A Boston Reporter Has Gone Viral For Her Accent Slipping Out When She Least Expected It

The Boston accent is so ubiquitous, it has its own Wikipedia page. (Yes, the “Dunkin Donuts” sketch from SNL is cited.) But you don’t need to know that the accent “typically [has] the cot-caught merger but not the father-bother merger” to be delighted by it.

“Sometimes that Boston accent slips out when you least expect it,” WWLP-22News reporter Ellen Fleming tweeted this week, along with a video of herself inside the Massachusetts State House. I could describe the way she says “New Hampshire” in the clip, but you should really hear it for yourself.

— Ellen Fleming (@EllenFlem) January 12, 2023

Fleming was raised in Braintree, MA, but according to the Boston Globe, “both of her parents grew up in Dorchester — ground zero for the classic Boston accent — and how they spoke rubbed off on her.” She’s been trying to tone down the how-do-you-like-dem-apples accent since college, and she’s been doing a wicked good job. Mostly.

Fleming said the replies to the outtake have “been hysterical… “A lot of people [are] saying I shouldn’t change how I speak, and a lot [are] saying ‘pahk the cahr,’” she said in a message. The kicker This isn’t the first time Fleming has had a viral moment. Back in 2018, she had a brush with online fame after posting her humorous tale about becoming a millionaire — for a whole 10 minutes.

Sadly, the mistake was revolved before she could buy one million dollars worth of duck boat tours.