# Are an American accent and a British accent noticeably different to non-English speakers? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 2, 2011, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-an-american-accent-and-a-british-accent-noticeably-different-to-non-english-speakers/601611 "2011-11-02T12:59:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2011, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-an-american-accent-and-a-british-accent-noticeably-different-to-non-english-speakers/601611/61 "2011-11-04T14:13:05Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > I think part of the problem we have distinguishing or describing English accents is similar to the “everybody not of my race looks the same” problem: we’re used to focusing on a certain set of features, but the distinguishing set of features changes by language. I’m sure you’re right. Without even knowing it, we’re all applying different comparison criteria that are influenced by local factors. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2011, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-an-american-accent-and-a-british-accent-noticeably-different-to-non-english-speakers/601611/62 "2011-11-05T12:44:43Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > ([cite](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3t7qIEuwCI)- actually purports to be a Brit aping an American accent, but any Brit will confirm this is not the case) Yikes, that’s just…horrible. Part mid-atlantic, part-antipodean, like no British (or other) accent in existence! ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2011, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-an-american-accent-and-a-british-accent-noticeably-different-to-non-english-speakers/601611/63 "2011-11-05T13:33:08Z")
Why isn’t he wearing a shirt? Oops … I posted that before I saw that he did a complete strip tease. Speaking as an American, I don’t think his American accent is all that bad. It’s pretty good, actually. I’d like to hear him keep it up for a while. His “regular” accent sounds like a poor attempt at R.P. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2011, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-an-american-accent-and-a-british-accent-noticeably-different-to-non-english-speakers/601611/64 "2011-11-05T13:41:11Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > Why isn’t he wearing a shirt? Oops … I posted that before I saw that he did a complete strip tease. > > Speaking as an American, I don’t think his American accent is all that bad. It’s pretty good, actually. I’d like to hear him keep it up for a while. > > His “regular” accent sounds like a poor attempt at R.P. Presumably that’s because he’s American. He most certainly isn’t British or Australian. ---
**Author:** ![hibernicus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hibernicus/32/2802_2.png) [@hibernicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hibernicus)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2011, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-an-american-accent-and-a-british-accent-noticeably-different-to-non-english-speakers/601611/65 "2011-11-05T17:18:40Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Or indeed just people from somewhere other than yourself. That’s the problem - it’s all very subjective (I can’t honestly say your choice of groupings makes much sense to me, but there’s no particular reason why it should) You’re right of course that perception of accent (and perception of similarities) depends on your own background and what you have been brought up to consider “normal”. But is it really subjective? Maybe, I don’t know. In theory it should be possible to enumerate features that two accents have in common, and state objectively that (for example) a New Zealand and an Australian accent are more similar than either is to a Boston accent. The problem might be that we may disagree as to which features are important, or what weighting should attach to each one. Out of curiosity, when you say my choice of groupings makes little sense to you, would you at least agree that {NZ, Australia, S Africa} sound similar? If so, then we only disagree on whether they are collectively similar to SE English accents, which disagreement is easily explained. ---
**Author:** ![Candyman74](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Candyman74](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Candyman74)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2011, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-an-american-accent-and-a-british-accent-noticeably-different-to-non-english-speakers/601611/66 "2011-11-05T17:57:20Z")
> [@SanVito](#): > > Presumably that’s because he’s American. He most certainly isn’t British or Australian. Nope, definitely not British; I agree. Not even close. I’d guess American because of the way he says BirmingHAM, but it would just be a guess. ---
**Author:** ![Candyman74](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Candyman74](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Candyman74)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2011, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-an-american-accent-and-a-british-accent-noticeably-different-to-non-english-speakers/601611/67 "2011-11-05T18:00:04Z")
> [@hibernicus](#): > > Out of curiosity, when you say my choice of groupings makes little sense to you, would you at least agree that {NZ, Australia, S Africa} sound similar? If so, then we only disagree on whether they are collectively similar to SE English accents, which disagreement is easily explained. I’d say that NZ and Oz do, but not SA; not at all. That accent sounds far apart from the other two to my ears. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2011, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-an-american-accent-and-a-british-accent-noticeably-different-to-non-english-speakers/601611/68 "2011-11-05T18:23:34Z")
> [@Candyman74](#): > > Nope, definitely not British; I agree. Not even close. > > I’d guess American because of the way he says BirmingHAM, but it would just be a guess. Yep, dead giveaway in one word. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-an-american-accent-and-a-british-accent-noticeably-different-to-non-english-speakers/601611.md?page=3)