heh heh
I’d love to get some Americans here, and let them experience a true Suffolk accent - one conversation I had with a bus driver had a Leeds-born friend in stitches, unable to understand a single word.
I love Scottish and Irish accents, so I would probably doubly love hearing you talk! There was a Scottish girl who used to live near me, and I so enjoyed listening to her accent that sometimes, I wouldn’t pay attention to the actual words.
I think this is a “grass is greener” kind of thing. I am always surprised to hear of people liking 'merkin accents. Most people I know don’t have a regional accent, and sound so boring. Ones I find irresistable: genteel Southern accents, like Shelby Foote. God I love that man’s voice. I watched the entire PBS Civil War special just to hear him speak. And Hawaiian pidgin accents - so cute!
I love all accents. They’re fascinating. I especially like listening to an incredibly intelligent person with an accent which is usually stereotyped as slow or hick: US South, Irish, Yorkshire, etc. This is especially cool when they are unapologetic about it, and don’t try to modify their regional accent for career reasons.
I recall watching an episode of MAS*H in which one of the American actors pronounced “duodenum” as DOO - ud - n’m. Surely nobody says that? I did get a laught ot of it though.
Regarding the pronunciation of February:
Despite the notions that our mothers have, we can’t always pronounce a word based on how it is spelled. I don’t know what the standard pronunciations are in England (according to the Oxford dick), but in the USA, Feb-ROO-ary is a mispronunciation according to Webster’s. There are two choices listed:
Fe-byuh-wery and Fe-bra-wery
But Sean Connery can pronounce it any way he likes if he wants to roll some r’s in me ears…
RindaRinda, welcome to SDMB! You have impeccable taste in Southern gentlemen! I agree with you on Shelby Foote. My husband is often mistaken for him. Photos when they were both younger looks like they were separated at birth. Now if I could just get him to talk like that!
Thanks for the welcome.
“The Civil Woah defahned us as Americans, defahned what and who we aah.”*
::shriek::
::faint::
*I may have mangled that quote
I have to admit something. I feel the shame, the taunting. I have a British bloke accent fetish.
My loins are mostly wetted by the dreaded Scouse accent but after that preference they damn near all do it to me (ok maybe not the Devon/Cornwall lot). Scottish? Yummmm. Geordie? Yummmm. Fake London? Yummmm. Real London? Yummmmmmmm. Coronation Street not quite so much but I can work with what I get;)
Scousers are toooooo yummmmmmmmmy though.
LOL - I’m Suffolk born and bred, and for many years had to translate my mum’s utterings for my ex-hubby. But I have a video of a 1972 TV program in which my great-grandfather was interviewed at length about my great[sup]3[/sup] grandparents … and even I can hardly understand a word of it! 
I love how questions sound like statements when Brits speak.
“Have you bought those shoes yet?” with that low intonation at “today.”
Everybody who thinks they like Scottish accents should spend a couple of days hanging around the poorer areas of Glasgow. Our local hardman accent (that of the neds) is a whining, nasal thing that even a mother couldn’t love.
Enjoy its delights here: Neducation (realplayer links I’m afraid, but there’s lots of other stuff too if you look around the site)
Here in America’s bread basket, we’re not exposed to a variety foreign accents/ speech patterns. I think this is why my family and a LOT of people in the general public can’t understand a blasted word my husband is saying. He’s from the Scottish borders, so he doesn’t have a broad Scottish accent. We’ve figured out that when he speaks to someone in a grocery store, or meeting anyone for the first time, they are listening to the accent, not what’s being said. It can be tiresome to ask for a cup of hot tea four times and still get the “Huh?” look. I’ve never had a problem understanding what he’s saying, unless he’s whipping out strange a regional phrase on me.
sidenote-- When I told my friends & family that I found Mr. Right & he was from Scotland, here were the top 2 questions I was asked:
- Does he have an accent? Well, yeah… Compared to us.
- Does he wear a kilt??? OH YEAH!!! EVERYDAY! :rolleyes:
I love the American/English divide on the whole aluminium thing. ‘a-loo-me-num’ vs ‘al-lew-min-yum’
Favourite accent has to be southern Irish. And wherever the hell Matthew McConaughey is from is all good too
Hey - what accent? I have an accent?
Well OK maybe, sort of BBC RP slipping into Saaf Lundun if I’m being sloppy. I grew up in South London so I can do that (it’s not a good idea to sound too posh at school) but at home we talked terribly properly, no dropped T’s in our house. My mother is actually Welsh but sounds like Margo Ledbetter from The Good Life.
A question for the 'Merkins:
Do all British/English accents sound ‘posh’? Or do y’all distinguish between (say)London, Public School and BBC RP accents.
Did I see someone praising a South African accent 
. And lordy have you ever heard someone speaking Afrikaans ::eek-squared::
I’m with Rinda on the “shriek and faint factor” concerning accents. I have a Scottish friend who, when I told him his accent kills me, he said I was easy. He says he and all of his Scottish friends think American girls are easy for that reason. (He’s a wee bastard - lol!) Anyway…that said, I guess I am easy when it comes to foreign accents because they truly make me melt. Not just pronunciation of certain words, the accent itself is just lovely to hear (if not distracting, as some have said). British accents, Scottish, Irish, South African, Italian, French…all so very yummy!!! Colin Ferrell is the latest to be added to my list of tasty foreign treats - lol! And I have a strong draw to Prince William as well.
Maybe it’s just Europeans in general that are so DAMN SEXY!!
Often the American way of pronouncing things seems a bit ‘simple’ to me, often not including syllables we pronounce. Nuclear and orientate quickly spring to mind. Not American-bashing, just an observation of the way you lot talk.
FTR, the nicest accent I’ve ever heard is a soft Edinburgh accent.
Someone from Suffolk on a thread about accents - we’re doomed, doomed I tell ya 
Tuco (from Norfolk)
If we’re using this definition of “posh”, then the answer to your first question is pretty much “yes”. Aside of the Ozzy-Osbournian Birmingham accent and exaggerated Cockney or Glaswegian, pretty much any British/Irish accent comes off as distinguished and/or elegant to American ears. Assuming decent diction, of course.
I once worked in New Orleans with an English waitress (from Surrey). The male staff constantly complimented her on her pleasant accent. She told me once that her accent was more or less the speech of the underclass in her hometown.
The answer to your second question is generally “no” – 99% of Americans would consider London, Public School and BBC RP accents indistinguishable from one another. Americans with broad exposure to British media will fare better.
I don’t want to derail a nice thread, but I feel compelled to mention that I find the British pronunciation (and spelling) of “aluminum” incredibly annoying.
I have no idea why it bugs me so much, and it really shouldn’t, but it does.
I had a relatively strong Geordie accent when I left home - I say relatively because I can turn the full deal if needs be (my Dad is a native Geordie lad) but my Mam is from Norfolk so if she ever found either my sister or myself talking like that we used to get a a swift slap. You can tell exactly where I from by the way I talk though.
When I left to go live in Norway & then moved to the USA I found that with my accent people couldn’t understand me that well. I talk very quick and certain pronounciations were interesting so my accent has tailed of a little. Although when I go home or even just talk on the phone with friends then I go back to it really easily.
I am very popular here in Wyoming just because of the way I talk - people especially like to hear me curse!
I love the Edinburgh accent on men…
I love the Eddie Izzard bit where he rags on Americans for our pronunciation of the word “herb” without the H.
“We pronounce it Herb…because there’s a f*cking H in it!”
Wow, I didn’t know my thread blew up…I guess I’ll add some of my favorite pronunciations:
Aluminum - Al -you-min-eeum
Schedule - Sheh-jule
Jaguar - Jag-you’re-ah