#‘Peppa Pig’ effect has kids speaking in British accents during pandemic

By George!

American kids are binge-watching so much of the British cartoon “Peppa Pig’’ that they are developing English accents and even using words like “telly” and “ready, steady, go.”

The so-called Peppa Effect had already led kids in the US to mimic the star swine from UK-produced “Peppa Pig” – and all that extra telly time during COVID-19 restrictions appears to be making the phenomenon more widespread.

Screen time limits were lifted as parents worked from home and extra Peppa binging ensued. Now parents say more kids are opting for “Father Christmas” instead of “Santa Claus” and throwing out expressions like “give it a go.”

Peppa Pig was the second most in-demand cartoon after “Spongebob Squarepants” for a 12-month period ending February, the Journal stated, citing data from consulting firm Parrot Analytics. It was the 50^th most in-demand out of all shows, reportedly moving up from the 103^rd spot a year earlier.

“Young Peppa fans see her as a friend .. and, as we do with friends that we admire, pick up some of their characteristics,” Entertainment One Ltd, the show’s owner said in a statement to the newspaper.

“On a recent VACATION, my 5-year-old dared tell me that she was loving her HOLIDAY,” California resident Matias Cavallin said on Twitter. “I told her we speak American in this house … and Spanish too.”

Cavallin was replying to a crowdsourcing request from Preetika Rana, a Wall Street Journal reporter who co-wrote an article on the topic and said her 5-year-old niece in New York City had taken to speaking in “a posh English accent.”

In the Journal article, Cavallin said his 5-year-old, Dani, had taken to saying things like “Mummy, are you going to the optician?” Rhode Island mom Lauren Ouellette said her 6-year-old even referred to a bathroom as a water closet.

“I was like ‘where did she learn that from? Was she on the Titanic in a past life?’ ” Ouellette told Journal.