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I wish I were British...

#41
sloasdaylight said:
I was watching a show on the discovery channel the other day, and they were talking about the construction of the swimming facility in London for the Olympics, and they had to subtitle the workers they were interviewing, their accents were so bad.

Some of you bastards speak another language over there.
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Haha! My accent is very similar to that guy from the Rocky Horror Picture Show so Americans can understand me perfectly :D
 
#43
Kwesi said:
...So that I could say "Brilliant" and not sound strange. Admittedly, this was probably brought on by me rereading the Harry Potter books and watching all those funny Guiness commercials.

That is all.
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All the (very different) English accents|_________________________________________________________________________________| All the (very different) Irish accents!


There are American accents much closer to the English than some of our accents are!
 
#44
i_got_a_mohawk said:
What ones? The UK has soooo many accents!
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So true!

I think it's the same all over. I'm an Iowa (Midwest US) native and we have a wide variety of accents for a state with a total population of ~3 million.

The most widespread accent in Iowa is called "the non-accent"...which is what you would hear on American mass-media (my accent).

Other Iowan accents are quasi-Mississippi, pseudo-Canadian, Black inner-city, Native American, Mexican, Czech, Chicago, and the stereotypical "country" accents. There's even subtle differences and detectable nuances from city to city.

I find it interesting that a good handful of British singers have often crossed the Mason-Dixon line. Roger Daltrey and Mick Jagger come to mind. They often sang with a considerable southern drawl. Perhaps they got it from listening to old R&B or blues records.

What drives me up the wall is listening to post-punk bands in America attempting some sort of homogeneous blend of 'British' accents so as to sound more 'punk'. Utter foolishness! :scowl:
 
#45
bassybill said:
I guess we all think or our own version as being "unaccented", but the reality is everyone has their own vowels.
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Agreed. Although, America has what's considered the "non-accent." It's the mass-media accent you would find on American television. I would venture to say that a significant segment of our population speaks with this accent.

bassybill said:
And with US accents, just like with some accents over here, some sound pleasant to my ears and some sound bloody awful. It's a real trial to listen to some of them.
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It's downright embarrassing for me when I hear Americans with southern accents. I also cringe when I hear certain British accents which torture their vowels. For instance, when pronouncing the word "no", they say, "nah-ooo" with two syllables. It's aurally painful!

bassybill said:
The way some of you guys pronounce the word "and" is particularly objectionable. "Eeianed..." And on the consonants front, why do you all pronounce "t" as "d" in words like "little" and "attitude"? :p
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You're right about that too. The southern drawl has a habit of inserting extra vowels and (ay-and) syllables.

Personally, I speak with a mix of hard & soft t's. Sometimes it's "whaddever", while others it's "whatever" with a hard "t". It depends on the situation, whether it be casual, professional, serious, jovial, etc.

I've heard Brits completely omit the "t" in some words. It is more comical than anything. Instead of "not" with a hard "t", it's "nah" with a glottal stop and short breath after it.

How about those BBC newsreaders who append an "r" after words ending with vowels? China becomes "Chiner" - :D

Of course, to truly understand why we round off consonants, you'd have to consult our dead ancestors for leaving us such an undisciplined inheritance.
 
#49
subexpression said:
Agreed. Although, America has what's considered the "non-accent." It's the mass-media accent you would find on American television. I would venture to say that a significant segment of our population speaks with this accent.



It's downright embarrassing for me when I hear Americans with southern accents. I also cringe when I hear certain British accents which torture their vowels. For instance, when pronouncing the word "no", they say, "nah-ooo" with two syllables. It's aurally painful!



You're right about that too. The southern drawl has a habit of inserting extra vowels and (ay-and) syllables.

Personally, I speak with a mix of hard & soft t's. Sometimes it's "whaddever", while others it's "whatever" with a hard "t". It depends on the situation, whether it be casual, professional, serious, jovial, etc.

I've heard Brits completely omit the "t" in some words. It is more comical than anything. Instead of "not" with a hard "t", it's "nah" with a glottal stop and short breath after it.

How about those BBC newsreaders who append an "r" after words ending with vowels? China becomes "Chiner" - :D

Of course, to truly understand why we round off consonants, you'd have to consult our dead ancestors for leaving us such an undisciplined inheritance.
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Why?
I have a southern accent, why does that embarrass you?
 
#54
subexpression said:
Though many folks from the south are highly educated, their accent sounds backwoods, podunk, and uneducated.

It's an unconscious reaction...I don't deliberately harbor prejudice. It just sounds corny and invites ridicule among other things.

No offense intended.
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I believe he may disagree with you.

adamsandlerthewaterboy.jpg
 
#55
subexpression said:
Though many folks from the south are highly educated, their accent sounds backwoods, podunk, and uneducated.

It's an unconscious reaction...I don't deliberately harbor prejudice. It just sounds corny and invites ridicule among other things.

No offense intended.
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Riiiiiiiight. Yea, that's not offensive at all, and you don't sound like an asshat for saying it.
 
#56
subexpression said:
Though many folks from the south are highly educated, their accent sounds backwoods, podunk, and uneducated.

It's an unconscious reaction...I don't deliberately harbor prejudice. It just sounds corny and invites ridicule among other things.

No offense intended.
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I suspect that Hollywood has something to do with shaping this perception.
 

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