# What dialect, the Geico Gecko? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 29, 2011, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-dialect-the-geico-gecko/594478 "2011-08-29T06:59:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![LH75](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lh75/32/4438_2.png) [@LH75](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LH75)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2011, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-dialect-the-geico-gecko/594478/21 "2011-08-29T20:43:06Z")
> [@Merneith](#): > > FWIW, Geico is owned by Berkshire Hathaway, Warren Buffet’s company. If the Gecko had a Berkshire accent (which I didn’t even know was a thing), it would be pretty clever. > > Is Berkshire an “east London” accent? I have no idea but I love listening to him talk. But Warren Buffet has a flat, Midwestern American accent. I am sure he found the accent of the Gecko exotic. ---
**Author:** ![Agent\_Foxtrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc29f/32.png) [@Agent\_Foxtrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agent_Foxtrot)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2011, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-dialect-the-geico-gecko/594478/22 "2011-08-29T20:54:11Z")
No one else thought Australia or New Zealand? ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2011, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-dialect-the-geico-gecko/594478/23 "2011-08-29T21:04:46Z")
Not me. He definitely sounds English to my ears. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2011, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-dialect-the-geico-gecko/594478/24 "2011-08-29T21:11:49Z")
He sounds somewhat Australian to me, as well, but then again Australian sounds similar to Cockney (as compared to other British accents,) so I couldn’t decide between the two. ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2011, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-dialect-the-geico-gecko/594478/25 "2011-08-29T21:23:05Z")
Huh…I was thinking Tasmania or New Zealand. Of course, all of these accents (including what people think of as a ‘southern accent’) all have common origins, so I suppose it depends. -XT ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2011, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-dialect-the-geico-gecko/594478/26 "2011-08-29T21:23:30Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > He definitely sounds English to my ears. Except for some word choices and phrasing. Like “English muffin.” ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2011, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-dialect-the-geico-gecko/594478/27 "2011-08-29T21:24:05Z")
> [@xtisme](#): > > Huh…I was thinking Tasmania or New Zealand. Of course, all of these accents (including what people think of as a ‘southern accent’) all have common origins, so I suppose it depends. > > -XT WTF is a Tasmanian accent? ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2011, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-dialect-the-geico-gecko/594478/28 "2011-08-29T21:27:46Z")
> [@Peremensoe](#): > > Except for some word choices and phrasing. Like “English muffin.” Well, the writers are American. ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2011, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-dialect-the-geico-gecko/594478/29 "2011-08-29T21:30:03Z")
[QUOTE=Cazzle] WTF is a Tasmanian accent? [/QUOTE] Sounds Hawaiian, doesn’t it? (sorry, Dark Tower reference). Are you saying that you don’t believe that people from Tasmania have a different dialect (with ‘different’ defined as ‘different than Australian accent’, or just asking what the dialect sounds like? -XT ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2011, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-dialect-the-geico-gecko/594478/30 "2011-08-29T21:33:28Z")
Thye actor, Jake Wood, is well-known in Britain for appearing in the soap opera EastEnders, which as you may have guessed is set in the East End of London. The voice he uses in the Geico ads is basically his native London accent. Here he is on the EastEnders set: [On set with...Jake Wood - EastEnders - BBC One - YouTube](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rS9T-Hn9vu8) ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2011, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-dialect-the-geico-gecko/594478/31 "2011-08-29T21:43:00Z")
> [@Cazzle](#): > > WTF is a Tasmanian accent? As far as I can tell from the cartoon, it’s sounds like a “WuuLLaaaalalalaalalLALLLAllAOooOWAooooaaoaoaaoaLLALLaaoooWAAHHOOWW!!!” ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2011, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-dialect-the-geico-gecko/594478/32 "2011-08-29T21:44:36Z")
> [@xtisme](#): > > Sounds Hawaiian, doesn’t it? (sorry, Dark Tower reference). Are you saying that you don’t believe that people from Tasmania have a different dialect (with ‘different’ defined as ‘different than Australian accent’, or just asking what the dialect sounds like? > > -XT I don’t believe the Tasmanian accent is noticeably different from a Victorian accent, and I certainly don’t believe that it shares more characteristics with a New Zealand accent than a mainland Australian accent. ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2011, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-dialect-the-geico-gecko/594478/33 "2011-08-29T21:51:30Z")
Well, there you have me, since I haven’t ever been to Victoria. I have friends in Sydney who pointed out the difference to me (to me NZ/Tasmania sounds more like a South African accent). You live there and if you think that there is no distinguishable difference then I’m happy to defer to your knowledge, especially since my friends had the same unflattering things to say about NZ/Tasmanian accents that people in the north of the US say about folks with a ‘southern accent’. -XT ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2011, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-dialect-the-geico-gecko/594478/34 "2011-08-29T22:09:17Z")
> [@xtisme](#): > > Well, there you have me, since I haven’t ever been to Victoria. I have friends in Sydney who pointed out the difference to me (to me NZ/Tasmania sounds more like a South African accent). You live there and if you think that there is no distinguishable difference then I’m happy to defer to your knowledge, especially since my friends had the same unflattering things to say about NZ/Tasmanian accents that people in the north of the US say about folks with a ‘southern accent’. > > -XT I’ve never lived in Tassie or spent significant time with Tasmanians, but I have visited there and I don’t recall noticing anything beyond the usual mild variances that you get everywhere you go. While there are features that make it possible to tell a Victorian from a Western Australian from a Queenslander, it’s far more subtle than the distinct differences in US accents - there’s no Charleston vs Brooklyn. A lot of Australians might notice a difference in accent but would be hard pressed to associate it with a region. ---
**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:** [August 29, 2011, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-dialect-the-geico-gecko/594478/35 "2011-08-29T22:16:19Z")
I always took it to be a cockney accent. Really fucking annoying ad. It’s funny seeing British (and occasionally) Irish celebs doing ads on American telly but not doing them closer to home. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2011, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-dialect-the-geico-gecko/594478/36 "2011-08-29T22:16:27Z")
> [@Cazzle](#): > > WTF is a Tasmanian accent? - I will not make a Tasmanian devil reference/joke here \* ---
**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:** [August 29, 2011, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-dialect-the-geico-gecko/594478/37 "2011-08-29T22:41:21Z")
> [@Inigo\_Montoya](#): > > - I will not make a Tasmanian devil reference/joke here \* See post #31. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2011, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-dialect-the-geico-gecko/594478/38 "2011-08-29T23:08:10Z")
It’s not that surprising for British or Irish celebrities to do TV commercials in the U.S. when they don’t do them in their home country. There are a number of American celebrities who will do TV commercials outside of the U.S. but not in the U.S. ---
**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:** [August 29, 2011, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-dialect-the-geico-gecko/594478/39 "2011-08-29T23:39:01Z")
I always though: Cockney, but not so Cockney as to by incomprehensible to Americans. I’m always astonished when Americans think Australian and Cockney sound similar. Maybe a few words pronounced the same, but the overall sound is, well, just different. ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2011, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-dialect-the-geico-gecko/594478/40 "2011-08-29T23:44:03Z")
Now that I’ve been able to listen to it, it’s absolutely not Australian or New Zealand, and I’m as sure as I can be that it isn’t South African. It’s clearly English to me. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-dialect-the-geico-gecko/594478.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-dialect-the-geico-gecko/594478.md?page=3)