An Oregon woman's accent has been identified as a medical oddity. A year and a half ago the woman went to the dentist office to get a dental implant, when she left just hours later she had an Irish accent.
Butler’s case also has a striking similarity to that of Chris Gregory’s, from Yorkshire, Britain back in 2009. Having woken up in his hospital bed he began singing “Danny Boy” in an Irish accent even though he has never visited the country.
In his case the symptom only lasted for 30 minutes, as opposed to Butler’s which has been with her for almost two years.
According to Karen Butler whenever she meets new people they ask her if she's Irish. The Oregonian woman from a small seaside town called Newport, explains to them that she picked her accent up at the dentist's office. The 56-year-old tax consultant's accent now sounds like a strange mix between Irish, South African and British.
Speaking to the "Today" show Butler explained that as soon as she woke up, having taken a sedative, she was speaking in a foreign accent.
Her husband said "She went had her teeth worked on, she came home different voice, same girl"
Read more: Englishman wakes up with Irish accent after surgery
Butler believes that she is suffering from Foreign Accent Syndrome. Doctor Ted Lowenkopf, the medical director of Providence Stroke Center, in Oregon, said "It’s so rare -- less than 100 cases ever reported - that the average neurologist, even a stroke neurologist, would not see a case in their lifetime."
Essentially Butler suffered a small stroke which affected the specific area of the brain that alters a person's speech. The most famous case of Foreign Accent Syndrome is that of 30-year-old Georg Herman Monrad-Krohn. He picked up a German accent having been hit by a shrapnel in Oslo from a German air raid in 1941.
After nearly two years of living with the new accent Butler, and her family, are happy to live with it. She says that people find foreign accents interesting and she feels more confident speaking to strangers now. She explained "It’s just like a new toy.”
Thankfully both Bulter and Gregory seem to be able to see the funny side of it.
Mary, Gregory’s wife said “All the nurses were trying really hard not to laugh, and I was too. I just couldn't take it in at first, it seemed so comical, but it didn't matter at all because I'd been so worried about losing him altogether...Chris's Yorkshire accent had vanished completely, and he was talking like an Irishman all the time.
"At one point he looked at me adoringly and said: 'You're da fabbest gal oi know! ' with a perfect Irish lilt in his voice.It sounded crazy, but I didn't care. It was just great to have him back in one piece after such a traumatic time."
Similarly Bulter’s husband said that she is still the same girl just with a different voice. He said “If you look at it on a scale of things one to a hundred of things that could devastate a family this does rise to level one."
Read more: The worst Irish accents in Hollywood
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Switch to the desktop site to post a comment.galtyboi | Jun 12, 2013, 07:06 AM EDT
I was born in Ireland and spend a good bit of my life there ,and if this is an Irish accent ,then i'm a dutch man.
BiffSissy | May 09, 2011, 04:03 PM EDT
for those of you who believe this.... I've got Florida swampland I could sell you or maybe a bridge?? ( pun intended)................
aoibhinn | May 08, 2011, 03:00 AM EDT
I hear South African and northern England, and a jumble of Australian, N. Ireland and English.
AMDG1970 | May 07, 2011, 10:33 AM EDT
The accent does shift as she speaks; sounds for the most part generic Irish but there are words that sond Gemanic or South African. (I've been doing surgery for 32 years - I've never heard of this syndrome) Saln
billyjustin | May 07, 2011, 05:46 AM EDT
thats nothing like an irish accent, great ad for her (doctor) Im irish and live in Limerick, slan
AliceBernadette | May 07, 2011, 02:38 AM EDT
Actually on further listening there is a hint of South African but it really sounds like a jumbled accent not really something you could pin on any country.
AliceBernadette | May 07, 2011, 02:28 AM EDT
As someone from Australia this accent sounds like someone who is not a native English speaker. I would have guessed Dutch / Scandinavian. It doesn't sound in anyway British or Irish. It also doesn't sound Australian or South African. People aren't very good at accents if they think this is in anyway British or Irish.
eithnep | May 06, 2011, 11:57 PM EDT
what a load of codswallop ,she was on abc news with a english accent and on nbc news claiming she had an irish accent ,which is it?how much did they pay her?
dublinguy | May 06, 2011, 06:47 PM EDT
There is no doubt about it she has a south african accent.
sirpeter | May 06, 2011, 06:13 PM EDT
That's not an Irish accent anywhere in Ireland.Scandanavian or Dutch maybe.
LainieMcEl | May 06, 2011, 06:12 PM EDT
WOW!!!! After reading this I am going to make an appointment with my orthodontist to get an implant, but instead of waking up with an Irish accent,I am hoping that I wake up IN Ireland. LMAO!!!!!!! May be the only way for me to get my life long dream!!
belfastgirl1 | May 06, 2011, 05:28 PM EDT
Please don't insult us. This does not sound anything like an Irish or British accent. You have a speech impediment, sue your dentist.
mamaginnty | May 06, 2011, 02:37 PM EDT
No way would I take her for irish, a touch of S.Africa, Australia, and European English. Kate your hearing is a bit Wonky.
Conor86 | May 06, 2011, 02:27 PM EDT
That is not an Irish accent sorry. I was born in Ireland so i know.
borefield | May 06, 2011, 02:07 PM EDT
Me thinks Kate Hickey had a wee dram too much before she wrote this one.
LinLinisme | May 06, 2011, 01:47 PM EDT
cool, glad that she didn't suffer anything life threatening. I have heard of this before, there was a lady in texas who had the same thing.
littleluvnut | May 06, 2011, 01:14 PM EDT
She does not sound Irish! British more like it!
Liamkeyes | May 06, 2011, 12:23 PM EDT
MMMM sounds like a British or Australian accent to me. Definitely not Irish.
Sparklet | May 06, 2011, 12:00 PM EDT
It sounds nothing like an Irish accent. Nor a British one which is what the article actually says.
Cedric123 | May 06, 2011, 11:49 AM EDT
sounds more South African than Irish to me...
walleyeman | May 06, 2011, 11:42 AM EDT
I hear obammy is going to go so he sounds a little authentic when he makes his "ancestral" roots. LOL we are used to his various speaking inflections depending on his audience. East west coast white wine liberals ... Snooty high brow. Inner city ......'hood speak heavy black inflection. Union crowd ......rabble rouser,black babtist minister inflection. College kids......hip laughing schucking and jiving. One thing in common to all is loads of BS.
JohnnyMac | May 06, 2011, 11:12 AM EDT
She doesn't sound Irish to me. I was thinking she sounds more Scandanavian - Swedish? Surely not Irish.
mocmanic | May 06, 2011, 10:29 AM EDT
Right.
cillowen | May 06, 2011, 10:23 AM EDT
it seems to me it having something to do with damage to her ear - her heaing.
cailinahaon | May 06, 2011, 10:10 AM EDT
That is nothing like an Irish accent.
seagreen | May 06, 2011, 10:04 AM EDT
When she finished the procedure, she was probably wondering how to pay the bill...
citizen69 | May 06, 2011, 09:57 AM EDT
Well, her Irish accent is still better than most Hollywood actors! :)
antoman | May 06, 2011, 09:30 AM EDT
My comment did'nt appear.Listening to her it sounds to me like a European accent.Dutch perhaps.
antoman | May 06, 2011, 09:00 AM EDT
She does'nt sound Irish to me.European.Dutch.
Toonagh | May 06, 2011, 07:59 AM EDT
can think of worse things that could happen in the dentist!