# Absolute Best Accent **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 2, 2000, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absolute-best-accent/14606 "2000-03-02T23:41:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Breckinshire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/71c47a/32.png) [@Breckinshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Breckinshire)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2000, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absolute-best-accent/14606/1 "2000-03-02T23:41:00Z")
Okay, informal poll… What is the world’s **Absolute Best Accent**? I contend, and will till the day I die, it must be Irish. * * * _A hush fell over the courtroom, killing six._ ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2000, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absolute-best-accent/14606/2 "2000-03-02T23:49:00Z")
Italian, because they sound like they’re signing. ---
**Author:** ![Dirty\_Devil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Dirty\_Devil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dirty_Devil)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2000, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absolute-best-accent/14606/3 "2000-03-02T23:55:00Z")
Northern Irish. County Down, to be specific. I don’t know what it is about the way they talk, and sometimes I don’t understand what they say, but I’m hopelessly in love with it. Maybe I long for the days of my youth, sitting around and talking for hours on end with granny. ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2000, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absolute-best-accent/14606/4 "2000-03-02T23:59:00Z")
I wouldn’t know. I’m Dutch, therefore I do not speak with an accent 😃 * * * **Coldfire** _Voted **Poster Most Likely To Post Drunk** _ * * * _ **"You know how complex women are"** _ - Neil Peart, **Rush** (1993) ---
**Author:** ![Random](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/57b2e6/32.png) [@Random](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Random)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2000, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absolute-best-accent/14606/5 "2000-03-03T00:02:00Z")
Agree, Breck. ---
**Author:** ![Jeannie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e480ec/32.png) [@Jeannie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeannie)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2000, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absolute-best-accent/14606/6 "2000-03-03T00:04:00Z")
New Zealander’s have the best accents. Followed closely by Australians. And Scotsmen. And the Irish. I have a lot of favorites 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2000, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absolute-best-accent/14606/7 "2000-03-03T00:36:00Z")
Woohoo! I can do _all_ those accents! * * * [The Legend Of PigeonMan](http://www.hotkey.net.au/~guanolad/pigeonman/) - **Shadow of the Pigeon** - Weirdo of the Night ---
**Author:** ![Sealemon88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c68b51/32.png) [@Sealemon88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sealemon88)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2000, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absolute-best-accent/14606/8 "2000-03-03T00:40:00Z")
British. No, wait. Irish. I mean, Russian. Hold on, Rasta… Depends on my mood, I guess. No, it’s gotta be British. * * * You say “cheesy” like that’s a **BAD** thing. ---
**Author:** ![pluto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f08c70/32.png) [@pluto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pluto)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2000, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absolute-best-accent/14606/9 "2000-03-03T00:44:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally posted by Jeannie: > **New Zealander’s have the best accents.** I have to go with Jeannie on this one. Aussies have too much twang and Brits are too nasal. Kiwis have a less pronounced (to American ears) accent: it sounds posh without sounding stuffy. But those Scots have a nice lilt, too! * * * i think he/is the kind/of person who might if he worked his way up/in the world/for several years eventually/get to be/a sneak thief “king nicky”, _archyology_ Don Marquis ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2000, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absolute-best-accent/14606/10 "2000-03-03T00:46:00Z")
Best accent? I have no earthly idea, but the absolute worst accent has **got** to belong to Robin Leach! * * * “Age is mind over matter; if you don’t mind, it don’t matter.” -Leroy “Satchel” Paige ---
**Author:** ![Nu\_Vo\_Da\_Da](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/97f17d/32.png) [@Nu\_Vo\_Da\_Da](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nu_Vo_Da_Da)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2000, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absolute-best-accent/14606/11 "2000-03-03T00:48:00Z")
## Nothing like a Xhosa accent as far as I’m concerned… (though I’m also fond of an Afrikaans accent) Still later, Gerald did a terrible thing to Elsie with a saucepan. ---
**Author:** ![ruadh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@ruadh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruadh)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2000, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absolute-best-accent/14606/12 "2000-03-03T01:00:00Z")
We did this thread before, but I can’t be bothered to look it up. Last time round I was lazy and just said the Ulster accent, but since DD has pinned it down further than that, I guess I’ll specify Donegal. * * * “Shut up! I’m having a rhetorical conversation!” ---
**Author:** ![crackwise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/22d042/32.png) [@crackwise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crackwise)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2000, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absolute-best-accent/14606/13 "2000-03-03T01:05:00Z")
Irish and Scottish accents bring joy to my ears. Don’t know enough about specific counties to specify any individual one. I knew a young Austrailian who did the best Texas-American accent. He ribbed the hell out of our Texas friend in London. Not only was the accent good, the phrasing and choice of words was right on. * * * I am large, I contradict myself, I contain multitudes. ~Walt Whitman ---
**Author:** ![aseymayo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a88e57/32.png) [@aseymayo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aseymayo)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2000, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absolute-best-accent/14606/14 "2000-03-03T01:08:00Z")
Isabella Rossellini’s. * * * There is only one difference between a madman and me. I am not a man. ---
**Author:** ![Breckinshire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/71c47a/32.png) [@Breckinshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Breckinshire)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2000, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absolute-best-accent/14606/15 "2000-03-03T01:38:00Z")
Since we’re naming actual people, how about Nicole Kidman in Far and Away. Yes, I know that’s not her _real_ voice! ---
**Author:** ![jazzmine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jazzmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jazzmine)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2000, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absolute-best-accent/14606/16 "2000-03-03T01:43:00Z")
South African _melting_ ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2000, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absolute-best-accent/14606/17 "2000-03-03T03:03:00Z")
I love Irish. But, I like a German accent also. And, even though it’s not very heavy…a Canadian accent is pretty cool. I noticed nobody said, “American.” I wonder what our accent sounds like to foreigners. Is it a pleasant accent? Be honest. Adam * * * “Life is hard…but God is good” ---
**Author:** ![Breckinshire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/71c47a/32.png) [@Breckinshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Breckinshire)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2000, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absolute-best-accent/14606/18 "2000-03-03T05:59:00Z")
But is there a single American accent? I mean, there’s the nawtheast twang, the southern drawl, and, of course, the Fargo. * * * _A hush fell over the courtroom, killing six._ ---
**Author:** ![neuro-trash\_grrrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3ab097/32.png) [@neuro-trash\_grrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neuro-trash_grrrl)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2000, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absolute-best-accent/14606/19 "2000-03-03T06:08:00Z")
I’m kind of partial to the retroflex, myself, although the grave and acute are not without their charms. Oh… _spoken_ accents! Hmmmm, I dunno. A classmate of mine has the most marvelous Spanish accent. I melt whenever I hear her speak. I’m not sure where she’s from, though. It doesn’t sound like any of the local Spanish accents. My other favorite accent is definitely the Japanese. I don’t know, there is something very charming about the way Japanese people speak English. I could listen to it all day. In general though, any foreign accent of any kind is intriguing to me. - néürô-tràsh grrrl * * * An infinite number of rednecks in an infinite number of pickup trucks shooting an infinite number of shotguns at an infinite number of road signs will eventually produce all the world’s great works of literature in Braille. ---
**Author:** ![neutron\_star](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/51bf81/32.png) [@neutron\_star](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neutron_star)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2000, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absolute-best-accent/14606/20 "2000-03-03T06:11:00Z")
I’d have to say a nice Tennessee accent is … oh dammit even I can’t keep a straight face long enough to complete that sentence! UGH! * * * I am the user formerly known as puffington. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absolute-best-accent/14606.md?page=2)