Australian Accent Is 'Linked To Alcohol' Expert Says, And Here's Five Drongos To Prove It

Five Aussies Who Prove A Link Between Accent And Alcohol
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The Australian accent developed from a “drunken slur”, according to to a communications experts from Down Under.

Dean Frenkel, a public speaking and communication lecturer at Melbourne’s Victoria University, said that early settlers’ heavy drinking habits caused the distinctive Aussie accent to form.

Writing in The Age, Frenkel said that although the accent has roots in English, Irish, Aboriginal and German, “The Australian alphabet cocktail was spiked by alcohol.

“Our forefathers regularly got drunk together and through their frequent interactions unknowingly added an alcoholic slur to our national speech patterns.

“For the past two centuries, from generation to generation, drunken Aussie-speak continues to be taught by sober parents to their children.”

While it certainly wouldn’t be fair to tar all Australians with the same brush, some certainly seem to have tried their best to emulate their forefathers.

We take a look at some of the people representing the best (and worst) of Aussie drinking culture…

Australian Drinkers
Bob Hawke(01 of02)
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In 1954, Hawke (who went on to become Australian Prime Minister some years later) was awarded a place in the Guinness Book of Records for downing 2.5 pints of beer in 11 seconds while at Oxford University.

According to The Australian, he said: "“A system operated at dinner in the Great Hall under which if an offence was committed - in my case coming to dinner without a gown - one was 'sconced',” he writes.

“This meant having to drink two-and-a-half pints of ale out of an antique pewter pot in less than 25 seconds.”
(credit:GREG WOOD via Getty Images)
Bernard Tomic(02 of02)
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The tennis player was arrested in Miami after a drunken party at his $10,000-a-night penthouse apartment, according to ABC News.

The world tennis number 25 spent the day sobering up in a jail cell.

He told media that the incident was "definitely my fault".
(credit:Mark Runnacles via Getty Images)