‘Airport’ or ‘ehpowt’? Australian kids show Bluey baffles American viewers

Genevieve Thorpe
Feb 22, 2023, updated Feb 23, 2023

A clip from Australian children’s show Bluey has sparked international debate over a voice actor’s pronunciation of one word – ‘airport’.

A five-second snippet from the hit show’s third season has been viewed almost seven million times on TikTok – with many marvelling at one character’s strong accent.

The clip shows Bluey’s younger sister, Bingo, having a conversation with another character about her plans for the next day.

They discuss the fact that Bingo will be heading to the airport to say goodbye to her dad before he heads on a business trip.

“Bingo, you get to go to the airport tomorrow,” the character tells Bingo.

“Airport? I’m not going to the airport,” she replies.

The five-second clip has sparked confusion online, particularly among American viewers, who are baffled at Bingo’s Aussie accent.

“Ehpow,” one TikTok user commented.

“Air-port,” wrote another, seemingly correcting Bingo. “What’s ehpowt?”

@more.epilesbian new vocal stim just dropped! #bingo #bingoheeler #bluey #blueytiktok #blueytok #blueyheeler #blueyedit #bingoedit #banditheeler #chiliheeler #chilliheeler #airport #australian #aussie ♬ bingo heeler saying airport like ehpowt – epilesbian on the side

Many TikTok users said the pronunciation had an ASMR-like effect, claiming it “scratched their brains” – meaning it was satisfying to listen to.

“The way she’s like ‘ehpowt’? Scratches my brain so good for some reason,” TikTok user katieturton_ captioned her video.

Others shared their love for the clip, calling Bingo’s pronunciation “adorable” and “cute”.

Many non-Aussies are also desperately trying to replicate Bingo’s pronunciation, claiming they need to speak out of the side of their mouth to get the same effect.

More than 107,000 TikToks have now been made using the audio from the original viral TikTok.

@katieturton_i. love. bluey.♬ bingo heeler saying airport like ehpowt – epilesbian on the side

@indigo_skye4 why do they speak out of the sides of their mouth and do anime faces 😭 and then caption it ehpowt #funny #humor #aussie #american #dumbamerica #relatable #relatablecontent #girl #teengirl #tan #teenagers #teen #sound #bluey #bingo #trend #trending #glowup #fyp #fypシ #pinterestaesthetic #downtowngirl #vanillagirlaesthetic #vanillagirl #stockholmstyle #fashion #australian ♬ bingo heeler saying airport like ehpowt – epilesbian on the side

But many Aussies have been left confused by the ruckus.

One user joked that the debate was sending her into somewhat of an existential crisis.

“When everyone’s joking about how this sounds, but it’s exactly how you pronounce ‘Ehpowt’,” user r.h.kendall captioned their video.

“Having an [Australian] crisis.”

Others tested whether their accents really made the word sound like ‘ehpowt’, repeating the phrase over and over again.

@r.h.kendall “CLeO NaUr” all over again…smh #ehpowt #blueytok💙 #australian #blueytok #blueytiktok ♬ bingo heeler saying airport like ehpowt – epilesbian on the side

@moretahlia EHPOWT ✈️ 🇦🇺 #trending #aussie #aussieaccents #ehpowt #aussiegirls #melbourne #accents #aussiegirl #aussietok ♬ bingo heeler saying airport like ehpowt – epilesbian on the side

Mystery voice

Although the soundbite has gone mega-viral, we’ll likely never know the identity of the voice actor responsible for the TikTok craze.

Although we know Melanie Zanetti, David McCormack, Megan Washington and Myf Warhurst are among the ABC program’s voice actors, the voice actors for Bluey and Bingo have never been named in the show’s credits.

In an interview with Kidspot in 2022, Zanetti explained why Bluey’s production crew had kept their identities a secret.

“All the children on the show are members of the family of people in production. I am so glad that the creatives on the show decided that no one would be in the credits to protect the young cast,” she said.

“I think that was so clever and I’m so happy that, not knowing how big the show would be, they had the foresight to do it. In the long term, I think that protecting young people is so important in this industry.”

‘Cleourrrr, naur’

This isn’t the first time the internet has become infatuated with the Australian accent.

In 2021, TikTok became obsessed with the Aussie accents of the cast in H20: Just Add Water – a show about Australian teenagers that turn into mermaids at the touch of water.

People online couldn’t get enough of how the cast pronounced certain words.

They joked about how when the cast said the name ‘Cleo’, it sounded more like ‘Cleourrrr’.

They also began to mock how they all pronounced the word ‘no’, saying it sounded more like ‘naur’.

@urfav.ranga0 #capcut #cleo #emma #ricky #lewis #makomermaids #h20 #justaddwater #nooo ♬ original sound – urfavranga

The difference might be subtle – even undetectable – for us Aussies, but the unearthed clips set the internet alight.

To this day, TikTok is still filled with clips of people adopting their Aussie accents, and applying them to all kinds of circumstances, even remaking some of the show’s scenes for entertainment.