# Australian and Kiwi accents. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 5, 2007, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australian-and-kiwi-accents/421612 "2007-10-05T06:42:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2007, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australian-and-kiwi-accents/421612/41 "2007-10-08T01:49:32Z")
[QUOTE=GreedySmurf] Greg Norman lost his Aussie accent years ago, so unfortunately he is not a basis for comparing S.A. to the Oz accent. šŸ˜ƒ [/QUOTE] Greg Norman has a mid-Pacific accent: he sounds neither Australian nor American, but somewhere in the middle. ---
**Author:** ![abby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/48db29/32.png) [@abby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/abby)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2007, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australian-and-kiwi-accents/421612/42 "2007-10-08T04:07:02Z")
[QUOTE=GuanoLad] Iā€™ve been here in AU for 8 years now, and what little accent I had is now almost entirely lost, except for just a few words and turns of phrases here and there. Now, whenever I visit home or talk to my family, the NZ accent is very grating to me, and bothers me a lot. I think thatā€™s just familiarity, but it does disappoint me that the New Zealand accent sounds ā€œwrongā€ to my ears, causing me to wince. [/QUOTE] Oh. I think you still have a NZ accent, but I agree itā€™s lightā€¦ Anyway, I think itā€™s a lot like how Americans and Canadians are loathe to be called the opposite, but they sound very similar to my Aussie ears. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2007, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australian-and-kiwi-accents/421612/43 "2007-10-08T05:29:53Z")
[QUOTE=Kyla] For the non-North Americansā€¦why not just ask ā€œWhere are you from?ā€ [/QUOTE] This goes for any nationality really. Iā€™m not sure why people feel the need to guess where people are from, though Iā€™m sure weā€™ve all done it. My shining moment was asking an Irish girl what part of Scotland she came from (she still kissed me though, so canā€™t have been too annoyed :).) ---
**Author:** ![Otara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a88e4f/32.png) [@Otara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otara)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2007, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australian-and-kiwi-accents/421612/44 "2007-10-08T06:43:47Z")
The two accents (Oz and Nz) are really surprisingly similar. Its usually only from immersion in one that people can generally easily tell the difference. As an ex-Nzer, some Australians can tell my accent immediately, and others not notice it at all for extended periods. So theres clearly a skill component to it, rather than it being ā€˜obviousā€™ to all at the drop of a hat. But if you have that ability, it can be fairly instant. Otara ---
**Author:** ![PaulParkhead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@PaulParkhead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PaulParkhead)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2007, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australian-and-kiwi-accents/421612/45 "2007-10-08T06:43:50Z")
[QUOTE=1920s Style ā€œDeath Rayā€] This goes for any nationality really. Iā€™m not sure why people feel the need to guess where people are from, though Iā€™m sure weā€™ve all done it. My shining moment was asking an Irish girl what part of Scotland she came from (she still kissed me though, so canā€™t have been too annoyed :).) [/QUOTE] Funny - Iā€™m Scottish and I keep getting asked (in the northeastern USA) what part of Ireland Iā€™m from. ---
**Author:** ![maggenpye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecc23a/32.png) [@maggenpye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maggenpye)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2007, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australian-and-kiwi-accents/421612/46 "2007-10-08T08:03:43Z")
I canā€™t believe weā€™ve gone so long without the old gag: NZ Sux! - OZZY Zero. [hijack]Hi PaulParkhead! Which part of Scotland? Iā€™ve ancestry in Glasgow and Aberdeenshire (South of Insch)[/hijack] ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2007, 9:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australian-and-kiwi-accents/421612/47 "2007-10-08T09:30:30Z")
[QUOTE=maggenpye] I canā€™t believe weā€™ve gone so long without the old gag: NZ Sux! - OZZY Zero. [/QUOTE] In Australia, we _shear_ sheepā€¦ ā€œSorry mate. Iā€™m not shearing this sheep with innybody.ā€ (equally old, but a classic) šŸ˜ƒ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australian-and-kiwi-accents/421612.md?page=2)