# Non-UK and Ireland dopers, Can you tell an Irish accent from a Scots one? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 2, 2008, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-uk-and-ireland-dopers-can-you-tell-an-irish-accent-from-a-scots-one/439878 "2008-03-02T20:53:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![RedRosesForMe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/91b2a8/32.png) [@RedRosesForMe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedRosesForMe)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2008, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-uk-and-ireland-dopers-can-you-tell-an-irish-accent-from-a-scots-one/439878/21 "2008-03-02T23:32:56Z")
I can most of the time. I listen to a lot of folk music, which includes a lot of Irish and Scottish stuff, so I’m usually able to tell the difference. I remember once at work, a Scottish family came in and I made some sort of comment to the effect that the weather must be much nicer here (FL) than in Scotland this time of year, and they were shocked I knew they were Scottish. They said most 'merkins they’d run into thought they were English. How people got _that_ mixed up, I don’t know. ---
**Author:** ![ThirdCultureKid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbce88/32.png) [@ThirdCultureKid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThirdCultureKid)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2008, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-uk-and-ireland-dopers-can-you-tell-an-irish-accent-from-a-scots-one/439878/22 "2008-03-02T23:39:02Z")
[QUOTE=don’t ask] I am dumbfounded by the question. It is like asking can you tell the difference between a Frenchman speaking English and a German speaking English. I can’t imagine mistaking one for the other. [/QUOTE] Same here. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2008, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-uk-and-ireland-dopers-can-you-tell-an-irish-accent-from-a-scots-one/439878/23 "2008-03-02T23:40:09Z")
[QUOTE=Dominic Mulligan] Yorkshire specifically, or the North in general? [/QUOTE] Mmmmm…I’m not sure. Is there anything else up there? 😉 I wrote “Yorkshire” 'cause I have a particular friend from Yorkshire who sounds Scottish to me, and also because [Kelly Macdonald](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0531808/)\* sounds just like the accents in _The Secret Garden_ tape I grew up listening to (which takes place in Yorkshire, but now that I think on it could have used Scottish actors…) \*One of the only female Scottish accents I think I’ve heard much of - and it sounds rather different to my ear than the male (Ewan MacGregor in interviews, Billy Connolly, Alan Cumming, etc.) ---
**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:** [March 3, 2008, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-uk-and-ireland-dopers-can-you-tell-an-irish-accent-from-a-scots-one/439878/24 "2008-03-03T02:31:50Z")
[QUOTE=ThirdCultureKid] Same here. [/QUOTE] And here. I’ve never been to Scotland or Ireland yet I can tell the accents apart in an instant. ---
**Author:** ![ErinPuff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dbc845/32.png) [@ErinPuff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ErinPuff)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2008, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-uk-and-ireland-dopers-can-you-tell-an-irish-accent-from-a-scots-one/439878/25 "2008-03-03T02:40:47Z")
Yes, but I watch a lot of British television. ---
**Author:** ![Queen\_Tonya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/4491bb/32.png) [@Queen\_Tonya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Tonya)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2008, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-uk-and-ireland-dopers-can-you-tell-an-irish-accent-from-a-scots-one/439878/26 "2008-03-03T02:43:58Z")
[QUOTE=Really Not All That Bright] Apparently not - the GEICO gecko is very definitely a working-class Londoner (not a Cockney), not an Aussie. [/QUOTE] :smack: I was once vehemently corrected when I referred to the gecko as English, the arguer was quite sure he was Australian. Seeing as this wasn’t that important in my life, but seemed to be very important to him, I figured the fella knew what he was on about. Ooops. ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2008, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-uk-and-ireland-dopers-can-you-tell-an-irish-accent-from-a-scots-one/439878/27 "2008-03-03T02:55:50Z")
Yes, I can tell the Irish from the Scottish from various English accents fairly well, I think. The one that throws me is Welsh. ---
**Author:** ![LavenderBlue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e95f7d/32.png) [@LavenderBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LavenderBlue)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2008, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-uk-and-ireland-dopers-can-you-tell-an-irish-accent-from-a-scots-one/439878/28 "2008-03-03T02:58:56Z")
Most of the time. But the one time I was utterly stumped was a plane. The stewardess had an accent I’d never heard before. She told me it was Glaswegian. I thought it was very pretty. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2008, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-uk-and-ireland-dopers-can-you-tell-an-irish-accent-from-a-scots-one/439878/29 "2008-03-03T03:01:55Z")
I can. I also hear a distinctive Welsh accent, though not all Welsh have it. It’s very subtle - listen to Richard Burton or Anthony Hopkins for awhile and you’ll get an idea. (Burton spoke Welsh before he did English.) ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2008, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-uk-and-ireland-dopers-can-you-tell-an-irish-accent-from-a-scots-one/439878/30 "2008-03-03T03:02:25Z")
Yes. I grew up in the time of Groundskeeper Willie and “If it’s not Scottish, it’s crap!” [those are 2 different things] I also listen to a _lot_ of Belle and Sebastian. Every so often I get a big old dose of “Century of Elvis” coming at me on the stereo. ---
**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2008, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-uk-and-ireland-dopers-can-you-tell-an-irish-accent-from-a-scots-one/439878/31 "2008-03-03T03:19:17Z")
Absolutely, I can. I’m good with accents in general, having grown up in a family that was well-travelled (before I was born) and had picked up many international friends. I recall once being able to tell Austrian from Swiss, and the German-speaker being astounded that I could. I was surprised that he was surprised. ---
**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:** [March 3, 2008, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-uk-and-ireland-dopers-can-you-tell-an-irish-accent-from-a-scots-one/439878/32 "2008-03-03T03:22:13Z")
Easily. It’s the difference between syrup and spice and a chainsaw running through knotty wood. ---
**Author:** ![whiterabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/cab0a1/32.png) [@whiterabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whiterabbit)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2008, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-uk-and-ireland-dopers-can-you-tell-an-irish-accent-from-a-scots-one/439878/33 "2008-03-03T03:25:36Z")
I’ll have to actually pay a bit of attention the next time the gecko comes on my TV. I have a genuine Aussie coworker so I’ve been listening to her a fair bit for the past couple of months, but I admit to assuming the gecko was an Aussie. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2008, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-uk-and-ireland-dopers-can-you-tell-an-irish-accent-from-a-scots-one/439878/34 "2008-03-03T03:59:40Z")
[QUOTE=whiterabbit] I’ll have to actually pay a bit of attention the next time the gecko comes on my TV. I have a genuine Aussie coworker so I’ve been listening to her a fair bit for the past couple of months, but I admit to assuming the gecko was an Aussie. [/QUOTE] [The Wiki article](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GEICO#The_GEICO_gecko) claims that the voicing went from Kelsey Grammar to a “Cockney accent” to the current voice done by a British actor doing a “working class accent.” ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2008, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-uk-and-ireland-dopers-can-you-tell-an-irish-accent-from-a-scots-one/439878/35 "2008-03-03T04:41:47Z")
[QUOTE=whiterabbit] I’ll have to actually pay a bit of attention the next time the gecko comes on my TV. I have a genuine Aussie coworker so I’ve been listening to her a fair bit for the past couple of months, but I admit to assuming the gecko was an Aussie. [/QUOTE] The “[Pie and Chips](http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoID=1891852034)” one is a dead giveaway. Listen for the word “with” - pronouced as “wiv” - more or less endemic to the less well-heeled parts of London. ---
**Author:** ![amarone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@amarone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarone)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2008, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-uk-and-ireland-dopers-can-you-tell-an-irish-accent-from-a-scots-one/439878/36 "2008-03-03T04:56:29Z")
[QUOTE=WhyNot] What I have more trouble with (read: couldn’t tell you with any certainty at all) is Yorkshire vs. Scottish. [/QUOTE] Wow. I am from Yorkshire and in 13 years of living in the US (and many more in the UK), nobody has ever suggested I might be Scottish. Australian, yes, which also surprised me, but I have since heard Australians that sound somewhat English. Or maybe I don’t get home often enough. A refined Edinburgh accent can sound somewhat English, but is more likely to be mistaken for a southern accent (or RP) than Yorkshire. ---
**Author:** ![missbunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/76d3ee/32.png) [@missbunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missbunny)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2008, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-uk-and-ireland-dopers-can-you-tell-an-irish-accent-from-a-scots-one/439878/37 "2008-03-03T05:10:41Z")
Irish and Scottish accents don’t sound at all alike to me. I must point out that there are many Irish accents, and the difference between a Belfast accent (one of them) and a Scottish accent (one of them) can be hard to notice for a lot of people. I’ve heard people before saying that someone from Belfast isn’t speaking with an “Irish” accent, because they’re used to hearing a Republic of Ireland accent as the “Irish” one. I have a hard time picking out a South African accent from an English one, although English people and South African alike are probably dumbfounded that I’d mix them up. Edit: and again with English: there are so many that sound almost nothing alike, I can’t wrap my head around the statement “I have a hard time picking out a South African accent from an English one.” There _are_ probably accents from both countries, somewhere in there, that sound nearly identical. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2008, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-uk-and-ireland-dopers-can-you-tell-an-irish-accent-from-a-scots-one/439878/38 "2008-03-03T05:30:47Z")
I can always tell an Irish accent from a Scottish one. I can’t always tell a GOOD Irish accent from a bad one or a good Scottish burr from a bad one. I’ve been fooled by phony Scottish burrs that true Scotsmen would find laughable, and by phony Irish brogues that would have real Irishmen rolling their eyes in disgust. But Sean Connery is a poor example, because he’s played characters of almost EVERY ethnicity with that same Glasgow accent. He was an Arab with a Scottish burr in “The Wind and the Lion,” a Russian with a Scottish accent in “Hunt for Red October,” a Spaniard with a Scottish accent in “Highlander,” an ancient Greek with a Scottish accent in “Time Bandits.” Get the idea? Sean Connery can’t do any accent but his own, and he doesn’t bother to try. And really, it’s just as well. If an actor knows he can’t master a foreign accent, he only makes himself sound sillier if he makes a half-hearted effort (like Kevin Costner in “Robin Hood”). ---
**Author:** ![Bites\_When\_Provoked](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bites_when_provoked/32/18073_2.png) [@Bites\_When\_Provoked](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bites_When_Provoked)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2008, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-uk-and-ireland-dopers-can-you-tell-an-irish-accent-from-a-scots-one/439878/39 "2008-03-03T05:43:28Z")
[QUOTE=whiterabbit] I’ll have to actually pay a bit of attention the next time the gecko comes on my TV. I have a genuine Aussie coworker so I’ve been listening to her a fair bit for the past couple of months, but I admit to assuming the gecko was an Aussie. [/QUOTE] I saw that ad while I was in the US, and there’s no way he’s Aussie. No way, Jose… er, **whiterabbit**. If your co-worker genuinely sounds like the gecko, you might want to check whether her parents are Aussie-born, because we do get a lot of UK immigrants and their kids quite often develop a hybrid accent. Additionally, I’ve met some (non-UK) people from suburbs with heavy UK populations (locally, Salisbury and Elizabeth come to mind) who pick up some erratic UK accents in their speech. Apologies for the de-railing; I’ll slink back into my corner now. (Oh, I used to be able to pick the difference between Irish and Scots accents, back when I lived in the city and socialised with some Scots on a semi-regular basis I was very good at it then, but I don’t think I’d do very well at all now.) ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2008, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-uk-and-ireland-dopers-can-you-tell-an-irish-accent-from-a-scots-one/439878/40 "2008-03-03T05:49:28Z")
Yes, usually it’s really easy to tell. However, I found [Desmond](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desmond_Hume) on _Lost_’s accent to sound more Irish to me, and was surprised when he claimed he was a Scot (and [he is in real life](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Ian_Cusick), too, so I have nobody to blame but myself in not recognising it). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-uk-and-ireland-dopers-can-you-tell-an-irish-accent-from-a-scots-one/439878.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-uk-and-ireland-dopers-can-you-tell-an-irish-accent-from-a-scots-one/439878.md?page=3)