I love candy! Pass me the ketchup please! Can I have some of your soda?
Strewth! My kid is starting to sound a bit, ummm… American.
I shouldn’t be surprised. After all, most of her favourite television programs are made in the US. Ryan’s World and Blippi are on pretty high rotation. Thank goodness for Bluey – what a beauty that show is!
Recently, I was talking to another parent who said their child asked them for a quarter. A quarter! An Aussie parent should only ever hear the word quarter when it’s being used in relation to sport or cooking.
It’s also been reported that many Aussie kids are now pronouncing z as ‘zee’ rather than ‘zed’ (thanks YouTube Kids).
Anyway, something weird has happened. Despite the high prevalence of American programs for kids, American children have recently started to use British words and accents.
Vacations have become holidays, parents are pushing trolleys rather than shopping carts and people are going up lifts rather than elevators.
After years of Americanisms creeping into our vocabulary, it’s hard not to find this somewhat amusing.
Even more amusing is that a preschooler pig is behind the phenomenon.
Turns out kids in the US have been binge watching Peppa Pig during the pandemic.
The phenomenon of American kids suddenly adopting British accents while the popularity of the British children’s television series has been dubbed ‘The Peppa Effect’.
The trend was reported by The Wall Street Journal, which quoted a Californian parent who was surprised when her five-year-old spoke in an English accent and said “Mummy, are you going to the optician”.
American parents have also taken to Twitter to share their first-hand experiences.
One mum tweeted: “This pandemic has brought out the British accent in my 5 yr old who has now asked to please ‘fetch her swimming costume’ & if we can go to the ‘shoppe’ to get peanut butter”.
Another mum tweeted: “The way my 3 year old pronounces ‘zedbra’ and ‘gee-raffe’ slays me every time. And to-MAH-to. Yep we got the British accent side of Peppa Pig”.
A man tweeted that when he has kids they will only watch Peppa Pig so they grow up with an English accent.
In the past week there have also been reports that American kids are getting an Aussie twang after watching too much Bluey.
A Massachusetts dad said his daughter’s favourite words included ’dunny’ and ’brekky’ since watching the show.
We all know about Bluey, but there other great Aussie children’s shows your kids can watch instead of American and English programs…
Kangaroo Beach: A show about four young animal friends who share an action-packed summer of surf, sand and fun.
The Mik Maks: A popular children’s act from Victoria who write and perform their own songs, engaging kids through action, colour and song. You can find a heap of their videos on YouTube.
The Wonder Gang: Three Aussie kids who, with the help of some quokka pals, love answering questions about Australian animals and nature
Little J & Big Cuz: A series about a couple of Indigenous kids who live with their Nanna and Old Dog. Their friends live nearby and school is just a stroll away on the bush track.
