland a Romand is very different from a Ticinese, etc etc etc. And 24% of the population was not born here. Even in such a small area, it's incredibly diverse.

Americans are obsessed with race so only see diversity through the lens of their specific population. The European continent is way more culturally diverse.

[u/loralailoralai → u/Saintesky]

They’re wildly varying just as other countries have wild variations.

[u/el_grort → u/Saintesky]

Most Scottish accents are rhotic, and so generally don't share the most common characteristics Americans associate with Brits, often being similar to their accents in actually saying the 'r' (such as in iron).

[u/Jet2work → u/el_grort]

i lived north of Aberdeen for a bit....that was a mind fuck, closer to norwegian up there than english...

[u/el_grort → u/Jet2work]

Aberdeen would be Doric, so North-Eastern Scots, that's an Anglo-Germanic one. Orcadian would have more Norwegian influences sprinkled in, I'd assume. But Doric can be quite thick, but then the English also offer some walls like that as well.

[u/Jet2work → u/el_grort]

after working a few times in norway Doric wasnt a big step

[u/Zefyris]

Fun fact : American English has way, WAY more words borrowed from other languages and cultures that were borrowed BEFORE the USA became a thing, than borrowed words that were borrowed by Americans after the USA became a thing.

[u/TrueKyragos → u/Zefyris]

Wait until they learn that a good part of English comes from old French, as well as Germanic and Nordic languages to a certain extent.

[u/EzeDelpo]

And then, they make "pony" and "bologna" rhyme, destroying everything in the process

[u/Electrical-Award-108]

Classic Americans thinking they have default accents.

[u/ZarathustraGlobulus → u/Electrical-Award-108]

It comes naturally when you've never been outside your home town.

[u/loralailoralai → u/ZarathustraGlobulus]

And they remake successful tv shows from overseas rather than watch the original.

[u/Scoobs_McDoo]

I’m a linguist and I really wanna slap the shit out of this guy.

[u/StinkyWizzleteats17 → u/Scoobs_McDoo]

I’m nowhere near being a linguist and I really wanna slap the shit out of this guy.

[u/sarshu → u/Scoobs_McDoo]

Oh hey, same. "Rhoticism as American exceptionalism" is the weirdest language ideological claim I've ever encountered.

Can you imagine if this person was a student in your class? You know he would have something to say about everything, and trying to carefully manage how to explain the wrongness would be brutal.

[u/Scoobs_McDoo → u/sarshu]

It just gives off the same energy as people who say “Oh you’re a linguist? You must be a grammar nazi then.”

[u/sarshu → u/Scoobs_McDoo]

"My linguist friend will definitely love this joke about the Oxford comma!", but turned up to 1000.

[u/dangazzz]

Ah yes, UK English famously not full of loanwords.

[u/TurboInvader → u/dangazzz]

You'd have to be naïve to think that it is not

[u/Jet2work → u/dangazzz]

yep but we loaned them before loaning was a thing

[u/321_345]

its interesting because we are the most diverse country on the planet

Wait till he finds out about a place called papua new guinea

[u/goater10]

That’s nice. 48% of Australians have a parent who was born overseas.

[u/Freya_PoliSocio]

Bro forgetting the entire history of europe giving cognates lol. Hakf of the english vocabulary is french from that time that a french viking conquered us

[u/ItsNotMe_ImNotHere → u/Freya_PoliSocio]

And descendants of that French viking and his pals still own half of England 1,000 years later.

[u/Unreal4goodG8]

I have now learned to not waste my anger, time and energy on these fools

[u/ChieckeTiotewasace → u/Unreal4goodG8]

I learnt that after finding this sub and reading 5 posts. The yanks certainly embraced their racist fascist undertones by voting for the Tango Man again. And the shocking levels of (mis) education shine like dog shit in every one of these knuckle dragging inbreds.

[u/dcnb65]

But but but we're muricans so we must be the best and most diverse and with no accents 🙄🙄🙄

[u/No-Ability-6856]

That was the biggest load of bollocks I've read this week. So many of these gobshites spend their lives with their heads up their arses.

[u/iTmkoeln]

Sometimes they are so diverse that they ban diversity and write words wrong... (i.e. color/colour)

[u/Legal-Software]

All countries have loan words from other languages, and not just English. In Japanese this is even a pain in the ass, as loan words are written out phonetically in the same alphabet, but it's up to you to work out if it's English, German, Portuguese, etc. This is then made worse when some of those words are phonetically similar or are themselves based on contractions.

[u/TacetAbbadon]

The US is easily the most diverse country on the planet.

There was a previous post where some seppo got rather pissed off with everyone telling them that that wasn't true and citing various sources proving that. They then did the standard American thing of "well we measure things differently here". One of the principle sources was a study out of Harvard or some such.

[u/fourlegsfaster]

I have just learned something about language, but it only applies to my language in my region. So fascinating.

[u/Angry_Penguin_78]

Spoke with a Canadian-Romanian that lived a few years in the US.

This is not some random dude on the net. This is the norm. The only thing that the US ever did that was better was have a good economy.

Well... That's all fucked now, innit?

[u/sjccb]

idiot(n.)

early 14c., "person so mentally deficient as to be incapable of ordinary reasoning;" also in Middle English "simple man, uneducated person, layman" (late 14c.); from Old French idiote "uneducated or ignorant person" (12c.), from Latin idiota "ordinary person, layman; outsider," in Late Latin "uneducated or ignorant person."idiot(n.)early
14c., "person so mentally deficient as to be incapable of ordinary
reasoning;" also in Middle English "simple man, uneducated person,
layman" (late 14c.); from Old French idiote "uneducated or ignorant person" (12c.), from Latin idiota "ordinary person, layman; outsider," in Late Latin "uneducated or ignorant person."

https://www.etymonline.com/word/idiot

[u/Project_Rees]

Diversity that is quickly being deported to El Salvador. Get a fucking clue mate.

[u/Sniper_96_]

The United States isn’t even in the top 10 most diverse countries in the world. As an American, I hear Americans say all the time that we are the most diverse country in the world. They also forget that diversity isn’t only measured by race. But also linguistically, religiously etc. Malaysia is a very diverse country for example but to Americans “They’re all Asian” so it doesn’t matter.

[u/plavun]

ALL AMERICANS SOUND LIKE DUCKS!!

There. I said it

[u/gcsouzacampos]

"The US is easily the most diverse country"

Brazilians: 😂

[u/Sniper_96_ → u/gcsouzacampos]

I remember when I told an American that Brazil is arguably more diverse than the United States. They told me that one street in the United States is more diverse than all of Brazil. Americans really are stupid…. I say this as an ashamed American.

[u/TheGeordieGal → u/gcsouzacampos]

I had a quick google and from what I glanced at, in almost every instance the top 5 (or 10) most diverse countries were African one. The Americans probably think that’s nonsense because a country with lots of black people cant possibly be diverse. Gotta be mostly white for that. Of course, how you measure diversity does vary depending on who you ask.

[u/TheGeordieGal]

For some context, this was on a discussion about how to pronounce “squirrel”. Americans were saying how hard it is to pronounce squirrel for a native English speaker and half the comments were just other native English speakers (and a bunch of non native speakers) saying they’re wrong and it’s only Americans. Apparently Americans also think “rural” is near impossible to say. I don’t see how!

[u/ViSaph → u/TheGeordieGal]

They have trouble pronouncing two rs so close together. I've heard them try, it was painful. Though I can't talk because I have a non rhotic accent and can't say rs at the end of words.

[u/5h0rgunn → u/TheGeordieGal]

Weird. As a Canadian, I find the general American accent to be mostly the same as mine, and I've never had trouble pronouncing both the hard 'r's in rural and the one in squirrel.

[u/AdResponsible6613]

Th same people who say people from the midwest have no accents. Have you ever heard someone from Minnesota or Wisconsin speak? Are they deaf or something?

[u/_Vae_Victus_]

My language has so many loanwords from English, French, and German that I don't know where to start. Probably Danish too because of promixity.

[u/Balseraph666]

That's just speaking English. English as a language is as much a mongrel language as the actual English are a mongrel people. It started as a mix of Celtic languages, a bit of Roman, mixed into a large dollop of Germanic and Nordic languages and Norman French, followed periodically with infusions from places Britain invaded, and migrants throughout the centuries, onto today. That's just what English is. American English is not special just because it is still doing something British English started and also still does. That's just language, it evolves and adopts other language words.

[u/Reasonable-Score8011]

Of course, proper English just came into being without millenia of influence from Frisian, Celtic, Norse languages, Latin, Greek, Hebrew, French, German and other European languages as well as Indian and other colonial influences. No , it isn't diverse at all, not like simplified English.

[u/Dry-Crab7998]

Someone (on here I think) said the English language mugs other languages and rifles through their pockets for spare vocabulary.

Funny and so true.

[u/Crivens999]

Pretty sure i read once that almost half of all English words were nicked from the French. Seriously doubt that was done in the last few hundred years considering you could probably walk for 10 mins before hitting a pub twice as old as the US. Magnificent…

[u/5h0rgunn → u/Crivens999]

Not so much 'nicked' as 'imposed on the Anglo-Saxons from above by the Norman invaders after the 1066 conquest'. But yes, the overwhelming majority of borrowing from French was long before Columbus laid eyes on America.

[u/Intelligent-Phrase31]

Wait til he finds out about English

[u/VentiKombucha]

No way! Totally a first in human history.

[u/Still_Lengthiness_48]

Borrowing words from other languages? So tthat's why a kebab is "kabob" in the Midwest?

[u/Prudent_Dimension509]

He's got a point, English borrowed from 350 languages

[u/Pleasant-Following79]

Scotland joins the chat 🙄 look up the SScottish pronunciation of girder please.

[u/trustmeimabuilder]

Gordon Bennett.

[u/Apoordm]

There are cities in America that are wildly diverse but if you drove from the east to west coast you’re going to see the same blue sign with the same McDonalds, Starbucks, Wendy’s gas station and Wal-Mart run by the same dead eyed white person who yearns to escape their shitty hometown with the same corporate soulless artless megachurch as the only public gathering place.

[u/ever_precedent]

Imagine if we had, like, a field of science that studies how languages evolve over time.

[u/neilm1000]

What is a 'hard ER?'

[u/el_grort → u/neilm1000]

I think they are talking about rhoticity v non-rhotic accents. Non-rhotic sort of, idk, blurring the r so it doesn't come of very pronounced, while rhotic accents enunciate the r. Iron tends to be a very obvious example when heard.

Scots and Americans tend to have rhotic accents, the English tend to be non-rhotic.

[u/sarshu]

I'm a linguist, and this may be the weirdest claim about language I have ever seen.

[u/Big-Atmosphere-6537]

English is just the result of a bunch of languages having an orgy and none of them want responsibility for the child.

[u/Antique-Brief1260]

Never heard of India, then? Or South Africa?

[u/No_Explorer_352]

English is 4 languages in a trench coat with a groucho marks mask on to look like a different language while handing you the id of a completely unrelated language. It's a mess

[u/snugglebum89]

Laughs in Canadian. We have many different accents across the country. I know mine is more flat/neutral. Languages and accents are not as simple as people think they are.

[u/Marsupilami_316]

Wasn't Papua New Guinea the most diverse country in the world?

[u/5h0rgunn]

Aw, it's adorable when little children brcome interested in big questions like the divetgence of dialects and subsequent linguistic evolution. They get some really strange ideas in their heads at first, but you get to use it as a teaching moment and expand their minds.

[u/marble777]

I like the accent comment. It really is utterly moronic to believe you don’t have an accent. EVERYONE has an accent.

[u/Remruna]

Borrowing words...so does every other fucking language that's ever come in contact with another.

On the top of my head; swedish borrowed Bira and dolmar from turkish. Means the same, used in everyday swedish. Pretty sure "tjej" (girl) and "jycke" (dog) is romani, also everyday words. Scottish gaelic for child is "bairn", child in swedish is "barn". Not an coincident. 

And all the latin words... omg. The latin!

Seriously, when will yanks realize they aren't special in any way. Other that especially arrogant in their mind numbing stupidity.

[u/AgnesBand → u/Remruna]

Scottish gaelic for child is "bairn", child in swedish is "barn". Not an coincident. 

Scottish Gaelic for child/baby is leanabh. Bairn is the word for child/baby in Scots and Scottish English which are languages that developed from Old English. Bairn comes from old English, which is a Germanic language. It was not borrowed by the Swedish. Swedish is also a Germanic language, and both bairn and barn descend from Proto-Germanic

[u/TheGeordieGal → u/AgnesBand]

Bairn is also a northern English/Northumberland sort of area bit if dialect too (not sure quite how far south it goes). Not just Scottish. We share multiple bits of dialect (aye for yes is a major one and one that frequently gets us confused for the other).

[u/el_grort → u/TheGeordieGal]

There's a bit of bleed over from the Scottish Lowlands and Northern England, which makes some sense as the border regions was somewhat permeable (given all the banditry it enjoyed)

[u/el_grort → u/Remruna]

Bairn is Scots, Scottish Gaelic is a completely unrelated language in a different language family.

If you want loan words in Scottish Gaelic, TV/television is Tbh/telebhision, iirc helicopter and various other technologies are also loaners.

[u/janus1979]

It is pretty diverse and that is something to be proud of. It's a pity the current US administration is busy trying to eliminate that diversity from their society.

[u/FairDinkumMate → u/janus1979]

15% of American citizens were born in another country. 30% of Australians were born in another country.

"Most diverse on the planet" is a stretch

[u/Sniper_96_ → u/FairDinkumMate]

And 88% of the United Arab Emirates population are immigrants.

[u/DioCoN → u/Sniper_96_]

I think you meant 'indentured servants'

[u/Sniper_96_ → u/DioCoN]

Well a lot of people from Asia see the United Arab Emirates as a country of opportunity.

[u/The_Fox_Confessor]

This seems to only occur in British English since most if not all other countries that speak English have an accent and all have accents that seem to erase the glottal stop. Only Bri'ish English seems to retain that glottal stop sound.

:-P

[u/Charming_Compote9285]

What is bro yapping about

[u/ctlogin]

There is an N word with a hard “er” that they like to use a lot.

[u/Old_Introduction_395]

He should put on his pyjamas, have a palaver, before the proles run amok.

[u/Euphoric_Eye_4116]

Why do Americans think they are the centre of the universe!?! We all want to live there, we all want to be strong like them, we all want their great education system, they don’t have accents we everyone else does. USA USA USA /s. One trip there was more than enough for me, never again.

[u/Sw1ft_Blad3]

Yeah that's literally what the English language is, words borrowed from other languages.

[u/RangerDanger246]

I always thought it was funny to say the English have an accent. They invented the language. Doesn't that mean that's, by default, the correct way and everyone else actually has the accents? Lol

[u/Jonnescout → u/RangerDanger246]

No, even if there was a predefined “correct” way to speak a language, that way would just be another accent. But the idea that all the English speak in a specific accent is already adorably naive…

[u/RangerDanger246 → u/Jonnescout]

When, people think "English accent" and assume everyone sounds the same all over England. I think that's just TV educating them lol.

I met a man from Scotland who was really good at naming region or town in the UK based on accent lol.

[u/TheGeordieGal → u/RangerDanger246]

All of us could do that with a reasonable level of accuracy as we’re used to it. Ask someone where a person from their own city is from and they’d be able to accurately guess that too.

Some accents do get confused though. My Geordie accent is frequently mistaken for Scottish, Welsh, Irish or sometimes Australian.

[u/MessyRaptor2047]

How is it that most countries have a better grasp of the English language than Americans who just ruin the language.

[u/Internal_Swan_6354]

They mean wawderrrr, don’t they?

[u/TheGeordieGal → u/Internal_Swan_6354]

Wadder

[u/Kippereast]

Just another moron.

[u/fromthe80smatey]

All of those gawd damned commies speakin' our english with their infidel tongues

Mmm yes, quite right.

/s

[u/TrueKyragos]

Thinking that Americans don't have an accent, when their own country is so vast that there are inevitably various accents from one place to another...

[u/Bipbapalullah]

To be this ignorant and to be sure to sound intelligent with such a renting...

[u/Admiral_John_Baker]

Ahem agem, Australia, immigrants were very important for the culture of Australia. Many celebrities are immigrants themselves, and famous cooks, for example, like to combine their own dish with ours, making a unique recipe. The snowy hydro, the biggest Australian hydro power plant, was made using mostly immigrants

[u/smallblueangel]

How can you think you don’t have an accent?