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I feel like it would be hard to say "brr" with an English accent, because the soft R would just make it sound like "buh".

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[-] TerranFenrir@lemmy.ca 2 points 1 month ago

Nah they go, "Blimey, guvna! I'm freezin' me bits off, innit? It's bloomin' chilly, ain't it? I'm perished, mate! Me teeth are chatterin' like a bunch of chimps, I am! Oi, pass me a cuppa, would ya? I need somethin' to warm me cockles, mate! I need to have a nice cuppa rosie lee."

[-] GluWu@lemm.ee 2 points 1 month ago
[-] sem@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 points 1 month ago
[-] tiredofsametab@fedia.io 2 points 1 month ago

Not all British accents are non-rhotic to begin with. Exposure to the sound and ability to reproduce it, even if not a lot in speech, means that the onomatopoeia, if used, should be the same.

In languages where a sound doesn't exist, it gets more interesting. In Japanese, bzzz is not pronounceable and for a buzzer (or something like a phone in vibrate mode) they will say ブー (buu) which is just the syllable bu with a long u sound (think of a crowd booing, but the o vowel there is different to the Japanese u vowel).

that's really neat. though I was hoping they would r-r-r-r-oll the R. now I'm curious about different onomatopoeia in other languages

[-] Blackout@fedia.io 0 points 1 month ago

The Spanish roll their tongues, the British swallow theirs

[-] nimpnin@sopuli.xyz 0 points 1 month ago

You are so close. bzzz is not any closer to the buzzing sound than the japanese buu

[-] Aatube@kbin.melroy.org 1 points 1 month ago

At least it has the vibration.

[-] nimpnin@sopuli.xyz 1 points 1 month ago
[-] sem@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 1 month ago

You think you're so clever

[-] nimpnin@sopuli.xyz 2 points 1 month ago
[-] Deebster@infosec.pub 1 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Tbh, I don't think you really understand how the non-rhotic accent works. In this case, the /r/ would be fully pronounced, as it would be at the start of a word. Say bread, elongate the r and skip the ed part and you have what it sounds like.

If you're very used to hearing the bunched r, the British version still might sound softer, but even in the USA (where most people use bunched r) it's still common to hear an r made with the tip of the tongue behind the teeth (upper or lower).

I'm ignoring the other r sounds, but you do find a lot of them across the various regional English accents.

[-] Goretantath@lemm.ee 1 points 1 month ago

I dont even say "brr" i jist go "fuck its colllld" and shake on the l.

[-] wewbull@feddit.uk 1 points 1 month ago

No, we say "FUCK! It's cold".

[-] then_three_more@lemmy.world 1 points 1 month ago

Or "fucking freezing init"

"OI BRUV, OM FREEZIN ME BLOODY BALLS OFF, ETS ONLY A FHUCKIN CHEWSDAY INNIT??"

[-] ada@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 points 1 month ago

I'm Australian. I say something closer to "buh", but I introduce vibrato to the sound down near my vocal cords, rather than by trilling the R in my mouth

[-] fakeman_pretendname@feddit.uk 1 points 1 month ago

We kind of go "brur".

[-] BmeBenji@lemm.ee 1 points 1 month ago

I don’t have the answer but I’ve always thought it was interesting that British-English spells the filler words that Americans normally write as “uhh” or “um” as “er” or “erm”

[-] onyxjet@lemmy.world 0 points 1 month ago

Does anyone actually say brr?? 🤔

[-] grrgyle@slrpnk.net 1 points 1 month ago

Like, all the time.

Every time i get out of shower (barring summer), for one.

[-] kambusha@sh.itjust.works 0 points 1 month ago

If they can brrap, they can brr

[-] sem@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 points 1 month ago

Skidi pap pap!

this post was submitted on 25 Apr 2025
2 points (75.0% liked)

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