Drunken Drawls? The Scientific Reasons Our Accents Intensify When Drinking

If you notice your accent gets thicker with a few drinks, you’re not alone.

According to Stockton University’s Amee Shah, this is the result of two important cognitive processes. In the short term, she said, “the prefrontal cortex and frontal cortex are targeted [when you’re drinking]―areas that not only monitor attention and memory but also precise motor movements and the ability to plan what we’re saying.”

The loss of inhibition, understandably, results in the loss of concentration on speech.

Another common phenomenon: you might pick up your friend’s accent. This, said Shah, is more common in women. It all depends on the individual and on what she calls their linguistic adaptability.

“Some people are better at this than others, like women,” Shah explains. “The complete inability to be moved or influenced by accents around one can indicate disinterest, or worse, social privilege. Others are also more likely to be picked up, but often just as a stereotype, like southern, Italian and Indian.”

This isn’t to say, however, that you’ll pick up an actual accent. “To put it colloquially, it’s more likely to show in someone who’s had two glasses of wine than four,” Shah said. “After four, well, everything is a mess.”