# Buffy: Is James Marsters/Spike's accent convincing to Brits? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 17, 2003, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffy-is-james-marsters-spikes-accent-convincing-to-brits/169421 "2003-04-17T22:34:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2003, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffy-is-james-marsters-spikes-accent-convincing-to-brits/169421/61 "2003-04-18T15:16:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by astorian \* > \*\*(example? As much as I loved Monty Python, NOBODY in that troupe could do a passable American accent to save his life). > \*\* Oddly enough, not even Terry Gilliam. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2003, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffy-is-james-marsters-spikes-accent-convincing-to-brits/169421/62 "2003-04-18T15:36:03Z")
1. James Marsters is from California. 2. His Brittish accent is fake. 3. He’s 41 years old(this was always rumored, but has recently been confirmed by Californian birth records). Yikes! ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2003, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffy-is-james-marsters-spikes-accent-convincing-to-brits/169421/63 "2003-04-18T15:39:56Z")
Probly the best English-to-American accent I’ve heard lately is Janet McTeer in _Tumbleweeds_. ---
**Author:** ![toadspittle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@toadspittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadspittle)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2003, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffy-is-james-marsters-spikes-accent-convincing-to-brits/169421/64 "2003-04-18T15:43:50Z")
I think Australians/Kiwis do the best American accents. (And don’t smack me, but every time I hear Nicole kidman’s real voice, I wish and wish that she would affect an American accent all the time…) ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2003, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffy-is-james-marsters-spikes-accent-convincing-to-brits/169421/65 "2003-04-18T15:46:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Kal \* > \*\*It’s spelt ‘Berk’ and is used to mean an idiot. > > I’ve always thought it came from the Anglo-Romani word which means breast. So you’re basically calling someone a tit. \*\* It’s actually rhyming slang. “Berk” is short for “Berkshire Hunt”. I shall leave it to you to figure out which insult rhymes with “Hunt”. ---
**Author:** ![toadspittle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@toadspittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadspittle)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2003, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffy-is-james-marsters-spikes-accent-convincing-to-brits/169421/66 "2003-04-18T15:46:21Z")
Oh–and I think the Crocodile Hunter’s wife does an exceptionally good American accent. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Profane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e47774/32.png) [@Profane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Profane)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2003, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffy-is-james-marsters-spikes-accent-convincing-to-brits/169421/67 "2003-04-18T15:51:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mahaloth \* > \*\*1. James Marsters is from California. > > 1. His Brittish accent is fake. > > 2. He’s 41 years old(this was always rumored, but has recently been confirmed by Californian birth records). > > Yikes! \*\* He certainly is well preserved. ---
**Author:** ![Kal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9de053/32.png) [@Kal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kal)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2003, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffy-is-james-marsters-spikes-accent-convincing-to-brits/169421/68 "2003-04-18T16:30:41Z")
Given the amount of Romani loan words in various British dialects, I had assumed ‘berk’ was another one. Looking up the definition just now, I got a load of hits for the rhyming slang and just a couple for it being Romani. I’ve also just found out that the Romani word is actually a loan word from Arabic. The things you can learn from the internet. ---
**Author:** ![Kal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9de053/32.png) [@Kal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kal)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2003, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffy-is-james-marsters-spikes-accent-convincing-to-brits/169421/69 "2003-04-18T16:52:27Z")
To continue this mini-hijack: Just read that there’s an English slang word for breasts - “Berkeleys” (and no, I’ve never heard of it). That one’s meant to come from the Romani “berk”. Hi-jack over. ---
**Author:** ![InTransit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e47774/32.png) [@InTransit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InTransit)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2003, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffy-is-james-marsters-spikes-accent-convincing-to-brits/169421/70 "2003-04-18T17:43:37Z")
Old movie, but I thought Kenneth Branagh’s American accent in _Dead Again_ was great. For some reason, Americans have a much more difficult time faking Irish and Scottish accents than British ones. Maybe because of the inflections, but I (being an American) cringe when I hear Irish accents that sound like the Lucky Charms fellow. ---
**Author:** ![stolichnaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bcef8e/32.png) [@stolichnaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stolichnaya)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2003, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffy-is-james-marsters-spikes-accent-convincing-to-brits/169421/71 "2003-04-18T18:02:52Z")
Irish/Welsh/Scottish seems a full step further removed, to me, from a midwest American dialect than, say British RP. It’s not only learning the mouth sounds, but attempting the singsongy up-and-down rhythm of speech. My impulse is always to overdo this, and I think that’s what you mean by “Lucky Charms”. It’s a shame too, because the accents of the UK have such a marvelous variety and personality. One would like to be able to converse well in all of them. ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2003, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffy-is-james-marsters-spikes-accent-convincing-to-brits/169421/72 "2003-04-19T23:15:29Z")
I can’t quite remember this myself - was… er… (oh I hate me damn memory) the irish guy’s American accent good in …(I refuse to forget the name of the bloody film…) erm…Minority Report? (I don’t think I knew he was irish at the time of watching that film) Oh, and my reference point for Bob Hoskins’ American accent was ‘Super Mario Bros’ Which was actually a good film. Oh and I love the word ‘Berk’. It is sooo douglas adamsey very english word. (not pleased to find out it is part of rhyming slang for ‘cunt’, which is not such a nice word) ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2003, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffy-is-james-marsters-spikes-accent-convincing-to-brits/169421/73 "2003-04-19T23:20:44Z")
> [@](#): > > One would like to be able to converse well in all of them. I am a brit and I can’t even do that - There was a Geordie at my previous job . I could _ **Not** _ understand a single word out of that guy’s mouth! ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2003, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffy-is-james-marsters-spikes-accent-convincing-to-brits/169421/74 "2003-04-19T23:21:52Z")
Sorry - Geordie = Native of Newcastle and other parts of NE Enlgnad. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_Wright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@Steve\_Wright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_Wright)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2003, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffy-is-james-marsters-spikes-accent-convincing-to-brits/169421/75 "2003-04-19T23:41:35Z")
Other parts of NE England? Whey ay, mun, ye divna want te be calling a Mackem a Geordie, naa … I beg your pardon … I mean that you need to draw a distinction between natives of Sunderland and natives of Newcastle upon Tyne, even though the dialects are quite similar to the untrained ear. (And, FTR: Alexis Denisof - pretty convincing; James Marsters - good and consistent, but never fooled me; Juliet Landau - her character’s _meant_ to sound like a loony, right?) ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2003, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffy-is-james-marsters-spikes-accent-convincing-to-brits/169421/76 "2003-04-19T23:52:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by LunaSea \* > \*\*He certainly is well preserved. \*\* I know. He looks about 28. ---
**Author:** ![angeloquistos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d9b06d/32.png) [@angeloquistos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/angeloquistos)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2016, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffy-is-james-marsters-spikes-accent-convincing-to-brits/169421/77 "2016-07-25T06:02:07Z")
Unlike Americans who pronounce the can in can’t, Brits, especially the ones with the accent he is trying to pull off pronounces it as carnt, not cant. Other than that, it’s not too bad ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2016, 10:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffy-is-james-marsters-spikes-accent-convincing-to-brits/169421/78 "2016-07-25T10:09:56Z")
How about for 13-year-old zombie Brits? ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2016, 10:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffy-is-james-marsters-spikes-accent-convincing-to-brits/169421/79 "2016-07-25T10:29:56Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > How about for 13-year-old zombie Brits? They pronounce “braiiiins!” as “briiinnes!” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2016, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffy-is-james-marsters-spikes-accent-convincing-to-brits/169421/80 "2016-07-25T10:53:52Z")
But only if they’re pickled. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffy-is-james-marsters-spikes-accent-convincing-to-brits/169421.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffy-is-james-marsters-spikes-accent-convincing-to-brits/169421.md?page=5)