When you think about Elon Musk, what comes to mind? Is it his mind boggling wealth? His intelligence? How about his penchant for dating beautiful women? All those things are true, but one thing that keeps coming up again and again is Musk’s accent.
It’s a little Canadian? A touch of Afrikaans? Maybe some American slang thrown in? It’s hard to tell, but with a little digging we find out that the answer’s been right in front of us the whole time. However, in order to understand Musk’s accent, we need to understand where he’s from. Let’s dig in.
Where did Elon Musk grow up?
Musk was born on June 28, 1971 in Pretoria, South Africa. His father was native South African and his mother was Canadian. He left South Africa in 1988 after he procured a Canadian passport, because he didn’t want to support the country’s policy of apartheid by joining the military.
He was 17 when he moved to Canada and 30 when he moved to the United States. When he was a child, he attended private school. Musk has admitted in the past that his father had no faith in his son and told him he wasn’t going to amount to anything.
When the young Musk moved to Canada, his father told him he would be back in a few months. Musk has called his father evil and his father answered this claims by telling The Daily Mail that his son simply needed to “grow up.”
“He needs to get over himself. I’m not going to hit back. I’m going to wait until he comes to his senses. He’s having a tantrum, like a spoilt child. He can’t have what he wants and now I am apparently an evil monster.”
What is Elon Musk’s accent?
Musk’s tri-country upbringing definitely affected the way he speaks. His accent is a mix of English South African mixed with Canadian and American English elements. That’s why it sounds so unique to everyone – it’s a mix of three different dialects.
