Is this an accent or am I hearing things?

May 15, 2013 5:48 PM

These two YouTube videos, Video 1 and Video 2, contain men speaking English with a similar accent. Is this an accent? Can anyone identify it?

Both the speakers appear to be from Canada, possibly Vancouver, British Columbia specifically. Assuming they aren't related, is this an accent or just a case of similar sounding voices?

posted by toftflin to Society & Culture (14 answers total)

Does "stereotypical nerd" count as an accent? They both sound like Martin Short's nerd character from old SNL and the comic book guy on The Simpsons to me.
posted by cmoj at 6:08 PM on May 15, 2013

The first guy's accent is straight Canadian to me, and he mentions the Telus Pioneer Surplus Store which is in Burnaby BC. The second guy's accent is different, can't place it.
posted by LobsterMitten at 6:09 PM on May 15, 2013

It reminds me of a friend's boyfriend's accent. He is from Vancouver but has British parents.
posted by wollaston at 6:12 PM on May 15, 2013

I think the accents are totally different. The first guy has a pretty standard urban Canadian accent, but since he mentions having bought that thing at a Telus surplus store he's probably in Alberta or BC since that's where Telus is based and has more of a presence. The second guy has an unusual accent with maybe some sort of impediment in his past, but locale-wise it sounds like this family is originally from Newfoundland but maybe they've relocated to central Canada: the mother(?) with the camera has a pronounced Newfoundland accent, the guy speaking has a strong trace of a Newfoundland accent; Tyler, who I'm assuming is a younger brother, doesn't seem to have it at all.
posted by Flashman at 6:14 PM on May 15, 2013 [2 favorites]

First guy says zed instead of zee. Canadian, and I dunno why I think this but maybe from Halifax.
posted by zippy at 6:31 PM on May 15, 2013

FWIW (not much), I also thought Nova Scotia on the first video.
posted by nathancaswell at 6:48 PM on May 15, 2013 [1 favorite]

The second one sounds like Canadian + Scottish.
posted by littlesq at 6:55 PM on May 15, 2013

Both are Canadian; the second one sounds Irish as well. Either grew up there or his parents were from there. Or has a speech impediment of some kind.
posted by gjc at 7:14 PM on May 15, 2013

I agree about the first one sounding Canadian. The second is probably Canadian, since he gives the price of his katana in Canadian dollars. I wonder if he may be from Newfoundland, where many people have a bit of a Scottish/Irish brogue to their Canadian accents. The other people in that video sound like they may be Canadian, too. Also, if you click on his username, he lists his home country as Canada.
Some Newfie examples: 1,2,3
posted by pompelmo at 8:21 PM on May 15, 2013

The second guy makes reference to himself being 'back in the UK' on some other sites. I think he sounds more Welsh than Irish, especially from his other YouTube videos. So I'd guess that he's a native Welsh speaker who has moved to Canada.
posted by yellowcandy at 9:23 PM on May 15, 2013

I think the first accent is Canadian and that the second speaker is a UK speaker with a minor speech impediment causing a slight slurring that is confusing things. Neither sounds Irish or Scottish to me.
posted by DarlingBri at 12:14 AM on May 16, 2013

people who say "oh, you have an accent" just mean that it isn't "standard" British or American

There isn't a British accent as such. There is English, Scottish, Northern Irish or Welsh. When people outside the UK say British they usually mean English. The 'standard' is Received Pronunciation English (sometimes referred to as the Queen's English.)

The second guy doesn't sound remotely like he's from the UK to me, his accent made me think of Fargo.
posted by billiebee at 2:10 AM on May 16, 2013

Second video: I'm almost sure the camera-woman is not from Newfoundland. I would guess rural Ontario, though she doesn't talk much. Could also be rural maritimes, excluding Cape Breton. I'd guess that the guy is just Canadian but has his own way of speaking for whatever reason.

First- I agree that it's a BC/Alberta accent (note the "A" in "panel". It would sound a lot different in the Maritimes), and the Burnaby Telus store clue makes it all but certain. I also think he just anunciates more carefully than the average person, which contributes to his accent.
posted by beau jackson at 9:23 AM on May 16, 2013

So I asked the second guy (through a YouTube comment) where he was from and he says:
"I reside in southern Ontario, raised in both the suburb and urban environments. In my videos I tend to speak a bit more stiffly than usual because I want to make certain my words are distinct, rather than letting it devolve to a more muted voice as I sometimes do."
posted by Flashman at 12:50 PM on May 20, 2013