which one of you PSers speaks with an British accent?

[Dancing Fire]

 

[Gailey]

Rest assured my good man that despite 13 years of living in Canada, I speak fluent Queen''s English, with no trace of a regional accent.

Not that there is the slightest thing wrong with a regional accent mind you.

 

[Samantha Red]

Me, because I am

 

[susimoo]

Count me in. A scottish accent to be exact.

 

[Parsley]

There is no such thing as a British accent. There''s English, Welsh, Scottish, and Northern Irish accents though. I speak with an English accent. Anyone speaking a mix of the four would sound peculiar indeed.

 

[Mrs Mitchell]

That''s a bit like asking if anyone speaks with an American accent.
Although maybe it''s a fair enough question, because to most British people, American accents all sound the same, but I know from spending a fair bit of time in the US they actually vary quite a lot by area.

 

[Lorelei]

 

[jewelz617]

I have the tiniest bit of a brogue muddled with a Boston accent.

 

[justginger]

Which accent do you think is the hardest to understand? Not the most difficult to tolerate, but the actual hardest to understand when they''re actually speaking the same language as you?

I found it really difficult in Glasgow. I''d say, "Pardon?" about three times, and then give up, nodding my head and smiling. God only knows what I spent most of my time agreeing to.

And which is everyone''s favourite accents? Obviously I''m partial to a good Aussie accent, but also like the right South African accent. Not everyone has it, must be a certain area of SA or something.

Can''t believe a few years ago I wouldn''t have been able to pick English from Aussie from Kiwi to save my life!

 

[ksinger]

Date: 4/19/2010 4:57:59 AM
Author: Mrs Mitchell
That's a bit like asking if anyone speaks with an American accent.
Although maybe it's a fair enough question, because to most British people, American accents all sound the same, but I know from spending a fair bit of time in the US they actually vary quite a lot by area.

Seriously? Because as an American (or maybe it's just me) I can distinguish between British accents. Can I pinpoint where exactly? No, I don't have that knowledge, but hear them I certainly do. When I was in Ireland I could tell a huge difference just going from the west coast to the east. It's hard to articulate exactly the differences - I'm not a trained linguist to be able to define them according to a standard - but the difference is easy to hear. I say no, but come to think of it, I can at times. We had a waitress at a restaurant last year, and she said the usual pleasantries, etc, but no real conversation. I told my husband, "She's not from around here." He thought maybe east coast (America), but I said, "No, she's either English or some offshoot of that, she just hasnt' spoken enough. I THINK she may be from New Zealand". When she came back out, we found that I was correct. (I like to trot that out every now and then and dig him with it. Mean wife. ) She was a hoot. Said she'd been here for 3 years, and had done a stint as a camp counselor for kids. She said she'd had to quit using the common NZ slang phrase "Sweet as" with her kids, as they all heard it as "Sweet ass". Hilarious. This gal was a real hoot.

Interesting though, because I know many people who just can't watch British shows because they can't follow the words. I can, with the exception of some slang phrases here and there. The hardest movie in that category, for me, was The Full Monty. It was probably like a British person trying to watch something in one of our more obscure dialiects. Fast, and hard to pick up.

I love Shakespeare though. It takes about 5 minutes to get the "cadence circuit" online, but after that, it's wonderful.

ETA - And just in case anyone get's their "knickers in a twist", yes, yes, I do understand that the Irish are NOT British, nor are their accents. I just used that as an example of being able to hear a difference. I just know "Hm...that guy sounds different from the last guy." Reason, HIS accent is English, HIS is Welsh. I can clearly hear the difference even if I haven't made a study of pinning it down. Henry Higgins I ain't!

 

[Mrs Mitchell]

Date: 4/19/2010 7:52:14 AM
Author: ksinger

Date: 4/19/2010 4:57:59 AM
Author: Mrs Mitchell
That''s a bit like asking if anyone speaks with an American accent.
Although maybe it''s a fair enough question, because to most British people, American accents all sound the same, but I know from spending a fair bit of time in the US they actually vary quite a lot by area.

Seriously? Because as an American (or maybe it''s just me) I can distinguish between British accents. Can I pinpoint where exactly? No, I don''t have that knowledge, but hear them I certainly do. When I was in Ireland I could tell a huge difference just going from the west coast to the east. It''s hard to articulate exactly the differences - I''m not a trained linguist to be able to define them according to a standard - but the difference is easy to hear. I say no, but come to think of it, I can at times. We had a waitress at a restaurant last year, and she said the usual pleasantries, etc, but no real conversation. I told my husband, ''She''s not from around here.'' He thought maybe east coast (America), but I said, ''No, she''s either English or some offshoot of that, she just hasnt'' spoken enough. I THINK she may be from New Zealand''. When she came back out, we found that I was correct. (I like to trot that out every now and then and dig him with it. Mean wife. ) She was a hoot. Said she''d been here for 3 years, and had done a stint as a camp counselor for kids. She said she''d had to quit using the common NZ slang phrase ''Sweet as'' with her kids, as they all heard it as ''Sweet ass''. Hilarious. This gal was a real hoot.

Interesting though, because I know many people who just can''t watch British shows because they can''t follow the words. I can, with the exception of some slang phrases here and there. The hardest movie in that category, for me, was The Full Monty. It was probably like a British person trying to watch something in one of our more obscure dialiects. Fast, and hard to pick up.

I love Shakespeare though. It takes about 5 minutes to get the ''cadence circuit'' online, but after that, it''s wonderful.

ETA - And just in case anyone get''s their ''knickers in a twist'', yes, yes, I do understand that the Irish are NOT British, nor are their accents. I just used that as an example of being able to hear a difference. I just know ''Hm...that guy sounds different from the last guy.'' Reason, HIS accent is English, HIS is Welsh. I can clearly hear the difference even if I haven''t made a study of pinning it down. Henry Higgins I ain''t!

Well, maybe not to everyone, but until I actually spent time in the US, they just sounded like an American accent, not for example Southern, or New York or Midwest etc. I still can''t really tell where people are from in the US by their accent, but I can hear the differences. The first thing I would hear would be American, them maybe when I''d tuned in a little more, I could take a guess at something more specific. I can pinpoint most accents in the UK fairly accurately, so maybe it depends on what your ear is tuned into? More subtle differences can be picked up, perhaps. Not sure.

There was a really interesting TV series about regional accents in the UK a couple of years back, looking at how regional accents are becoming harder to distinguish and less prounounced. The researchers found a stash of gramophone recordings made in a WW1 POW camp by a German linguist. He recorded people from all over the UK reading poems and Bible passages then analysed the differences. A similar exercise done for the show threw up much more homogenity of speech across the regions today, with small local differences virtually indistinguishable. I found it fascinating. I wonder if the same would be true in the US and other countries.

 

[redfaerythinker]

I can definitely tell the difference between where people are from. Which is a bit odd since I am partially deaf in one ear. But I tend to pick up accents pretty easily so maybe that's why. I also grew up watching Brit coms and listening to James Herriot tapes so maybe that's the case. I hardly ever speak with an english accent. The only time I do is when I first heard a word spoken that way, then to me that's the way it's pronounced. Although I speak more with a Canadian accent now since I spent a week there when I was 17. It's the most annoying and embarrassing thing ever to pick up accents like that. I know people must think I'm copying them or something. I just can't help it, it just comes out that way.

BTW... I'm from GA, so I should have a southern accent... but I don't.

 

[redfaerythinker]

Mrs. Mitchell: I can definitely tell that there has been a homogenization in the US but it''s more limited to bigger cities. When you go more out into the country the accents are DEFINITELY still there, at least in the south and the north east. I''m from Atlanta, GA and no one that I know who grew up in the city has a southern accent, but if you go about an hour outside the metro-area, southern accents abound.

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

Which one??? My dear, there are many who speak with British accents. I am mentally speaking in a British accent as I type this...

 

[luckynumber]

i have an english accent, but having lived in the UK, US and Australia for so long, I can adjust it at will to mimic the region I prefer at the time!

I have a lot of fun with it

 

[Steel]

Although I''m Irish to the bone, because of my upbringing (and no I didn''t have a british nanny-dog) I have the twang of having lived in the UK for years. One of the first questions I am ever asked is, how long have you lived in Ireland or what part of the UK are you from etc

Many of my fellow countrymen cannot understand me at all but it is all gravy because I cannot understand some of them either

.

 

[yssie]

I have a mostly kiwi accent but I drawl out my r's in true new-england style... makes for some strange looks sometimes!

 

[Iowa Lizzy]

Two questions: 1: what is proper queen''s English? Is that like Julie Andrews?

2: what accent does that Geiko gecko have!?!? I thought it was English, but the new commercial hints at Austrailian.

 

[Irishgrrrl]

I'm another American who can tell the difference between various types of British accents. Like Karen, I can't always pinpoint exactly where they're from, but I can definitely hear the difference!

Speaking of accents, I'll never forget this great story from my honeymoon with DH in Key West: We were walking around some of the touristy shops, and struck up a conversation with one of the store owners. (A very nice guy who had a beautiful Golden Retriever! LOL!) After talking to us for a few minutes, he said to me "You're from Maryland, aren't you?" I said yes and asked how he could tell. He told me he recognized the accent. He could even tell that I'm from Western MD because I sound more Southern than the rest of the state (which supposedly is due to the West Virginia/Virginia influence). I was amazed!!!

ETA: The guy wasn't from MD, so it's not like I sounded like "home" to him . . . he said he was originally from somewhere in the midwest (I can't remember exactly where), but had traveled all over the country, so was familiar with many different accents. I thought that was so cool!

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 4/19/2010 2:10:13 PM
Author: Travel Goddess
Two questions: 1: what is proper queen''s English? Is that like Julie Andrews?

2: what accent does that Geiko gecko have!?!? I thought it was English, but the new commercial hints at Austrailian.

That is also called received pronounciation,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Received_Pronunciation

 

[Madam Bijoux]

I have a slight English accent, but I spell colour color.

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

I think the Geico gecko is an Aussie.

 

[Porridge]

Date: 4/19/2010 8:36:55 AM
Author: redfaerythinker
It''s the most annoying and embarrassing thing ever to pick up accents like that. I know people must think I''m copying them or something. I just can''t help it, it just comes out that way.

Oh this happens to me too, it is sooo annoying!!

 

[redfaerythinker]

Date: 4/19/2010 2:50:12 PM
Author: Porridge

Date: 4/19/2010 8:36:55 AM

Author: redfaerythinker

It''s the most annoying and embarrassing thing ever to pick up accents like that. I know people must think I''m copying them or something. I just can''t help it, it just comes out that way.

Oh this happens to me too, it is sooo annoying!!

YES! I''m not alone!

 

[Kaleigh]

Date: 4/19/2010 5:01:07 AM
Author: Lorelei

You have a lovely British accent!!!

 

[jewelz617]

Date: 4/19/2010 2:23:18 PM
Author: Hudson_Hawk
I think the Geico gecko is an Aussie.

In the early commercials he did have an English accent, but for some reason it morphed into Australian.

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 4/19/2010 4:31:54 PM
Author: Kaleigh

Date: 4/19/2010 5:01:07 AM
Author: Lorelei

You have a lovely British accent!!!

* blush.....*

Thank you kindly Miss K!!!!

 

[4ever]

Date: 4/19/2010 7:32:01 AM
Author: justginger
Which accent do you think is the hardest to understand? Not the most difficult to tolerate, but the actual hardest to understand when they''re actually speaking the same language as you?

My BF if from the west midlands in England but has a really watered down black country accent because of moving around the UK for years in the armed forces. He took me to the black country museum once while we were in the UK and there was a woman selling old fashioned candy in the sweet shop who talked to me with a real black country accent and I could not understand one word coming out of her mouth. I smiled, nodded and said yes when BF told me to but to this day I still have no idea what she was talking to me about.

 

[Gailey]

Date: 4/19/2010 2:23:18 PM
Author: Hudson_Hawk
I think the Geico gecko is an Aussie.

Nope, the Geico gecko is none other than Jake Wood, better known and either loved or hated by millions as Max Branning from EastEnders

 

[Gailey]

Date: 4/19/2010 4:33:47 PM
Author: Lorelei

Date: 4/19/2010 4:31:54 PM
Author: Kaleigh

Date: 4/19/2010 5:01:07 AM
Author: Lorelei

You have a lovely British accent!!!

* blush.....*

Thank you kindly Miss K!!!!

Lorelei, do you have a regional accent or are you with the BBC?