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Italian grandmother can’t get Siri to understand her thick accent

You can see her getting more frustrated by the minute.

 

Michelle Jaworski

Internet Culture

Posted on Feb 13, 2015   Updated on May 29, 2021, 1:22 pm CDT

Many of us take for granted the general ease of navigating an iPhone and using Siri, but if your English isn’t precise, you’ll be dealing with a useless, talking brick.

Greg Lachimia is teaching his Italian grandmother, Nonna Paola, how to use her new iPhone, and one quick look shows it’s not going very well. All she wants to know is the current time in Rome, but instead of just looking it up for her, Lachimia tries to show Nonna Paola how to do it herself.

With her broken English, “Siri” quickly becomes “Sira,” and although she tries to be polite at first, her anger quickly gets the better of her. At one point, Siri tells Nonna Paola that she values her, which is probably one of the most passive aggressive things an app can say in this situation.

Lachimia posted the video on Facebook and a reupload went viral with more than 4 million views. Nonna Paola became famous in Australia, leading to an appearance on Australia’s Today that left host Karl Stefanovic in stitches.

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Photo via Vasile Cotovanu/Flickr (CC BY 2.0)

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*First Published: Feb 13, 2015, 10:21 am CST