“Naur” is everywhere, but a recent tweet claims it has reached a particularly noteworthy ubiquitous tier. “Gen Z wouldn’t like to hear me say this…but ‘naurrrr’ and ‘saurrr good’ are just the new ‘ermagard,'” referring to an internet meme from 2012. said.
Indeed, there are definite similarities. Both “r” are “ermahgerd” and “naur”. And just as you can “speak” with ermahgerd (“Twitter is a hellhole” becomes, for example, “Twerter is a herrhoe”), you can also speak with “naur”… which is , called speaking with an Australian accent.
Online, Americans often refer to phrases like “koalas are so cute” as “koalarrs ah saurr cute.”
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But while ermahgerd originated from the early fun internet as a way to express nerdy excitement, “naur” has more complex roots and uses. With the help of her Australian voice and dialect coach, Amy Hume, we break them down below. Amy Hume teaches her Voice at her Victorian College of the Arts at the University of Melbourne.
What does “naur” mean and how do you use it?
“Naur” is “no” spelled with an Australian accent.More precisely, “no” spelled with an Australian accent sounds like an american“When you tell Australians that the ‘no’ we pronounce has an ‘r’, they’re like, ‘Hmm… no, there isn’t,'” says Hume.
This is because the Australian accent is non-rhotic, so the “r” is pronounced only before the vowel. The American accent is rhotic, so when a word is spelled with an ‘r’, the ‘hard r’ sound is used. When Americans apply their pronunciation to the Australian “no”, it becomes the phonetic spelling of “naur”. (To Australians, “naur” appears to be pronounced “naw”.)
“Naur” has a variety of flexible uses that change with the addition of uppercase and lowercase letters, a, u, and r.
It can be a softer, more playful “no.”
Sam: I had a pretty good day, but I spilled hot tea all over my body on the subway 🙁
Alex: Hmmm, Nauru
Can be used in place of “Waiting” or “Pending”.
@Sam on Twitter: “zendaya and tom holland are so cute so nauru”
“No”, “no” and “nah” are no longer cut, hence “naua”. Over the past four years, we have witnessed the collapse of American politics, the disaster of global warming, and her COVID-19 pandemic. You can only say “no” to fear or disapproval before it loses its meaning. In a post-no society, “naur” is the next iteration of that feeling.
Sam: There is a new variant of COVID-19 that is spreading rapidly in big cities.
Alex: Nauru
Sam: Also, I just heard they’re making a fourth.Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them’ movie
Alex: Nauru
Sam: And it’s directed by JK Rowling
Alex: NAAAURRR
Like “no,” “naur” has an almost infinite number of meanings when spoken aloud. Depending on the pronunciation, one syllable can be expanded to contain up to four vowels and he three consonants for quick chewing or drawing into the drawl. The meaning of “Naur” changes depending on the context. That is, you can mean whatever you like.
How do you pronounce “Nauru”?
Hume says that in order to learn an accent, one must master the “mouth posture” of that accent, that is, the coordination of the muscles with that accent.
“The typical Australian speaker setup is like puckered lips and they tend not to move much,” she says. The typical American setting has the cheeks slightly lifted, the upper lip more mobile, and the tongue higher in the mouth.”
To pronounce “naur,” Hume says to speak lightheartedly. “Your tongue has to relax and sit back. Imagine laying your tongue like a deck chair next to a really nice pool. Your tongue is so cold, Then you have to close your lips. [In Australia] We say, “Don’t let the flies in.” The Australian “no” ending sounds closer to “w” than to “r,” like “na-oooo-wuh” increase.
All of that muscle makes it much harder for Americans to adopt a convincing Australian accent than it is for Australians to have an American accent, says Hume. Because it is relaxed, once it starts to move, it will be lifted, [achieve] A variety of American accents. For Americans, on the other hand, it’s hard to get the tongue off.” Just last week, Australian actor Felix Mallard of Netflix Ginny and Georgia described the approach of switching between Native and American accents, including tongue placement and the difficulty of hitting the “r” in every word correctly.
In addition, lifelong exposure to American culture may sharpen Australian mimicry skills. In Australia, “he can’t go an hour without hearing some sort of American accent on a TV show or an online ad or whatever,” explains Hume. [when they’ve] I heard an Australian accent. “
Haven’t you mastered it completely? Don’t worry, Hume says, because it takes time to get used to a whole new sound.
Where did “Nauru” come from?
Although I know the 2021 meme peg(opens in new window) It probably started around 2018 as the beginning of the “naur” revolution. In September of that year, his tweet reading “Australians be like…..naur” garnered more than 17,000 likes.
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That same year, K-pop’s global growth coincided with the debut of Australian idols in major groups, most notably Stray Kids’ Bang Chan and Felix, and later Blackpink’s Rosé as the industry’s ‘Aussie line’. This is Jake from ENHYPEN, who joined as part of . A fan-made YouTube compilation of Line’s English-speaking moments interviews and live streams has garnered millions of views.(opens in new window), but Bang Chan and Felix’s have proven to be the most vocal evangelists in their country. They regularly exchange “g’day mate”, praising Vegemite’s virtues and enjoying their own pronunciation.
When a fan edited a video of the “Aussie Line” moment, he heard the idol pronounce it and spelled each syllable on the screen as idol, e.g. “nice” to “nois” and “no” to I extended it to “Nauru”. Fans started using Stan “naur” on her Twitter.
2019 clip from an Australian TV show H2O: just add water A character appears who says “Cleo, no!” With a rich Australian accent, he became popular on TikTok, as did his imitation of those lines.
A quick Google search shows that in May 2021 the phrase actually became popular. That’s when mainstream Twitter spotted this phrase and users imagined phrases with ‘no’ replaced with ‘naur’ and other Australian words such as ‘saur’. ”). It’s so pervasive that brands jump into the fray, like Netflix posting TikTok rankings(opens in new window) from the best of ‘naur’ H2O: just add water November 2022.
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Why do you like to say “Nauru”?
Hume knows how much non-Australians love to imitate Australian accents. “I have a lot of American friends, and every time I say ‘no,’ they repeat it. So it’s a sound that has always stood out in their ears. is wired to connect” [and mimicry] Almost instinctive. ”
It’s also how we process the world around us.That’s why kids all over America learned Peppa Pig’s British accent(opens in new window) Talk about eating ‘brekkies’ after watching Australian children’s cartoons Bluey on Disney Plus.
Mimicking accents is also a big factor in getting fit, especially for children. [to another] If you go to a country as a child, your accent is likely to change. [unconsciously]Linguistic studies show that after the age of 11 we become consciously selective. “
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Of course, “naur” is also a nice touch.
“There are verbal poses you can do for fun,” Hume says. For example, “Ermagard”. When you say it out loud, “Pull your lips slightly to the side and hold your tongue in place to make a face. It feels like a live-action emoji. I have a face and I have words.” I am very satisfied because there is so much,” and the various forms of Nauru are just as delicious.
What do Australians think of “Nauru”?
A friend who recently traveled to Canada and Cincinnati told Hume how popular “Nauru” had become. “What has become apparent is that Australians know very little about the way we speak,” Hume said, adding that the most common response to the “Nauru” phenomenon was “Teach us more about our accent.” please!” [Editor’s note: Can confirm. I don’t know what’s funnier or more fascinating: watching Americans nail our accent perfectly, or watching them attempt it and hearing an absolute dog’s brekky of mangled Cockney vowels come tumbling out. The latter is like a child drawing a picture of their family — it’s funny because they’re bad at it, it’s nice because it’s affectionate, and it can also be mortifying because of what features they choose to emphasize. — Caitlin Welsh, Australia Editor]
Overall, Hume says, “There is an overwhelming group consciousness in the pronunciation of words.” The Australian entertainer adopted a standardized Australian accent in the same way that American celebrities and newscasters adopted transatlantic accents in the first half of the 20th century. It caused some shame.
“Australia has something called cultural tightness.(opens in new window)we’re tired of the way we sound and the way we look,” Hume explains. It’s about aspirations for the UK… People talk when I go to the theater or see an Australian film. [in a standardized Australian accent]then I disgust myself because I don’t talk like that.
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And Hume says it’s still common for Australian actors to be asked to remove their accent entirely. [an American production is] photograph [in Australia], I have a lot of work teaching Australian actors with an American accent because they have to go to auditions with an American voice. “
However, the non-standardized “no” with vowels has never completely disappeared. “Australians have talked about it that way since the country was colonized. It’s been there for 200 years,” Hume says. It is now thriving because it provided “Someone from a remote part of Australia has recorded their voice, but their accent has not been manipulated in any way.” H2O: just add waterOrigin of the ‘naur’ meme: ‘It was a children’s TV show, and it featured young people who had never been to drama school, so their natural voices were on screen. So, just wear it on site.”
After seeing the recent rise of ‘naur’, Hume changed his master’s research topic to focus on how Australian accents are represented on stage. “My hypothesis is that accent standardization is part of the reason. [Australians] “I don’t know about their accents,” she says. “Naur” may be a phenomenon in the United States and online, but its greatest impact may be on Australians themselves. Your accent is part of your identity, and nibbling on ‘naur’ helps Australians learn more about themselves.
