LilLebowskiAchiever t1_j699w9s wrote on January 28, 2023 at 5:48 PM

Reply to comment by Saesama in TIL about foreign accent syndrome. This is a very rare (~100 cases worldwide) but real medical condition where people abruptly begin speaking in a foreign accent following head trauma like a bad migraine, accident, or stroke. by veety

I’m just imagining some isolated Viking ages ago who spoke old Germanic, had a stroke, started speaking post-stroke strangely, and everyone around him over time picked up on his new accent. Hence, a new language was born.

Saesama t1_j69d6v0 wrote on January 28, 2023 at 6:10 PM

I am now imagining a viking with a stroke that ended up with an accent none of his people understood, but we today would recognize as being from Boston.

LilLebowskiAchiever t1_j6a9xod wrote on January 28, 2023 at 9:56 PM

Boston accent is based on the original counties in Ireland where the potato famine was worst and the most people fled. They happened to drop their R’s…..and 120 years JFK became president, speaking with the evolution of that accent.

But now when I listen to the Swedish Chef on the Muppets, I have to wonder if it all started with a Viking who survived a stroke….