# Exactly how bad was James Doohan's "Scotty" accent? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 27, 2011, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exactly-how-bad-was-james-doohans-scotty-accent/583493 "2011-05-27T22:14:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Cardinal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardinal/32/4000_2.png) [@Cardinal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardinal)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2011, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exactly-how-bad-was-james-doohans-scotty-accent/583493/81 "2011-06-06T21:05:17Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > Rush is an Australian actor playing an Australian. I don’t see any reason to believe that there is a “classic Australian” point to be made. I’ll try to ask more clearly. Which is true: In TKS, Rush sounds like 1. an Australian normally would now 2. an Australian would then (in case there’s a difference) 3. an Australian who has only somewhat conquered his accent 4. an RP “well bred” Brit ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2011, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exactly-how-bad-was-james-doohans-scotty-accent/583493/82 "2011-06-07T01:54:05Z")
> [@SciFiSam](#): > > Amy Pond’s hard to understand? But she speaks sooo slooowly. Ach well, YMMV. Never watch [Rab C. Nesbitt.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlUUXz7ZScA&feature=related) 😃 Oh boy, **Rab C. Nesbitt.** I watched an episode of that once (the one where David Tennant plays a transsexual) and I think I only understood about 10 words that he said (Rab, not Tennant.) > [@Scubaqueen](#): > > now david tennant’s american accent… utterly atrocious. this from an otherwise brilliant actor. i hope to hell he either gets to use his natural accent in the upcoming ‘fright night’ remake, or he’s done a boatload of work with an accent coach since the ‘rex is not your lawyer’ audition clip that made its way onto youtube… There’s a new trailer out that shows more of Tennant’s role, and it sounds like he’s using his British **Doctor Who** accent. (It’s hard to tell from just like 3 lines, but it’s not American, Thank God!😃 ) [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIYXDvp4IYE](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIYXDvp4IYE) (and it’s in HD!) > [@](#): > > fright night: david tennant in leather and criss angel makeup… yum…😃 You’ll like that trailer. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Martin\_Hyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Martin\_Hyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martin_Hyde)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2011, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exactly-how-bad-was-james-doohans-scotty-accent/583493/83 "2011-06-07T03:49:15Z")
> [@Bill\_Door](#): > > An authentic Cockney accent would have been incomprehensible to the target audience. I still watch a lot of British movies with subtitles on. Yes. The first time I watched _Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels_ I wanted to put on the subtitles but forced myself not to do so. On subsequent viewings I’ve gotten much better at understanding it, but I’ve actually watched a lot of movies made in the UK and that was one of the first I had a very difficult time following the dialog even though in theory they were speaking my native language. ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2011, 9:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exactly-how-bad-was-james-doohans-scotty-accent/583493/84 "2011-06-07T09:06:59Z")
Speaking of fake accents, whenever the new BattleStar Galactica series came out, something about Lee Adama’s accent bugged me, or rather, something about the way he talked. It just felt unnatural or forced somehow. Granted, the character (in the miniseries) was something of a stuck-up snob, so that sorta worked. Turns out, the actor who played him, Jamie Bamber, had played a military officer in another series I had seen… he was Archie Kennedy in Horatio Hornblower, who not only had an English accent, but was temperamentally the opposite of the spit-and-polish Lee Adama. Similarly, it also weirds me out to see Ioan Gruffudd playing Americans (Fantastic 4 and Blackhawk Down, for two examples), since I am used to him being English (Horatio Hornblower is the big example, though he spoke in the “Queen’s Latin” for King Arthur when he played Lancelot). Which is funny, because he is evidently very Welsh. Saw a King Arthur documentary he was hosting (when the movie he played Lancelot in came out), and his opening monologue would start in the textbook Horatio Hornblower accent, and the longer he talked, the more and more the accent would slowly slip and give way to his Welsh accent. By the end, I could only understand what he was saying because I had been following him through the whole transition. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exactly-how-bad-was-james-doohans-scotty-accent/583493/85 "2011-06-08T15:42:18Z")
Jamie Bamber is Australian. His accent in Galactica is an affectation. ---
**Author:** ![Scubaqueen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c0e974/32.png) [@Scubaqueen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scubaqueen)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exactly-how-bad-was-james-doohans-scotty-accent/583493/86 "2011-06-08T15:47:40Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > There’s a new trailer out that shows more of Tennant’s role, and it sounds like he’s using his British **Doctor Who** accent. (It’s hard to tell from just like 3 lines, but it’s not American, Thank God!😃 ) > [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIYXDvp4IYE](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIYXDvp4IYE) (and it’s in HD!) > You’ll like that trailer. 😉 oh. oh, _ **MY** _… :::thud::: you could say i liked it, yes. 😃 btw, if this remake is a hit, rumor has it a franchise could be developed around tennant’s character. the who sites are alreay buzzing about it. yeah, works for me… 🆒 ---
**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:** [June 8, 2011, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exactly-how-bad-was-james-doohans-scotty-accent/583493/87 "2011-06-08T15:49:35Z")
> [@Irishman](#): > > Jamie Bamber is Australian. His accent in Galactica is an affectation. Jamie Bamber was born in England and grew up in England. His parents are Irish and American. And “affectation” isn’t really the best term for an actor’s use of an accent for a particular role. ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exactly-how-bad-was-james-doohans-scotty-accent/583493/88 "2011-06-08T20:13:09Z")
> [@Mollie\_Magill](#): > > Personally though, I find his Scottish accent unconvincing. I’ve become used to people from Northern Ireland finding my Northern Irish accent unconvincing 🙂 ---
**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:** [June 8, 2011, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exactly-how-bad-was-james-doohans-scotty-accent/583493/89 "2011-06-08T20:15:08Z")
> [@Bill\_Door](#): > > An authentic Cockney accent would have been incomprehensible to the target audience. Nonsense. There are authentic Cockney accents of various grades of heaviness. There is no reason that in order for a Cockney to be understood he must sound fake. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exactly-how-bad-was-james-doohans-scotty-accent/583493/90 "2011-06-08T21:20:21Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > Jamie Bamber was born in England and grew up in England. His parents are Irish and American. Guess I was misinformed. > [@](#): > > And “affectation” isn’t really the best term for an actor’s use of an accent for a particular role. Well that’s all I meant. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exactly-how-bad-was-james-doohans-scotty-accent/583493/91 "2011-06-08T23:59:48Z")
It’s still jarring to tune in “Law & Order UK” on BBC America and hearing Apollo talking like 'Enry 'Iggins. ---
**Author:** ![Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Springtime_for_Spacers)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2011, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exactly-how-bad-was-james-doohans-scotty-accent/583493/92 "2011-06-09T00:28:20Z")
> [@Cardinal](#): > > I’ll try to ask more clearly. Which is true: > > In TKS, Rush sounds like > > 1. an Australian normally would now > 2. an Australian would then (in case there’s a difference) > 3. an Australian who has only somewhat conquered his accent > 4. an RP “well bred” Brit Not quite any of of the above I’m afraid… In Logue’s time educated middle to upper class Australians would have been taught to speak RP at school and possibly by their families as well – in the same way that Brits of the time were discouraged from using their regional/working class accents. However there is commonly an Australian colouring to their version of RP. An actor of Rush’s age would have also been encouraged to speak RP. And come to think of it Logue was something of an actor too. Has anyone heard Rush use a strong Australian accent anywhere? ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2011, 9:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exactly-how-bad-was-james-doohans-scotty-accent/583493/93 "2011-06-09T09:28:06Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > It’s still jarring to tune in “Law & Order UK” on BBC America and hearing Apollo talking like 'Enry 'Iggins. So the opposite of my reaction. I suspect that it’s easier to fake American accents than it might be for English accents just because we’re so wide spread out. How am I supposed to know how someone from Baltimore sounds, for instance? Of course, maybe that’s why the “default” American accent is from somewhere around Wisconsin. Fewer people to recognize it as being off. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2011, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exactly-how-bad-was-james-doohans-scotty-accent/583493/94 "2011-06-09T12:57:50Z")
The default American accent is not that spoken in Wisconsin. These articles say something like the default accent is spoken somewhere between Nebraska and Ohio: > **[Midland American English](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Midlands_English)** > > Midland American English is a regional dialect or super-dialect of American English, geographically lying between the traditionally-defined Northern and Southern United States. The boundaries of Midland American English are not entirely clear, being revised and reduced by linguists due to definitional changes and several Midland sub-regions undergoing rapid and diverging pronunciation shifts since the early-middle 20th century onwards. > As of the early 21st century, these general characteristics ... > **[General American English](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_American)** > > General American English, known in linguistics simply as General American (abbreviated GA or GenAm), is the umbrella accent of American English spoken by a majority of Americans, encompassing a continuum rather than a single unified accent. In the United States it is often perceived as lacking any distinctly regional, ethnic, or socioeconomic characteristics, though Americans with high education, or from the North Midland, Western New England, and Western regions of the country are th Standard ... The accent spoken in Wisconsin is different: > **[North-Central American English](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Central_American_English)** > > North-Central American English is an American English dialect, or dialect in formation, native to the Upper Midwestern United States, an area that somewhat overlaps with speakers of the separate Inland Northern dialect situated more in the eastern Great Lakes region. In the United States, it is also known as the Upper Midwestern or North-Central dialect and stereotypically recognized as a Minnesota accent or sometimes Wisconsin accent (excluding Wisconsin's Milwaukee metropolitan area). It is If... ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2011, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exactly-how-bad-was-james-doohans-scotty-accent/583493/95 "2011-06-09T13:18:27Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > The default American accent is not that spoken in Wisconsin. These articles say something like the default accent is spoken somewhere between Nebraska and Ohio: > > [Midland American English - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Midlands_English) > > [General American English - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_American) > > The accent spoken in Wisconsin is different: > > [North-Central American English - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Central_American_English) See, now I didn’t know those were different accents. All I know about how folks in Wisconsin talk is that supposedly they all sound like Garrison Keller (who has a show in Minnesota, so maybe not representative of Wisconsin anyhow) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exactly-how-bad-was-james-doohans-scotty-accent/583493.md?page=4)