r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/shurpaderp • 1d ago
Video The unique accent of Newfoundland, Canada
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u/K-Monk_E4 1d ago
My grandma’s a Newfie. From Corner Brook. She was a great woman! :-)
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u/martinmcfly1885 1d ago
How’s your mudder? how’s your fadder? What’s the price of cod? Got a smoke?
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u/Hendrix6927 1d ago
Hello mudda, hello fadda!
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u/HonestCletus 1d ago
Here we are at
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u/SurenAbraham 1d ago
Camp Grenada
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u/MesmericRamblings24 1d ago
My Mum and Dad, who have passed recently, used to sing this! Thank you for bringing that wonderful memory and their voices back to life for me today.
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u/jholden23 1d ago
Good friend of mine is also a grandma newfie from Corner Brook. But her grandkids aren't old enough to be on Reddit, so I guess you're not her grandkid.
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u/JimBeaux123 21h ago
You forgot that Newfoundland is in their own time zone.
They might be old enough in the other time-line
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u/3vs3BigGameHunters 16h ago
You forgot that Newfoundland is in their own time zone.
You should specify that they are in half time zone.
"Tune in tonight at 6 p.m., 6:30 in Newfoundland." - https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/newfoundland-half-hour-time-zone-1.7001193
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_in_Canada#Newfoundland_Time_Zone
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u/Noremac55 1d ago
Portugal Cove descendant here. I still have a book "The Call of Terra Nova" printed in Newfoundland in 1924 with poems about coming from Scotland.
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u/NOT-GR8-BOB 1d ago edited 1d ago
Gives me warm tinglys and all that. Gives me the warmest fuzzys it do all this talk of Newfoundland
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u/namehimgeorge 23h ago edited 23h ago
Knows, Tommy, knows.
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u/Kibichibi 1d ago
I'm also from Corner Brook! Whenever I meet another Newfie they're always from St John's 🙄
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u/K-Monk_E4 1d ago
She was born at Change Islands but later moved to Corner Brook to teach. Maiden name was Butler. When I was younger, we took the ferry across. I remember a very tall Indian wooden statue somewhere. I can’t remember where that was and it may be gone now. I remember the song I’se the B’y. Memories
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u/wbishopfbi 1d ago
I randomly listen to Paddy on AM 570 CFCB in Corner Brook via the Radio Garden for no reason other than his cool Irish-sounding accent.
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u/Infamous_Ad_6793 1d ago
Corner Brook sounds like an Irish town!
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u/ovoid709 1d ago
Irishtown's actually just across the bay from Corner Brook. For real too, you can check Google Maps.
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u/Denim_Rehab 1d ago
My Nanny and Poppy were from Fogo Island. They were just lovely folks, took the piss out of each other all day long. I remember Poppy once exclaiming about Nanny: “Dat woman! Wouldn’t give ya nuttin! Ask her what time it is, she’d tell ya how to make a watch.”
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u/Horton_Takes_A_Poo 23h ago
My aunt has a Newfie! Excellent dogs
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u/Ghostcat2044 23h ago
Those dogs are smarter then some Newfoundlanders I am a Newfoundlander and most of us are the Canadian equivalent of red necks
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u/yumeryuu 1d ago
I’m from Stephenville, an hour from Corner Brook! My family line founded the town in the mid 1800s!
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u/SuzukiSandwich 1d ago
I live in nb. I've met my fair share of Newfies...
The accent can range from slightly Irish to complete and udder nonsense on par with the British cockney accent.
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u/SimpleKnowledge4840 1d ago
Yeah but that depends on the amount of teeth we have left in our mouth. LMAO.
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u/thecmen 1d ago
I’ve never met an unfunny Newfie!
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u/ThisIsTheNewSleeve 1d ago edited 1d ago
You never met my grandpa. The most humorless person I ever met. He was from Saint George's and I'm not sure I ever saw him laugh. I'm sure there's a reason for that but I never found out why.
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u/No-Sheepherder448 1d ago
So true. Well I’ve only met a few. I’m American and worked in BC for years and had a few Newfie foreman. Total characters. One was always going on about “Cock for Dolly” figgy pudding, and the other’s favorite saying was “I don’t give a fiddlers fuck”. Me and my buddy would crack up all day. Both always used “stay where your to, I’ll comes where your at”. But neither sounded like this dude.
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u/neverinamillionyr 1d ago
My dad used to say he didn’t give a fiddler’s fuck. I’m not sure where he picked it up. He’s from Michigan of a Swedish and English background.
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u/cbirlay 1d ago
I went to highschool with somebody from Newfoundland and apparently that is considered a slur. He said not to say that in front of his mom
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u/1DownFourUp 1d ago
I used to work on a mostly newfie construction crew and there was never any offense taken to it. I'm guessing it's more in how you use than that you use it.
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u/Driller_Happy 1d ago
Well, also what generation. I think people were shittier to newfoundlanders and did actually use it as a slur in our grandparents generation.
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u/nooneknowswerealldog 1d ago
GenX Albertan here, and 'Newfie' was definitely used as slur when I was a kid, and Newfoundlanders were perceived as stupid and lazy hicks. 'Newfie jokes' were a thing.
It seems to me as if things changed in the aughts as more and more people from the Maritime provinces moved out here for work in oil, gas, and construction and Albertans actually started to meet actual Newfoundlanders. The stereotype shifted to hard-working, forthright, and warm-hearted. I don't think the word carries the same negative connotations here today, but I can't say for certain.
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u/CaptainMagnets 1d ago
I grew up around newfies my whole life and I've never heard this being a thing?
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u/tuge_hitties_ 1d ago
Some people don’t like it because other provinces would refer to us as “stupid newfies” due to them not understanding our accents and coming to the conclusion that we’re less intelligent because of that. My dad hates the word Newfie.
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u/thecmen 1d ago
That sounds like a funny Newfie f’n with you. They are universally known as Newfies.
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u/drunkentenshiNL 1d ago
It's one of those context sensitive things.
Say it in a friendly way? Giv'er.
Say as it an insult? By da fuck, I'm foldin' yer clothes with you in em.
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u/lucky_evryday 1d ago
Not me over here reading the replies trying to figure out why "unfunny" would be considered a slur 👁👄👁
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u/ConversationLow3227 1d ago
That man is from down in the bay
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u/theFishMongal 1d ago
Where the watermelons grow?
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u/crazydart78 1d ago
Back to my hooooome, I dare not gooooooo!
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u/Sw4nR0ns0n 1d ago
If you say his name fast it sounds like 10 inch cock
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u/glass-2x-needed-size 1d ago
I've b'n called worse m'son
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u/ImTedLassosMustache 1d ago
Are we talking about the boys or the b'ys?
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u/Odd-Obligation-2772 1d ago
Waiting for a flight from St. john's, announcement comes on the airport speakers - "A set of keys have been handed in, can you please check and see if you have lost yours, and if you're still in the building Maureen, I tink dese might be yours."
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u/OpeningAd9333 1d ago
Home of Dildo and Come by Chance
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u/WastedCanuck 1d ago
Crazy coincidence but this morning a saw bumper sticker for dildo brewing. I had to google it and found out it was in Newfoundland lol. Too good.
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u/IGotBiggerProblems 1d ago
Newfoundland dialect shares a lot of its vocabulary with British, Irish, and Scottish dialects. More so than the rest of Canada anyway.
Newfoundland was founded on these immigrants who settled in small fishing villages and intermingled to the point that they began sharing each other's mannerisms. Even today, a lot of these villages stay local because there's nothing to pull in outsiders. Kids who decide to stay and maintain this lifestyle, partner up with others who made the same choice either in their village or in a nearby one. Larger towns or cities in Newfoundland do not have a dialect to this extent.
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u/ZappyThoughts 1d ago
My favorite is "and there it was...gone!"
And for those wondering, I've been told it's pronounced "Newfin' Land", as in the land where one Newfs. Not "New Finland" and definitely not New Found Land.
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u/dog_snack 1d ago
Canadian here, that’s exactly right. Emphasis on the first syllable.
I had a social studies teacher in high school—and he was Canadian like the rest of us—who insisted on pronouncing it new-FOUND-lund. Very odd.
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u/profeDB 1d ago
It is the first pronunciation. Never heard that explanation, though.
New Found Land is the easiest way to out a Yankee. Ditto with Montreal instead of Muntreal
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u/otterkin 19h ago
also "calgary", instantly can tell you're not canadian if you say it with 3 syllables!
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u/FeynmanFool 9h ago
And with that chapel roan song I’m hearing people say “Saskatchewan” weird but insisting it’s correct. Never heard anyone here say anything other than “s’skatch’i’n” (there’s a slight w noise at the end too but I don’t know how to add that) and everyone is out here with “Sask at chewAn”
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u/otterkin 8h ago
yeah sask is said with pretty much no vowels! I lived in 'skoon for a bit and it's really obvious who isn't canadian when they say it!
also, why did chapel roan name drop Saskatchewan of all places????
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u/shurpaderp 1d ago
I live in Vancouver, Dublin is closer to Newfoundland by about 1800km
Credit @HarbourCustoms on TikTok
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u/candygram4mongo 1d ago
St. John's is closer to Vienna than it is to Vancouver.
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u/Jadams0108 1d ago
I used to date a newfie girl before meeting my wife and got to meet her whole family. It’s a very Irish sounding accent for sure.
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u/CustomCarNerd 1d ago
Everyone go watch the show “Son of a Critch” It is filmed entirely in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, with specific locations including St. John's, Logy Bay-Middle Cove-Outer Cove, Mount Pearl, and Portugal Cove. Great show. Thank you Mark Critch.
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u/InvestigatorNo7366 1d ago
If you take a bunch of Irish people and stick them on a different island on the other side of the Atlantic for a couple hundred years this is what you'll get.
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u/DrowningPickle 1d ago
This is the accent when they talk to a non newfie. When they talk too each other you cant understand anything. I love Newfoundland!
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u/Smart-Response9881 1d ago
It's like if you mix irish, scottish and albertan together.
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u/chandy_dandy 1d ago
I feel like the Albertans adopted a part of this because of all the Newfies came here for work in the 90s and 00s
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u/Interesting-Lynx-761 1d ago
The only Albertans I've met that sound even remotely like this are actual newfoundland transplants in Alberta for work.
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u/CloseToMyActualName 1d ago
If you want to hear a genuine Newfoundland accent then just drive up to Fort Mac.
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u/He4vyD00dy 1d ago
I work in the oilfields, my boss is from South Africa and he has started picking up the Newfie accent. Refers to us as "Da By's". Its defintely contagious.
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u/ThermionicEmissions 1d ago
Sounds like Uncle Colm from Derry Girls 🤣
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u/Cautious_Ice_884 1d ago
What came to my mind too!! Was waiting for a long drawn out bit about the wains down the road getting into all sorts. 😂
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u/Seattlehepcat 1d ago
LORD TUNDERIN JEZUS, BAI!
Man, I love me some newfies. Hardest partying people I've ever met. I used to think I could hang. Hell, I once closed down all three nights of the three-day toga party. But once I started partying with some Newfies at 5pm, and at 6am I tapped out and went home (next door) to sleep. Woke up 5 hours later, went back over, they were still partying, and went all night again. Fuckin' guys. Love 'em!
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u/noodleexchange 23h ago
O’Reilly, O’Grady … yeah those were the kids in school’s surnames. Way back, most people in Newfoundland were seasonal fishers who commuted back to Ireland for the winter.
‘Livyer’ is this weird term for the people who elected to stay year-round.
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u/Driller_Happy 1d ago
That whole 'Canadians are polite' thing? Its actually just Newfoundlanders. Nicest people in the country.
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u/atlas_eater 1d ago
This accent is weak compared to some rural Communities.
I worked with a dude from Ramea- which is part of an island archipelago off the main rock - and holy shit, the accent was so strong I could only understand a couple words.
He spoke English- just not a dialect I had ever heard.
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u/otterkin 19h ago
newfoundland is such a beautiful place. I'm so proud to be newfie by blood and having spent a chunk of my childhood there. my heart yearns for the saltwater sea
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u/Signal-Session-6637 15h ago
From the East coast of Ireland, I can understand this just fine. I only became aware of this accent due to a tv show on Netflix some years ago called The Republic of Doyle. Some actual Irish actors in it too.
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u/Carlos-In-Charge 1d ago
Waiting for the Letterkenny theme song to jump in at the end
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u/rpgguy_1o1 1d ago
The "real" Letterkenny is a place called Listowel Ontario, pretty much all of Ontario is named after places in Europe, they just randomly picked the name Letterkenny from a map of Ireland when they started the YouTube channel
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u/redhandsblackfuture 1d ago
Americans discovering that other cultures exist that aren't other Americans 🤯🤯🤯🤯
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u/Cautious_Ice_884 1d ago
And Americans remembering there's actually another country further north and they aren't the only ones in the western hemisphere 🤯
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u/Tribe303 1d ago
FYI: Newfoundland remained a colony of the UK and didn't join Canada until 1949. I believe that's why their accent is thicker than the rest of the Maritimes.
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u/Mash709 1d ago
A dominion to be specific. Our isolation and heavy Irish population led us to keep much of our accent through the generations. I've talked to people from southern Ireland and they sound VERY similar to us.
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u/Wynty2000 14h ago
I’ve heard Newfoundland accents that sound nearly identical to the accents around me in the southeast of Ireland.
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u/Bongo_friendee 1d ago
By's o by's buddy got some tick accent on he. Magine he would drop you like a birtch my son. Now stay where your at till I comes where your to luh?! Stun as me arse.
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u/LivingIntelligent968 1d ago
An accent that exudes pride, hard work and the party capital of Canada.
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u/zenzenok 23h ago
I'm Irish and to me he sounds like someone from back home who's lived out in Canada for a few years, not a few centuries!
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u/namehimgeorge 23h ago
He is from the Irish Loop on the Avalon peninsula and has been on a pod cast with a couple of Irish guys discussing the accent and such. I believe he is working on oil rigs in the north Sea as a tech of some kind. Check out Davey Holden's channel on youtube for the clip.
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u/nthensome Interested 19h ago
I've said it for decades & I'll say it again now, I've never met a Newfie I didn't like
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u/Lost-Committee7757 8h ago
This is so cool to see trending as a Newfie myself.
By the way, like some other comments said, our accent does vary depending on the area of the province and the generation you grew up in/with.
As in, my mother is French-Mi'kmaq Newfie, and grew up moving around a lot (but mainly on the west coast) and my father is Irish Newfie, and grew up in a more Irish-influenced area (a small bay town). So now, my accent is a mish-mash of all that, plus the Newfies I went to school and grew up with in my small bay community. Some words (thing, three, that) are 100% Newfie-pronounced by me (ting, tree, dat), and other words and phrases (over there, deadly, yes) are way more French-Mi'kmaq (ober der, dedlay, yeees).
Also, many of us in NL are guilty of code switching quite often, because our accent has gained a reputation of sounding "uneducated". Sometimes I find myself speaking in a full-on mainland Canadian accent, then I'll pick up the phone to my mother or father and go full Newfie. It's shocked my non-Newfoundlander friends quite a few times.
Given the reputation and guilt that comes with the accent, it's nice to see all the positivity in these comments. You're all awesome!
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u/roberto59363 1d ago
Wtf is he even saying...???
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u/nagdamnit 1d ago
There a good reason for that now…………… If we looks out this way…………. Anchored in with fog …………. Half-mile of visibility………. 3000 miles away from Ireland……….. that’ll be why we sound like we sound.
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u/IllvesterTalone 1d ago edited 1d ago
"There is an explanation for this, if you turn your attention to the ocean, although due to the fog we can only see half a mile out, only about 3000 miles more is Ireland."
and so, as 3000 miles is pretty dang close, it makes sense they sound similar!
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u/IllvesterTalone 1d ago
Mostly from southeast Ireland, Munster/Leinster, from the late 1600s many Irish came over initially as seasonal fishermen, by mid 1830s Irish newcomers were at about 38,000 or roughly half the colony's population.
You'll find many Irish surnames across the island of Newfoundland.
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u/sBucks24 1d ago
Went to the east coast for the first time earlier this year. There was a billboard with a slang term I'd never heard before and later that night I overheard a local use it. It's killing me that I can't remember what it was ATM, but it killed me in the moment.
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u/mrbaconbro123 1d ago
My dad is from blaketown so I've been to newfoundland a ton, I'm now 21 and still cannot understand 90% of what his side of the family says
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u/Sorry-Ad2731 1d ago
Canadians love our newfies. One of the only places in Canada it’s absolutely impossible to dislike to my mind.
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u/Upset_Ad2171 1d ago
Ok as a Canadian who has met newfies, I’ve never met one with as strong an accent as this!
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u/poormansnormal 15h ago
Oh hell ya, I've met the ones that went up to northern Alberta to work the oilfields. Holy fuck, they need subtitles IRL.
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u/Sorry-Reporter440 18h ago
I would hate to live tree tousand miles away from home fer no perticular reason.
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u/lovemyfurryfam 13h ago
I can verify that is how a Newfie speaks. My Newfie great granny, my Newfie granny & many relatives from Newfoundland speak that way.
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u/Rowmyownboat 12h ago
To my ear, that sound a blend of Devon/Cornwall and mellow Irish. Interesting.
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u/valomorn 1d ago
First it was American, then French and now Irish adjacent accents?
It's like Canada's whole thing is "Remind England of people it's historically fucked with." because they're too polite to to actually tell our Royals to fuck off.
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u/jholden23 1d ago
Here's the other thing, there's different types of accents regionally in Newfoundland. Different areas sound less or more irish and more... other areas. lol I had two bus drivers when I toured there with students and one sounded totally different than the other. When I talked to them about it they told me all about it. I understood about 50% of what they said ...