# Rik Mayall: Accent or speech impedement? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 9, 2004, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rik-mayall-accent-or-speech-impedement/254314 "2004-07-09T16:59:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Martiju](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e8c25b/32.png) [@Martiju](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martiju)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2004, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rik-mayall-accent-or-speech-impedement/254314/21 "2004-07-12T13:41:01Z")
> [@ruadh](#): > > So maybe it’s a Welsh thing. I note that Catherine Zeta Jones also seems to have trouble with her Rs. Don’t hold it against her - women tend to put weight on in that area as they get older… 😃 ---
**Author:** ![fortytwo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f9ae1b/32.png) [@fortytwo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fortytwo)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2004, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rik-mayall-accent-or-speech-impedement/254314/22 "2004-07-12T14:26:30Z")
> [@ruadh](#): > > So maybe it’s a Welsh thing. I note that Catherine Zeta Jones also seems to have trouble with her Rs. I was born and brought up about 5 miles from CZJ. (a few years prior unfortunately) and I have no trouble with my R’s. In fact my wife says that it’s one of my outstanding features. Back on the topic though, I can’t honestly say that I’ve ever noticed this characteristic amongst my countryfolk. ---
**Author:** ![Nutty\_Bunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/d07c76/32.png) [@Nutty\_Bunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nutty_Bunny)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2004, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rik-mayall-accent-or-speech-impedement/254314/23 "2004-07-12T20:39:30Z")
> [@Thudlow Boink](#): > > Hands up—who likes me? > > I said, **Hands up—who likes me?** I just quoted this in another thread recently. That’s why I love the SDMB. Where else can you find this scene referenced twice within a couple of days? 🆒 ---
**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:** [July 13, 2004, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rik-mayall-accent-or-speech-impedement/254314/24 "2004-07-13T00:12:42Z")
And how often can I get a Red Dwarf reference username and a KITH username in the same thread?? _hugs all_ _hits in crotch with cricket bat_ ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2004, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rik-mayall-accent-or-speech-impedement/254314/25 "2004-07-13T03:49:45Z")
I’m pretty sure its just a character voice because there’s an interview with him on The Young Ones DVD boxset and he sounds absolutely nothing like ‘Wik’. Its actually very disconcerting because he speaks in a very deep, normal voice **and** , for some reason, he has this huge head of hair and full moustach & beard. Barely recognize him! ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2004, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rik-mayall-accent-or-speech-impedement/254314/26 "2004-07-13T04:51:11Z")
I think it’s an upper class British affectation, exemplified by the Pythons in the Upper Clas Twit of the Year sketch, but IRL by others such as Jacob Bronowski. Anyone who’s seen “The Ascent of Man” will recall Dr. Bronowski speaking about “the ancient Womans.” ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2004, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rik-mayall-accent-or-speech-impedement/254314/27 "2004-07-13T13:58:51Z")
Well _that_ makes more sense than me thinking he was talking about his granny. Right confusing , that was. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2004, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rik-mayall-accent-or-speech-impedement/254314/28 "2004-07-13T18:02:14Z")
That’s a long O, as in Romans. ---
**Author:** ![jkmoore777](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/73ab20/32.png) [@jkmoore777](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jkmoore777)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2016, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rik-mayall-accent-or-speech-impedement/254314/29 "2016-12-09T05:13:38Z")
Lucy Worsley used this “device”, or whatever it is, to charming effect most of the way through her docu-series on the “Womonov” family of ruling tsars in “Wussia”, until the end when the charm finally wore off and it became only slightly distracting (after all, it is a long series). It sure seems to me like an unintended consequence of the misplaced discipline of the headmistress bent on rolling Rs. IMHO, it just seems like the natural result of making an example out of the struggling kid, instead of maybe taking a different approach with that kid. From what little I’ve learned of English regional dialects, IMHO again, this would appear to be a speech impediment that Terry Jones et. al. have used bwiwiantwy in their character work. I am by no means an expert, and an ignorant American as well, to boot. (Love you, Lucy!) How about some more wonderful examples? I am absolutely intwuiged and quite charmed by it! Can’t we get some cunning linguists to chime in? “Wewease Wogew!” - and whiwe you’we at it, take those mawbows out of youw mouth! ---
**Author:** ![Banksiaman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banksiaman/32/3334_2.png) [@Banksiaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banksiaman)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2016, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rik-mayall-accent-or-speech-impedement/254314/30 "2016-12-09T06:27:44Z")
Is[this bloke](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OuALwLhUmKY)a Londoner or Welsh? ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2016, 10:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rik-mayall-accent-or-speech-impedement/254314/31 "2016-12-09T10:35:09Z")
This zombie has [rhotacism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhotacism_(speech_impediment)). Also, which part of the UK are Elmer Fudd and Barry Kripke supposed to be from? ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2016, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rik-mayall-accent-or-speech-impedement/254314/32 "2016-12-09T10:57:35Z")
> [@jkmoore777](#): > > How about some more wonderful examples? Well, there’s [this chap](https://youtu.be/wGhQ2BDt4VE); not particularly posh, though. ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2016, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rik-mayall-accent-or-speech-impedement/254314/33 "2016-12-09T14:58:44Z")
This can be a real zombie thread since Mayall died ten years after it started. One of the funniest episodes of anything I’ve ever seen was Rick waking up to find a woman in his bed (Jennifer Saunders) who unbeknownst to him was an escaped serial killer. He thought he could use this to convince his flatmates he was no longer a virgin, so he made a big show of going down to the kitchen and putting \*two \*cups of tea on his tray. When none of his roomies took notice, he wondered aloud “It appears I’m taking \*two \*teacups back to my room instead of _one_. Wonder what that means???” None of them took the bait. Later, Vyvian tortured him until he admitted he was still a virgin. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2016, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rik-mayall-accent-or-speech-impedement/254314/34 "2016-12-09T16:47:34Z")
Don’t get me started on Rik Mayall and The Young Ones! It’s my favorite sitcom, and the Bambi episode is the greatest sitcom episode in the history of television! ---
**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:** [December 9, 2016, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rik-mayall-accent-or-speech-impedement/254314/35 "2016-12-09T18:01:25Z")
Funny how much more Rik Mayall I consumed since I wrote this OP 12 years ago. I moved into my own place a year later and I think spent a year watching nothing but 80s British alt comedy for a year. The first piece of “art” I got for my new house was an Ade Edmondson-signed cricket bat! 🙂 Ha ha you missed BOTH my legs! ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2016, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rik-mayall-accent-or-speech-impedement/254314/36 "2016-12-09T19:33:52Z")
> [@casdave](#): > > Jonathon Ross, the tv presenter and chat show host is somewhat famous for not being able to pronounce his own name correctly, as his R’s become W’s, he has a slight London accent, but I’d guees those from ‘The Smoke’ was say this accent is very mild, us Northerners can detect it easily though. Here’s an appropriate clip: [Jonathon Ross interviewing Rik Mayall and Ade Edmondson](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCysBpjRKME). As you can hear, Mayall pronounces his r’s and Ross does not. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2016, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rik-mayall-accent-or-speech-impedement/254314/37 "2016-12-10T07:22:12Z")
[Here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=coaRBMX5Xyo)he is as Alan B’stard, a corrupt politician in Mrs Thatcher’s government. It’s a totally different accent, and no speech impediment. He is definitely an actor adopting a persona. For those who don’t get it, it’s a subtle bottom joke. He has trouble with his r’s. ---
**Author:** ![Scougs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scougs/32/3158_2.png) [@Scougs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scougs)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2016, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rik-mayall-accent-or-speech-impedement/254314/38 "2016-12-12T22:07:07Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > Don’t get me started on Rik Mayall and The Young Ones! It’s my favorite sitcom, and the Bambi episode is the greatest sitcom episode in the history of television! With bonus added Motörhead. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rik-mayall-accent-or-speech-impedement/254314.md?page=1)