Straight Dope Message Board

[BKReporter]

She was born and raised in Pasadena, Calif., but I've never met anyone from California who talks like her. To me it sounds like Jon Stewart's impression of Queen Elizabeth (helllllooooo). So what is her accent? Have you ever met anyone who talked like her?

[Johnny L.A.]

Pasadena was a very posh area when Julia Child was born, and she was born in a well-to-do family. I have the impression that at the time the wealthy and educated placed special emphasis on elocution. So I would call her accent 'Upper-class American', and that it was enhanced by her high voice.

[Johnny L.A.]

Make that 'Upper-class, Early-20th Century American'.

[Hazle Weatherfield]

Seriously, for the longest time, I thought she was British! I couldn't believe that she wasn't.

[Captain Amazing]

Originally Posted by Johnny L.A.

Make that 'Upper-class, Early-20th Century American'.

Right. For comparison (and another woman who had a similar accent, see Eleanor Roosevelt.

[Shagnasty]

Originally Posted by Hazle Weatherfield

Seriously, for the longest time, I thought she was British! I couldn't believe that she wasn't.

I didn't know she wasn't until 10 seconds ago. She may just have had a made up aristocratic accent like the Kennedys.

[robby]

Originally Posted by Shagnasty

I didn't know she wasn't until 10 seconds ago. She may just have had a made up aristocratic accent like the Kennedys.

Same here. I had no idea she was American until this thread. Go figure.

[Lemur866]

The Kennedy's had an aristocratic accent?

There used to be an east-coast upper-class accent that has almost completely vanished. William F. Buckley, Katherine Hepburn, FDR, and others are examples. It was influenced by english accents, but it was it's own thing, and marked the person as born and bred to the elite. People without it might have money and power and connections, but they weren't a member of the club.

That's all gone now, and members of the elite tend to speak newscaster english. Compare Christopher Buckley's "normal american" accent to his dad's idiolect. Julia Child was one of the last people to grow up speaking that way, but her idiolect went off in a whole different direction.

[Marley23]

Originally Posted by Johnny L.A.

Make that 'Upper-class, Early-20th Century American'.

For examples on film ... well, old film, of course ... you could try Margaret Dumont in a Marx Brothers movie. I don't think she sounds like Julia Child but to our ears, it sounds refined and sort of foreign.

Jon Stewart's Queen Elizabeth voice sounds like one of the voices Robin Williams tries while playing in drag in Mrs. Doubtfire.

[Typo Knig]

The first time we saw Dame Edna Everage on TV, Mama Zappa said "Oh my God! Julia Child is a *man*!!"

I knew one woman whose accent was a very mild version of Julia Child's, but I don't know where that woman grew up.

[Earl Snake-Hips Tucker]

Originally Posted by Lemur866

William F. Buckley, Katherine Hepburn, FDR, and others are examples.

I think you can add George Plimpton to that list, too.

[BKReporter]

I guess Barbara Walters would be another person whose accent sounds quasi-British, even though she's American.

[Marley23]

Originally Posted by BKReporter

I guess Barbara Walters would be another person whose accent sounds quasi-British, even though she's American.

She speaks that way to overcome a speech impediment, though, so it's not really the same. I don't know much about her background.

[Johnny L.A.]

Originally Posted by Shagnasty

She may just have had a made up aristocratic accent like the Kennedys.

It depends on your definition of 'made up'. As I said, and as others have cited, there was a particular accent prevalent among the elite.

[muldoonthief]

deleted

[jsc1953]

The Kennedy accent is Boston; but possibly an upper-class variation thereof.

[gwendee]

Originally Posted by Marley23

For examples on film ... well, old film, of course ... you could try Margaret Dumont in a Marx Brothers movie. I don't think she sounds like Julia Child but to our ears, it sounds refined and sort of foreign.

I thought of Pheobe Dinsmore, the Diction and Elocution coach in Singin' In the Rain. My grandmother and her sisters, whose family wasn't even close to being as affluent as Child's all had such lessons, along with instrumental and vocal music lessons, and dancing lessons.

We used to have play tea parties and we (my grandmother, great-aunt, sister, and I) all had "great lady" alter egos and we spoke in a similar way. She often shared tips from those lessons, or a recital piece memorized 45 years earlier.

One set of my grandparents grew up with 2 different regional accents. They were very conscious of not wanting to sound like "rubes" or "hicks". They carefully eliminated the accents. They didn't go as far as adopting the Katherine Hepburn speech pattern, but definitely equated their original accents with sounding less refined.

I don't think they arrived at that conclusion without some help from the surrounding culture.

[Mama Zappa]

Originally Posted by Hazle Weatherfield

Seriously, for the longest time, I thought she was British! I couldn't believe that she wasn't.

Too true!

About 15 years ago, I was watching TV with my mother-in-law. The show featured Dame Edna
.

And I shouted "That's it!!!! Julia Child is a MAN!!!!!".



Having posted this, I see that my spouse just posted the identical anecdote

[Lantern]

Mid-Atlantic is the usual term for the accent being discussed here. Perhaps Kelsey Grammer is one of the few prominent contemporary examples.

Why it's died down is an interesting question. I would imagine it was primarily nurtured in elite private schools which are still around. Probably the growing influence of mass media over the course of the 20th century as well as a steady increase in social mobility played a big role in its decline.

[Voyager]

I always heard it as aristocratic Bostonian - not Irish Bostonian like the Kennedys. You know, the Cabots speak only to the Lodges, and the Lodges speak only to God. That might have come from the fact her show came from WGBH, but I lived in Boston for four years and didn't change my mind.

[Johnny L.A.]

Originally Posted by jsc1953

The Kennedy accent is Boston; but possibly an upper-class variation thereof.

To be clear, I was addressing the 'made up' suggestion and not asserting that the accent was similar to Kennedy's.

[Markxxx]

My folks were from Yugoslavia. My mother came directly to America and my father came via the UK. So my father spoke "British" while mum spoke "American." They moved a bit so my sisters and brothers leaned "New Zealand."

The result was that while I was born in America and raised here, unlike the rest of my family, I would pick up very weird speech patterns.

It was most evident in my use of single words, but I would get sent to "speech" class because of it.

Not being around my family for almost 30 years I've lost almost all my speech patterns as a kid, but I still get people asking me from time to time, if I'm from America, just because I still use words you don't hear in America (such as "strueth")

Point being, that often times people will pick up ways of speaking, perhaps Julia went to boarding schools or such. If you remember the "Beverly Hillbillies," Miss Jane was a Vassar Grad and for the first few years of the series Nancy Kulp acted the part with a distinct accent one would assume as "upper crust" so to speak. In otherwords Miss Jane was educated and her speech showed it. Though this element to the Miss Jane character was lost as the show progressed.

In comedy it's implied Julia spoke that way 'cause she was a drunk. Or at least used way too much wine in her cooking. Of course this is for comedy only not based in reality

[YogSothoth]

Oh my god, she's American??

[Chefguy]

To me she sounds like somebody with a baritone voice who is artificially altering it to sound more feminine.

[devilsknew]

Maybe, Julia has one of those "fusion" accents? She spent a lot of time overseas in British company; Her later experiences in France might have influenced her accent as well. As a child, she also had a Family Cook that hailed from New England. It would be worth noting where Julia Child's childhood cook came from in New England... that might help clarify some of the accent.

We had a thread abouit Top Chef Miami Micah Edelstein's accent that reminds me of this thread. It is also interesting to note that Micah has an English degree like Julia.

[BrainGlutton]

I recall an SNL skit -- "Swivel Chair Mystery Theater" -- where everybody talks with an exaggerated Northeastern upper-class accent.

[rocking chair]

i just figured she had the east coast boarding school accent. a lock jaw new england that could be pushed to old england easily. i was surprized to learn she was from california as she sounded very new england.

she did have an odd pitch to her voice for her size. her size gave her voice a lot of volume and depth, but a really odd high note. from her size you would expect more of a kathleen turner low note.

she does sound remarkably like eleanor roosevelt.

the best part of cooking with someone ( or alone narrating for the fur faces) is doing wacky julia child impressions!

[MPB in Salt Lake]

Does anyone remember the time on Letterman (back when David Letterman was still worth watching) when Julia Child was a guest, along with Jerry Garcia and Bob Weir (Grateful Dead)?

It was an exceptionally odd pairing, and Letterman was cracking wise the whole night, asking Julia about eating Czechoslovakian angel dust and following the Grateful Dead around in a rasta VW microbus.............

Julia took all this king-high weirdness in stride, and was a good sport; I have ever since been a fan.

(and now in rememberance of Jerry and Julia, I am off to grak some rhino tranquilizer, washed down with a good bottle of bordeaux)

[Face Intentionally Left Blank]

Originally Posted by robby

Same here. I had no idea she was American until this thread. Go figure.

Ignorance fought here as well. Weird accent. . .no worse than some New England accents though, I suppose.

[Spectre of Pithecanthropus]

Originally Posted by Johnny L.A.

Pasadena was a very posh area when Julia Child was born, and she was born in a well-to-do family. I have the impression that at the time the wealthy and educated placed special emphasis on elocution. So I would call her accent 'Upper-class American', and that it was enhanced by her high voice.

If you think of Lovey Howell on Gilligan's Island, that makes a lot of sense.

In spite of the smog, inland heat, and little if any access to ocean depending on traffic, there are still areas of extravagantly large, traditional houses there as well as in adjacent San Marino. I suspect if you wanted to look for old money in Southern California, you'd find a lot of it in Pasadena.

[freckafree]

I started a thread about the "upper crust" accent (citing Margaret Dumont and Eleanor Roosevelt as examples) a while back, and Dopers cited the Locust Valley Lockjaw.

I don't think that describes Julia Child (or Magaret Dumont or Eleanor Roosevelt), but it certainly does other mentioned in this thread.

[pabstist]

Julia Child graduated from Smith College in Northampton Massachusetts in 1934. It may have affected her accent, as has been pondered about the whole New England thing? Is there a womens Ivy League College accent?

[dropzone]

Originally Posted by Voyager

I always heard it as aristocratic Bostonian - not Irish Bostonian like the Kennedys. You know, the Cabots speak only to the Lodges, and the Lodges speak only to God. That might have come from the fact her show came from WGBH, but I lived in Boston for four years and didn't change my mind.

Yes, REALLY! The Kennedys? Give them a couple more generations and they can be "parvenus." You KNOW how Joe Kennedy got his money, right?


ETA: OOOOH! My magical 15,000!

[Zebra]

With the advent of sound, Hollywood felt that the lead actors should not have a regional American accent. (unless you were a comedy relief) They felt this would make the movies easier to sell nation wide.

There were voice and diction coaches readily available.

Moses supposes his toeses are roses, but Moses supposes erroneously,

I'm not saying that people starting losing their accents because of Hollywood. People 'in society' always spoke with that type of accent. If you wanted to enter society, then you had voice and diction classes.

[Starving Artist]

Originally Posted by Lemur866

There used to be an east-coast upper-class accent that has almost completely vanished. William F. Buckley, Katherine Hepburn, FDR, and others are examples.

Not quite. William F. Buckley had nine siblings and none of them spoke with the same accent he had, which was an odd admixture borne of his unusual childhood education. His family lived in Mexico when he was a very young child and Spanish was his first language. (His son has said that Spanish was the chief language used in his father's Manhattan duplex, due in part to the fact that so many of their hired help were Spanish themselves.) Then Buckley spent a short time in Connecticut before moving to France, whereupon French became his second language. He didn't begin formal training in English until he was seven years old and beginning several years of Catholic education in England.

So technically, Spanish was Buckley's first language, French was his second and British English was his third, although his English accent did come to be influenced somewhat by his eventual upper-class life at his parents' home in Sharon, Connecticut. His was a unique and hypnotic accent that was the result of wide and varied educational and environmental experiences rather than one attributable to upper-class, east-coast American life.

All of which stands to make what was his extraordinarily rich vocabulary all the more impressive, IMHO.