Let’s be honest, we all love something that’s a bit different and exotic, and that can be doubly true for accents. There’s always plenty of debate around which accents are the most attractive but now one survey has come up with a definitive, if somewhat surprising, answer.
Musicians in Wellington, NZ. Photo by Natalia Ramirez Roman/Shutterstock
Big 7, a travel website aimed at millennials, conducted the survey among their readers and ranked 50 accents from around the world depending on how sexy they are perceived to be. The Kiwi accent grabbed the top spot and the website had nothing but praise for it.
“To a novice ear”, they said, “the New Zealand accent might sound just like the Australian accent, but Big 7 Travel readers disagree. The ‘Newzild’ dialect is outrageously charming.”
The news has been making headlines in New Zealand, with some media outlets expressing surprise, although others were just delighted they beat their nearest neighbours Australia who came fifth. Despite others often mixing up Aussie and Kiwi accents, their different vowel sounds can be a source of parody between the two.
Surfers in Auckland. Photo by Manchan/Getty Images
South Africa was also somewhat of a surprise entry at number two, beating out some of the other more traditionally romantic European accents like French, Italian and Irish. Their “unique tones and Saffa slang” were credited with landing them the high ranking.
A whopping 50 accents were ranked in the survey but you can quickly sweep the top ten here:
1. Kiwi
2. South African
3. Irish
4. Italian
5. Australian
6. Scottish
7. French
8. Spanish
9. South USA
10. Brazilian Portuguese
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