# How do American's accents sound to British ears? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 22, 2008, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-americans-accents-sound-to-british-ears/453833 "2008-06-22T20:28:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2008, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-americans-accents-sound-to-british-ears/453833/41 "2008-06-24T16:48:14Z")
I from the USA (Phila, PA) and when I hear a New Yawker or Chicagoan I want to shove a rag down their throats and silence them. Both sound ignorant and trashy to me, so I think the feedback from others is mild. Nebraska and Kansas are considered to be ‘nuetral’ or ‘universal’ for the USA. Very distinct and annoying accents are from Boston (Bah-stun), New York (Yawk), North Jersey (Nort’ Joisy), Chicago (Chicaaago…Da Bears, Da Bulls). Southern accents are still quite endearing. ---
**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 25, 2008, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-americans-accents-sound-to-british-ears/453833/42 "2008-06-25T01:27:48Z")
Once again, the fact that an accent is annoying to you doesn’t mean that it is annoying to other people. ---
**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:** [June 25, 2008, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-americans-accents-sound-to-british-ears/453833/43 "2008-06-25T03:34:28Z")
I posted a thread about this topic some years ago(it didn’t come up in the search). Anyway, my question was whether or not the American accents sounds “sexy” or “exotic” to English speaking non-Americans. If I remember correctly, the answer was mostly that it did sound cool/sexy/exotic. I don’t remember anyone finding our accent annoying. Frankly, I can’t imagine being arrogant enough to allow myself to be annoyed by something that is out of someone else’s control. But I guess that’s just me. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2008, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-americans-accents-sound-to-british-ears/453833/44 "2008-06-25T03:45:13Z")
[QUOTE=Mahaloth] Anyway, my question was whether or not the American accents sounds “sexy” or “exotic” to English speaking non-Americans. [/QUOTE] Generally, the answer is “No, but sometimes it does.” The American accent is not generally annoying to me, but it is ubiquitous in the media, so it doesn’t have anything much by way of exotic appeal. Most American women, to me, have a forgettable accent towards which I am fairly neutral. But some of them are as sexy as all hell. ---
**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:** [June 25, 2008, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-americans-accents-sound-to-british-ears/453833/45 "2008-06-25T04:01:09Z")
[QUOTE=TheLoadedDog] Generally, the answer is “No, but sometimes it does.” The American accent is not generally annoying to me, but it is ubiquitous in the media, so it doesn’t have anything much by way of exotic appeal. Most American women, to me, have a forgettable accent towards which I am fairly neutral. But some of them are as sexy as all hell. [/QUOTE] Here is the original thread. [Is the American accent cool?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=175185) ---
**Author:** ![threnodyangelfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@threnodyangelfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/threnodyangelfire)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2008, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-americans-accents-sound-to-british-ears/453833/46 "2008-06-25T06:03:48Z")
I’m an Aussie gal. I adore the american accent, especially the Southern and Texan ones. When I was travelling through the US, I used to strike up conversations with people just to hear them talk. ---
**Author:** ![Sevastopol](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cdc98d/32.png) [@Sevastopol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sevastopol)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2008, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-americans-accents-sound-to-british-ears/453833/47 "2008-06-25T07:26:58Z")
[QUOTE=TheLoadedDog] I’m not a Brit, but hopefully I can play too.. One of the weird things I’ve found is that hearing an American accent in real life has the accent much thicker than hearing it on TV. It’s almost to the point where I say, “Oh come off it! You don’t really speak like that!” but the same accent on TV or in a movie I barely notice. [/QUOTE] That’s actors. With trained voices their diction is a lot clearer and more even. It is the job you know. ---
**Author:** ![trustno\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc29f/32.png) [@trustno\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/trustno_1)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2008, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-americans-accents-sound-to-british-ears/453833/48 "2008-06-25T16:34:30Z")
**Sublight** Lol, and reply to your question Im affa fine! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-americans-accents-sound-to-british-ears/453833.md?page=2)