# Are teenagers in Australia/New Zealand starting to sound American? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 13, 2014, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-teenagers-in-australia-new-zealand-starting-to-sound-american/683618 "2014-03-13T15:34:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Kenm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bc79bd/32.png) [@Kenm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kenm)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2014, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-teenagers-in-australia-new-zealand-starting-to-sound-american/683618/21 "2014-04-05T03:38:54Z")
In Canada, fries were chips until McDonald’s moved in. The other cheap burger joints that were here before McDonald’s sold chips. After McDonald’s killed them, no more chips. Burger King then added to the linguistic outrage. ---
**Author:** ![jabiru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@jabiru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jabiru)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2014, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-teenagers-in-australia-new-zealand-starting-to-sound-american/683618/22 "2014-04-05T04:43:00Z")
> [@Kenm](#): > > In Canada, fries were chips until McDonald’s moved in. The other cheap burger joints that were here before McDonald’s sold chips… I can’t remember the last time I went to McDonalds but I do know that, whenever I used to go, I’d always ask for chips, not fries. My own personal little rebellion. ---
**Author:** ![protoboard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/fbc32d/32.png) [@protoboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/protoboard)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2014, 8:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-teenagers-in-australia-new-zealand-starting-to-sound-american/683618/23 "2014-04-05T08:57:15Z")
> [@Kenm](#): > > In Canada, fries were chips until McDonald’s moved in. The other cheap burger joints that were here before McDonald’s sold chips. > > After McDonald’s killed them, no more chips. Burger King then added to the linguistic outrage. Interesting. This was what, in the 60s/70s? ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2014, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-teenagers-in-australia-new-zealand-starting-to-sound-american/683618/24 "2014-04-05T13:54:21Z")
> [@Kenm](#): > > In Canada, fries were chips until McDonald’s moved in. The other cheap burger joints that were here before McDonald’s sold chips. The term “fries” was very commonplace in Canada prior to the arrival of McDonald’s in Canada, which didn’t happen until 1967. It’s very easy to find, online, old menus from Canadian restaurants years before that serving “Fries” and “French fries.” Better restaurants would use “French fried potatoes.” “Chips” was certainly not uncommon but the “fries” term wasn’t started by McDonald’s. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2014, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-teenagers-in-australia-new-zealand-starting-to-sound-american/683618/25 "2014-04-05T14:06:41Z")
I don’t know about the accents, but American slang has penetrated most of the world even among adults. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2014, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-teenagers-in-australia-new-zealand-starting-to-sound-american/683618/26 "2014-04-05T14:27:52Z")
> [@Ken001](#): > > In NZ we have unfortunately imported some of your gangsta culture, mostly confined to Auckland. It attracts young Maori and Pacific Island youth. > [http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/gangs/page-3](http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/gangs/page-3) I visited Auckland in 1998. As I mentioned [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=5940582&postcount=166), I was quite shocked at the sight of all the gang graffiti. Even in the small towns. And all the fences. Almost every home in NZ was surrounded by a fence. Thought that was strange. ---
**Author:** ![PurpleClogs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f04885/32.png) [@PurpleClogs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PurpleClogs)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2014, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-teenagers-in-australia-new-zealand-starting-to-sound-american/683618/27 "2014-04-05T15:34:22Z")
Americans use bar unless it’s a specific type of bar such as an Irish pub. But those are by far the minority. And yes we were aware pub was used elsewhere prior to the Internet. I must admit it’s a sad that so many non-Americans know us only by American TV, movies, music, and anonymous online spew. It’s so not representative of the average American. But that’s another topic… ---
**Author:** ![Kenm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bc79bd/32.png) [@Kenm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kenm)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2014, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-teenagers-in-australia-new-zealand-starting-to-sound-american/683618/28 "2014-04-05T17:44:48Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > The term “fries” was very commonplace in Canada prior to the arrival of McDonald’s in Canada, which didn’t happen until 1967. It’s very easy to find, online, old menus from Canadian restaurants years before that serving “Fries” and “French fries.” Better restaurants would use “French fried potatoes.” “Chips” was certainly not uncommon but the “fries” term wasn’t started by McDonald’s. The term existed, but it didn’t go extinct, or nearly so, except for “fish and chips,” until McDonald’s moved in. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2014, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-teenagers-in-australia-new-zealand-starting-to-sound-american/683618/29 "2014-04-05T22:56:54Z")
> [@araminty](#): > > Mostly kids sound like their parents. Do you mean that as a generalization? Because my experience is that 2nd-generation Americans have no accent. ---
**Author:** ![PurpleClogs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f04885/32.png) [@PurpleClogs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PurpleClogs)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2014, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-teenagers-in-australia-new-zealand-starting-to-sound-american/683618/30 "2014-04-05T23:22:09Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > Do you mean that as a generalization? Because my experience is that 2nd-generation Americans have no accent. Americans don’t have just one accent. There are lots of regional [dialects](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_dialects_of_the_English_language). ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2014, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-teenagers-in-australia-new-zealand-starting-to-sound-american/683618/31 "2014-04-05T23:42:07Z")
> [@jabiru](#): > > I can’t remember the last time I went to McDonalds but I do know that, whenever I used to go, I’d always ask for chips, not fries. My own personal little rebellion. Back in the 70’s we had a very prim and proper Auntie Bunty who wasn’t really our aunt but nevermind… She was in her 80’s, and had heard about this new-phenomenon called McDonalds, so one lunchtime before bowls, she tottered off to the local Maccas, got to the counter, and asked for a, “Ham and salad sandwich please” to the young thing behind the register. Upon being informed that McDonalds didn’t do ham and salad sandwiches, she asked ever so politely what they _did_ do. The girl pointed to the burgers listed, and Auntie Bunty, in disgust, walked away never to return. This lady did not do hamburgers. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2014, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-teenagers-in-australia-new-zealand-starting-to-sound-american/683618/32 "2014-04-05T23:51:45Z")
I recall at the height of Neighbours/Home & Away’s popularity in Ireland and Britain there was some talk that younger people were taking on Aussie slang, accents. The British and Irish adoption of rising inflection was blamed, at least partly, upon those shows’ popularity. I noticed that among certain youth subcultures in the US that Britishisms were very popular. I don’t know if this was some hangover from Monty Python but as a teenager visiting the US I found it disconcerting. In popular music there seems to have been an accent tennis match between Britain and America these last 50 years, with many British or Irish or Aussie etc acts affecting American accents in songs but also a not insignificant amount of American musicians affecting British, even sometimes Irish accents, in their songs. ---
**Author:** ![si\_blakely](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@si\_blakely](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/si_blakely)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2014, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-teenagers-in-australia-new-zealand-starting-to-sound-american/683618/33 "2014-04-06T02:13:58Z")
I have a couple of nieces in NZ who exhibit Valleyspeak accents amongst the usual kiwi accent - I find it pretty odd, and it is only two amongst eight. All of their siblings sound typically kiwi. I would also add that american TV isn’t totally dominant on NZ TV - it’s always been a mix of UK, US and Australian shows with some local content. I don’t expect it is hugely influential. Also, there are two responses to that sort of cultural influence on accent - one where the language assimilates the invader and softens, and one where the local accent strengthens/broadens as a distinctive against the outlide influence. I think I hear more of that sort of response in NZ, but I am not able to be really objective - I have lived the past decade in the UK, so have been out of the kiwi speaking realm for many years. In fact, I knew I had lived in the UK too long when I started finding it hard to reliably distinguish aussie and kiwi accents (the milder ones, not broad strine or kiwi). Now I’m back in NZ, it will take a bit to retune my ear. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2014, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-teenagers-in-australia-new-zealand-starting-to-sound-american/683618/34 "2014-04-06T02:28:18Z")
Si blakely, interesting you should mention local accent strengthening, I think I have witnessed that here. A lot of people locally seem to be taking more pride in local terms that had all but died out or were dormant, even younger folk sometimes seem to overemphasise their own accent. It is an interesting process, negotiation. And of course, few, if any of us, speak the same to our peers, or loved ones, the same way we do to a rank stranger, or person in authority. ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2014, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-teenagers-in-australia-new-zealand-starting-to-sound-american/683618/35 "2014-04-18T13:47:27Z")
> [@An\_Gadai](#): > > Si blakely, interesting you should mention local accent strengthening, I think I have witnessed that here. A lot of people locally seem to be taking more pride in local terms that had all but died out or were dormant, even younger folk sometimes seem to overemphasise their own accent. It is an interesting process, negotiation. And of course, few, if any of us, speak the same to our peers, or loved ones, the same way we do to a rank stranger, or person in authority. This is happening in my hometown, and I’ve seen a few papers from linguists confirming it. (No cite - sorry.) My parents had many Buffalo mannerisms in their speech (all business names spoken in the genitive case, “there” after nouns and place names, SoCal conventions for road/highway numbers, etc), but didn’t have much of an accent. Same thing with other relatives in their 70s and 80s. Among those between 30 and 60, though, the [Buffalo eeyacksint](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3_VId0GJXc) is quite strong. Buffalo accents also seem to grow stronger with age, and they’re much more noticeable in someone that’s 30 than a teenager or college student. All this, despite being on the border with Canada, and having regular exposure to “neutral” American and Canadian accents in the media. ---
**Author:** ![sweat209](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc348/32.png) [@sweat209](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sweat209)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2014, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-teenagers-in-australia-new-zealand-starting-to-sound-american/683618/36 "2014-04-23T21:54:43Z")
> [@jabiru](#): > > I can’t remember the last time I went to McDonalds but I do know that, whenever I used to go, I’d always ask for chips, not fries. My own personal little rebellion. So people in Canada and the UK said chips and people in the US said fries? Than where did french fries com from? ---
**Author:** ![si\_blakely](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@si\_blakely](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/si_blakely)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2014, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-teenagers-in-australia-new-zealand-starting-to-sound-american/683618/37 "2014-04-23T22:08:09Z")
> [@sweat209](#): > > So people in Canada and the UK said chips and people in the US said fries? Than where did french fries com from? Belgium. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2014, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-teenagers-in-australia-new-zealand-starting-to-sound-american/683618/38 "2014-04-24T00:44:09Z")
I deal with quite a lot of teenagers at work and I’ve noticed a _lot_ of them adopting American words for things - referring to the “elevator”, filling their cars with “gas” (when they don’t drive an LPG-fuelled vehicle) and so on. Worringly, many of them also now pronounce the alphabet’s last letter as “Zee”, not “Zed”. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2014, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-teenagers-in-australia-new-zealand-starting-to-sound-american/683618/39 "2014-04-24T01:00:24Z")
> [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > I deal with quite a lot of teenagers at work and I’ve noticed a _lot_ of them adopting American words for things - referring to the “elevator”, filling their cars with “gas” (when they don’t drive an LPG-fuelled vehicle) and so on. Worringly, many of them also now pronounce the alphabet’s last letter as “Zee”, not “Zed”. I’ve noticed Zee encroaching on Zed here among small children learning the alphabet because most children’s cartoons are for a primarily American audience, Sesame St too. It tends to get “corrected” out of them in school though. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2014, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-teenagers-in-australia-new-zealand-starting-to-sound-american/683618/40 "2014-04-24T01:11:26Z")
> [@An\_Gadai](#): > > I’ve noticed Zee encroaching on Zed here among small children learning the alphabet because most children’s cartoons are for a primarily American audience, Sesame St too. It tends to get “corrected” out of them in school though. Most of the children’s cartoons here are British or Canadian, so the “Zee” thing seems to be coming from US TV shows for teenagers and adults, I think. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-teenagers-in-australia-new-zealand-starting-to-sound-american/683618.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-teenagers-in-australia-new-zealand-starting-to-sound-american/683618.md?page=3)