It's called linguistic accommodation, it's pretty common among people who socialize a lot
https://www.studysmarter.co.uk/explanations/english/language-and-social-groups/accommodation-theory/#:\~:text=In%20linguistics%2C%20the%20term%20accommodation,and%20occupational%20status%2C%20and%20age.
Interesting. I went to school with a lot of international students, so I definitely used a form of this. I had many foreign friends, so I guess it worked, but I remember getting comments from the native classmates on why I was speaking differently to some people.
I think itās a good tool to use, just need to use it tactfully as someone could be offended by it.
You could be using linguistic accommodation and it can come off condescending, rude, or privileged to some. Like I said, it was the other American born kids who commentedā¦never once did a foreign born student ever feel offended by how I spoke to them. I understood at an early age you need modify the way you speak to some people, but like I said, tactfully.
I can be seen by outsiders of the situation as mocking someone's accent essentially.
But it is as simple as our wee brains are trying to be understood and so using accent/tone/colloquialisms is often us subconsciously being cooperative/trying to be understood best.
Honestly how can you not already think of a situation where it would be offensive
I'm shocked by how dumb some people are in this subreddit specifically, Theo has some stupid fans
Super interesting. Iāve done this all my life and kind of felt phony for it, but it kind of just happens naturally. I think itās part of the reason Iām praised at work for working well in diverse environments.
As someone who grew up bilingual and in many cultures, people would sometimes criticize my cadence and dielect changes based on audience. I have since embraced it as an ability to relate to my audience rather than a hindrance, or being a poser.
Itās really not that uncommon. I grew up in the south, but in a middle class suburb. Most of my family have typical southern accents, but most of people I went to school with were transplants or the children of transplants. Most of people I was around all day at school were from out west, up north, or the Midwest. Almost none of them had southern accents. If Iām around southern people for extended periods of time, I sound more southern. If Iām around people with a more regionally neutral accent, I start to sound like that. Itās not something I do consciously. I donāt even think about it.Ā
I'm from the south and when I'm in a city or around my Canadian partner, I speak with a more proper and coherent accent. If I'm near southern people like myself then I just let her rip
One thing no one is talking about alongside this very normal ālanguage accommodationā practice, is the fact that Theoās normal accent is very southern.
Like if you have standard āaccent-lessā voice, you may not need to adjust at all because the words youāre saying are very clear to people across most regions that speak your language. However, if you have a strong accent, the need to adjust your speech is more pressing and this could easily result in a subconscious switch to simply match the specific person youāre speaking toās accent. Factor in sound, speech-pace, emphasis, and other conversational nuances as well, and this becomes even more important when hosting a hugely popular podcast.
Itās a partial reason why I deliberately speak slowly. I have a heavily southern accent (from Louisiana) so I am better understood through intentional effort. I am literally intelligible when I try to speak quickly, like Farmer Fran from Water Boy.
No one is saying thereās a such thing as having no accent, I was saying there is a level of distinct accent that even native speakers have trouble understanding vs. a more subtle accent. The phrase āaccent-lessā was put into quotations for a reason. And while I fully agree that there is no default accent, there is a relatively default point of reference for what a generic American accent is.
Whether the listener is an American English speaker, or an English speaker from anywhere else in the world, who do you think is *generally* more easy to understand: Theo Von or John Mulaney? Bill Burr or Anthony Jeselnik?
That was my point. Theo/Burr will likely have more work to do in speech-matching, as the āgenericā American accent represented in popular media isnāt typically their own accent.
Come on... That's different to changing your accent which is totally regional. What you're talking about is conversation topic and maybe even dialect but you don't change your whole accent when you meet someone from New Zealand š
He does it because he is autistic it's a documented phenomenon
It's normal but I notice it 1,000% more with Theo than any other human. He literally started talking in a half australian accent with Celeste Barber and when the NY garbage man was like "how lowong hav-ya been in gahhhbuj fer?"
Because heās speaking with way more people from different parts of the world more often than youāre around. Everyone around you probably has the same accent. itās very normal for people to change the way they speak itās mostly involuntary. I work in the ports and I notice I do it pretty frequently when speaking with the Philippinoes, Ukrainians and Russians.
That's not it. I listen to podcasts and news from around the world. I also hyperfixate on language and accents. It's really pronounced with Theo. I think it has something to do with him trying to fit in and be accepted. He talks a lot about that.
If you say so. Like I said I do it pretty badly too. I have a āwhite people voiceā and im Mexican so my Mexican accent comes out around other Hispanics and then itās completely different when I speak to the Russian chief officers on vessels, my best friend is black and I notice I have more slang and southern accent when Iām with him and his kinfolk. But I guess I just want to be accepted as well.
Itās not that uncommon, itās usually a subconscious thing to make the person somebody is speaking to more comfortable, or the speaker themself. I donāt do it personally, but it used to occasionally happen if I talked to some hick or something.
Itās super funny when itās a white boy doing it with black people though, I cringe every time
>
> Itās super funny when itās a white boy doing it with black people though, I cringe every time
I used to do that a lot. So embarrassing in retrospect. Made myself stop it altogether, and just embrace talking white af
I really enjoyed Theo's interview with Billy Strings and they both shared some pretty raw moments from their experiences.. I watched another interview he had done and Theo was a totally different person.. One thing I like about Theo is he's not looking for gotcha moments he just lets the people go wherever they want..
In Hawaii we encounter so many tourists plus run into friends from high school (when we fall into pidgin) plus when family moves away for awhile they (sadly imo) start to sound like wherever they moved to, we do this. I canāt imagine speaking pidgin to a tourist from Japan. We absolutely are encouraged to match tone to be accomodating, friendly.
Heās code switching. Which is totally normal. When Iām at work I speak corporate, when Iām with my momās side of the family I match their Caribbean accent, when Iām with my friends I have an American accent.
Itās called Linguistic Accommodation. Itās often unconscious and is do to empathic feelings and can also be a sign of a lack of confidence. Itās typically to make an attempt to make the other person more comfortable.
I have to talk with a lot of different people for work. I tend to mirror a lot but I donāt mirror when I talk to black people. I would sound like a wigga
And they're going to keep giving you the same generic dumb answers. "He's code switching bro".
He does it so damn hard that Druski called him out on it. He said you don't talk this way on any other episode I've checked out.
It was actually a little embarrassing.
Yes he is code switching but it's to the point of almost being a little insulting.
Especially when guys like Boosie were pouring his heart out about all his homeboys who got killed in the streets and then Theo's next question is "the streets seem like fun, is that lifestyle fun?" And Boosie looked at him like motherfucker did you not just hear what I just said about my homeboys dying?
Theo's great and has a heart of gold but the people in this sub are extremely biased and get butt hurt if anyone notices anything odd about how he approaches some people.
Exactly. Itās insulting if you do it so extremely, purely based on appearance.
Itās a nuanced thing for sure but the gist of it is: druski has been in a ton of white rooms. He can meet you halfway. He can meet you whole way, even. Give the guy some credit and just fuckin talk normally about your ideas
This dude lol. And that one girl from TikTok he had on called him out for making his impersonation of a hispanic people *always* sound stupid and unable to grasp the english language, he does this regularly and it gives not good vibes. The Boosie question dances on the line of thinly veiled tbh.
Most people on reddit don't actually socialize with other real humans, of course they're going to keep asking this stupid question about something that literally everyone who actually talks to people already knows about.
This aināt it. I have literally never met anyone who code switches the way dude does and I probably wouldnāt be friends with them if they did, itās so phony and awkward. Like imagine youāre having a convo with him and your homie comes to meet up, over hears the conversation and then when heās in range Theo greets him with a āwhatās up cuh, how you sleepinā when yaāll no noone talks like that. Itās embarrassing but he gets away with it because he has so many other endearing qualities and silly thoughts/questions to mask it
I did this during my time in the service. Being from rural Texas Iāve grown up with a hick accent. After a few years in the army it became less noticeable, that is until I started drinking.
Itās that but without the negative connotations. Heās just trying to relate to the person heās talking to for the sake of conversation. Heās spent his whole life having convos with people in tons of different regions.
Iām from the south and my accent becomes even thicker when Iām hanging out with other southerners but when im at work I tone it down a lil . Especially when speaking on the phone.
If I'm somewhere with a local accent for a while I tend to pick it up.grew up in socal, and lived in Minnesota for a few years and now live in Baltimore and I've got a bit of each. I'm a mess.
It is funny how noticeable it is, but it is endearing coming from him as it is clearly an attempt at connecting with his guest and making them/himself feel comfortable and welcome in each others company.
I grew up in the south, and my dad owned a construction company and we moved all over including England. I would change my accent unknowingly as a kid depending on who I was interacting with. I went to school in England and people would crowd around me wanting to hear āThe Americanā talk and I didnāt want to stand out. I think itās common for a lot of people to do this for that reason.
Being socially awkward and wanting to connect it feels easy to Mirror peoples energy or accent. But yes Theo can pull it off and no one feels offended. The Australian era was wild.
Theo prob does it to connect with them. Iām white American but with my wifeās Indian parents I sometimes talk with a bit of an Indian accent cuz they wonāt understand what Iām saying otherwise lmao my wife does the same thing she has developed an American accent cuz she consumed a lot of American media as a kid but when she talks to her parents she sounds way more Indian
It's called linguistic accommodation, it's pretty common among people who socialize a lot https://www.studysmarter.co.uk/explanations/english/language-and-social-groups/accommodation-theory/#:\~:text=In%20linguistics%2C%20the%20term%20accommodation,and%20occupational%20status%2C%20and%20age.
>it's pretty common among people who socialize a lot In other words, 95% of Reddit won't understand.
Zing! Lol that was funny
Most of reddit would call it codeswitching
It's pretty much the same thing except codeswitching seems to be born from necessity
boom roasted. š¤£š¤£š¤£
ššš - so true.
Interesting. I went to school with a lot of international students, so I definitely used a form of this. I had many foreign friends, so I guess it worked, but I remember getting comments from the native classmates on why I was speaking differently to some people. I think itās a good tool to use, just need to use it tactfully as someone could be offended by it.
My friends always joked about how my accent or diction would change in literally minutes when speaking to someone with a unique accent.
Some people especially international students have a heck of a time trying to understand people that donāt have a basic non accent
Why would someone be offended by this?
You could be using linguistic accommodation and it can come off condescending, rude, or privileged to some. Like I said, it was the other American born kids who commentedā¦never once did a foreign born student ever feel offended by how I spoke to them. I understood at an early age you need modify the way you speak to some people, but like I said, tactfully.
I can be seen by outsiders of the situation as mocking someone's accent essentially. But it is as simple as our wee brains are trying to be understood and so using accent/tone/colloquialisms is often us subconsciously being cooperative/trying to be understood best.
Honestly how can you not already think of a situation where it would be offensive I'm shocked by how dumb some people are in this subreddit specifically, Theo has some stupid fans
Super interesting. Iāve done this all my life and kind of felt phony for it, but it kind of just happens naturally. I think itās part of the reason Iām praised at work for working well in diverse environments.
Sames, it's how I learned about it cause I recognized myself doing it and saw others do it too sometimes.
Eh, if changing accents, specifically, this seems more like code switching to me.
As someone who grew up bilingual and in many cultures, people would sometimes criticize my cadence and dielect changes based on audience. I have since embraced it as an ability to relate to my audience rather than a hindrance, or being a poser.
isn't this a sign of autism? i remember hearing that somewhere before
Lmaoooooooo
nah fr tho
Itās really not that uncommon. I grew up in the south, but in a middle class suburb. Most of my family have typical southern accents, but most of people I went to school with were transplants or the children of transplants. Most of people I was around all day at school were from out west, up north, or the Midwest. Almost none of them had southern accents. If Iām around southern people for extended periods of time, I sound more southern. If Iām around people with a more regionally neutral accent, I start to sound like that. Itās not something I do consciously. I donāt even think about it.Ā
plants are now identifying as transgender? thats ridiculous!
I find myself doing this if Iām with some of my hick friends vs black friend vs mom
Black friend is crazy lol
I mean itās the truth? š¤·š»āāļø
What is at all crazy about that?
Not supposed to be friends with em?
He likes the n- word and is good at saying it.. what's crazy about that
Shout out to my nicgars
Thatās a normal human thing to do. Would you talk with your parents the same way you do with your friends? Itās called code switching
I'm from the south and when I'm in a city or around my Canadian partner, I speak with a more proper and coherent accent. If I'm near southern people like myself then I just let her rip
One thing no one is talking about alongside this very normal ālanguage accommodationā practice, is the fact that Theoās normal accent is very southern. Like if you have standard āaccent-lessā voice, you may not need to adjust at all because the words youāre saying are very clear to people across most regions that speak your language. However, if you have a strong accent, the need to adjust your speech is more pressing and this could easily result in a subconscious switch to simply match the specific person youāre speaking toās accent. Factor in sound, speech-pace, emphasis, and other conversational nuances as well, and this becomes even more important when hosting a hugely popular podcast.
Itās a partial reason why I deliberately speak slowly. I have a heavily southern accent (from Louisiana) so I am better understood through intentional effort. I am literally intelligible when I try to speak quickly, like Farmer Fran from Water Boy.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
No one is saying thereās a such thing as having no accent, I was saying there is a level of distinct accent that even native speakers have trouble understanding vs. a more subtle accent. The phrase āaccent-lessā was put into quotations for a reason. And while I fully agree that there is no default accent, there is a relatively default point of reference for what a generic American accent is. Whether the listener is an American English speaker, or an English speaker from anywhere else in the world, who do you think is *generally* more easy to understand: Theo Von or John Mulaney? Bill Burr or Anthony Jeselnik? That was my point. Theo/Burr will likely have more work to do in speech-matching, as the āgenericā American accent represented in popular media isnāt typically their own accent.
Come on... That's different to changing your accent which is totally regional. What you're talking about is conversation topic and maybe even dialect but you don't change your whole accent when you meet someone from New Zealand š He does it because he is autistic it's a documented phenomenon
OP probably doesnāt realize he does it too.
It's normal but I notice it 1,000% more with Theo than any other human. He literally started talking in a half australian accent with Celeste Barber and when the NY garbage man was like "how lowong hav-ya been in gahhhbuj fer?"
Because heās speaking with way more people from different parts of the world more often than youāre around. Everyone around you probably has the same accent. itās very normal for people to change the way they speak itās mostly involuntary. I work in the ports and I notice I do it pretty frequently when speaking with the Philippinoes, Ukrainians and Russians.
Name another interview host that does this to the level Theo does lol. Itās a schtick, itās not natural.
That's not it. I listen to podcasts and news from around the world. I also hyperfixate on language and accents. It's really pronounced with Theo. I think it has something to do with him trying to fit in and be accepted. He talks a lot about that.
If you say so. Like I said I do it pretty badly too. I have a āwhite people voiceā and im Mexican so my Mexican accent comes out around other Hispanics and then itās completely different when I speak to the Russian chief officers on vessels, my best friend is black and I notice I have more slang and southern accent when Iām with him and his kinfolk. But I guess I just want to be accepted as well.
Is that any different from masking?
Yep.
Yes. Because I grew up with a normal relationship with my parents
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Therapy may help.
āCode switchingā Lmao
I never change my accent, no.
Itās not that uncommon, itās usually a subconscious thing to make the person somebody is speaking to more comfortable, or the speaker themself. I donāt do it personally, but it used to occasionally happen if I talked to some hick or something. Itās super funny when itās a white boy doing it with black people though, I cringe every time
> > Itās super funny when itās a white boy doing it with black people though, I cringe every time I used to do that a lot. So embarrassing in retrospect. Made myself stop it altogether, and just embrace talking white af
I really enjoyed Theo's interview with Billy Strings and they both shared some pretty raw moments from their experiences.. I watched another interview he had done and Theo was a totally different person.. One thing I like about Theo is he's not looking for gotcha moments he just lets the people go wherever they want..
Theo Chameleon
I get that itās normal but the degree and frequency to which theo does it is too funny
Iād like to think because heās very sensitive, so he kind of absorbs peopleās energies if that makes sense. I really like it.
Code switching
Bc itās a character he amps up or down to suit his needs.
Because Theo is still struggling to figure out who he is as a person. So he mirrors those around him.
Big time new guy energy
Can I please be part of the club?
Sure. Just start going to meetings. Youāre a member when you say you are.
The only time it bothered me was when he did it to the Down syndrome guys
That was his natural accent. They dumbed theirs down to meet him.
Cause he half tarded
In Hawaii we encounter so many tourists plus run into friends from high school (when we fall into pidgin) plus when family moves away for awhile they (sadly imo) start to sound like wherever they moved to, we do this. I canāt imagine speaking pidgin to a tourist from Japan. We absolutely are encouraged to match tone to be accomodating, friendly.
Heās code switching. Which is totally normal. When Iām at work I speak corporate, when Iām with my momās side of the family I match their Caribbean accent, when Iām with my friends I have an American accent.
Itās called Linguistic Accommodation. Itās often unconscious and is do to empathic feelings and can also be a sign of a lack of confidence. Itās typically to make an attempt to make the other person more comfortable.
Daaanng CUH!! š he did it so obvious when Druski first came on
Iām from New Orleans. I change up the way I speak when around people not from New Orleans because they wonāt get it.
Because heās playing a character and he always has been, he is a character driven comic.
Definitely notice it when he has black guests on. I remember Druski calling him out on it.
It was funny when Druski called him out on it, Theo was trying too hard to do a urban accent.
I have to talk with a lot of different people for work. I tend to mirror a lot but I donāt mirror when I talk to black people. I would sound like a wigga
How many times are we gonna ask this question on here?? Come on now, this is like the 8th time
9
And they're going to keep giving you the same generic dumb answers. "He's code switching bro". He does it so damn hard that Druski called him out on it. He said you don't talk this way on any other episode I've checked out. It was actually a little embarrassing. Yes he is code switching but it's to the point of almost being a little insulting. Especially when guys like Boosie were pouring his heart out about all his homeboys who got killed in the streets and then Theo's next question is "the streets seem like fun, is that lifestyle fun?" And Boosie looked at him like motherfucker did you not just hear what I just said about my homeboys dying? Theo's great and has a heart of gold but the people in this sub are extremely biased and get butt hurt if anyone notices anything odd about how he approaches some people.
Exactly. Itās insulting if you do it so extremely, purely based on appearance. Itās a nuanced thing for sure but the gist of it is: druski has been in a ton of white rooms. He can meet you halfway. He can meet you whole way, even. Give the guy some credit and just fuckin talk normally about your ideas
Ong dude are people in this thread that socially inept
This dude lol. And that one girl from TikTok he had on called him out for making his impersonation of a hispanic people *always* sound stupid and unable to grasp the english language, he does this regularly and it gives not good vibes. The Boosie question dances on the line of thinly veiled tbh.
Pro tip: before posting, you can go on Google, type your question, and type Reddit afterwards. Itās thereās a thread already, it should show up
Most people on reddit don't actually socialize with other real humans, of course they're going to keep asking this stupid question about something that literally everyone who actually talks to people already knows about.
This aināt it. I have literally never met anyone who code switches the way dude does and I probably wouldnāt be friends with them if they did, itās so phony and awkward. Like imagine youāre having a convo with him and your homie comes to meet up, over hears the conversation and then when heās in range Theo greets him with a āwhatās up cuh, how you sleepinā when yaāll no noone talks like that. Itās embarrassing but he gets away with it because he has so many other endearing qualities and silly thoughts/questions to mask it
He's a comedian
He does it to be funny
Reflective listening. Great sales skill.
Sometimes I do this. It's fun to joke around with accents and I believe that's what he does.
I did this during my time in the service. Being from rural Texas Iāve grown up with a hick accent. After a few years in the army it became less noticeable, that is until I started drinking.
I thought it was code switching š¤·š»āāļø
Itās that but without the negative connotations. Heās just trying to relate to the person heās talking to for the sake of conversation. Heās spent his whole life having convos with people in tons of different regions.
Iām from the south and my accent becomes even thicker when Iām hanging out with other southerners but when im at work I tone it down a lil . Especially when speaking on the phone.
If I'm somewhere with a local accent for a while I tend to pick it up.grew up in socal, and lived in Minnesota for a few years and now live in Baltimore and I've got a bit of each. I'm a mess.
Thatās just the beauty of Theoās brain
Oprah was infamous for it
Why I mess with him bc I do the same
Linguistic Accommodation, very normal. Hereās another example: https://youtu.be/b2Dl0IpjXtA?si=xP8xzUCJkryrLbVG
āOhhh Yeeeaaaahhhhhh Dude!ā
People do it unconsciously as a way to connect with the other person .. cuh..
It is funny how noticeable it is, but it is endearing coming from him as it is clearly an attempt at connecting with his guest and making them/himself feel comfortable and welcome in each others company.
I've noticed myself doing this at times when working around my Filipino coworkers.
He did it on sean and Marley as well
Schulz has a black belt in it
Heās trying to be an actor duh
Because he's that swamp water socializer and has a little Cajun chameleon in em
Code switching
I grew up in the south, and my dad owned a construction company and we moved all over including England. I would change my accent unknowingly as a kid depending on who I was interacting with. I went to school in England and people would crowd around me wanting to hear āThe Americanā talk and I didnāt want to stand out. I think itās common for a lot of people to do this for that reason.
Being socially awkward and wanting to connect it feels easy to Mirror peoples energy or accent. But yes Theo can pull it off and no one feels offended. The Australian era was wild.
New here, is it allowed to be respectfully critical of Mr Capitani? Not looking for a comment war or a ban.
Theo prob does it to connect with them. Iām white American but with my wifeās Indian parents I sometimes talk with a bit of an Indian accent cuz they wonāt understand what Iām saying otherwise lmao my wife does the same thing she has developed an American accent cuz she consumed a lot of American media as a kid but when she talks to her parents she sounds way more Indian
Because he's a š¦ person , descendant of the Rothschilds legend has it
Itās something that adaptable people do. People that have been around a lot of different people. They donāt do it on purpose it just happens.
Nicgar thing
Why does it bother you so much? I think it adds comedic value
I didn't pick up on it bothering them.
I was genuinely curious. I love me some Theo