Daily insights for city builders, delivered every morning at 6 AM ET. I’m Brandon Donnelly — a Toronto-based real estate developer and founder of Globizen. I’ve been writing here since 2013.
I came across this video the other night. (If you can’t see it embedded above, click here.) It is a tour of the UK and Ireland’s different accents by Andrew Jack. It is an extraordinary demonstration of his skill.
Did he get any of them wrong?
Sadly, Andrew died last month from COVID-19.
I find regional accents fascinating.
I generally think that Toronto has a fairly neutral accent. But then again, when I lived in Philadelphia, I used to notice the accident every time I came home. Maybe it is because I had adopted a bit of the Philly accent. For the record, I never picked up “youse.”
According to some classifications, most of Western and Central Canada would fall under “General Canadian.” But I find that there are noticeable differences between the accents in Toronto and, say, Calgary. Really there are differences even within the Greater Toronto Area.
CityLab has a recent article up about why city accents are fading in the US midwest. They chalk it up to two main factors: education and geographic mobility. But I also wonder if today’s online connectivity isn’t muting some of the local varietals.
That’s the interesting thing about accents, they – much like the language itself – are constantly changing and evolving. On that note, I’ll end with this classic parody of the Chicago accent: Da Bulls!
