Can we talk about all the different English accents?

[Elinor Everywhere]

I can't understand the British accent (dialect?) of Geordie. A friend of mine is from there, and although he speaks with a more typical British accent, sometimes I'll ask him to "speak Geordie". How is that even English? :lol:

[elegantlion]

We just watched LOTR again and I really like Billy Boyd's accent. I don't know if that is his normal accent or just as Pippin. Maybe Scottish? Not sure.

 

Yes, he's Scottish.

 

I've watched a few Irish movies; I have to put the subtitles on sometimes. The Wind that Shakes the Barley was one that needed it for me. Cillian Murphy has a good American accent, but his natural voice is a little harder to follow.

[Laura Corin]

I can't understand the British accent (dialect?) of Geordie. A friend of mine is from there, and although he speaks with a more typical British accent, sometimes I'll ask him to "speak Geordie". How is that even English? :lol:

 

 

One of the reasons that such a small place as Britain has such a wide range of accents is the history of invasions at a time before easy transportation. If you had a bunch of Germanic/Scandinavian/Roman settlers turn up, then they had a strong influence on the local accent. Wikipedia tells me Geordie comes from post-Roman Anglo-Saxon mercenaries.

 

Laura

[garddwr]

I have enjoyed exploring this map of North American dialect and accent variations.

 

I had the privilege years ago of taking a graduate seminar from the Welsh poet Leslie Norris, and I loved listening to his voice as he talked and read. Here's a sampling.

 

I wish I could read and speak like him.

[Firefly]

I couldn't place Richard Hammond's accent at all, it's very neutral, but I do know that he went to school here in our little town, at the very same school my older two attend. Cool, eh?

 

 

Very cool! And yeah, I agree it's pretty mild. Maybe it's more the cadence and tone I like... I find his voice very soothing! LOL

[Alessandra]

What I find interesting is what accents mean. I get the impression - correct me if I'm wrong - that with a few exceptions accents in the US are not loaded with a value: they just show where you are from or where your parents were from. Accents in the UK can show social class on top of that.

 

In Scotland, for example, almost everyone has the local accent except the very posh. If you hear a person using Scottish dialect words but in an English accent, then you can be fairly sure that they come from the aristocracy.

 

Laura

 

I posted just as the board went down earlier today; trying again.

 

I can't speak for the entire U.S., but in the New York City area accents are loaded with "a value." A 'Bridge & Tunnel' accent puts a speaker in a very different social group from someone with a 'Locust Valley Lockjaw' accent. And there many gradations -- perhaps not as many as 'enry 'iggins could distinguish, but quite a few nonetheless. Word usage (think Jessica Mitford U and non-U) also differentiates people here.

 

And the NYC area has so many ethnic accents from Italian to Yiddish to 'Jewish Princess' and so on. It's not jus the accent, but facial exp<b></b>ressions, mannerisms (like touching), word order/choice ("A hero I'm not." "What am I, chopped liver?") I have read that Queens (a borough of NYC) is an epicenter of language diversity; linguists study languages that may have disappeared in, say, the Caucasus, but are still spoken here.

[lailasmum]

Loads of British TV presenters have that kind of non accent that's hard to place. They all seem to speak in a BBC accent, soft and easy to understand. There are more northern accents creeping in though. Like Brian Cox and a lot of the BBC kids presenters have northern accents. I do like to hear different accents the only thing that makes it hard to understand people can be the speed they talk, Dara O'Briain is an example of that, he rattles through words so fast and runs them all together.

[thescrappyhomeschooler]

My god daugther and I have a girls' weekend planned. On Friday night, we're going to watch a bunch of Dr. Who episodes, and then on Saturday, we are going to the mall and speaking the entire time in our fake British accents. Should be a hoot.

 

I love all the various accents of the Great Britain and Ireland. My paternal grandmother came to the USA from Ireland when she was in her early twenties. Her accent was so thick, I didn't know she was speaking English until I was about 5 years old.

[Alessandra]

Have you ever seen this:

http://accent.gmu.edu/

It's fascinating.

 

Thank you -- I will look forward to spending time on this site.

 

This as an example of the local accent in our area. I don't talk like this. It can be a bit hard to understand. I have read it sounds like it does because there is a strong influences from old french and from pre anglo saxon languages. I thinks It's really interesting how accents form. I think in this area it's such a strong accent because there hasn't been much reason for people to move into the area so it hasn't got diluted.

 

What a wonderful accent -- reminds me of Cold Comfort Farm (although I know that is in Sussex). I will have to listen again in order to understand it!

 

Another accent that I find very difficult is the English spoken by ordinary people in Kenya. At first, I strained to understand, but tried to be polite enough to pretend I knew what was said. Thank goodness, my ears got adjusted to it after 3 or 4 days.

 

I love Caribbean English.

[Alessandra]

Loads of British TV presenters have that kind of non accent that's hard to place. They all seem to speak in a BBC accent, soft and easy to understand. There are more northern accents creeping in though. Like Brian Cox and a lot of the BBC kids presenters have northern accents. I do like to hear different accents the only thing that makes it hard to understand people can be the speed they talk, Dara O'Briain is an example of that, he rattles through words so fast and runs them all together.

 

I read (in The Story of English) that what we think of as a rather posh accent was not used until fairly recently. I don't have the book in front of me to check dates, but I gather that peers/courtiers, etc spoke with strong regional accents.

 

[sorry, no proper italics for book titles, but my computers is not giving me access to those tools.[

[Lady Florida.]

Loads of British TV presenters have that kind of non accent that's hard to place.

 

I'm not sure if it's true, but I had always heard that in the U.S. anyone studying broadcast journalism and expecting to get an on air job, learns how to lose their accent of origin. If they don't sound like they come from any specific area, they can get a job anywhere in the country and not sound like an outsider. Is that possibly true for UK broadcasters too?

[nmoira]

 

 

I'm not sure if it's true, but I had always heard that in the U.S. anyone studying broadcast journalism and expecting to get an on air job, learns how to lose their accent of origin. If they don't sound like they come from any specific area, they can get a job anywhere in the country and not sound like an outsider.

 

Same with movies. Kage Baker calls it Cinema Standard in her Company novels, as in "Do you speak Cinema Standard."

[lailasmum]

I'm not sure if it's true, but I had always heard that in the U.S. anyone studying broadcast journalism and expecting to get an on air job, learns how to lose their accent of origin. If they don't sound like they come from any specific area, they can get a job anywhere in the country and not sound like an outsider. Is that possibly true for UK broadcasters too?

 

I think it was true a while back but these days the TV channels have to show they are representing the whole country so it's not so common now. Definitely more accents creeping in. The BBC have a pronounciation unit though so that words are pronounced the same across the channels.

[Parrothead]

Loads of British TV presenters have that kind of non accent that's hard to place. They all seem to speak in a BBC accent, soft and easy to understand. There are more northern accents creeping in though. Like Brian Cox and a lot of the BBC kids presenters have northern accents. I do like to hear different accents the only thing that makes it hard to understand people can be the speed they talk, Dara O'Briain is an example of that, he rattles through words so fast and runs them all together.

It is that way here too. Broadcasters have to cultivate a near neutral accent.

 

My god daugther and I have a girls' weekend planned. On Friday night, we're going to watch a bunch of Dr. Who episodes, and then on Saturday, we are going to the mall and speaking the entire time in our fake British accents. Should be a hoot. I love all the various accents of the Great Britain and Ireland. My paternal grandmother came to the USA from Ireland when she was in her early twenties. Her accent was so thick, I didn't know she was speaking English until I was about 5 years old.

Have fun with that. Keep in mind that Christopher Eccelston is from the north and has a northern accent. David Tennant is speaking with a fake English accent as he is actually Scottish. Matt Smith is from Northampton.

[cathmom]

 

The subtitles thing is so arbitrary! Dh and I have *no trouble* understanding shows w/Aussie or UK accents and look at each other funny when subtitles appear. Yet, when the news interviews some locals, we can never understand what they're saying and wished they would subtitle! (we're in the deep south!) I have lived here for nearly 30 years and I *still* don't understand the folks they find to interview!! :blink:

 

 

I am from southern New Jersey and have lived in the south for nearly 20 years and still can't understand some people!

 

In general I like Australian accents, but we were watching House Hunters International once and the real estate agent had such a horrible accent I could barely stand to listen to her! I wondered why it wasn't hurting her mouth to talk that way! It didn't sound like anything in the clip Rosie posted!

[Belacqua]

It's interesting, I think, that even somebody who no longer has much of an accent can still understand them. I often tell my husband that I married him because I needed a translator. On one of our first dates, we went to see a movie set in London's East End, and I couldn't understand half the dialogue. He quietly translated for me, and gradually the people around us (there were only about 8 people in the whole theater) figured out he understood and he ended up translating the entire movie for all of us. The other patrons gave him a standing ovation when the movie was over.

[Laura Corin]

If they don't sound like they come from any specific area, they can get a job anywhere in the country and not sound like an outsider. Is that possibly true for UK broadcasters too?

 

 

That used to be the case, but not any more.

 

Laura

[Mom in High Heels]

My god daugther and I have a girls' weekend planned. On Friday night, we're going to watch a bunch of Dr. Who episodes, and then on Saturday, we are going to the mall and speaking the entire time in our fake British accents. Should be a hoot.

 

 

Awesome! When Indy and I watched the Royal Wedding, we had a "high tea" with yummy things from our local British shop/bakery and he insisted we use British accents the whole day. Whenever we watch a Harry Potter movie, he'll spend the rest of the day speaking with an accent. Of course he also likes to toss out phrases like "'Ello gov'na" and "Spot of Tea?"

 

When he was first learning to speak, the only kids' shows we got were on British TV, which even if they were American were dubbed over into British English, and he spoke with an accent that didn't go away until he was around 5. We are noticing the same thing with Han Solo as the only kids' shows we get now are British. Even the stuff on the Danish Disney Jr are in British English. Why they're not in Danish, I don't know, as all the commercials are, but whatever.

[Laura Corin]

Even the stuff on the Danish Disney Jr are in British English. Why they're not in Danish, I don't know, as all the commercials are, but whatever.

 

One of the reasons - it is said - that much of Europe speaks very good English is that television programmes are not dubbed into the local language. An exception is France, which also has worse English. I'm not sure if causation has been proved, but the correlation is interesting.

 

Why Disney is in British rather than American English is mysterious.

 

Laura

[Lady Florida.]

Whenever we watch a Harry Potter movie, he'll spend the rest of the day speaking with an accent. Of course he also likes to toss out phrases like "'Ello gov'na" and "Spot of Tea?"

 

We spent several years (4 I think) listening to the Harry Potter series on cd in the car. We checked them out from the library repeatedly, and when we finished Deathly Hallows, I'd just go back and get Sorcerer's Stone again. Ds now says "Oy!" (sp?) and "bloody" as part of his everyday speech. I don't think he even realized it until I pointed it out. He didn't do it on purpose, just picked it up from listening so much I guess.

[Rosie_0801]

Ds now says "Oy!" (sp?) and "bloody" as part of his everyday speech.

 

 

Oi! That's not how you spell it!

:p

[thescrappyhomeschooler]

It is that way here too. Broadcasters have to cultivate a near neutral accent.

 

 

Have fun with that. Keep in mind that Christopher Eccelston is from the north and has a northern accent. David Tennant is speaking with a fake English accent as he is actually Scottish. Matt Smith is from Northampton.

 

There's an episode where Rose asks the Doctor why he sounds like he's from the north, and he replies "Lots of planets have a north!" I love it!

 

A cashier at Trader Joe's gave me flowers once when I talked in my Harry Potter accent for him.

[Mom in High Heels]

 

One of the reasons - it is said - that much of Europe speaks very good English is that television programmes are not dubbed into the local language. An exception is France, which also has worse English. I'm not sure if causation has been proved, but the correlation is interesting.

 

Why Disney is in British rather than American English is mysterious.

 

Laura

 

 

Interesting! I never thought of that. It's funny that the commercials are all in Danish, even on Disney XD, which is Indy's favorite channel. We all understand more Danish than I ever thought we would! The shows on XD are not dubbed into British English, but probably because most are live action shows. I paid attention yesterday to what's on Disney Jr and only The Imagination Movers (live action), Mickey Mouse Club House and Doc McStuffins (HATE!) are not dubbed into British English. And obviously I let Han Solo watch TV, but mostly it's just on while he's playing. Except for the Imagination Movers (his favorite show), he really only watches when they play music. He's a music loving baby and can dance like nobody's business.

[Retired]

. Yet, when the news interviews some locals, we can never understand what they're saying and wished they would subtitle! (we're in the deep south!) I have lived here for nearly 30 years and I *still* don't understand the folks they find to interview!! :blink:

 

my dh and I get so dang mad that the media look for the least educated most rural southern accents to interview or they can't get a more educated one that wants to go own TV (for there little bit of fame) This happen also in movies its rare they will depict the educated southern accent. The south has the same "class" or "culture" accents as people refer to England also having. I grew up with the trailer trash accent deep drawn but worked very hard to learn an educated voice

 

I am from southern New Jersey and have lived in the south for nearly 20 years and still can't understand some people!

 

I would get your difficulty if you lived in one of the small towns. I didn't really understand how difficulty and backward I spoke until I went to work in Birmingham. I was constantly made fun of. I really had the TV interview voice. Its funny now that I work with a international group of MD's I'm told all the time what a beautiful husky sweet draw I have. LOL I just point out how much an education and leaving your culture of orgin or region can do for you.

 

There are few yankee accents that everyone come a cross as a$$holes to the southern ear. LOL sorry but it does the same way a lot think our accent makes us sound dumb as dirt.

 

Now for the international voice. I work with men and women from several different countries. I have to say that there was one Australian I worked with about 15 years ago. I mean we all the nurses just melted listening to him LOL My current favorite accent is Irish. The guy honestly is pretty dorky looking but his voice/accent gets him lots of action

[VeritasMama]

Oh the best accent is a Welsh accent. So pretty. I think the Essex accent is hilarious sort of like a British Valley Girl.

 

To answer the question about American accents and class, it is true that Americans don't attribute class based on accent as much as they do in England. But there are some accents that do some general positive or negative associations. The Midwestern accent is considered the most "normal American". I've heard that people with strong Southern accents are judged to be less educated (in some study I read about but can't quote it). I'm sure New York, Boston and east coast accents have certain positive/negative associations (maybe depending on where you are from).

 

:iagree:

 

 

I love the Welsh accent! I was this close to becoming a speech therapist in college, in one of my classes we watched a fascinating documentary on accents, and it is true that people with Southern accents are judged as less educated.

 

There are so many different Midwestern accents as well. I grew up in ND, but my mother's father was in the Air Force, so none of her family had the thick accent, while my father's family did. I think because of this I can always hear accents. It was so funny when the movie Fargo came out, and everyone I knew said "We don't sound like that!" and I would say "Yes you do!!!

 

I can tell the difference between someone from the Eastern part of the state, their accents are a bit more like the accents in Minnesota, and those in the NW who sound a bit more Canadian. My husbands family live in NE Montana, about 20 miles from the Canadian border, and a few of their words have a slight Canadian accent.

 

I've also lived in the South, and the accents between the different Southern states are fascinating as well. People from the rural areas were very hard for me to understand, while those from areas such as Atlanta seemed to barely have an accent at all in comparison.

 

I'm back in Wisconsin now, where the accents are very thick to my ear. I live in the Eastern part of the state now, and there is a hint of the Chicago accent here. In the Northwoods, where I used to live, there was a hint of a Canadian accent. My best friend growing up actually lives on the WIsconsin side of the Minnesota border now, and over there they all sound like they are from the Twin Cities.

[Chelli]

my dh and I get so dang mad that the media look for the least educated most rural southern accents to interview or they can't get a more educated one that wants to go own TV (for there little bit of fame) This happen also in movies its rare they will depict the educated southern accent. The south has the same "class" or "culture" accents as people refer to England also having. I grew up with the trailer trash accent deep drawn but worked very hard to learn an educated voice

 

:iagree:

 

I grew up in the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas. Needless to say the version of Southern that I grew up hearing was redneck hillbilly, but my mom and dad never let us speak that way even though most of our relatives did.

 

When we lived in Colorado for two years everyone thought I had a Texas accent, but I had some really good friends from California who thought I talked soooooo Southern. That would laugh and try to imitate my accent. I told them that my Southern accent is not nearly as bad as most Southern accents. Fast forward two years and one of my California friends moved to southern Arkansas for a job. She called me up a week later to apologize about making fun of my accent. She said, "I can't even understand some of these people down here!" And, yes, I said, "I told you so," in a singsong voice!

 

There are definitely "class" distinctions in the Southern accent and regional ones as well. A Georgia accent sounds TOTALLY different than an Alabama/Mississippi accent, which is different than the Arkansas/Tennessee accent, which is different than the Texas accent. As for Louisiana, they do their own thing down there!

 

But I can break out a really good redneck hillbilly accent when I want to. It makes dh laugh and laugh.

[ailysh]

I was in Europe for a semester in college and my Polish German professor told me I spoke German with a French accent (I'm from Ohio). :-) Then I was talking with a clerk who was from South Africa and she said she had difficulty discerning the Irish accent from the American accent. I thought that was pretty interesting.

[jenL]

I can't understand the British accent (dialect?) of Geordie. A friend of mine is from there, and although he speaks with a more typical British accent, sometimes I'll ask him to "speak Geordie". How is that even English? :lol:

 

 

This made me laugh because a friend of mine lives in Newcastle and there are many times when I talk to her that I need her to slow down and "translate" what she was saying! Her boyfriend, another good friend of ours, is from Maidstone, Kent. I could listen to him talk forever. He often teases her for her "northern accent".

 

Dh's grandmother came to Ottawa from Wales. She has passed, but I truly enjoyed listening to her speak. She had picked up some of the Canadian euphemisms ("eh?") and how they tend to end each sentence as if it's a question, but her Welsh accent was still very strong. It was beautiful.

 

A woman from our church is from Gold Coast, Australia. Although, she recently moved back to Perth, I used to love talking to her. Her accent was general according to Rosie's post.

 

I'm from NH originally, and I've always been told I don't have a northern accent; however, many of my relatives sound like they are from Boston (some are). My mom definitely sounds like a Yankee. I now live in the south, and we have some very Southern friends who have a slow drawl. Apparently, my mom says I'm picking up some of the sounds. I don't recognize it, but she teases me often when we talk. My boys are definitely starting to sound Southern. I'm fine with it since this is where they are from.

 

Accents fascinate me.

[Amy in NH]

South Africans say 'Ja well no fine' : Expressing ridicule, indifference or ambivalence (wiktionary)

 

 

what*ever

[Lady Florida.]

One of the reasons - it is said - that much of Europe speaks very good English is that television programmes are not dubbed into the local language. An exception is France, which also has worse English. I'm not sure if causation has been proved, but the correlation is interesting.

 

Why Disney is in British rather than American English is mysterious.

 

Laura

 

 

One of the strangest tv experiences I had was in Belgium. We turned on the tv in our hotel room and the old American musical, State Fair, was showing. The dialogue was dubbed into Flemish, but every now and then the characters would break out in song in (American) English. :rofl:

[Elinor Everywhere]

 

This made me laugh because a friend of mine lives in Newcastle and there are many times when I talk to her that I need her to slow down and "translate" what she was saying! Her boyfriend, another good friend of ours, is from Maidstone, Kent. I could listen to him talk forever. He often teases her for her "northern accent".

 

 

 

Newcastle is exactly where my friend is from. He now lives in San Diego, and that's where I met him. I enjoy his Geordie when he humors me enough to speak it. :D

[jenL]

 

Newcastle is exactly where my friend is from. He now lives in San Diego, and that's where I met him. I enjoy his Geordie when he humors me enough to speak it. :D

 

How great! I love how small of a world it really is!

[mommymilkies]

We almost exclusively watch BBC here, or other British accent shows (LoTR, HP, etc). I have just a general Midwest accent with a slight twang from my Ohio/Kentucky family and upbringing. Our speech therapist commented on it. I lived in NY for a few summers as a kid and can understand those accents easily. But we moved to North Carolina, I was lost. I actually had to have dh translate. I could not understand a word! And I have deep Appalachian hillbilly family that I can understand. I love accents. So fascinating. My favorite is Scottish, though. I should stay away as I'd likely drool over the first Scottish man who spoke to me. ;)

[fraidycat]

I don't know that I have a favorite accent. I find some a lot harder to understand than others, though.

 

I am interested to see what kind of "accent" my DD will end up with, though. So far she has a mixture. :) She LOVED The Wiggles as a toddler, so pronounces some words (fruits!) with more of an Aussie accent. So cute! But, she has lived in (western) Canada, North Carolina, and California, so speaks different words with different accents, depending on when she assimilated those words into her daily vocabulary.

[cathmom]

 

There are few yankee accents that everyone come a cross as a$$holes to the southern ear. LOL sorry but it does the same way a lot think our accent makes us sound dumb as dirt.

 

 

Well, I am from South Jersey, so I do not have the stereotypical Jersey accent that people know. They know I'm not from the South (obviously!) but I've only ever been told that I talk too fast. So now whenever I leave phone messages I talk really really slowly.

[BarbecueMom]

Have fun with that. Keep in mind that Christopher Eccelston is from the north and has a northern accent. David Tennant is speaking with a fake English accent as he is actually Scottish. Matt Smith is from Northampton.

 

 

I cannot understand Matt Smith at all! I had to watch the first few episodes of series 5 twice because I missed half the dialogue!

 

I don't know that I have a favorite accent. I find some a lot harder to understand than others, though.

I am interested to see what kind of "accent" my DD will end up with, though. So far she has a mixture. :) She LOVED The Wiggles as a toddler, so pronounces some words (fruits!) with more of an Aussie accent. So cute! But, she has lived in (western) Canada, North Carolina, and California, so speaks different words with different accents, depending on when she assimilated those words into her daily vocabulary.

 

 

The other day, I realized when my kids were playing they sounded like Stephen Fry when they talked to each other. Lo and behold, Pocoyo is narrated by Stephen Fry. Go figure.

[cathmom]

 

I'm from NH originally, and I've always been told I don't have a northern accent; however, many of my relatives sound like they are from Boston (some are). My mom definitely sounds like a Yankee. I now live in the south, and we have some very Southern friends who have a slow drawl. Apparently, my mom says I'm picking up some of the sounds. I don't recognize it, but she teases me often when we talk. My boys are definitely starting to sound Southern. I'm fine with it since this is where they are from.

 

Accents fascinate me.

 

After nearly 20 years in the South, I'm startin' to drop my g from - ing. I hate it and get annoyed with myself when I do it!

[fairfarmhand]

my dh and I get so dang mad that the media look for the least educated most rural southern accents to interview or they can't get a more educated one that wants to go own TV (for there little bit of fame) This happen also in movies its rare they will depict the educated southern accent. The south has the same "class" or "culture" accents as people refer to England also having. I grew up with the trailer trash accent deep drawn but worked very hard to learn an educated voice I would get your difficulty if you lived in one of the small towns. I didn't really understand how difficulty and backward I spoke until I went to work in Birmingham. I was constantly made fun of. I really had the TV interview voice. Its funny now that I work with a international group of MD's I'm told all the time what a beautiful husky sweet draw I have. LOL I just point out how much an education and leaving your culture of orgin or region can do for you. There are few yankee accents that everyone come a cross as a$$holes to the southern ear. LOL sorry but it does the same way a lot think our accent makes us sound dumb as dirt. Now for the international voice. I work with men and women from several different countries. I have to say that there was one Australian I worked with about 15 years ago. I mean we all the nurses just melted listening to him LOL My current favorite accent is Irish. The guy honestly is pretty dorky looking but his voice/accent gets him lots of action

:iagree: I grew up in the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas. Needless to say the version of Southern that I grew up hearing was redneck hillbilly, but my mom and dad never let us speak that way even though most of our relatives did. When we lived in Colorado for two years everyone thought I had a Texas accent, but I had some really good friends from California who thought I talked soooooo Southern. That would laugh and try to imitate my accent. I told them that my Southern accent is not nearly as bad as most Southern accents. Fast forward two years and one of my California friends moved to southern Arkansas for a job. She called me up a week later to apologize about making fun of my accent. She said, "I can't even understand some of these people down here!" And, yes, I said, "I told you so," in a singsong voice! There are definitely "class" distinctions in the Southern accent and regional ones as well. A Georgia accent sounds TOTALLY different than an Alabama/Mississippi accent, which is different than the Arkansas/Tennessee accent, which is different than the Texas accent. As for Louisiana, they do their own thing down there! But I can break out a really good redneck hillbilly accent when I want to. It makes dh laugh and laugh.

 

Yup...I have the Southern drawl without the annoying poor grammar. I pronounce certain word phrases differently. I have really noticed this as I have become a professional writer. Correct grammar has become second nature.

 

I wish I could convince my dh to take up speech in a British accent. I just love listening to a British male speak. I could listen Patrick Stewart talk ALL DAY LONG!

[Laura Corin]

 

I wish I could convince my dh to take up speech in a British accent. I just love listening to a British male speak. I could listen Patrick Stewart talk ALL DAY LONG!

 

 

Dang! What was I thinking! Surrounded by Brits and I married an American. The charm of the 'other' I suspect.

 

Laura

[Mom in High Heels]

Dang! What was I thinking! Surrounded by Brits and I married an American. The charm of the 'other' I suspect.

 

Laura

 

Perhaps he charmed you with his accent? :)

[Laura Corin]

 

Perhaps he charmed you with his accent? :)

 

I think it was something to do with his being the only man I had met in months who read books for pleasure. That was 25 years ago this year.

 

Laura

[misty.warden]

Australia or Boston for me. Being from Oregon I never think of myself as having any kind of accent so it's always entertaining when "foreigners" saying their pronunciation makes more sense, like Tihg-erd for Tigard and Will-uh-mettey for Willamette. Working at a call center was also an experience, international calls especially and Canadians laughing when I said "zee" instead of "zed".

 

Yeah! What is with that 'a' and 'e' thing? We learned about that in linguistics class and I'd never even noticed it before because I pronounce them differently. They also said there's a Melbourne thing where people say "Yeah, no." And they do too! My ex said it all the time and so does my brother!

South Africans say 'Ja well no fine' : Expressing ridicule, indifference or ambivalence (wiktionary)

 

LOL my SO says those things exactly (he's just one of those people who have a hard time refusing in general) I had no idea that kind of saying was so widespread.

[Garga]

I was introduced to a man and woman from South Africa. "This is Bob." They said it in their refined accent--where their lips had to make an O shape to say the word.

 

I replied, "Hi, Bob," with my mouth shaped more like a wide smile, sounding like when you're on a roller coaster saying, "AAAAHHHHH!"

 

I saw a flicker of amusement pass on the man and woman's faces, and they mouthed to themselves, "Baaahhhb."

 

I'm from the mid-east coast of the US.

[Rosie_0801]

 

LOL my SO says those things exactly (he's just one of those people who have a hard time refusing in general) I had no idea that kind of saying was so widespread.

 

 

Um. It's not like that. "Yeah, no," can be said when you are agreeing.