With a slip of the tongue, a local television reporter let her Boston accent roll, earning her adoration of thousands on social media, including the governor of New Hampshire.
“Parts of this bill are similar to the executive orders that have already been put in place in New Hampshah,” WWLP reporter Ellen Fleming said as she stood in the marble halls of the Massachusetts State House.
She immediately paused, looking upwards with a slightly irritated expression, and said the name of the state aloud again, careful to ditch the regional dialect.
“New Hampshirrr,” she said.
Fleming uploaded the outtake to Twitter Thursday evening and by the next morning it had received more than 2.5 million views — and a number of responses praising her pronunciation.
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“Sometimes that Boston accent slips out when you least expect it,” Fleming tweeted.
New Hampsha is just fine by us, @EllenFlem 😂 https://t.co/4eSpHg22Hp
— Chris Sununu (@GovChrisSununu) January 13, 2023
The clip caught the attention of New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu, who gave it his stamp of approval.
“New Hampsha is just fine by us, @EllenFlem,” he tweeted along with the crying laughing emoji.
Though Fleming was raised in Braintree, her parents grew up in Dorchester — ground zero for the classic Boston accent — and how they spoke rubbed off on her. Fleming said she has been working on dialing down her accent since college, but every now and then “it still sneaks up.”
But while Fleming has worked to stop dropping her “R’s,” many on social media found her pronunciation endearing and some urged her to embrace it.
“That’s how those of us from southern New Hampshire might say it anyway!” tweeted Ryan Breton, a meteorologist covering southern New England weather for Fox News.
Other reporters found the slip-up relatable.
“I feel this … Rhode Island accent is different than Boston but it does happen to me sometimes,” tweeted Brent Martineau, the sports director at Action Sports Jax in Florida.
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Many joined the fun by posting memes featuring well-known Boston characters and athletes, like Casey Affleck playing a prickly regular of Dunkin’ Donuts in a sketch on “Saturday Night Live.”
PR guy John Guilfoil posted a clip of Red Sox legend David Ortiz leaning out a window and saying “wicked smaht” in a Boston-themed Hyundai Super Bowl ad.
— John M. Guilfoil (@johnguilfoil) January 13, 2023
Fleming said the replies to the outtake have “been hysterical.”
“A lot of people [are] saying I shouldn’t change how I speak, and a lot [are] saying ‘pahk the cahr,’” she said in a message.
The kicker? This isn’t the first time Fleming has had a viral moment. In 2018, she had a brush with online fame after posting a humorous tale about becoming a millionaire — for a whole 10 minutes.
Fleming was a good sport about the banking mistake, when more than $1 million was accidentally (and briefly) transferred to her TD Ameritrade account, joking that she was “very humbled that I lost my money and my family stood by me.”
“It’s hysterical” to go viral online again, Fleming said. “I thought the millionaire story got a lot of views, but this is already surpassing that.”
Turns out, the Boston accent never gets old.
See reactions to the clip:
I could watch this 100x @EllenFlem! https://t.co/seZRZtK030
— antoinette antonio (@antoinetteA) January 13, 2023
— Pete Blackburn (@PeteBlackburn) January 12, 2023
I feel seen, except with a NY accent! 😫
— Charmaine Nero (@CNeroTV) January 13, 2023
To be honest, that’s actually how it’s pronounced, you were absolutely correct.
— Adam Harding (@HardingReports) January 13, 2023
I felt this. https://t.co/uGB1CX8qqD pic.twitter.com/Gs1x17oB0i
— Geoff Carmichael (@GeoffCarmichael) January 13, 2023
“How do you like them apples” https://t.co/4fWsGsfjSq pic.twitter.com/gjICAdRUnl
— Landon C Breeding 🐘 (@BammaJammin2550) January 13, 2023
Shannon Larson can be reached at shannon.larson@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @shannonlarson98.