French may be the ‘language of love’, but it’s not the ‘accent of attraction’, if a new global survey revealing which accents men and women find the most enchanting is anything to go by.
The findings come from The Knowledge Academy, a global training provider that found that eight in 10 people find accents attractive in a potential partner.
Seeking to uncover which inflections most set hearts aflutter on a first date, they surveyed 2,500 single women and men and asked them to pick their favourites (they could pick more than one).
Turns out, the gruff yet lilting Scottish accent took out the top spot for women (hello, Outlander‘s Sam Heughan), with 86% of the 1,250 women surveyed listing it as ‘the sexiest accent’.
As for the single men? The melodic Spanish accent ranked the highest, with 88% of respondents putting it above all others.
The Irish accent took out the silver medal for women (77%) while the romantic Italian accent snagged third place (68%).
Worlds away from the women’s preferences, Brazilian Portuguese came in second for men (76%), and the good old Australian accent grabbed third place with 72%.
Interestingly, just 29% of men ranked Scottish as the most attractive accent on a woman, with it scraping in at last position in the top 10.
And while French might not be the winner in either roundup, the ‘language of love’ managed to sit at 4th place for both women (61%) and men (69%).
Below, the complete breakdown.
The Accents Favoured By Women
1. Scottish – 86%
2. Irish – 77%
3. Italian – 68%
4. French – 61%
5. Spanish – 56%
6. Brazilian Portuguese – 48%
7. Queen’s English – 47%
8. Australian – 35%
9. South African – 29%
10. Mexican – 23%
The Accents Favoured By Men:
1. Spanish – 88%
2. Brazilian Portugese – 76%
3. Australian – 72%
4. French – 69%
5. American – 62%
6. Kiwi – 54%
7. Czech – 47%
8. Italian – 43%
9. Mexican – 31%
10. Scottish – 29%
