# Brits: a micro tour, by one actor, of UK accents: how'd he do? Others for different languages? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 4, 2014, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-a-micro-tour-by-one-actor-of-uk-accents-howd-he-do-others-for-different-languages/685344 "2014-04-04T15:02:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2014, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-a-micro-tour-by-one-actor-of-uk-accents-howd-he-do-others-for-different-languages/685344/1 "2014-04-04T15:02:32Z")
I can watch [vids like this](http://thechive.com/2014/04/04/a-tour-of-the-british-isles-in-accents-video/) all day. Does anyone one know one of American accents, or Spanish, German, Italian, etc.? ETA: Plus he threw in Ireland proper. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2014, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-a-micro-tour-by-one-actor-of-uk-accents-howd-he-do-others-for-different-languages/685344/2 "2014-04-04T15:28:00Z")
Ok - A pretty good effort, but I bet all the people who hear those accents (and dialects) every day would say his was rubbish. For one example I offer you a Northern Irish interview with handy subtitles: [Sample of Northern Ireland English accent - YouTube](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNSoWVx8Ii8) ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2014, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-a-micro-tour-by-one-actor-of-uk-accents-howd-he-do-others-for-different-languages/685344/3 "2014-04-04T15:39:38Z")
The two Scottish accents he tried aren’t great, but I can’t really articulate why. They just sound a bit off. ---
**Author:** ![sidecar\_jon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@sidecar\_jon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sidecar_jon)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2014, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-a-micro-tour-by-one-actor-of-uk-accents-howd-he-do-others-for-different-languages/685344/4 "2014-04-04T15:45:25Z")
Surprised the snippet of Cornish really sounded Cornish (well central Cornwall anyway) ---
**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:** [April 4, 2014, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-a-micro-tour-by-one-actor-of-uk-accents-howd-he-do-others-for-different-languages/685344/5 "2014-04-04T18:12:02Z")
Pretty good. Yorkshire was a bit flat (and there is actually quite a cluster of different accents in Yorkshire) Liverpool was a bit exaggerated Highland Scots sounded a little bit twee to me. But probably the best effort I’ve seen all from one speaker in a fluid presentation like that. ---
**Author:** ![casdave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2014, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-a-micro-tour-by-one-actor-of-uk-accents-howd-he-do-others-for-different-languages/685344/6 "2014-04-04T20:29:03Z")
Yorkshire has two South Yorkshire accents, Sheffield and the very distinctive Barnsley accent, further up and Leeds has its own way - its probably a bi closer to the Yorkshire accent he used, except the ‘Yaarksha’ part he used was completely wrong, this is a chant used at the Headingley cricket ground - I can assure you that no-one uses it in this way in regular speech ever. North Yorkshire splits again into two accents, a slower accent and one that is obviously going toward Teeside. Barnsley [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/sB3ieNhEsDY/hqdefault.jpg "interview with millen eve - true yorkshire accent!") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sB3ieNhEsDY) Sheffield [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/7mh8xts7WJA/maxresdefault.jpg "MY SHEFFIELD ACCENT, I am a dee dar pls subscribe") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mh8xts7WJA) Leeds [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/vhkZgNkmk0A/maxresdefault.jpg "The Yorkshire Accent | AlyBongo") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhkZgNkmk0A) [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/tGH0_IqCm48/maxresdefault.jpg "50 people, 1 question. Leeds. Christmas 2011.") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGH0_IqCm48) North Yorkshire [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/ScELaXMCVis/maxresdefault.jpg "Yorkshire Dialect") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ScELaXMCVis) Comedian take on Yorkshire [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/jzAD2GLfaNU/maxresdefault.jpg "michael mcintyre yorkshire accent") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzAD2GLfaNU) Liverpool [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6cph2TnHW4Y) His Lancashire accent misses out the vast majority of that population, since he hasn’t covered Manchester, which is quite nasal - his Lancashire accent is found in a certain number of smaller towns such as Burnley and roundabouts. His Liverpool accent is weird, its over exaggerated in the part he does, but it actually nowhere near strong enough in others, its quite poor. He hasn’t done the Birmingham accent, this also has a huge population, its the second largest city out of London, so you’d think he would give it a go. He has not done anything in the North East - Newcastle, Durham, Middlesborough - this is a very very distinctive accent, speakers never lose it no matter how long they stay away. His London accent is really a generic Essex accent, not Cockney in the slightest. This is much better [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2EdGk9U3Cs) This has a few flaws, but at least it covers Northern England pretty good ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2014, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-a-micro-tour-by-one-actor-of-uk-accents-howd-he-do-others-for-different-languages/685344/7 "2014-04-04T20:39:28Z")
Are these accents still that distinctive? I get the impression that in the US, we’re all moving to a common one, although they used to be quite different. (So that someone from Brooklyn sounded different than someone from the Bronx and someone from Maine had an accent different from a Boston resident.) ---
**Author:** ![barbitu8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/839c29/32.png) [@barbitu8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barbitu8)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2014, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-a-micro-tour-by-one-actor-of-uk-accents-howd-he-do-others-for-different-languages/685344/8 "2014-04-04T21:12:53Z")
Not germane, but the British take offense when referred to as “Brits.” I did that once on a FB post, and got a reply, “That’s British, Yank.” ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2014, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-a-micro-tour-by-one-actor-of-uk-accents-howd-he-do-others-for-different-languages/685344/9 "2014-04-04T21:19:05Z")
> [@barbitu8](#): > > Not germane, but the British take offense when referred to as “Brits.” I did that once on a FB post, and got a reply, “That’s British, Yank.” Or a Brit took offense anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2014, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-a-micro-tour-by-one-actor-of-uk-accents-howd-he-do-others-for-different-languages/685344/10 "2014-04-04T21:46:28Z")
Dislike of the word “Brit” can’t possibly be universal, or else they wouldn’t call the equivalent of the Grammy Awards the “Brit Awards.” ---
**Author:** ![Ornery\_Bob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/da6949/32.png) [@Ornery\_Bob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ornery_Bob)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2014, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-a-micro-tour-by-one-actor-of-uk-accents-howd-he-do-others-for-different-languages/685344/11 "2014-04-04T21:49:02Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Are these accents still that distinctive? I get the impression that in the US, we’re all moving to a common one, although they used to be quite different. (So that someone from Brooklyn sounded different than someone from the Bronx and someone from Maine had an accent different from a Boston resident.) I do inside sales for an industrial distributor and I talk to people from all over the US every day, so I have some experience with this. Broad accents - the stereotypical accents you know from movies and television - are very rare and survive mostly in rural communities (I check shipping addresses on Google maps), but more subtle versions of those accents are common. I often hear “hints” of the South or of Texas or of Maine in people’s speech, so regional accents haven’t disappeared completely, but they have definitely flattened out. One contributing factor is that people are so mobile these days. The guy in Atlanta ordering parts may have grown up in Wisconsin, so his accent definitely doesn’t play as Southern. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2014, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-a-micro-tour-by-one-actor-of-uk-accents-howd-he-do-others-for-different-languages/685344/12 "2014-04-04T22:31:04Z")
> [@barbitu8](#): > > Not germane, but the British take offense when referred to as “Brits.” I did that once on a FB post, and got a reply, “That’s British, Yank.” It’s one of those words that can be used in a derogatory way, but generally isn’t. It’s fine. ---
**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:** [April 4, 2014, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-a-micro-tour-by-one-actor-of-uk-accents-howd-he-do-others-for-different-languages/685344/13 "2014-04-04T23:51:21Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Are these accents still that distinctive? I get the impression that in the US, we’re all moving to a common one, although they used to be quite different. (So that someone from Brooklyn sounded different than someone from the Bronx and someone from Maine had an accent different from a Boston resident.) They do get mixed up a little bit now that people move about more, but they are still pretty strong and often very distinctive. For example: Oldham and Stockport are two towns that are each about half a dozen miles away from central Manchester (and about the same distance from one another) - I can tell the difference between the three accents (they are similar, but each has its little details of distinction). (I don’t live anywhere near there - I just happen to know a few people from each of these places and I can generalise certain traits from their accents, sufficiently that I can usually tell with certainty when I meet someone new from Oldham, for example) ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2014, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-a-micro-tour-by-one-actor-of-uk-accents-howd-he-do-others-for-different-languages/685344/14 "2014-04-05T00:44:08Z")
I didn’t think much of his Liverpudlian. His Northern Irish is robotic but almost there and maybe if it wasn’t a snippet he’d do a passable one. The Dublin one is half right, half shite, straying into an almost stage Irish stereotyped accent that only exists in other countries. There are many, many distinctive accents within Ireland (and of course Britain), even within Dublin alone. Class, parentage, and locale combine to create a myriad of accents. ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc29f/32.png) [@Dead\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Cat)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2014, 9:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-a-micro-tour-by-one-actor-of-uk-accents-howd-he-do-others-for-different-languages/685344/15 "2014-04-05T09:48:30Z")
> [@barbitu8](#): > > Not germane, but the British take offense when referred to as “Brits.” This Brit doesn’t :). ---
**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:** [April 5, 2014, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-a-micro-tour-by-one-actor-of-uk-accents-howd-he-do-others-for-different-languages/685344/16 "2014-04-05T10:57:59Z")
> [@Dead\_Cat](#): > > This Brit doesn’t :). Nor me. I’m thinking **barbitu8** just ran into an idiot looking for any reason to be offended. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2014, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-a-micro-tour-by-one-actor-of-uk-accents-howd-he-do-others-for-different-languages/685344/17 "2014-04-05T12:33:03Z")
Brits Out!!! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![mkl12](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b4bc9f/32.png) [@mkl12](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mkl12)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2014, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-a-micro-tour-by-one-actor-of-uk-accents-howd-he-do-others-for-different-languages/685344/18 "2014-04-05T20:46:50Z")
[Here’s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUOeYcG0WyQ) a similar video for Germany. The accents from the areas that are part of Germany today sound almost perfect to me. I don’t know about those from areas that are now part of Poland or Russia (and were in 1973, when this video was made; the map he uses looks very wrong). Those accents are obviously not that common anymore. ---
**Author:** ![drpepper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8baadc/32.png) [@drpepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drpepper)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2014, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-a-micro-tour-by-one-actor-of-uk-accents-howd-he-do-others-for-different-languages/685344/19 "2014-04-05T21:52:07Z")
I just took a listen to **casdave** ’s ‘Barnsley’ link above, and I must say that particular variety of Yorkshire sounds a lot like Daisy on Downton Abbey - is that correct? Does she indeed have that self-same distinctive accent? ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2014, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-a-micro-tour-by-one-actor-of-uk-accents-howd-he-do-others-for-different-languages/685344/20 "2014-04-05T22:34:15Z")
> [@mkl12](#): > > [Here’s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUOeYcG0WyQ) a similar video for Germany. The accents from the areas that are part of Germany today sound almost perfect to me. > > I don’t know about those from areas that are now part of Poland or Russia (and were in 1973, when this video was made; the map he uses looks very wrong). Those accents are obviously not that common anymore. At the time probably there were still a whole lot of displaced East Prussians and Silesians hanging around who had not assimilated their accent. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-a-micro-tour-by-one-actor-of-uk-accents-howd-he-do-others-for-different-languages/685344.md?page=2)