What's with the Accent?

[Chris]

So, my friends are apparently annoyed with my alledge "Amercian accent", which is such an irritating platitude, especially considering how many different accents there are, depending on where you're from in the States.

My friends are really dumb.

- Do you have a specific accent?

- Is there a certain accent that just makes you cringe?

- Do you ever fake an accent?

[Peegee]

Yes. I speak like a Chinese Canadian.

[Freya]

I guess I have an american accent as anyone not form the US would call it. Otherwise I don't really think I have one.

I live in the south now and occasionally i'll find myself having an osmosis accent. I do it out of humor to myself more often than naught. I tend to notice accents, certain words that are said differently. Sometimes I repeat them to a person after they say it which just usually garners myself funny looks. I often try to emulate them but I have to be around them so I can really pick up words. Seeing as how I'm smack-dab in the middle of hickville, I can't really acquire any peculiar ones. That's why my British and Australian impressions are horrendous.

Being here, with this ridiculous accent they have, I instantly think they are much less intelligent. When they can't say some of the most basic words and phrases without butchering them like a serial killer on crack, I can't take what they say seriously. As of now though, this is the only accent I've been immersed in so I don't have much of a comment or an opinion on many others. I just know the southern hickabilly accent makes me cringe.

Occasionally I'll use said accent on people and then after a time passes, I'll change how I talk to how I am normally. It has quite hilarious results.

[Rase]

I have an accent, but hell if I know what it is. Gets called East Coast, West Coast, British, and Australian. I don't really see any of them fitting.

[Yar]

It's impossible to not have an accent.

I have a Midwestern accent. It's the same that you would hear on American television programs. And having been raised by TV, it makes sense.

Also living in the Midwest but yeah TV = awesome

[Shoeberto]

Coco: "What's your name?"
Bret: "It's Bret."
Coco: "Bri... Buritt? Britt? Like Brittney?"
Bret: "No, Bret, like... B-R-E-T."
Coco: "Oh, I see. It just sounded like Brit. I love your British accent."
Bret: "It's New Zealand, actually."
Coco: "Oh, New Zealand! They have vikings there, right?"
Bret: "... yeah."

[escobert]

I sounds like a uh vermonter? :p

[Jessweeee♪]

Just...generic American I guess. Someone who's familiar with enough American accents might be able to tell I'm from Texas when I slip and say things like "fixin' ta."

[Shiny]

- Do you have a specific accent?
Apparently! Someone from NY asked where I was from...

- Is there a certain accent that just makes you cringe?
Boston. It was pretty difficult watching The Town and The Departed.

- Do you ever fake an accent?
Sometimes! My accent is a mixture of various parts of the world sometimes just because I'm freakish. Also depends on if you hear me over the phone, over mic, or in person. In person my voice is much higher.

[Shlup]

I assume I sound like most of the people on regular American TV.

[NorthernChaosGod]

I'm from California, we don't have accents. :p

[Psychotic]

I have an English accent, which therefore means I have no accent at all as I speak the language the way it is meant to be spoken, so suck on that you rotten bloody foreigners :colbert:

Every town in Britain pretty much has its own accent, but I think I've been lucky that I haven't picked up my own town's accent, as I think it sounds smurfing stupid. I remember as a kid hearing a classmate saying 12 as "Twalve" and thinking "What is wrong with you, why aren't you saying Twelve? There is clearly an e in there!" No British person has ever told me they think I have a regional accent, so I think I've gotten away with it and have ended up with a pretty generic English accent.

[Shoeberto]

I like to make my own accent sometimes. Like just pronouncing words weirdly but in a very fluid, common way as to make people think I just talk like that. My goal is to be able to sound like any number of characters on Tim and Eric Awesome Show Great Job, especially Steve Brule. prizza.

[LowCaloriePie]

It's impossible to not have an accent.


What if they're mute? ;)

[fire_of_avalon]

Being here, with this ridiculous accent they have, I instantly think they are much less intelligent. When they can't say some of the most basic words and phrases without butchering them like a serial killer on crack, I can't take what they say seriously. As of now though, this is the only accent I've been immersed in so I don't have much of a comment or an opinion on many others. I just know the southern hickabilly accent makes me cringe.

That's real daggone funny, cause frum down in dees here parts, when we hear tell of folk like you talkin', we'uns jus' think they have a stick up they hind end.

[Bunny]

When they can't say some of the most basic words and phrases without butchering them like a serial killer on crack

I do not understand this analogy.

[Jessweeee♪]

People butcher words in the generic midwest too :colbert:

SUNDEE MONDEE TUESDEE WEDNESDEE THURSDEE FRIDEE SATURDEE

Those I get, southern accents tend to slip into those too, but "warsh"? How do you get "warsh" out of wash?

[Shoeberto]

People butcher words in the generic midwest too :colbert:

SUNDEE MONDEE TUESDEE WEDNESDEE THURSDEE FRIDEE SATURDEE

Those I get, southern accents tend to slip into those too, but "warsh"? How do you get "warsh" out of wash?
Ahahaha, yeah, I notice that allllll the time around here. I love making fun of it. One of my favorite WoW character's names was Warshclarth.

I catch myself doing that day of the week thing in my head a lot. It's weird to think of people just saying it like it's normal, but a ton of people do it, especially in small towns.

"Geezey Christmas, I took my car out for a warsh on Thursdee and it got rained on!"

[Tai-Ti]

So I'm just going to assume I have an Australian accent, but I haven't been to another English speaking country for someone to tell me "Woah you have an accent!" A chick from New Zealand bagged out my accent once. She's the one talking! NZ accents irritate me a bit. i = e and e = i , so, six = sex and sex = six, it's confusing.

[Shiny]

I'm from California, we don't have accents. :p

Yes you do.

[Laddy]

I live in the South, but I (thankfully) lack a Southern accent. I sound Midwestern, which is your basic American accent.

[Jentleness]

I'm from California, we don't have accents. :p

That's silly, of course we do!!! We have Californian accents!!! :p



... southern accents tend to slip into those too, but "warsh"? How do you get "warsh" out of wash?

I heard once that the "r" comes from New Yorkers, what happens is when they speak the "r" gets launched into the atmosphere (which is why they never pronounce the "r" when they speak) and then rains down on West Virginia and ends up in words like wash! :D

[Unbreakable Will]

Yeah, southern accent. I know what you're thinking but it's not the terrible deep south accent, and furthermore it only shows itself when I'm particularly angry.
And I've been known to fake a pretty good Indian accent

[Madonna]

The only accent which has ever made me cringe was [this] (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HD9yvrrVPvw&feature=player_detailpage#t=49s) horrid imitation of an American accent. Listening to the actress throughout the show drew me close to suicide. Perhaps it struck too close to home?

[Jessweeee♪]

The only accent which has ever made me cringe was [this] (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HD9yvrrVPvw&feature=player_detailpage#t=49s) horrid imitation of an American accent. Listening to the actress throughout the show drew me close to suicide. Perhaps it struck too close to home?

That is pretty terrible.

[rubah]

I had a woman at Dillards ask me where I was from once. Like I wasn't from a town two hours away.

More often than an accent, peculiar turns of phrase will crop up. Espeeeeeeeeeeecially ones my dad used when he was growing up.
(this is for you stu)
(see if you can guess who this is ;D)


Jimmadon! Well, my lands; I'll tell you what. We went on up All. The. Way to Missoura with Keithallen and them, and would you believe it? etc...

And if you'll excuse me, I've go to go be fixing me some hootenanny; It's going to be larruping.

[Shoeberto]

(this is for you stu)
(see if you can guess who this is ;D)

Toooo easy!

[rubah]

now record yourself trying to emulate it

[Aerith's Knight]

I don't really hear it myself, so you'll have to ask Paul or the other halo group.

[Iceglow]

I too have a British accent.

Some people think because I'm from London my accent is cockney but having 1) lived here all my life and 2) lived in East London in a cockney area I can assure you, I don't have a cockney accent, not even close. That doesn't mean I can't falsify the cockney accent to a degree. Then again my accent isn't even too similar to my local area. As Paul said every town has it's own sort of accent and this is true among the outer suburbs of major cities too. Considering Barnet where I am from (an outer north London suburb) has a population which mostly derives from an East London culture the town does have a cockney hint to it in how the local born and raised people tend to speak. I am constantly asked in my home town where I am from because I don't speak with the local accent. Often I am met with disbelief when people hear that I am as local as they are.

As for accents I can fake?

Well because as a child I went through around 7 years of speech therapy to help correct a development issue due to major problems with my hearing I technically dumb down my own accent. I can and should speak what we Brits affectionately term "Queen's English" which is the stiff upper lip posh voice you often heard Pierce Brosnan use as James Bond.

I can also fake a pretty good American accent though often people aren't sure what part of the states it's from.

I can do Irish well enough to fool the Irish.

I can speak in a semi-convincing French accent mostly because I learnt French in school and my speech therapy experiences means I have quite the talent for picking up and speaking in an accent.

I have tried to impersonate many different accents over the years for fun mostly some I'm better at then others

[Jiro]

I sound like a sexy sexy Australian man. HA. But seriously my accent is probably more fancy pants English than "oi mate let's have a goon sack and get wrecked ya bastard". It's because I have class....and spend a lot of time with English folks

[Old Manus]

I possess a watered down south Wales accent, which is unfortunately the worst accent in the world.

[cloud_doll]

I have the typical american accent. My mother is from Chicago and I was born and raised in Florida so I mix up regional accents all the time. I say "y'all" and the way I say words such as "bag" is apparently humorous to my friends. I think my accent is closer to a southern one though. Especially when I yell.

[ChickenHeart]

Well I'm British, and idk if I have a Birmingham accent or not, I probably do. Just not that black country one that everyone thinks every single brummy has.
I sometimes fake a few accents in front of people i don't know because its fun to see them pull confused faces.

[Yeargdribble]

I naturally have a tiny bit of southern accent. I strive for a more midwestern accent. The only people that I tend to run into that have an unapologetically ridiculous drawl also tend to be dimwits and the types of conservatives who pray at the altar of Glenn Beck and talk about how "fags and niggers need to die."

People can overcome this first impression, but if I hear a thick southern accent I just assume that the person doesn't care if they sound intelligent or not. More often than not these people hang out exclusively with groups of people where this is a badge of honor to sound like a hick.

[Loony BoB]

- Do you have a specific accent?
Everyone has an accent. Mine is that of a New Zealander. I spoke to someone for the first time since leaving NZ recently, and the first thing they said (aside from the initial hello) was "You still have a New Zealand accent." I was kinda amused.

- Is there a certain accent that just makes you cringe?
A strong Indian accent when I'm on the phone. Not that it makes me cringe, but that it is so difficult for me to understand.

- Do you ever fake an accent?
What, you mean sort of like an impersonation? Yeah, for fun, on occasion. Just amongst friends, as I figure most people do.

Hidden part about what accent you love
I love certain (posh?) English accents when spoken by girls. They sound so cute! Kent in particular seemed to supply a few of these accents in my experiences. I also lovelovelove the Irish accent. Some American accents are nice, too. Jamaican is cool.

[fire_of_avalon]

I have a pretty thick accent and I'm definitely not a moron. It seems some of you are just as prejudicial as those you accuse. For something as uncontrollable as the accent with which a person grew up.

People with the same slant made me feel ashamed of myself my first year of college. But then I learned better.

[sharkythesharkdogg]

I have a pretty thick accent and I'm definitely not a moron. It seems some of you are just as prejudicial as those you accuse. For something as uncontrollable as the accent with which a person grew up.

People with the same slant made me feel ashamed of myself my first year of college. But then I learned better.

I never picked up a southern accent for whatever reason, but I do find a southern drawl on girl attractive. As long as she can hold a conversation, any way. My girlfriend is from Chicago, but she's lived in South Carolina for many years, so she has a cute combination of accents. It works for me. :D

Everyone either can't place my accent, or thinks I'm from Ohio. :|

[Shoeberto]

I never picked up a southern accent for whatever reason, but I do find a southern drawl on girl attractive. As long as she can hold a conversation, any way.
It can vary a lot for me. I've heard some southern accents that were just weird sounding. Specifically this girl who does homework with some people where I normally kill time on campus - she just has the WEIRDEST southern accent. Like you can tell it's Southern, she's got the twang, but she also pronounces things so weird.

Aside from those occurrences (I seem to remember some other similar weirdness while living in Arkansas), I agree that the accent can be pretty cute. I think as far as Ultimate Hotness goes for accents, though, you can't beat French.

[Rye]

I have a New York accent. Specifically, one from the Queens borough area. It used to be stronger but years of being out of state and then out of the country has toned it down to something more neutral.

I'm not taken by the more nasally accents within the US.

I used to fake a bit of an English accent when studying there because people would give me looks for my American accents often and it got tiring.

[Freya]

I have a pretty thick accent and I'm definitely not a moron. It seems some of you are just as prejudicial as those you accuse. For something as uncontrollable as the accent with which a person grew up.

People with the same slant made me feel ashamed of myself my first year of college. But then I learned better.

"Dat dere dog wud chasin' my chickens la nihe. I wud ou wit da dry cows n came hoome ta da damn dog raysin' a starm n da chicken coop." "That there dog was chasing my chickens last night. I was out with the dry cows and came home to the damn dog raising a storm in the chicken coop." Is that how you sound?

There is talking with an accent you grew up with and there is talking like a moron.

I was born in Houston. I grew up between Texas, Wyoming and Oklahoma my whole life. I know it's not something that just happens to end up that way. No, I've known many people, even family members with a Texan accent. There's a difference between having a drawl to your speech and sounding like a moron.

[Aerith's Knight]

I'm going to have so much inner fun in Texas, it seems from this thread. :p

[DMKA]

I'm from California, we don't have accents. :p

Same here, and truer words have never been spoken. :D

[Dreddz]

I'm from London so I actually dont have an accent.

[kotora]

Southern accents are awesome. If I'm going to the US I'm gonna learn to speak it.

As for my fairly neutral Dutch accent: it's definitely less retarded than the other accents in this country.

[Yar]

I think a Southern accent can actually be cute sometimes so screw you guys. :colbert:

[Laddy]

Me too.

I don't hate the South or its accent, it's just associated with bigotry oftentimes, and when some dumb redneck with little grasp of the English language talks about which strangers they don't approve of, it become a staple. An often unfair staple, but a staple.

[fire_of_avalon]

I have a pretty thick accent and I'm definitely not a moron. It seems some of you are just as prejudicial as those you accuse. For something as uncontrollable as the accent with which a person grew up.

People with the same slant made me feel ashamed of myself my first year of college. But then I learned better.

"Dat dere dog wud chasin' my chickens la nihe. I wud ou wit da dry cows n came hoome ta da damn dog raysin' a starm n da chicken coop." "That there dog was chasing my chickens last night. I was out with the dry cows and came home to the damn dog raising a storm in the chicken coop." Is that how you sound?

There is talking with an accent you grew up with and there is talking like a moron.

I was born in Houston. I grew up between Texas, Wyoming and Oklahoma my whole life. I know it's not something that just happens to end up that way. No, I've known many people, even family members with a Texan accent. There's a difference between having a drawl to your speech and sounding like a moron.
Nah, mine isn't quite that thick, but you really think you can judge someone so harshly by the thickness of their accent? Do you think people who are involved in ESL are morons, too? How about first generation Americans who retain thick accents and speak with somewhat mangled dialects? Morons? I just plain old disagree.

[Freya]

It's not thickness it's about stupid terms and phrases. Saying "dat dere" is stupid and moronic.

[Jessweeee♪]

It's not stupid and moronic. I would take the example "dat dere" and say that maybe saying that instead of "that there" is an indication of laziness when it comes to speech, but not a lack of intelligence. You're just a jerk :colbert:

[Laddy]

That was mean, Freya. :(

[NorthernChaosGod]

It's not thickness it's about stupid terms and phrases. Saying "dat dere" is stupid and moronic.

And if that's just how they say "that there" through their accent?

[Freya]

An intelligent person would use proper grammar. :]

[Laddy]

Not necessarily.

[Bunny]

This thread is stupid and everyone in this thread is stupid.

[Zeldy]

I always get accused of being a scouser, a person from Liverpool. When I'm actually not, I sound nothing like a scouser! not really, not in comparison. I say "Like dacchh" though, apparently, I always get called up for that, as that's very scouse. My town is half way between Manchester and Liverpool, so we have influences from both. It's been referred to as "when the scouse accent goes Northern".

I'm from St Helens (pronounced here as: "Saaint 'eluns"), and here our accents get us called "Woolybacks" and I'm proud of it.

[Old Manus]

Actually I lied. The scousers have the worst accent on the planet, with south wales coming in a close second.

[Zeldy]

Alright, alright. Exactly why I hate being referred to as one! Plastic scousers are worse than a scousers, though. The fake scousers who aren't really from Liverpool.

[sharkythesharkdogg]

An intelligent person would use proper grammar. :]

That's less grammar and more of the accent again. Yes, "that there" is not correct, but it's derived from the accent. Many accents have people saying things they wouldn't actually write down. I've never seen anyone around here actually write out "that there" in a sentence. They just write "that".

Don't use the counter point that I've never seen any one write it, because they're all too dumb to know how to write. :roll2 That's too easy and obvious. You'll have to be more creative with your jibes. :p

[Rye]

Whoa, everyone needs to relax in this thread. Keep it civil, folks.

[Loony BoB]

Jamaican and Irish are both good examples of those that would say things differently than most and it can be put down as accent. I wonder if there is any reasoning behind them both using 'ting' instead of 'thing'.

[rubah]

My guess would be in their native speech, the th sound doesn't exist or is very uncommon, so it is approximated as t

You all should take a linguistics course 8D Then you'd know that there is no such thing as having "no accent", that "bad" accents are less a factor of intelligence than the people you are born around and spend time around, and about morphemes!

[Peegee]

I wonder what Freya's motivation is for those comments. I do personally believe if we all spoke the same language and had the same idioms it would lead to less conflicts in communication.

Alternatively I guess I could learn 7-8 dialects of english and be fluent in 3-4 different languages (chinese, english, hindi, and um...french)

[Bunny]

The motivation behind those comments is probably her opinions based on her experiences.

[Hot Shot]

I don't have an accent. Londoners don't really have one IMO. We just sound normal. I do like to put on more of a British accent when I flirt with foreign chicks. They love it. There aren't really any accents that annoy me but I find it odd that some Americans like to drag out words a bit and say "errr" a lot. My step mum always does it.

[NorthernChaosGod]

An intelligent person would use proper grammar. :]

Okay, "Wenches gonna wench".

[G13]

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g125/EricMiller_photos/WENCH-1.jpg

[fire_of_avalon]

An intelligent person should also understand that a specific dialect is an evolution of language for that particular region or culture based on a wide variety of socializing factors. An intelligent person should also understand that ignorance and prejudice aren't one way streets. Ooops, sorry for the slang there. Hopefully no one thinks I'm a moron for my use of colloquialisms!

[Freya]

k


Ooops, sorry for the slang there
It's okay you're forgiven, foa. :love:

[fire_of_avalon]

Also, your egg thing is scary.

[Levian]

My accent is Norwegian and American (As heard on Friends, which is where I learned all the English I know)

This means that I can't differentiate V and W.

Wikings. Walley. Woltorb.

It also means I speak like an inbred retard who's been lit on fire.