# From The Commitments - What is This Accent? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [June 22, 2010, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-the-commitments-what-is-this-accent/544110 "2010-06-22T11:57:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Tully\_Mars](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7ab992/32.png) [@Tully\_Mars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tully_Mars)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2010, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-the-commitments-what-is-this-accent/544110/1 "2010-06-22T11:57:53Z")
The Commitments - it’s one of those movies I can watch again and again. I’ve seen it at least a dozen times. It was on last night and I was wondering something. The character, Joey ‘The Lips’ Fagan, his mother - what is that accent and speaking mannerism? It is noticeably different than the Irish accent that all of the other characters in the movie have. It’s especially noticeable in the line where she tells the boys “something no one else knows” about her son, Joey. “He always sent me a postcard.” Does anyone who has seen this movie recognize this accent? ---
**Author:** ![gwendee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/35a633/32.png) [@gwendee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gwendee)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2010, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-the-commitments-what-is-this-accent/544110/2 "2010-06-23T20:45:57Z")
Although I really enjoy the movie I don’t have an answer. I’m just giving this thread a friendly bump in hopes that someone who knows will find the thread. There isn’t anything in the film that explicitly supports it, but something about her mannerisms gives me the idea that she either was in some form of show business herself or just captivated by it and that the voice was part of that persona. ---
**Author:** ![sjc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e5b9ba/32.png) [@sjc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sjc)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2010, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-the-commitments-what-is-this-accent/544110/3 "2010-06-24T04:25:20Z")
I wondered that myself. It seemed like she was from somewhere that wasn’t english-speaking, but then again there are some pretty obscure accents that could conceivably sound like that. ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2010, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-the-commitments-what-is-this-accent/544110/4 "2010-06-24T04:27:03Z")
Can you post a link to a clip showing this please? ---
**Author:** ![Tully\_Mars](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7ab992/32.png) [@Tully\_Mars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tully_Mars)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2010, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-the-commitments-what-is-this-accent/544110/5 "2010-06-24T16:26:47Z")
I couldn’t find a clip online. It is possible that it results from an older form of Irish that has less English influence on it? It could be that I’m overthinking this and it’s just an actor’s affectation. ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2010, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-the-commitments-what-is-this-accent/544110/6 "2010-06-24T17:25:25Z")
It’s been so long since I’ve seen it I can’t remember that. It may be just a non-Dublin accent. Most of the people in the movie have strong working class Dublin accents which are very different that other accents in Ireland. Almost all counties in Ireland have at least one distinct accent. It may have been foreign though as as I said I can’t actually remember the bit of the movie. ---
**Author:** ![Satchmo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/satchmo/32/4223_2.png) [@Satchmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Satchmo)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2010, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-the-commitments-what-is-this-accent/544110/7 "2010-06-24T18:11:33Z")
I always thought that perhaps she’d had a stroke or other medical event that resulted in her having to re-learn how to speak, which sometimes leads to unusual speech. Just a WAG, though. Joey did say he was in Dublin because his Mum wasn’t very well. ---
**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:** [June 25, 2010, 10:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-the-commitments-what-is-this-accent/544110/8 "2010-06-25T10:13:51Z")
IIRC she had a posh Dublin accent or at least a posh Irish accent. I’d have to watch it again though, she sounded theatrical, eccentric. ---
**Author:** ![mogoeller](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/839c29/32.png) [@mogoeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mogoeller)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2024, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-the-commitments-what-is-this-accent/544110/9 "2024-02-25T01:28:24Z")
While the other characters are all from the northside of Dublin, which is mostly working class, especially in those days, Joey and his mother are from the southside of the river Liffey, where more affluent and educated people live. The northside accent and the southside accent are quite different.I was born in Dublin and grew up there, so this is definitely the correct explanation for the different accents in the film. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2024, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-the-commitments-what-is-this-accent/544110/10 "2024-02-25T01:33:31Z")
Welcome to The Dope! Nice to get an answer from someone who has lived there. Love that movie.