"Harry Styles' hybrid Cheshire/American accent is weird af," wrote one social media user during The BRIT Awards yesterday.
Dressed in a two-piece suit in varying shades of brown, like a walking piece of 1970s wallpaper, and with a matching handbag, Harry collected the award for British Single of the Year for Watermelon Sugar.
"I want to thank my fans, who have been so generous to me always, and everyone in my life who has my back," he spilled from the podium. But fans were more interested in the sound of his voice than what he had to say.
By the time Harry got to the word "back," fans noticed the 27-year-old sounded more Malibu than mummy's boy from Cheshire, and the world noticed. "Harry Styles is ours now, and has an American accent to prove it," wrote another - presumably American - commenter.
But just how easy is it to adopt a different accent? Harry has lived on and off in America, so has presumably had plenty of occasions to let his North-West accent slip.
Harry's not alone. Turns out, picking up another accent is actually pretty common. So much so, there's a term for it, the Chameleon Effect, which describes how many of us subconsciously mimic the people around us.
Researchers Tanya Chartrand and John Bargh write in their paper on the 'Chameleon Effect' that the "mere perception of another's behavior automatically increases the likelihood of engaging in that behavior oneself."
Over the years, some Brits have famously watered down - or plainly drowned out - their British accents in favour of something more from across the pond. Here are some of the most memorable.
Tan France
"He's one of the best people I know, I love my boys on Queer Eye I really do, but me and him have a very special bond," Tan France of Queer Eye gushes about co-star Anthony in an interview for New York's 92nd Street community centre.
"And if he's not with me I get really blue and I call him a lot," he continues.
Yorkshire boy Tan still sneaks in the odd deep, soupy Yorkshire tone when he speaks, but it goes alongside nicely drawn out Americanisms, and we're so into how his accent chops and changes it's the main reason we kept on listening to this interview. Well, that and the fact we just adore the chemistry between these two so much.
Angela Lansbury
Murder She Wrote acting icon Angela Lansbury, nominated for three Oscars, has lived in America for most of her professional life. She was British born though, and her roots are in Poplar, east London. Now, like Styles, she says "baaaack" rather than "back," and "stoopid" rather than "stupid," as you can hear in an interview with theatre publication AussieTheatre.com.
The British-American actress has largely retained her British-sounding speaking voice, but it's super noticeable when she switches into something more drawn out and US-style.
Gerard Butler
"How you guys doing today, where you all call in from?" asks Gerard Butler at the beginning of an awkward lockdown video link up the Irish actor did to promote a film of his called Greenland.
For an actor who used to be defined by his strong Scottish accent, these days it takes a few moments to let his US accent sink in. Drifting in and out of Scottish and Californian dialects, Butler can at least diversify the types of roles he goes for by adding another accent to his 'can do' list.
Millie Bobby Brown
The Stranger Things actor needs a "massaaaaage," apparently, she says in an interview with MTV News, rather than an old fashioned British 'massage.'
The 17-year-old actor is missing out some of her consonants these days, slurring words like many Americans do, but to be fair, that makes sense given how much time she's spent filming in the US lately.
...but what about Madonna's famous London phase?
It was the early 2000s and Madonna, arguably the biggest pop star on the planet, was with UK film director Guy Ritchie. She'd moved to London, started dressing like a Londoner and, erm, she started sounding incredibly British incredibly quickly too.
A video by Jezebel captures some of the lengths the singer went to during the period to sound more British. "Americans don't appreciate my sense of irony," she says, sounding more Maggie Smith than Madonna.
Of course, for every Brit playing up their US accent, there's a handful more holding onto their plummy voices for dear life.
The British accent is a huge export abroad and so it pays to sound defiantly Downton.
Hugh Grant, Hugh Laurie, Stephen Fry, Judi Dench, Maggie Smith, Daniel Craig and countless others have kept their Received Pronunciation. Julie Andrews' British accent is as polished, if not more polished, than Lady Whistledown's herself, the upper class lady she plays in Bridgerton, the historical British drama Americans love so much.
There's a reason why so many Brits may hold onto their accents so tightly. According to psychologist Guy Winch, who spoke about accents with The Washington Post, Americans can link the British accent with the character traits of someone being “more intelligent, more sophisticated and more competent — and those are all qualities that a lot of people find attractive."
So there you have it - plum up that accent and imitate some of our finest British actors next time you step out on a date, or the next time you need to impress someone, and increase your chances of success.
