# Faking accents in England **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 2, 2003, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faking-accents-in-england/192566 "2003-08-02T17:04:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**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:** [August 2, 2003, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faking-accents-in-england/192566/21 "2003-08-02T22:14:10Z")
How was Gwyneth in “Shakespeare in Love”? Yeah, I remember Monty Python in American style military uniforms, sounding weird, and then it hit me that they thought they were doing American accents. Not that I can really fake anything myself. ---
**Author:** ![Caprigenus\_Chevre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/34f0e0/32.png) [@Caprigenus\_Chevre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caprigenus_Chevre)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2003, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faking-accents-in-england/192566/22 "2003-08-02T23:08:21Z")
I remember a scene from Mrs Doubfire where Pierce Brosnan tried to place Mrs Doubtfire accent as it was rather muddled. That is my general impressions on americans doing accents. They are okay on the surface, but once you did deep they are a bit muddled. Unless you are Meryl Streep of course 😉 ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2003, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faking-accents-in-england/192566/23 "2003-08-02T23:13:09Z")
i asked a coworker once if people in britain did american as much as we do british. he just laughed. he did say that in simular work scenarios they will do other kinds of british accents. rather like when a person would do a southern accent to say: “why i declare!” or a new england accent to speak about “parking cars.” i of course go with the “queen victoria” voice to say “we are not amused,” and " i don’t think so." hearty country for " right, right." sybil fawlty for “oh, i know.” ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2003, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faking-accents-in-england/192566/24 "2003-08-02T23:35:48Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Cardinal \* > \*\*How was Gwyneth in “Shakespeare in Love”? > \*\* She’s considered to be one of the better examples of an American doing any sort of British accent. Reviews of Sliding Doors in the UK were very positive regarding her accent. One I hated was Renée’s in Bridget Jones. In my experience British reviewers said her accent was bad and American reviewers said her accent was excellent. ---
**Author:** ![Celyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9dc877/32.png) [@Celyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celyn)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2003, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faking-accents-in-england/192566/25 "2003-08-03T06:44:52Z")
FWIW I can tell you that English people’s attempts to fake a Scottish accent are apalling. (Yes, I think I was meant to find it amusing. :rolleyes ---
**Author:** ![Caprigenus\_Chevre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/34f0e0/32.png) [@Caprigenus\_Chevre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caprigenus_Chevre)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2003, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faking-accents-in-england/192566/26 "2003-08-03T07:36:32Z")
^heck, I remember some dumb Loch Nest movie… American of course… and they hired a British Actress to do a Scottish Accent… and it came off very Irish… ---
**Author:** ![Fern\_Forest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/71c47a/32.png) [@Fern\_Forest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fern_Forest)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2003, 10:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faking-accents-in-england/192566/27 "2003-08-03T10:14:55Z")
I do a very good copy of the accent you hear in the various British science programs that make it over here. Indeed I associate the accent with science and math so much that whenever I used to talk to myself as I worked out various solutions I would begin speaking in that accent. It’s weird, if I force it, it sounds a bit off but when it flows naturally it’s bang on. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2003, 10:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faking-accents-in-england/192566/28 "2003-08-03T10:46:25Z")
IN my opinion, Gwyneth’s accents in Sliding Doors and Shakespeare in Love were absolutely perfect. The best Yank-does-Brit I’ve ever heard. ---
**Author:** ![London\_Calling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@London\_Calling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/London_Calling)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2003, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faking-accents-in-england/192566/29 "2003-08-03T11:04:14Z")
How did she speak **jjimm** , a version of that well-known regional accent ‘theatrical posh’, maybe ? ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2003, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faking-accents-in-england/192566/30 "2003-08-03T11:12:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by London\_Calling \* > \*\*How did she speak **jjimm** , a version of that well-known regional accent ‘theatrical posh’, maybe ? \*\* In Sliding Doors she spoke with an Estuary accent, while in SiL she had standard RP diction. ---
**Author:** ![London\_Calling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@London\_Calling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/London_Calling)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2003, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faking-accents-in-england/192566/31 "2003-08-03T11:17:52Z")
Wow, a recognisable regional accent. Yep, that is pretty good. ---
**Author:** ![everton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecb155/32.png) [@everton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/everton)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2003, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faking-accents-in-england/192566/32 "2003-08-03T11:39:11Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Caprigenus Chèvre \* > ^heck, I remember some dumb Loch Nest movie… American of course… and they hired a British Actress to do a Scottish Accent… and it came off very Irish… Loch Ness, not Nest. Also, Scotland is part of Great Britain, so it wouldn’t have been possible to find a Scottish actress who wasn’t simultaneously British. If you don’t understand those basic terms I’m suspicious of your ability to recognise an Irish accent either. No offence intended, but it gets very boring having to explain this stuff every couple of days. To answer the OP, I think the accents most British people attempt to fake are those from other regions of this country. I suppose it’s natural to find it jarring when someone mangles your own, and it certainly annoys me when people make an attempt at one from my home town (Liverpool) because they do it so badly. Generally people are crap at accents. ---
**Author:** ![calm\_kiwi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc348/32.png) [@calm\_kiwi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/calm_kiwi)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2003, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faking-accents-in-england/192566/33 "2003-08-03T12:02:24Z")
Does it count if you are pissed? After 2 years of working in a pub that not only allowed drinking behind the bar, but encouraged it (a very small freehold in Maida Vale) when I got back to NZ everytime I got pissed everyone would say “why the fuck are you talking like a pom” It was almost my party trick 😉 ---
**Author:** ![calm\_kiwi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc348/32.png) [@calm\_kiwi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/calm_kiwi)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2003, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faking-accents-in-england/192566/34 "2003-08-03T12:06:03Z")
My (ex or late in-laws…what do you call them when the spouse is dead but the in-laws are still about?) are all from Scotland. Everytime I speak to them I do “bad Scottish” for days after. I can’t be around accents I just can’t help mimicing them. ---
**Author:** ![everton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecb155/32.png) [@everton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/everton)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2003, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faking-accents-in-england/192566/35 "2003-08-03T12:17:58Z")
I think we’d have to make allowances for the chameleon effect, **calm kiwi** (I suffer from that myself a little). I’m amazed you picked up a pommy accent in Maida Vale though – I thought you Kiwis and Aussies just swapped you own back and forth round there? ---
**Author:** ![calm\_kiwi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc348/32.png) [@calm\_kiwi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/calm_kiwi)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2003, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faking-accents-in-england/192566/36 "2003-08-03T12:33:09Z")
AHHHHH yes the chameleon affect, I have it bad. Be glad you never heard me after 3 mths in Eygpt or 6 months in Greece! But swapping for an Aussie accent…NOOOOOOO far too close to home. I did come back from Scotland with an overwhelming urge to call everyone “hen” though. As for Maida Vale, that was only the pub I worked for in the longest perios. It was full of “wide boys” (been a long time…don’t know if that is the correct slang) Athur Dailies abounded in accent and character 🙂 Before that I did Trafalgar Square, Soho and Edgeware. ---
**Author:** ![amarone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@amarone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarone)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2003, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faking-accents-in-england/192566/37 "2003-08-03T14:07:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jjimm \* > \*\*IN my opinion, Gwyneth’s accents in Sliding Doors and Shakespeare in Love were absolutely perfect. The best Yank-does-Brit I’ve ever heard. \*\* I agree - I’d never heard of her before Sliding Doors. As a result of seeing that film, I thought she was English (as am I). ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2003, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faking-accents-in-england/192566/38 "2003-08-03T16:38:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by casdave \* > \*\*Murricans faking neutral English accents seem to place to much emphasis on separating syllables grinding out vowels, and hitting word ends too hard, especially t’s. \*\* Actually, from my observation, brits tend to drop the t from a lot of words. For instance, I usually hear the word “little” (oh boy, this is going to be hard to spell out) pronounced li’ll. ---
**Author:** ![amarone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@amarone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarone)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2003, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faking-accents-in-england/192566/39 "2003-08-03T16:43:42Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Joel \* > \*\*Actually, from my observation, brits tend to drop the t from a lot of words. For instance, I usually hear the word “little” (oh boy, this is going to be hard to spell out) pronounced li’ll. \*\* Not just Brits - the locals seem to be able to pronounce Atlanta without any t’s. A’larna, with a glottal stop where I put the apostrophe. ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2003, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faking-accents-in-england/192566/40 "2003-08-03T16:43:48Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jr8 \* > \*\*Heh…I recently got paid to teach 200 Brits how to sing with an American accent. The childrens choirs had no difficulty learning to sing in perfect Midwest Neutral, but the adults had a much harder time of it (and ended up sounding more Ulster than Iowa, IMO). > > Your average Brit does an American accent about as well as your average American does an English accent: not very. \*\* With a few exceptions, I’ve always thought that when British, and actually most foreign singers sing, they seem to loose their accent. About the only time I’ve still noticed an accent in a song, is Midnight Oil’s “Burning Beds” and Pink Floyd’s “Another brick in the wall” when the children are sinning. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faking-accents-in-england/192566.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faking-accents-in-england/192566.md?page=3)