INFphoto.comSure, lots of people study David Beckham closely, but apparently some folks are interested in more than his underwear ads.
Like his accent, for one thing. Academics at the University of Manchester have released a study that analyzed the Cockney accents of the soccer star and wife Victoria Beckham both before and after the couple moved from Great Britain to Los Angeles in 2007.
Per the BBC, the researchers studied video of Beckham talking over the past six years to chart the evolution of his speech pattern; the study found that since living in L.A. and playing with the Galaxy his blue-collar accent has diminished over time.
For example, the report concluded the soccer superstar dropped the "h" from words like "him" 80 percent of the time before the move, whereas now he only drops it 20 percent of the time. (Perhaps making it easier to say "H&M"?)
Separately the researchers found the former Posh Spice to be "definitely getting posher" as she's been pronouncing the letter "L" 46 percent of the time in words like "All" instead of saying "awe"—an accent more indicative of working-class folks in southeast England.
"We think this may be connected with the fact that she's forged a different career as a widely respected fashion designer," Naomi Proszynska, one of the linguistic experts leading the probe, told the BBC.
The study was part an effort to examine "how changing circumstances affect the way we pronounce words," according to a university spokesman.
Uh huh. Guess we'll take their word for it.