# Kermit the Frogs Accent
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kermit-the-frogs-accent/93099
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [November 13, 2001, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kermit-the-frogs-accent/93099 "2001-11-13T11:36:34Z")
**Posts on this page:** 16
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Gartog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gartog)
#### Post date: [November 13, 2001, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kermit-the-frogs-accent/93099/1 "2001-11-13T11:36:34Z")
I debated where to put this and eventually decided on here where, hopfully, it will get answered.
What Accent does Kermit The Frog have?
My first thought was Chicago, but then I changed my mind, only I not sure what I changed it to.
My American’s a little rusty, so can anyone help me?
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### Author:  [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)
#### Post date: [November 13, 2001, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kermit-the-frogs-accent/93099/2 "2001-11-13T11:52:47Z")
Jim Henson was born in Mississippi, and then moved to Maryland when he was about 10.
In any way you look at it, Jim Henson had a unique voice, and it isn’t really regional, I reckon.
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### Author:  [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)
#### Post date: [November 13, 2001, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kermit-the-frogs-accent/93099/3 "2001-11-13T14:44:38Z")
It’s Tom Brokaw on helium.
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### Author:  [@CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrankyAsAnOldMan)
#### Post date: [November 13, 2001, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kermit-the-frogs-accent/93099/4 "2001-11-13T15:22:02Z")
I think it’s Wisconsin, all the way.
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### Author:  [@aegypt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aegypt)
#### Post date: [November 13, 2001, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kermit-the-frogs-accent/93099/5 "2001-11-13T16:28:34Z")
It’s more of a “funny voice” than an accent really.
I once met a guy from Indiana who spoke a little bit like Kermit. I don’t know if he’s representative (I’m not American) or if he was just a fan.
Highjack: is it just me, or does anybody else have the feeling that Kermit is actually gay, and that the whole Miss Piggy thing is just a sham? It’s easy to see that their marriage is not working out, what with the domestic violence and Kermit constantly obsessed with work. Also, that song “It’s not easy being green” just sounds like it’s really about something else (not to mention “The Rainbow Connection” in “The Muppet Movie”). _And_ he’s very neat for a frog.
As the green guy himself once put it, “Time’s fun when you’re having flies.”
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### Author:  [@middleman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/middleman)
#### Post date: [November 13, 2001, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kermit-the-frogs-accent/93099/6 "2001-11-13T17:20:21Z")
Plus, I heard he went to Bert and Ernie’s Halloween Party…
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### Author:  [@broccoli](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/broccoli)
#### Post date: [November 13, 2001, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kermit-the-frogs-accent/93099/7 "2001-11-13T18:53:33Z")
If I was stuck with that beeeotch PIG (in the non-literal sense) I’d probably go gay too! 😃 No, I actually don’t think Kermit is gay. Now his little nephew Robin… that little talking rag has gay written all over him… 😉
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### Author:  [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)
#### Post date: [November 13, 2001, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kermit-the-frogs-accent/93099/8 "2001-11-13T20:17:52Z")
Kermit is actually Jim Henson’s normal speaking voice. Watching tapes of Jim Henson is really bizarre because you hear a Kermit voice coming out of this guy.
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### Author:  [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)
#### Post date: [November 13, 2001, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kermit-the-frogs-accent/93099/9 "2001-11-13T20:23:46Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by even sven \*
> \*\*Kermit is actually Jim Henson’s normal speaking voice. Watching tapes of Jim Henson is really bizarre because you hear a Kermit voice coming out of this guy. \*\*
Whew! Thank goodness. That should put an end to all these “Jim Henson is dead” rumors.
🙂
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### Author:  [@PRNYouth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PRNYouth)
#### Post date: [November 14, 2001, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kermit-the-frogs-accent/93099/10 "2001-11-14T00:13:42Z")
I agree that it’s just sort of a neutral American accent. To me, it doesn’t seem to have any particular regionalism to it.
But for what it’s worth, Kermit’s current puppeteer, Steve Whitmire, was born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia. But since then, I’d guess he’s been all over the world (I know he worked in London on the Muppet Show, and has definitely spent a great deal of time in New York and Los Angeles). Jim traveled a lot, too – so the accent probably naturally went more neutral over time.
Kermit wasn’t EXACTLY Jim’s natural voice – Jim’s “Kermit voice” was a bit higher-pitched and usually had a little more of a hard edge than Jim’s natural voice had.
I’m a fan of the Muppet voice talent. Can you tell? 😉
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### Author:  [@SPOOFE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SPOOFE)
#### Post date: [November 14, 2001, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kermit-the-frogs-accent/93099/11 "2001-11-14T00:44:49Z")
I would describe Kermit’s voice as a bit of the “milquetoast” variety… really stressing and over-pronouncing the vowels, bringing the voice “up” after many of the words, that sort of thing.
> [@](#):
>
> Highjack: is it just me, or does anybody else have the feeling that Kermit is actually gay, and that the whole Miss Piggy thing is just a sham?
Actually, my pet theory is that, yes, Kermit _is_ gay, but Miss Piggy is actually a cross-dresser, and the only person who knows that “she” is really a “he” is Kermit.
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### Author:  [@psychogumby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychogumby)
#### Post date: [November 14, 2001, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kermit-the-frogs-accent/93099/12 "2001-11-14T07:50:36Z")
I always thought it was Jim Henson making fun of the lead singer from 1960’s band Canned Heat.
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### Author:  [@Gartog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gartog)
#### Post date: [November 14, 2001, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kermit-the-frogs-accent/93099/13 "2001-11-14T11:38:31Z")
Thanks for the insight everyone. I always assumed it wasn’t JH’h natural voice but it’s interesting to not that it’s very similar, I guess that way you don’t have to worry too much about consistancy.
It always struck me as a very nasel voice, plus as SPOOFE said bringing the voice up after many of the words.
Thanks again
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### Author:  [@aegypt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aegypt)
#### Post date: [November 14, 2001, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kermit-the-frogs-accent/93099/14 "2001-11-14T14:43:40Z")
Must.Resist.Urge.To.Post.Inane.Kermit.The.Frog.And.Miss.Piggy.Joke.Before.It.Is.Too.Late…
Q: What’s the difference between Kermit the frog and a smoker?
A: The smoker craves a cig in the pack.
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### Author:  [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)
#### Post date: [November 14, 2001, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kermit-the-frogs-accent/93099/15 "2001-11-14T18:48:55Z")
It’s obviously a Middle American Wetlands accent.
And you know, of course, that Miss Piggy can only count up to sixty-eight, right? At 69 she gets a frog in her throat.
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### Author:  [@Ace\_Face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ace_Face)
#### Post date: [November 14, 2001, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kermit-the-frogs-accent/93099/16 "2001-11-14T19:27:20Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Gartog \*
> \*\*What Accent does Kermit The Frog have?
> \*\*
Amphibinese?