blaccent

English

Alternative forms

• blackcent

Etymology

Blend of black +‎ accent

Noun

blaccent (plural blaccents)

1. (US) An accent characteristic of African-Americans (black Americans).
   • 2003 January 5, Eric Stewart, “the people's kitchen”, in misc.activism.progressive (Usenet):

     He's black, but doesn't have a trace of a blaccent.

   • 2004 February 19, Ben Zimmer, “Is the slogan grammatical?”, in sci.lang (Usenet):

     Timberlake has long sought to overcome his whiteness to perfect a "blaccent", as the kids call it these days, and the McDonald's ad campaign explicitly relies on a hiphop idiom.

   • 2005 November 15, “Eli” of Michigan, “Lord of The Dance”, The Life of a Swordfish, at swordfish22.spaces.live.com [2]

     She spoke with a very thick blaccent...as she screamed "C'mon B!, C'mon B! C'mon B!" (she was quite persistent with this phrase, and used the actual word) "I betta neva see yo A out eating sub sammiches eva again!".

   • 2006 February 8, “Drew” of Philadelphia, “The moral's I'm immortal ”, Trapper Juan, at trapperjuan.blogspot.com [3]

     Rothlisberger...speaks with a blaccent, which in reality is not that uncommon. The problem is his inconsistency. Sometimes, he lays it on thicker than J. Will haggling at a swap meet

   • 2009, John McWhorter quoted on, The World‎^[4]:

     The sad thing is that for many people, the blaccent connotes lack of intelligence.

   • 2016 December 4, Jennifer Schuessler, quoting Edward McClelland, “‘How to Speak Midwestern,’ a Heartland Dialect Guide”, in The New York Times‎^[5], →ISSN:

     (Mr. McClelland notes the existence of various Midwestern “blaccents,” though he doesn’t explore them.)

   • 2020 July 21, John McWhorter, “The Biases We Hold Against the Way People Speak”, in The New York Times‎^[6], →ISSN:

     Black earnings decrease to the extent that one has a perceptible “blaccent.”

   • 2022 February 8, “What a ‘blaccent’ is, and why it's wrong”, in CNN‎^[7]:

     The term is making headlines this week after comedian, actress and rapper Awkwafina addressed criticism that she’s used a “blaccent,” or Black accent, and other elements of African American language and mannerisms during her career.

Coordinate terms

• African-American English (AAE)
• African-American Vernacular English (AAVE)
• Ebonics