# Questions about English accents **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 29, 2011, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-english-accents/583632 "2011-05-29T02:50:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![sjc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e5b9ba/32.png) [@sjc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sjc)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2011, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-english-accents/583632/21 "2011-05-29T21:36:24Z")
> [@These are my own pants](#): > > That is a terrible atrempt at an English accent, I think I’d guess they were trying to do a Canadian accent. I’m an American and I don’t think that’s an English accent. Indeed it doesn’t sound to me like he’s _trying_ to do an English accent. It sounds like a certain version of the ‘posh’ American accent of the time (which was kind of ‘mid-atlantic’). I’m too young to have seen the show, was he supposed to be English? ---
**Author:** ![Mk\_VII](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Mk\_VII](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mk_VII)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2011, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-english-accents/583632/22 "2011-05-29T21:56:41Z")
To turn the discussion on it’s head for a moment, here’s Alistair Cooke, who spent much of his life in America, talking on _Masterpiece Theater_ [- YouTube](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FFkaaXzj8k&feature=related) To us he sounded almost entirely American - it was some years before I realised he was English. How does he sound to you? ---
**Author:** ![Asympotically\_fat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e47c2d/32.png) [@Asympotically\_fat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asympotically_fat)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2011, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-english-accents/583632/23 "2011-05-29T22:04:38Z")
> [@Mk\_VII](#): > > To turn the discussion on it’s head for a moment, here’s Alistair Cooke, who spent much of his life in America, talking on _Masterpiece Theater_ [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FFkaaXzj8k&feature=related](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FFkaaXzj8k&feature=related) To us he sounded almost entirely American - it was some years before I realised he was English. How does he sound to you? Alastair Cooke is famous in the UK too for _Letter from America_, his extremely long-running radio (appeared in it’s first incarnation in 1938 and run continiously from 1946-2004). To me he sounds Englishh, his accent may’ve been somewhat affected by spending a very long time in America and certianly sounds ‘transaltantic’, but I would say that his accent is English. ---
**Author:** ![Asympotically\_fat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e47c2d/32.png) [@Asympotically\_fat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asympotically_fat)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2011, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-english-accents/583632/24 "2011-05-29T22:14:48Z")
> [@sjc](#): > > I’m an American and I don’t think that’s an English accent. Indeed it doesn’t sound to me like he’s _trying_ to do an English accent. It sounds like a certain version of the ‘posh’ American accent of the time (which was kind of ‘mid-atlantic’). > > I’m too young to have seen the show, was he supposed to be English? I’ve never seen the show, but wikipedi confirms that he is mneant to be doing an English accent (it also says that many people believed the actor was english). All I can say as English person I would never think he was English, infact I agree with you that in that clip posted I wouldn’t even think he was trying to do an English accent. ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2011, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-english-accents/583632/25 "2011-05-29T23:47:41Z")
> [@Rayne\_Man](#): > > The Midlands can even be divided up further. For example Wolverhampton, Birmingham, Coventry and Leicester all have different and distinct accents. This over a distance of about forty miles. I have a South Warwickshire accent and my Sister has a Coventry accent, yet we grew up in the same house. Basically, I grew up on the border between Warwickshire and the West Midlands and due to our peer groups our accents moved in different directions. Accents are weird. ---
**Author:** ![mac\_bolan00](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b3f665/32.png) [@mac\_bolan00](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mac_bolan00)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2011, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-english-accents/583632/26 "2011-05-29T23:54:14Z")
[the thread title is ‘questions…’] 😃 how does one speak/write like an englishman? to me, it’s not so much the accent but more in the way sentences and phrases are structured. and of course, they have a way of pronouncing akward words easily. examples: american drill sergeant: “what the hell were you thinking?” english sergeant major: “what madness possessed you?” ---
**Author:** ![BDoors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e95f7d/32.png) [@BDoors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BDoors)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2011, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-english-accents/583632/27 "2011-05-30T00:36:53Z")
> [@mac\_bolan00](#): > > american drill sergeant: “what the hell were you thinking?” > english sergeant major: “what madness possessed you?” LOL. Hoo boy. You have never encountered a British army sergeant major, I guess. It would be more like “What the faaack!? You faaackin’ caaant!” ---
**Author:** ![Wizard\_One](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Wizard\_One](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wizard_One)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2011, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-english-accents/583632/28 "2011-05-30T07:18:07Z")
> [@mla1](#): > > If you english and lived there you would be able to tell with relative ease if the person was from the MIdlands, Newcastle, Manchester, Leeds, Liverpool etc. The words the person uses is a dead give away if they say ‘pet’ they come from near Newcastele just as an example. Indeed, I worked around many Brits over the years. That said, I have no clue whatinhell they’re speaking in Liverpool! 😉 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-english-accents/583632.md?page=1)