# Identify this accent (or is it a non-standard mannerism?) **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 21, 2016, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-accent-or-is-it-a-non-standard-mannerism/757990 "2016-06-21T22:02:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2016, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-accent-or-is-it-a-non-standard-mannerism/757990/1 "2016-06-21T22:02:39Z")
For some reason, YouTube has been serving me up suggested videos on gold panning, including some from [this guy](https://www.youtube.com/user/HowToDrillAWell) He has an accent that seems to deliver the end sounds of words like water, river, here, there, as ‘or’ or maybe ‘aw’ For example, in [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyYjFDAwor4)video, about 29 seconds in, when he says ‘gold is 19 times heavier than water’. At about 32 seconds, he ends the word ‘heavier’ that way. He’s not doing it consistently though - in the previous sentence, the word ‘heavier’ was not the same. Is this part of a regional accent, or does the speaker just have a mannerism of his own? ---
**Author:** ![mr\_wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5e9695/32.png) [@mr\_wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mr_wolf)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2016, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-accent-or-is-it-a-non-standard-mannerism/757990/2 "2016-06-21T22:07:36Z")
East Texas. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2016, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-accent-or-is-it-a-non-standard-mannerism/757990/3 "2016-06-21T22:17:33Z")
Thanks - is it normal for it to be so inconsistent across examples of the same word in subsequent sentences? Is he trying to speak in a more ‘standard’ accent for the video, with native accent bit slipping through? ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2016, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-accent-or-is-it-a-non-standard-mannerism/757990/4 "2016-06-21T22:25:33Z")
That definitely isn’t East Texas (I grew up with that accent and know it well). I believe he just has a minor speech impediment. It is common for people with speech impediments to have trouble with the word ‘water’. It sounds like he has trouble with some ‘r’ sounds in particular especially when the sound ends a word. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2016, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-accent-or-is-it-a-non-standard-mannerism/757990/5 "2016-06-21T22:32:10Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > That definitely isn’t East Texas (I grew up with that accent and know it well). I believe he just has a minor speech impediment. It is common for people with speech impediments to have trouble with the word ‘water’. It sounds like he has trouble with some ‘r’ sounds in particular especially when the sound ends a word. If that’s Texas, then I’m from Timbuktu. First of all, no one in Texas talks that fast. And the “water” pronunciation is either a speech impediment (as per above) or some sound distortion in the recording. I’m going to say somewhere in the North East (just due to how fast he speaks) and afflicted with a Baba Wawa impediment. He doesn’t have a discernible, regional US accent. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2016, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-accent-or-is-it-a-non-standard-mannerism/757990/6 "2016-06-21T23:52:41Z")
Since two of you big-hat guys are here, what accent does Tommy Lee Jones have? How defined do Texas regional accents get? I think he doesn’t really change it, eg, from _Men in Black_ to _No Country for Old Men_ and in the latter movie, his voice and tone _define_ the character and his environment. [No Country for Old Men - the ending scene [HD] - YouTube](https://youtu.be/VXNfxK5Q2Qg) (Last scene clip, _No Country for Old Men_) And, since after al, he is an actor, does it differ to your ears from his natural speaking?: [Tommy Lee Jones talks to Joe Leydon about "Men in Black" - YouTube](https://youtu.be/W345DZ5ByTM) I have seen YouTube comments from non-Americans to have his speeches translated (particularly in the opening voice-over), the way many people, myself included, absolutely could not understand portions of the Scottish movie _Trainspotting._ Which reminds me, a small but critical role is played by Kelly Macdonald, who is Scottish. How does she do? [No Country For Old Men-Keep It Up - YouTube](https://youtu.be/AS1k47aUIOU) (short clip) ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2016, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-accent-or-is-it-a-non-standard-mannerism/757990/7 "2016-06-22T04:08:35Z")
Sounds like a speech impediment to me. He has trouble with the L in “people”, the R in “rock,” the final R sounds in “year,” “river,” R in “working”, “here”. His web site says, “I spent a few months playing around with it in Colorado when I was 7 and Arizona when I was 10.” and then that he moved to California. Says nothing about Texas but his web site is registered to Admin Name: NATHANIEL BURSON Admin Organization: Admin Street: ETERNAL CHURCH OF GOD Admin Street: 10758 HWY 155 S Admin City: BIG SANDY Admin State/Province: TX Admin Postal Code: 75755 Admin Country: US Which is in NE Texas, just northeast of Tyler. Google “Nathaniel Burson gold” and you will get a lot of hits. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2016, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-accent-or-is-it-a-non-standard-mannerism/757990/8 "2016-06-22T06:13:18Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > Sounds like a speech impediment to me. He has trouble with the L in “people”, the R in “rock,” the final R sounds in “year,” “river,” R in “working”, “here”. There is a very slight hint of Elmer Fudd to some of those sounds, agreed. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2016, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-accent-or-is-it-a-non-standard-mannerism/757990/9 "2016-06-22T14:07:28Z")
Sounds like he has a speech defect called rhotacism. British TV presenter Jonathan Ross has it, Monty Python Terry Jones has it, as does Elmer Fudd, and the character Barry Kripke on _The Big Bang Theory_. [A video on the topic.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ld3A3QCpXd4)