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 Alfndrate wrote:

Polonius wrote:I have, to my dismay, picked up the Cleveland Accent for that long a sound.

I didn't know I had such a thing until my senior year of high school when a teacher pointed it out to the class (that we all were talking like this).

MrDwhitey wrote:We have to use shorter words for Alf to understand.

I thought that was so purple could understand us when he was three sheets to the wind.

MrDwhitey wrote:Oh, I know it doesn't, but he mentioned me by name so I was bound to insult him.

If I insult his accent I might accidentally insult others here, and I don't want that now do I!

I'm also not in England. It is a terrible place, full of English people.

You might not be in England, but you are in Wales, and that's full of sheep.

What part of Cleveland are you guys from? The only place I know of where they say Melk, pellow and keyat is Mentor and parts further east. I never hear that in say downtown or the west side, except from transients. The Ohio accent is pretty neutral and is taught in many journalism schools. We do however stress some things funny like the hard are in car and we say, wader instead of water.

I'm from the midlands, UK. I used to sound posh (my dad's side of the family is) , but I dropped the "ar" sound like in dance, chance, last etc. because people took the piss in school for me being the "posh kid". (glad I did anyway, I'm not posh by any stretch of the imagination). Now I don't think I have that much of an accent though people I know might say otherwise.

 Jihadin wrote:
Half Asian with a southern accent. Due to being station most time at Ft. Campbell, KY and Ft Bragg NC. I'm a trip when I go to Seattle at Pike Place.

Kentucky accent is a weird one.

We're just low enough that we get southern accents, but not far enough South to have a true Southern drawl. The obvious exception is the mountains, where you get that mountain speech that is borderline impossible to understand without alcohol in your system. A funny example I found recently is from a guy's memoirs from life as a tanker in WWII. In the very beginning he has to travel through Louisville to reach Fort Knox, where he mentions that the locals pronounced it "Loowavul". Many people I know pronounce it this way even now, which gave me a good laugh.

The few times I've been travelling, I've been told I have a strong southern accent. It tends to get far more pronounced when I'm angry, tired, or drunk though. When I went to West Virginia, it only got worse, especially on days where I worked with local crew. By the time I got home even my own family could barely understand me

Only accents that give me trouble are North eastern accents and British if they talk too fast. When they slow down and talk like normal human beings I'm usually fine.

French= Snooty

British= There are so many different British Accents. Some are charming, some are cool, some sound pretty effeminate. How does such a small country have so many different accents?

Scottish= Kickass

Irish= Fun

Aussie= Free spirited

Italian= Nice on the Ladies, smarmy on guys

German= Very serious

Russian/Slavic Eastern Blok- Super hot on Ladies rolling their Rs, ok on guys, but I instantly put my guard up around guys. Russian men are squirrely.

Middle east- Like fingers on a chalk board

Spanish/Mexiacan/Central or South American= Fingernails on Chalkboard. I made my wife turn off Modern Family the other day, I can not stand that woman's voice!

African American= Don't get me started, don't axe me why

Southern US= Hick (So I'm in Huntsville Alabama talking to a Rocket Scientist and all I could focus on was his southern accent, probably one of the smartest engineers I will ever meet....but he sounded like Gomer Pile)

West Coast USA= Dude

Pittsburgh= Holy crap, its as unintelligible as Cajun, but far less charming! How does anyone understand you people with your Gumbands, Jags, yins, yuns and Pantsn'nat?

Long Island= Worse than fingernails on chalk board! Maybe the worst of all time.

Asian accents= not a fan, YOU CAN NOT BE COOL WITH AN ASIAN ACCENT! Indian being the worst (I know its a sub continent..Whatever)

Indian girl with a British Accent= Holy hotness batman.

Here is a good one. I divide English accents into two categories. American and Non American, as to me it seams like two different groups. I think Brits, Scots, Irish and Aussies kind of sound alike, while most American accents sound more similar to each other. Is that an American Bias?

Also what is with the A and R shifts? You Brits invented the language and you keep confusing the letters. Its Monika's Hair, not Monikers Haia.

 Andrew1975 wrote:


British= There are so many different British Accents. Some are charming, some are cool, some sound pretty effeminate. How does such a small country have so many different accents?

Scottish= Kickass

Scotland is part of Britain.

 Andrew1975 wrote:

Also what is with the A and R shifts? You Brits invented the language and you keep confusing the letters. Its Monika's Hair, not Monikers Haia.

Say whaaat?


Also, I think you're confusing England with Britain

Sorry to be a pedant!

 Skarwael wrote:

 Andrew1975 wrote:


British= There are so many different British Accents. Some are charming, some are cool, some sound pretty effeminate. How does such a small country have so many different accents?

Scottish= Kickass

Scotland is part of Britain.

 Andrew1975 wrote:

Also what is with the A and R shifts? You Brits invented the language and you keep confusing the letters. Its Monika's Hair, not Monikers Haia.

Say whaaat?


Also, I think you're confusing England with Britain

Sorry to be a pedant!

No, I just couldn't think of the context properly. I mean if I said English....well English is a language too. I didn't want to say English English, American English and so on and so forth.

The A and R shift is more of an English English and Aussie thing I think. They say "thea" instead of "there", "Bruva" instead of "Brother"

 Skarwael wrote:
Also, I think you're confusing England with Britain

Sorry to be a pedant!

To be fair Scotland and Wales are just glorified counties of England

I know I have a reasonably strong regional accent, however I have been told quite a few times that I have an excellent speaking voice (most recently by a patient I was speaking to a couple of days ago ).

Ayup yoth, you'n gorra right cob on ther an yer?

Is possibly as near as I can get writing down what my accent should sound like (south derbyshire). However, because I like communicating with people from further than 5 miles away I left that accent well alone

Other favourites include
Stick it int window bottom - put it on the window sill
Stick on ont dog shelf - put it on the floor

And 'Its Black as Bill's motha's house' - this one means it looks like rain. No one now remembers who Bill was or why his mothers was important. I love the english language.

What I find really weird is I can do accents - I do a passable imitation of a fair few places round the uk - but I can't do the one I'm supposed to have...

If i speak my local accent (lingo) than Northern Dutch will not understand me.

 Andrew1975 wrote:

What part of Cleveland are you guys from? The only place I know of where they say Melk, pellow and keyat is Mentor and parts further east. I never hear that in say downtown or the west side, except from transients. The Ohio accent is pretty neutral and is taught in many journalism schools. We do however stress some things funny like the hard are in car and we say, wader instead of water.

I was raised between W. 100th and W. 150th. And it's common throughout the Cleveland area. A lot of people that I grew up with make those vowel shifts. Like I said, once it was pointed out to me, I stopped saying them, but I do hear it occasionally..

Also I'm not sure if Polonius is a Cleveland native, I know he's at least a college transplant (going to school at Case).


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 Andrew1975 wrote:

Pittsburgh= Holy crap, its as unintelligible as Cajun, but far less charming! How does anyone understand you people with your Gumbands, Jags, yins, yuns and Pantsn'nat?

I dislike the Pittsburgh thing... Beyond my distaste for Steelers fans, it's impossible to understand them when they get going. I had a fling with a Pittsburgh lass (nothing like sleeping with the enemy ), but her dad was yinz'ing and what not over everything, and I just couldn't take it. She turned out to be crazy, so bullet dodge!

Luckily, I don't have much of an accent. I grew up in midwest Illinois, in a town where everyone sounds like a stereotypical American news anchor

But, one of the coolest things about my job is that I get to talk to people all around North America. Most of our business comes from the east coast, especially south east. It's crazy how different accents from Missippi, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, and other Southern states are. Also, how different it is between New York, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire. The one weird thing to me - most people I've talked to from Texas don't really have much of a southern accent! And then there's the accents between Wisconsin and Minnesota...they're almost Canadian, but not quite. Nothing else really sticks out...other than the Hawaiin accent, but it sounds just like it does in the movies.

As for Canadians, most accents sound the same to me...except for those folks from Newfoundland. I dated a girl who was born/raised in Picton, Ontario and she had some family from...somewhere in Newfoundland. I swear, I needed her around to decipher what the heck they were saying half the time.

I have spoken to a couple people from the UK that have moved to the US, but I have no idea where they were from...except for the guy from Scotland.


...I know that my ramblings don't have much to do with my preceptions of accents, but I just think it's really nteresting how much different a language can sound from different areas/countries.

I grew up in detroit, but moved to cleveland for undergrad,and been here more or less continiously for 15 years.

I think the hard A is pretty universal throughout cleveland. It's definitely not confined to the eastern counties.

I have been told that my accent is excellent for a tour guide, and it has been variously pegged as Brittish, Ausy, Kiwi and New Yorker (One of these things is not like the other), and I have been to none of these places.

I have a West Coast accent, so pretty standard. Never though about it until I lived in Texas and was picked out as a Northna' because I enunciate my words.

To which I replied - "Newscasters pay good money to have an accent like mine."

Once I overheard a (rather loud) conversation between two Southern women meeting each other up here in Seattle. Both had heavy drawls, South Carolina I think. One had been living here awhile and mentioned that she couldn't be taken seriously by the locals with her accent so she had to learn to speak "west coast" in order to do business (real estate?). I'd say that's pretty accurate. Unfortunate, but accurate.

I don't really think about accents other than trying to remember what they sound like and the differences between them also this thread seems to have become a breeding ground for ethnic stereotypes the first thing you assume someone is snobby cause they have a French accent, really?

Or that a British accent somehow makes you classy.

 Andrew1975 wrote:
Russian/Slavic Eastern Blok- Super hot on Ladies rolling their Rs,

Oh, yes indeed.

 rubiksnoob wrote:
I'm taking French this semester, which I am very excited for, as it's a language I have been interested in learning for some time, and it got me thinking about accents and the connotations we associate with them. I know here in the states French accents are (stereotypically, mind you) associated with general snootiness, lazy men in berets smoking cigarettes, etc. English accents are interesting in that they are often associated with a charming, affable sort of nonsense-speak, (see this Oatmeal comic) while can also be associated with upper class snobbery. Scottish accents are most popularly associated with hairy, sword-wielding men in plaid skirts; Irish with drunkenness and the color green; Italian with mobsters and spaghetti; etc.

What I wonder is how accents are perceived by those outside of the States. Comparing the differences in what we associate with certain accents could make for interesting discussion, I think.

Go!

I always associate French accents with artsyness and romantic predilections. Also, sexiness.

In general, though, I don't really attach that many ideas to accents. They're just accents, different ways of saying the same words. Though I'm not very fond of Asian accents, but that's only because I associate them with the super-driven Asian families that don't seem to quite get that you're supposed to be quiet in libraries.

~Tim?

I grew up with a Missouri (by way of St. Louis) and a New York (by way of Queens) accent in my home via my parents. While living in New Hampshire. My speech patterns are all over the place.

But I will say, once you've heard a Mainer (can't get theah from eah), a Bostonian (wicked cool cah kid), and a New Yorker share coffee, you'll get a new appreciation for the North East variety.

 gunslingerpro wrote:
I grew up with a Missouri (by way of St. Louis) and a New York (by way of Queens) accent in my home via my parents. While living in New Hampshire. My speech patterns are all over the place.

But I will say, once you've heard a Mainer (can't get theah from eah), a Bostonian (wicked cool cah kid), and a New Yorker share coffee, you'll get a new appreciation for the North East variety.

I grew up in MO as well, and I gotta say, I don't really have any kind of accent, at least to my ears. I have some cousins that went to NZ, and apparently everyone thought they sounded really Southern, so I guess I must have some kinda accent.

~Tim?

 Some_Call_Me_Tim? wrote:

 gunslingerpro wrote:
I grew up with a Missouri (by way of St. Louis) and a New York (by way of Queens) accent in my home via my parents. While living in New Hampshire. My speech patterns are all over the place.

But I will say, once you've heard a Mainer (can't get theah from eah), a Bostonian (wicked cool cah kid), and a New Yorker share coffee, you'll get a new appreciation for the North East variety.

I grew up in MO as well, and I gotta say, I don't really have any kind of accent, at least to my ears. I have some cousins that went to NZ, and apparently everyone thought they sounded really Southern, so I guess I must have some kinda accent.

~Tim?

yeah, it's tough to pick up on unless you've got something to directly compare it to (during a conversation). Only my grandmothers have retained the accents enough now for me to hear it.

What is this accent nonsense all about? I have never heard of such a thing.

Also, Alf, you excluded me, you will pay for this.


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 Jehan-reznor wrote:
If i speak my local accent (lingo) than Northern Dutch will not understand me.

Do I smell a Limburger?

 Soladrin wrote:
What is this accent nonsense all about? I have never heard of such a thing.

Also, Alf, you excluded me, you will pay for this.


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 Jehan-reznor wrote:
If i speak my local accent (lingo) than Northern Dutch will not understand me.

Do I smell a Limburger?

Jos, I was specifically speaking about the UK members of the harem... You sir, sound like the foreign dutch Jesus-y looking Devil that you are. I have no trouble determining when you're speaking

I've got an accent of an upper middle class Pompey lad.... Or so I'm told...

 Polonius wrote:
I think the hard A is pretty universal throughout cleveland.

I also heard it a lot in MI. But I'm from Richmond, VA, and may be particularly sensitive to it. My wife accuses me of dropping Rs following As, so comparitively soft is the Richmond A

 Alfndrate wrote:

 Soladrin wrote:
What is this accent nonsense all about? I have never heard of such a thing.

Also, Alf, you excluded me, you will pay for this.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Jehan-reznor wrote:
If i speak my local accent (lingo) than Northern Dutch will not understand me.

Do I smell a Limburger?

Jos, I was specifically speaking about the UK members of the harem... You sir, sound like the foreign dutch Jesus-y looking Devil that you are. I have no trouble determining when you're speaking

I resent that this implies I sound like a dirty northerner.

I'm a dirty Northerner and I don't even sound like one of us. We're learning. We're adapting. Soon, we shall sweep down from the Pennines, to deliver the judgement of the North unto the heretics of the south, and you cannot hope to stand against us, for should we fail, then the Scots shall surely rise against you, also, and your weakened southern backs shall be bent and broken upon the heroin needles, thistle branches, whiskey bottles, and overcooked haggises of the Scots.

With your backs to the sea, the French might also choose to invade up your freshly exposed backsides, and where shall you be then, should you not have already accepted the dominance of the North?

Your days are numbered, southern scum, be ready when that number reaches 5, or 32, or whichever number comes last in the alphabet!

 Soladrin wrote:
What is this accent nonsense all about? I have never heard of such a thing.

Also, Alf, you excluded me, you will pay for this.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Jehan-reznor wrote:
If i speak my local accent (lingo) than Northern Dutch will not understand me.

Do I smell a Limburger?

Hey i am not the one that smalls like Gouda cheese!

And on your question, yes i am a proud member of the LBF (Limburg Bevrijdings (Liberation) Front)

The south will Arise!

Ich how dich mit mien shroebloemel op dien kup!

One thing that has always confused me about English accents is that there seem to be localised areas where certain letters are forbidden to be pronounced. R's being the most amusing example.

On Aussies saying thea instead of there , I didn't even realise till a friendly Israeli informed me that is said bea instead of beer, I thought about it for a minute then realised he was right, who ever says being overseas is a journey of discovery was right. I also learned that women from certain areas in England talk way to much at way to loud a volume. I thought I'd met the fat slags from viz.

@ Rubiksnoob: the funny thing is there are many different accents in france. The northern accents (Ch'timi or Picard) are completely different from the southern accents, and any of these accents sound very different from the "neutral" french accent when speaking English (and french too).

I don't have an especially pronounced accent unless I'm very drunk, in which case I pick up a slight northern cities vowel shift.

My only real peculiarity of speech is that I tend to use words in ways that aren't common within the United States. For example, I freely switch between "vacation" and "holiday" when discussing the same concept. I also tend to use "fethed" in the sense of "I got really, really drunk.", which has lead to some interesting misunderstandings. Then of course there's the, again when intoxicated (or distracted), tendency to use words from other languages without realizing it.

As to how I perceive accents: There are a few that have a special appeal to me (Australian, English, and French) for various reasons, but I don't otherwise find any particular accent to be emotionally resonant. Though bear in mind, I'm speaking about accents people commonly possess when speaking the English language. The accent a person might have while speaking a different language is an entirely different matter. For example, my accent when speaking English is minimal and unremarkable, but my accent when speaking Spanish is quite strong and unpleasant.