I read that Renee Zellwegger secretly took a job in London under an assumed name to perfect her accent. Something she managed to pull off without anybody suspecting anything. So- I’d say her accent was done pretty well.
(Before I posted, found this confirmed on the IMDB page- just to be sure I remembered correctly.)
I was never sure if that story indicated her perfect accent or how polite the English are.
The most jarring thing i ever noticed about James Marsters was his pronunciation of the insult ‘Poof’ (derogatry now somewhat archaic term for homosexual) . Which he used repeatedly. He always said it to rhyme with ‘Roof’. It’s actually pronouced more well ‘Pouffe’ is the closest i can think off written down, it doesn’t really rhyme well with anything i could use to make clearer. Not that you should really be using it anyway.
A trivial thing really, but it really broke the 4th wall for me whenever he used it.Count me in as one who did not recognize anyone in the Splunge doing an American accent. Not even the Texan. Except for Terry (he was the second from the end, right?).
It’s the vowels. They are pronounced so differently. But I see where they get all those 'r’s from. It’s because they hear so many of them from Americans that they themselves do not pronounce. The British pahk the cah. Even Bostonians, who have that aaaah sounding vowel, pah®k the cah®. The ‘r’ sound is not as strong as most American accents but it’s still there.
Perhaps it’s the same with English speakers across the pond? Or maybe it’s something else. At least the British can tell Americans are trying (and failing) for a British accent.
Honestly, there are times when John McCain’s accent reminds me of a bad British attempt at an American accent. Not always, but sometimes.
Bradd Pitt: while his “pikey” accent was a little off in Snatch, he did make an excellent job of it. He did get it technically correct, although the sound was a bit off in places. And the dialect was spot on, you could tell that he totally did his homework on it.
Here it comes.
Is “pikey” really that offensive in this usage? (Meaning, not being shouted at someone as a term of abuse.)
According to this article (How offensive is the word “pikey”?), it doesn’t seem like that big of deal. I mean, it’s derived from “turnpike.”
“Pikey” is tricky because it has only recently come into very widespread use. At least, I hadn’t heard it myself until four or five years ago, and it it is difficult to gauge whether people are using it ironically, as was probably the case in the Brad Pitt film, or if they really dislike whoever they mean by “pikeys”. I think that’s where the sports pundit in your link got caught out, using it in a light-hearted fashion but not realising that to some people, particularly those targeted, it is almost like saying “nigger”.
In other words, we should deny its racial connotation because of its etymology? That’s absurd. How often do you use the word “niggardly”?
As I recall, his first war stories involved him being a ‘batman’ for an officer, but as the Magnum series went along, Higgins got posher. Not much posher, but a little.
I thought it was a barely passable accent. Barely. But it was still a fun show, she said wistfully . . .
Never, and I’m willing to bet neither do you. Seriously, has anyone ever actually used that word in every day conversation?
It’s been used publicly in its classical meaning on rare occasions, always to the great detriment of the speaker’s future career options. And that’s my point: we can’t use etymological reason to magically turn epithets into perfectly value-neutral adjectives. If a word is offensive to the people to whom it applies, it’s an offensive word, regardless of whether you or I might argue that it shouldn’t be.
Since no one’s addressed this one, I’ll answer. As far as I’m aware, Mrs Whitow isn’t supposed to be American, but rather someone trying to sound more upper class than their background…
Did the SciFi network’s short-lived “Dresden Files” series ever run in the U.K.? There were two main characters whose actors’ accents switched when the cameras rolled - Paul Blackthorn, a British actor, played American Harry Dresden, and Terrence Mann, an American, played Bob, who was British. Blackthorne’s accent sounded perfect to me. How was Mann’s?
I seem to recall reading somewhere (or perhaps hearing it in a commentary or something) that after seeing “The Princess Bride” some movie executives inquired as to whether Robin Wright could do an American accent. They were surprised to discover that she was from Texas.
Of course, that means that her accent convinced some Hollywood types. How do Brits view this performance?
I thought the two main characters in Princess Bride were English until I found out otherwise.
It’s been a while since I saw that film, but AFAIR she was very good. :: checks out YouTube :: Yes, pretty damn good. I’m not sure that I realised at the time that she wasn’t British or whether I already knew.
Just watched Anjelica Huston in Agnes Browne. I’m not sure if she was supposed to be Irish, Welsh or Cockney English, but, she sounded convincing to me.
Woah, you’re in the US! Welcome!