I don’t know the technical terms - to me it sounds like his false teeth don’t fit quite right. 
I’m usually pretty good at distinguishing Irish from Scottish, but it’s not a “night-and-day” difference to my ear. I was recently embarrassed while, watching the Academy Awards, I confidently identified Glen Hansard as Scottish, only to dine on a full serving of crow when I hit the Net to “prove” my assertion.
I have a co-worker with a working class London accent who could probably serve as a backup voice for the Geiko gecko. Spot on match.
Yes, I can.
It’s been fading since I’ve returned to the US, but after two months living in Cork and six months in London, I’d gotten fairly good at not just deciphering strong accents, but also identifying them more closely than “Irish” or “English” or “Scottish”. (For Irish accents, the first question on my mental checklist was “Can I understand what the person is saying?” If yes, they’re probably not a Cork native.)
Hmm- I think most Americans can tell an affected Irish brogue from an affected Scots burr. We’re about to be inundated with “Ah, sure n’ begorrah come O’Riley’s pub fer the wearin’ o’ th green.” So they are used to that.
But I wonder if they could note the accent of an everyday speaker. Probably, but it wouldn’t be as easy as one might think.
And here is another American who thought at first mistook a Yorkshireman’s accent for a Scot. Although after a few conversations it was quite plain that he wasn’t Scottish.
The person in question was an Austrian German-speaker who spoke English in a Swiss-owned hotel in Canada, where there were several Swiss employees, and was used to being mistaken for Swiss.
But that’s as much to do with the unique Corkonian world view and mental processes as their accents.
FWIW, when I’ve visited the States, people asked to guess where I’m from based on my accent say Australia as often as they do Ireland or Scotland, and I get Scotland a fair bit as well. (I’m Irish, to be clear). Anecdotally, from my experience, East Coast USians were more likely to say Ireland than West Coast ones.
**Cockney?!**COCKNEY?!
Oh, it is ON now, mate… that’s it; the gloves are coming off!
That’s what I hear ;). South Australians sound to me like working class poms who’ve been living in Australia for 20 years. You’re right though, compared to other Australian accents it does sound more “proper.”
I’m a Kiwi by the way, have at it.
Reading through this thread, I’ve been thinking the same. Most people who’ve heard both can tell the difference between strong accents, but although I’ve lived in Glasgow for three years and can place most Scottish accents and know plenty of N.Irish and a couple of Irish people, the occasional N.Irish accent can be ambiguous and I’ll assume they’re a Jock until I get told/realise otherwise.
Placing TV characters is one thing, but everyday speakers’ regular conversation is another.
Legend has it that Star Trek’s Mr Kyle was thought of as Australian by American audiences, who were baffled by his cockney accent.
American here. Ohio to be exact and yes I can tell the difference. It’s quite glaring actually. I’ve often wondered how people can confuse the two but I have an ear for accents. The same goes for Aussie and Kiwi accents. They don’t sound alike to me.
Oh, come on, this should be easy. The people from Glasgow use the right words and say them properly. The people from the rest of Scotland use the right words and say them slightly funny. The people from Ireland mostly use the right words, and say them really funny. An’ mos’a the res’a yuze doan even use the right words, ye jus’ haever on…
That wasn’t so difficult, was it?
He’s from Ireland.
I can spot the difference.
I can now, but I belong to the local Scottish heritage society, and we have several people who immigrated here from Scotland. I wouldn’t have known one way or the other before I started hanging out with them. I’m even starting to develop an ear (shallow, but it’s coming along) for localities - I can tell if someone’s from the highlands or the lowlands, anyway!
Ever heard Tam O’Shanter recited in the la’lands accent? It’s quite something!
Oh Og. This is my freak gift. I can tell Irish from Scottish from Australian from New Zealander. There’s a character in the movie version of Gone with the Wind who is supposed to be Irish, but from his accent he’s a Scot. Drives me batshit crazy every time I watch it. I know if a speaker is from the northern counties or the southern counties. I can tell if they’re from the better or worse parts of London or from Liverpool.
In my own country (I’m in Colorado, but grew up in SoCal), I can tell if you’re from Texas/Oklahoma, Deep South, Virginia/Maryland, Tennessee/Kentucky, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, and especially if you’re Canadian.
I think Henry Higgins was onto something!
This might boil down to familarity with people with those accents in our families. Having never been to the west coast, I’m not very sure what the most promient ethnicities are on that coast; not to mention CA, which takes up most of that coast, is broken down only as far as “white americans” on wiki. On the east coast there are a great many people of Irish, English, French-Canadian, and Scottish descents. My ancestors came from all four places plus Portugal and the Azores. German ancestory is also common to the North East, too.
Ancestry groups by %:
Maine, VT, NH, MA . Then, once you get some further south Italian finally becomes a major ethnicity Conn, RI. And then African NY, NJ, Deleware, MD…