Everybody has an accent. Sometimes, it’s a marker for the place somebody grew up, or in some movie star circumstances, a bored wealthy individual making an attempt on a brand new persona. However do you know Fortnite gamers have their very own accent, too?
The so-called “Fortnite accent” refers to how gamers communicate whereas enjoying Epic Video games’ massively fashionable on-line battle royale. After watching a stable 20 minutes of YouTube shorts and TikToks about it, I’ve decided it’s a selected kind of cheery, high-pitched tone that sounds loads just like the stereotype of a teen lady uptalking, or ending even declarative statements in a manner that feels like a query. Or, as one Reddit person asking how you can shed the accent put it, “I communicate like a 8 yr previous.” Sadly, their plea for assist solely bought one response: “what in gods identify is a fortnite accent.”
For years, throughout YouTube and TikTok, gamers have recorded themselves enjoying whereas talking in the accent, or making an attempt not to do it. (Headphone warning: there’s plenty of screaming in these clips.)
Adam Aleksic, a linguist and writer who goes by Etymology Nerd on-line, bravely spent three hours of his one wild and valuable life listening to movies of the so-called Fortnite accent. He describes the development as “quick speech and sharply rising intonations, nearly like they’ve to speak a sense of pleasure or shock they simply skilled.” He goes on to clarify that the accent is purposeful: it conveys reactions to what’s occurring within the recreation but it surely’s additionally carried out for “social efficiency.” It’s a part of a better “Ludolect,” he says, which is a dialogue particular to a recreation.
Communities usually create their personal languages, whether or not it’s slang they use or the particular manner wherein they speak to one another; even {couples} develop their very own codes. It is smart that video video games, which introduce new worlds and guidelines to abide by, observe the identical sample.
Whereas I don’t suppose the Fortnite accent is something to be ashamed of, per se, if you wish to shake it, deal with it like another sort of code switching. Concentrate on the way you pronounce phrases, take heed to how audio system you need to sound like speak, and apply, apply, apply. If it labored for my pals who managed to ditch their Boston accents, absolutely it might probably give you the results you want—no less than till you’re a pair drinks deep.
