The 'why' behind how we talk
On Point with Meghna Chakrabarti
WBUR
4.3 • 3.9K Ratings
🗓️ 17 April 2026
⏱️ 42 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
An accent doesn’t just tell someone where you are from – but who you are – your cultural background, race, age and class. How the way we talk tells people more than we think.
*** Thank you for listening. Help power On Point by making a donation here: wbur.org/giveonpoint
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Selling your car can be super simple. |
| 0:02.0 | If you choose, we buy any car because they sort out any outstanding finance for you. |
| 0:08.0 | Just bring along your final settlement agreement. |
| 0:10.0 | If only they could make parallel parking simpler. |
| 0:13.0 | To the right bit, mate. |
| 0:15.0 | Yeah, back. Back a bit more. A bit more. |
| 0:18.0 | Oh, no, too far. |
| 0:21.8 | We buy any car. |
| 0:23.0 | Selling made simple. |
| 0:27.1 | To sell your car today, enter your reg number now at webuanycar.com. |
| 0:36.2 | Support for this podcast comes from Is Business Broken, a podcast from the Marotra Institute at BU Questrum School of Business. |
| 0:38.8 | In a recent episode, the show explores whether private equity is a job creator, |
| 0:43.9 | making the economy more efficient, or if it's a plunder machine, |
| 0:47.7 | loading the system with risk and hidden costs. |
| 0:51.1 | Stick around until the end of this podcast to preview the episode. |
| 0:56.4 | WBUR Podcasts, Boston. |
| 1:05.0 | This is On Point. I'm Megynatakrabardi, and these are just some of the sounds of America. |
| 1:14.0 | Hey, I'm Ralph Sorrell. I live in West Jefferson, North Carolina. I was calling about the show on accents. I have been told I have a strong one. |
| 1:24.7 | We say roof weird, and some people say bag weird weird and we say op a lot like when you bump into |
| 1:31.7 | somebody you're just getting the way. |
| 1:33.7 | And in Wisconsin we sometimes tap into the Yupert accent and go, go packers. |
| 1:39.9 | Did you hear about Bonnie Clock? |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from WBUR, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of WBUR and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.

