# About the French accent

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-the-french-accent/776239>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [January 3, 2017, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-the-french-accent/776239 "2017-01-03T17:09:03Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![A\_Dodgy\_Dude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a87d85/32.png) [@A\_Dodgy\_Dude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A_Dodgy_Dude)\
**Post date:** [January 3, 2017, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-the-french-accent/776239/1 "2017-01-03T17:09:03Z")

</div>

I was watching _French Kiss_ with Kevin Kline and Meg Ryan. In the movie, Kline plays a Frenchman and in some scenes instead of pronouncing _oui_ as “wee” he seems to be saying “uh-wae.”

Is that a regional pronunciation from somewhere in France?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![MoonMoon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moonmoon/32/2959_2.png) [@MoonMoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MoonMoon)\
**Post date:** [January 3, 2017, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-the-french-accent/776239/2 "2017-01-03T17:30:48Z")

</div>

It’s “ouais” and it’s the French “yeah”.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Les\_Espaces\_Du\_Sommeil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/les_espaces_du_sommeil/32/308_2.png) [@Les\_Espaces\_Du\_Sommeil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Les_Espaces_Du_Sommeil)\
**Post date:** [January 3, 2017, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-the-french-accent/776239/3 "2017-01-03T21:08:31Z")

</div>

I’d need to hear him to confirm it but **MoonMoon** is probably right.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![A\_Dodgy\_Dude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a87d85/32.png) [@A\_Dodgy\_Dude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A_Dodgy_Dude)\
**Post date:** [January 3, 2017, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-the-french-accent/776239/4 "2017-01-03T23:25:47Z")

</div>

> [@MoonMoon](#):
>
> It’s “ouais” and it’s the French “yeah”.

Ah! OK, thanks MoonMoon and Les Espaces Du Sommeil.