What accent did 'kewl' (cool) originate from

I've been hearing 'kewl' for a long time excessively on social media (mostly used by Americans). I wondered what accent it came from. I searched, but only found the following information about it:

  • Kewl - /kjuːl/ (adjective): non-standard spelling of cool (fashionably attractive or impressive)

Origin: 1990s representing an affected or exaggerated pronunciation of cool - Lexico

  • Generally restricted to the colloquial meaning of popular, and therefore this spelling is useful to distinguish this word from the standard meaning of cool. With this particular meaning it has been adopted into other languages - Wikitionary

I also searched vowels in American accents and dialects, but didn't find any helpful information.

Youtube

So what accent did it originate from? Is there any accent which turns /uː/ to /juː/?


The OED appears to attest the usage from 1990, while other sources suggest a later usage mainly in internet chats which, probably, made the term more visible.

As for the pronunciation, it appears that the /ju:/ vs /u:/ is not a question of local accent but rather an exaggerated, informal way to pronounce cool.

See the following sources:

Kewl

[cool adj.]

(US teen) a general term of approval.

  • 1997–2000 [US] College Sl. Research Project (Cal. State Poly. Uni., Pomona) [Internet] Kewl (adj.) Cool; very good.

(Green’s Dictionary of Slang)

PC.net comments that the term kewl is used:

Online Only (chat, messaging, e-mail)

A phonetic way of writing "cool." Used primarily by kids in informal communication.

BusinessInsider.com posted the following comments regarding the inclusion of the term kewl and its affected or exaggerated pronunciation in the OED:

Having been used throughout the 1990s, gradually finding its way into Internet chat room after Internet chat room, "kewl" has been placed alongside the words in the Oxford English Dictionary (via the Quick and Dirty).

The bastardized spelling of "cool" also is said to have a slightly different pronunciation, with the dictionary listing two: "kjul" and "kul."

According to the online Oxford English Dictionary, "kewl" was first used in 1990. By 1995 it had been used in New Scientist magazine and has also been seen in New York Magazine and New Musical Express.

Now, the Oxford English Dictionary has deemed it a word in its own right. However, it has labeled it as slang. The dictionary listed the word as one of 163 new additions to the online edition this month.