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mrbig4545 | 10 years ago

On accident is one of those American sayings that sounds weird to my English ears. Like poop. where did the second p come from???

That said, I think our dialects are merging, (well more likely British English is becoming Americanised, but you guys make all the tv, so that's to be expected), for example, when I was younger no one said "ass", it was always "arse", but nowadays it's nearly always "ass"; except for the older generations.

But, we have the same problem within the UK, in the north, we have three meals, breakfast, dinner and tea. In the south they have breakfast, lunch and dinner. It can be very confusing, especially in films when someone invites someone round for tea, but there's no food and it's 1pm!

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netnichols|10 years ago

Funny, before I read the article I thought that "on accident" must be some British English bastardization since it sounds so weird to my American ears. But I was born in the late 70's and haven't lived in the US since 2000, so maybe that explains it.

pc86|10 years ago

I personally say "by accident" and was born in 86 (during the period the author says speakers are split) and "on accident" has always sounded odd to me, and almost wrong, although when I was in school I do recall people saying both with a pretty even split (as much as I can remember, anyway).

klipt|10 years ago

As a South African, the first time I saw "on accident" was from an American on IRC.

At the time I assumed he was just one of those uneducated redneck hillbillies I'd heard of who can't English proper. But it turns out that's just how young people speak these days.

cyorir|10 years ago

As an American born in 1994, I have to say that "by accident" sounds a bit funnier than "on accident," which I hear more frequently. However, I feel that I usually say "accidentally" instead of either phrase.

shaftway|10 years ago

/sophomoric humor coming...

It's "poop" because when you say that word, your lips make the same motions that your nether region makes while doing it.

The same is true of the phrase "explosive diarrhea".