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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 have a fairly mild Glaswegian accent and have been told as much.

I've had people asking me if i'm from Edinburgh, somebody said English but I think they were taking the piss.

One of the good examples was when I was on the phone to a colleague in another store, in London to be precise. He informed me that "I 'ad a very fick accent"...

Accents only really become a problem if you use too many slang words/phrases. I generally find American accents to be quite pleasant, probably due to the amount of really nice American tourists that i've met.

Take German instead it's easier because English is a Germanic language (that being said English does have some similarities to french but not as much as German). Dutch, Norwegian, Icelandic, Swedish and Danish are some other Germanic languages you might want to look into.

I talk with MrDWhitey, purplefood, and Avatar 720 pretty regularly. I can understand them without issue even though they hail from three different parts of the UK.

I know I have an accent which I actively try and correct as I speak. People from Northeast Ohio pronounce words differently than what some might expect. It's easiest to detect when saying words like cat, (key-at), milk (melk), and pillow (pellow). It's not as pronounced as like the Wisconsin or the Chicago accent (both derivatives of the Northern Cities Vowel Shift), it's still noticeable to some people.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Cheesecat wrote:
Take German instead it's easier because English is a Germanic language (that being said English does have some similarities to french but not as much as German). Dutch, Norwegian, Icelandic, Swedish and Danish are some other Germanic languages you might want to look into.

Agreed, though for a few hundred years, French was the language spoken in the English royal courts and amongst nobles. Something about some bastard conquering them in 1066.

 Alfndrate wrote:
I talk with MrDWhitey, purplefood, and Avatar 720 pretty regularly. I can understand them without issue even though they hail from three different parts of the UK.

I know I have an accent which I actively try and correct as I speak. People from Northeast Ohio pronounce words differently than what some might expect. It's easiest to detect when saying words like cat, (key-at), milk (melk), and pillow (pellow). It's not as pronounced as like the Wisconsin or the Chicago accent (both derivatives of the Northern Cities Vowel Shift), it's still noticeable to some people.

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

We have to use shorter words for Alf to understand.

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

that has, alas, little to do with his accent or yours.

do you have lead pain in England?

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.

All of "not 'Murca" is the same to me.

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.

Patriotic Sheep.

And what do you mean when? Surely for it to be a when, it has to stop at some point?

I think, accents wise, what amused me most is how Chowder and a certain other American have quite literally the exact same voice, accent and all. I'm not even sure what accent it is, I thought it was Bostonian but after just watching a video of it, I'm not so sure.

Alf, aid me in this.

I have less trouble understanding what mattyrm says as far as the accent is concerned, but it's the wide array of UK slang that I have trouble deciphering.

I do enjoy the liberal use of the old "c-word" that happens over there, though.

 MrDwhitey wrote:
Patriotic Sheep.

And what do you mean when? Surely for it to be a when, it has to stop at some point?

I think, accents wise, what amused me most is how Chowder and a certain other American have quite literally the exact same voice, accent and all. I'm not even sure what accent it is, I thought it was Bostonian but after just watching a video of it, I'm not so sure.

Alf, aid me in this.

Chowder, his buddy Igloo have a New England accent, the Bostonian accent is harsher and sounds closer to an Irish accent. Also they're 12, so of course they will sound the same. I can pick up differences between yours, Purps, and Avatar's voices and I can tell the difference between New York, Boston, and Georgian accents.

Perhaps it's because you think we all sound like slack-jawed idiots?

Monster Rain, this is my gift, to you. Cherish it, for I give it only once:

http://www.peevish.co.uk/slang/ (my favourite is "backs to the wall" for it's utter absurdity)

Alf, Chowder and WarOne sound like exactly the same person. I'm fairly sure they're not though. And thank you, I was wondering what accent it was.

I don't think all of you sound like slack jawed idiots, that's unfair. You certainly though.

 MrDwhitey wrote:
Monster Rain, this is my gift, to you. Cherish it, for I give it only once:

This is amazing.

Some of this makes very little sense. "Bacon Sarnie"? Why?

 MrDwhitey wrote:
Monster Rain, this is my gift, to you. Cherish it, for I give it only once:

http://www.peevish.co.uk/slang/ (my favourite is "backs to the wall" for it's utter absurdity)

Alf, Chowder and WarOne sound like exactly the same person. I'm fairly sure they're not though. And thank you, I was wondering what accent it was.

I don't think all of you sound like slack jawed idiots, that's unfair. You certainly though.

I sound nothing like WarOne and Chowder. WarOne, while from that area of the country has a slight New York Italian accent, Chowder sounds like a typical New Englander

MR, I have no idea. Some slang is simply what rhymes and has the same amount of syllables. Some not even that.

Alf, I said Alf to address you, I also hate grammar.

Chowder sounds more cultured than you.

You're also now the Harem's Shrike.

 MrDwhitey wrote:
MR, I have no idea. Some slang is simply what rhymes and has the same amount of syllables. Some not even that.

Alf, I said Alf to address you, I also hate grammar.

Chowder sounds more cultured than you.

Chowder is a part of a yacht club, he is immediately more cultured than I am. I, however, have not needed to go on a vision quest and find my spirit animal.

 Alfndrate wrote:
Chowder sounds like a typical New Englander

 MrDwhitey wrote:
Chowder sounds more cultured

Okay, what's going on here? You can't have it both ways!

I'm told I have a fairly upper class accent...
Not entirely sure about that but I don't have the accent of my home county that's for sure... (Herefordshire if anyone wants to know...)

I honestly don't even pay attention to accents anymore. In Toronto you'll meet people from everywhere... all the time.

It was amusing how people perceived my "accent" though. I'm not sure how a NA accent sounds to others. This summer I went to London and Rome, the experience was completely different in both. In London people would quiet down when walking or sitting nearby to listen to us speak (NA accents are not rare I'm sure, but amusing in person I bet.) In Rome it was the opposite, they couldn't care less (or at least were very good at hiding their interest ).

I'm a Wiltshire boy, but because I'm a precocious git, I speak "proper English", so I end up sounding posh.
Though how posh/well-spoken I am depends on who I'm speaking to.

The only accent I really have trouble with is the South African one, because my brain can never decide if they're Australian, or Dutch!
Which made District 9 really hard to watch!

 Dark Apostle 666 wrote:
I'm a Wiltshire boy, but because I'm a precocious git, I speak "proper English", so I end up sounding posh.
Though how posh/well-spoken I am depends on who I'm speaking to.

I believe the term is 'received pronunciation' or Queen's/King's English

 purplefood wrote:

 Dark Apostle 666 wrote:
I'm a Wiltshire boy, but because I'm a precocious git, I speak "proper English", so I end up sounding posh.
Though how posh/well-spoken I am depends on who I'm speaking to.

I believe the term is 'received pronunciation' or Queen's/King's English

Yarp, this is the proper term. Sheesh, even an American knows that

 Alfndrate wrote:

 purplefood wrote:

 Dark Apostle 666 wrote:
I'm a Wiltshire boy, but because I'm a precocious git, I speak "proper English", so I end up sounding posh.
Though how posh/well-spoken I am depends on who I'm speaking to.

I believe the term is 'received pronunciation' or Queen's/King's English

Yarp, this is the proper term. Sheesh, even an American knows that

It's also called BBC English.

 rubiksnoob wrote:
I know here in the states French accents are (stereotypically, mind you) associated with general snootiness, lazy men in berets smoking cigarettes, etc.

I feel somewhat offended to be judged snooty and lazy on account of my accent, and not for the fact that I'm generally snooty and lazy.

English accents are

horrible on men, hot on women.

Scottish accents are

pure awesome on men, hot on women.

Italian

A dangerous level of competition on men, hot on women.

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.

My accent is not as strong as the police lady in the movie fargo... except when I'm drunk.

Drunkenness reveals your true self.

Kia ora bro, wanna come round the whare for some kai with my whanau? Chur.


New Zealand is picking up more words from the native Maori culture, which I've found funny when I accidentally use them in conversations with people not from here.

This video has a (slightly exaggerated) Kiwi accent. It was made by Aussies to laugh at the Kiwis, but I can't fault them!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZdVHZwI8pcA