this post was submitted on 21 Apr 2026
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Microblog Memes

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[–] Sphks@jlai.lu 190 points 1 day ago* (last edited 23 hours ago) (10 children)

I'm French and I bet that it's the rythm. I can hear this foreigner with a perfect accent but with a way too perfect rythm with the same tonality: "Bon-jour-deux-croi-ssants-s'il-vous-plait"

A French would sing it. Bonjour ! : High pitched, the "bon-" louder than the "-jour", quick, dynamic.

A pause...

"Deux croissants" medium pitch, without any pause before: "S'il vous plaît". Sometimes said very fast, since it's something you say everyday ("Silouplai"), and with a low pitch since it's the end of the sentence.

[–] merc@sh.itjust.works 58 points 1 day ago (2 children)

A simpler explanation is that people tend not to be able to hear their own accents.

Someone who wasn't brought up speaking French will probably never have an "absolutely perfect" accent. They may think that they sound exactly like everyone around them, but to someone brought up speaking French, they don't.

There are a lot of British actors who do American accents for various parts. These are native English speakers who grew up listening to American accents on TV shows and in movies. They work with dialogue coaches, and can rehearse their lines until they think they can deliver them perfectly in American-style English. Any slips in their accent can be fixed in ADR before the film is released. Yet, many people, including me, are able to spot a few quirks in their speaking and often identify these people as not American.

For French in particular, it has the "u" sound that also exists in German, but doesn't really exist in English. Many people who weren't brought up with that sound can't even really hear it, or can't hear it as different from the "oo" sound that they associate with the letter "u". As a result, words like "ouverture" don't have two distinct "oo / u" sounds for them. So, they might think they're speaking flawlessly and that nobody can notice, but it's really obvious for anybody who was brought up hearing and speaking French.

[–] socsa@piefed.social 20 points 1 day ago (1 children)

My wife gets absolutely irate when I tell her she still has an accent, and that she also code switches her accents depending on who she is talking to.

[–] merc@sh.itjust.works 10 points 1 day ago

Everybody has an accent. But, do you mean that you can still tell that English isn't her first language or something?

A friend of mine is a champion unconscious code switcher. I lived in Australia for a bit and I don't think my accent drifted much. It was enough of a problem that when I went to restaurants and asked for water they'd look at me confused, so I had to learn to say "whoa-tah". This friend came to visit me in Australia and within a week he was using Australian terms and drifting into an Australian accent, even when talking to me, and it was completely unconscious.

[–] Malyca@lemmy.zip 3 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Reminds me of Hugh Laurie, the director House praised him for having the perfect American accent, not knowing he was British.

[–] janus2@lemmy.zip 13 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Everyone cites Hugh Laurie as the best UK-born imitator of the American accent, and I completely agree, but I also think it's fucking hilarious that now a lot of UK actors trying to do an American accent also end up imitating Hugh Laurie's gravelly voice.

The Fauxmerican Accent is now Grumpy Doctor Voice, 11/10 comedy

[–] homes@piefed.world 2 points 6 hours ago

amusingly, Laurie complained that he had, in fact, lost his British accent after so many years of working on House and had to work with a dialog coach to get it back.

[–] wieson@feddit.org 4 points 1 day ago

Same as every american sketch comic trying to do a German accent, does a Brüno imitation (Sasha Baron Cohen's character).
Brüno's accent is really good, being a mixture of many characteristics, one of them German, another being typical gay speech patterns.
So now everyone who thinks they're doing a German accent, does a gay German Brüno voice. Not quite right.

[–] merc@sh.itjust.works 9 points 1 day ago (2 children)

The "director House"?

Why would someone praise someone they thought was American for having the perfect American accent?

[–] Malyca@lemmy.zip 5 points 1 day ago

If I recall, he was chastising another audition, as in "look at that guy there, that's a perfect American accent, that's what I want"

[–] Quibblekrust@thelemmy.club 5 points 1 day ago

Yeah, that story makes no sense.

[–] BuboScandiacus@mander.xyz 19 points 1 day ago (1 children)

“Bonjour ! Euhhh…. Deux croissants s’il-vous-plaît et euhh…. ce sera tout”

[–] zaphod@sopuli.xyz 4 points 22 hours ago

Literally this, just add an insane amount of euhh everywhere and they'll think you're one of them.

[–] dream_weasel@sh.itjust.works 8 points 1 day ago

You describe it and I can hear my aunt (in law) saying it that way. I believe it.

[–] ccunix@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago

Unless they are Breton

That would be more like "bo------r, (nods vaguely toward the croissants)" the "s'il vous plaît" is implied, but definitely there somewhere. The "merci" will be a slight nod backwards.

[–] Brummbaer@pawb.social 21 points 1 day ago

As someone living in France for a while now, that's exactly what I picked up from immersion, never noticed that before.

And you wonder why people think you are uptight? /s

[–] fushuan@lemmy.blahaj.zone 10 points 1 day ago

So basically the same tempo as HEllooo, two croissants please. Taking as much time saying "s'il vous plait" as "please".

Basically talking like a normal person haha.

[–] HowdyLemmy@lemmy.zip 11 points 1 day ago (3 children)

Please do "I’m sorry, but I don’t speak French" now, please, thanks, please. :)

[–] eestileib@lemmy.blahaj.zone 10 points 1 day ago

<<Pardon, je suits stupide.>>

No shit this bailed me out in France. 😄

[–] Sphks@jlai.lu 12 points 1 day ago (1 children)

You say it with the pitch and rythm of "Je ne regrette rien" from Edith Piaf.

[–] HowdyLemmy@lemmy.zip 5 points 1 day ago

Thank you. I will try not to burst into song next time I get this springs up :P

[–] RickyRigatoni@piefed.zip 8 points 1 day ago (1 children)

JE SORROUX, JE NON SPEAKOUX FRENCHOUX

[–] socsa@piefed.social 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)

WE WE CROISSANT. OMELETTE DU FROMAGE.

[–] Uruanna@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Yeah that's just gonna piss off any French person because we have no idea how that became so popular.

[–] BananaIsABerry@lemmy.zip 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Dexter's Laboratory must be the reason, I can't accept any other explanation.

[–] Uruanna@lemmy.world 1 points 22 hours ago

Yeah, but it's a cultural niche that's not known at all over on this side, and it became a meme, while being wrong.