Any Brit visiting the U.S. is sure to encounter plenty of differences. While most people might think about the differences in vernacular, or driving on the other side of the road, there was one household item with which this woman wasn’t expecting to have so much difficulty.
After visiting the U.S., TikTok user @fullofemily shared the hilarious moment she attempted to use a voice-activated trash can, which simply refused to accept her British accent. Despite repeatedly uttering the phrase “open can,” nothing happened until she faked an impressive American accent and said the exact same words.
As soon as she changed her accent, the lid opened instantly, much to her amusement. She joked that this was the reality of being “just a Brit in the USA.” The TikToker posted the video on her account on December 3, and it’s delighted many social media users, already being viewed more than 1.6 million times and receiving over 202,800 likes.
Layered over the video clip, the TikToker wrote the caption: “My trash can won’t open until I put on an American accent.”
Rancic Aleksandar / Yuliia Konakhovska/Getty Images
Being able to imitate other accents is a gift that some people seem to do with ease, while others struggle to even recreate a single word. But a recent poll by YouGov showed that it might be harder to fool people than you might think, because 39 percent of U.S. adults said they wouldn’t believe a Brit if they faked an American accent. Comparatively, the results of the May 2023 survey showed that 25 percent of people think they would believe it.
When asked how good their own British impressions were, 25 percent of respondents said they were terrible, and only 17 percent said they had a good accent. So, it appears that it’s not just Brits who struggle to recreate other accents.
Fortunately for @fullofemily, her forced American accent was strong enough for the trash can to believe her and the lid finally opened up. Now, she knows exactly what she has to do next time she wants to use it.
With more than 4,100 comments on the viral post so far, many TikTok users were highly amused by @fullofemily’s impression of an American accent. One comment reads: “You American’d so perfectly though lol.”
Another person responded: “the can knows who won the war.”
While others struggled to understand her British accent just as much as the can did, as one TikTok user commented: “I’m ngl I have no clue what you said until you said it in the American accent.”
Newsweek reached out to @fullofemily via TikTok for comment. We could not verify the details of the case.
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Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.