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The most annoying accent in the world revealed

A global survey has found which accents are most appealing and most annoying to both men and women. Thankfully, the Australian accent did not make the top of the most hated list!

A survey of 300 men and women by The Knowledge Academy asked participants to listen to five minutes of the same narrative recorded by English-speakers.

A global survey has found which accents are most appealing and most annoying to both men and women. Photo: Getty
A global survey has found which accents are most appealing and most annoying to both men and women. Photo: Getty

The researchers determined which accents were more preferred or hated by how long the volunteers were able to listen to the recordings for before switching off.

Unsurprisingly, the American accent on both men and women were chosen to be the most annoying with men turning the recording off after just one minute and 26 seconds and women switching off after just one minute and 17 seconds.

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The Irish accent, however, was voted most favourable among women with the group listening to four minutes and 30 seconds of their speaker. When it came to men, the Scots won out with men listening to around four minutes and 35 seconds of a Scottish woman talking.

South African accents on women were the second most annoying with an average listening time of one minute and 44 seconds, while the Canadian accent on men came second with a similar listening time of one minute and 42 seconds.

The American accent was rated most annoying to both men and women. Photo: Getty
The American accent was rated most annoying to both men and women. Photo: Getty

The Kiwis landed at number three on most annoying accents on women with a listening time of two minutes and seven seconds and with Wales coming in at the same place on the male list.

Sadly Australia was fourth on the women's list with South Africa fourth on the men's list.

Here are the results:

Most Annoying Women's English Accents

1. USA, with one minute and 26 seconds

2. South Africa, with an average listening time of one minute and 44 seconds

3. New Zealand, with an average listening time of two minutes and seven seconds

4. Australia, with an average listening time of two minutes and 29 seconds

5. Wales, with an average listening time of two minutes and 44 seconds

6. England, with an average listening time of two minutes and 56 seconds

7. Canada, with an average listening time of three minutes and 12 seconds

8. Scotland, with an average listening time of three minutes and 38 seconds

9. Northern Ireland, with an average listening time of four minutes and two seconds

10. Ireland, with an average listening time of four minutes, 32 seconds

Most Annoying Men's English Accents

1. USA, with an average listening time of one minute and 17 seconds

2. Canada, with an average listening time of one minute and 42 seconds

3. Wales, with an average listening time of two minutes and 11 seconds

4. South Africa, with an average listening time of two minutes and 27 seconds

5. Northern Ireland, with an average listening time of two minutes and 43 seconds

6. England, with an average listening time of two minutes and 51 seconds

7. New Zealand, with an average listening time of three minutes and 15 seconds

8. Australia, with an average listening time of three minutes and 34 seconds

9. Ireland, with an average listening time of four minutes and 27 seconds

10. Scotland, with an average listening time of 4 minutes, 35 seconds

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