# Types of English accents.

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/types-of-english-accents/196598>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [August 21, 2003, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/types-of-english-accents/196598 "2003-08-21T04:22:22Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![FP\_work](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/85e7bf/32.png) [@FP\_work](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FP_work)\
**Post date:** [August 22, 2003, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/types-of-english-accents/196598/21 "2003-08-22T11:13:09Z")

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No indeed. That would be the Glaswegians. 😃

(joking… ;))

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**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\
**Post date:** [August 22, 2003, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/types-of-english-accents/196598/22 "2003-08-22T11:50:00Z")

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Have they ever shown _Auf Weidersehen Pet_ in the US? That would be a good show for comparing different UK regional accents, with Geordie, Brummie, Scouse, Bristolian and Cockney.

Of course, you may need sub-titles 😉

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**Author:** ![everton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecb155/32.png) [@everton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/everton)\
**Post date:** [August 22, 2003, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/types-of-english-accents/196598/23 "2003-08-22T13:22:07Z")

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Christopher Fairbank makes a mess of his scouse accent IHM(&WQ)O, but that’s a decent suggestion, **WotNot**.

You may also have heard of Dave Prowse’s disappointment when he discovered that James Earl Jones’s voice would be used for Darth Vader instead of his own Bristol burr. Evidently “I foind your lack of faith disturbing, me luvver” didn’t have the right ring to it.

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**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\
**Post date:** [August 22, 2003, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/types-of-english-accents/196598/24 "2003-08-22T15:45:41Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by FP@work \*  
> \*\*And Terry Gilliam is American. 😃 \*\*

Well yeah, I don’t know I included him.

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**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\
**Post date:** [August 22, 2003, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/types-of-english-accents/196598/25 "2003-08-22T16:31:25Z")

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David Bowie is from south London, but his accent sounds trained to me…IIRC he did attend acting school in the 1960s.

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**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\
**Post date:** [August 23, 2003, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/types-of-english-accents/196598/26 "2003-08-23T16:52:05Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Lamia \*  
> \*\*David Bowie is from south London, but his accent sounds trained to me…IIRC he did attend acting school in the 1960s. \*\*

Trained? What exactly do you mean by that?  
Also, this thread is pretty much over, so I just have one final question for everyone. In **Blackadder the Third** or **Blackadder Goes Forth** do Rowan Atkinson (Blackadder), Tony Robinson (Baldric), and Hugh Laurie (George) speak with different British accents? I mean, know that their voices are different, and their character’s personalities are different, but Rowan Atkinson seems to have less of an accent than the other two, and Hugh Lauri and Tony Robinson seem to have different accents than each other, although I can’t think of the words to describe the differences that I notice.

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**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\
**Post date:** [August 23, 2003, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/types-of-english-accents/196598/27 "2003-08-23T20:46:10Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Joel \*  
> \*\*Trained? What exactly do you mean by that?  
> \*\*

I mean I think it’s not the accent he grew up speaking, but one he learned to speak later (probably in acting school). I’d suspect he was trained in RP.

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**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\
**Post date:** [August 23, 2003, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/types-of-english-accents/196598/28 "2003-08-23T22:41:32Z")

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This is a complete hijack, but …

Do you people from the UK hear us Canadians as different from, the Australians or the Americans. Is there a “Canadian accent”?

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**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\
**Post date:** [August 24, 2003, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/types-of-english-accents/196598/29 "2003-08-24T00:07:08Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by KarlGauss \*  
> \*\*This is a complete hijack, but …
> 
> Do you people from the UK hear us Canadians as different from, the Australians or the Americans. Is there a “Canadian accent”? \*\*

As an American, sometimes I hear a difference, sometimes I don’t.  
And just to let you know, the word is pronounced **About** and not **Aboot** 😃

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**Author:** ![Daver914](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@Daver914](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daver914)\
**Post date:** [August 24, 2003, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/types-of-english-accents/196598/30 "2003-08-24T07:46:07Z")

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I have a hard time telling a Canadian accent from an American (I’m from Ohio, US). An Australian accent is easily distinguishable. It sounds more “English”, but broader and somewhat more nasally.

That said, When I was in London in June, two girls (South African and Australian) could tell a difference between my accent and that of our Canadian roommate.

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**Author:** ![ruadh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@ruadh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruadh)\
**Post date:** [August 24, 2003, 10:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/types-of-english-accents/196598/31 "2003-08-24T10:00:34Z")

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It’s easy to tell a difference in accent when you’re listening for one. I work very closely with a Canadian (from Toronto), and our other co-workers say they hear differences in our accents. Yet she is constantly mistaken by others as an American, and I’ve been asked “are you American or Canadian” on a couple occasions, as well as having had one person tell me “You’re American? You _sound_ Canadian.”

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**Author:** ![everton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecb155/32.png) [@everton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/everton)\
**Post date:** [August 24, 2003, 10:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/types-of-english-accents/196598/32 "2003-08-24T10:52:45Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Joel \*  
> Also, this thread is pretty much over, so I just have one final question for everyone. In **Blackadder the Third** or **Blackadder Goes Forth** do Rowan Atkinson (Blackadder), Tony Robinson (Baldric), and Hugh Laurie (George) speak with different British accents? I mean, know that their voices are different, and their character’s personalities are different, but Rowan Atkinson seems to have less of an accent than the other two, and Hugh Lauri and Tony Robinson seem to have different accents than each other, although I can’t think of the words to describe the differences that I notice.

In all the _Blackadder…_ stories, Hugh Laurie’s character uses an exaggerated version of RP (received pronunciation – dictionary English) of the kind associated with public (i.e. private) schools; Rowan Atkinson’s character talks with a less exaggerated version of RP; Tony Robinson’s character talks with his own light version of a working class Londoner. Laurie and Atkinson did both attend public schools, and Robinson was born in London.

**Lamia** : I’ve seen David Bowie being interviewed as a schoolboy in the ’60s and he didn’t sound like a typical Brixton boy then either, so he must’ve hidden it for the interview or else had a pretty neutral accent to begin with.

By the way, if you’re a Blackadder fan you can hear a radio documentary about it online. It’s called _I Have A Cunning Plan_ and is available from [this site](http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/progs/listenagain.shtml) for the next seven days.

I notice that nobody tried to locate Jon Anderson from Yes yet, so I’ll just add that he’s from Accrington, Lancashire (North West England). If you look on a map you might be forgiven for thinking it should be very similar to a Manchester accent. It isn’t (at least not to the ears of those of us from that part of the country).

> [@](#):
>
> _Originally posted by KarlGauss_  
> Do you people from the UK hear us Canadians as different from, the Australians or the Americans. Is there a “Canadian accent”?

Perhaps some of the comments in [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=206303) will answer your question further. Personally I do fairly well recognising a Canadian accent, but that’s probably because I have relatives there. Familiarity seems to be the key.

According to comments made in numerous other threads there is certainly more than one Canadian accent though. BTW that “aboot” thing is wearing pretty thin even to this Englishman – it must be like bamboo under the fingernails to the Canucks themselves ;).

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**Author:** ![gex\_gex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/94ad74/32.png) [@gex\_gex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gex_gex)\
**Post date:** [August 24, 2003, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/types-of-english-accents/196598/33 "2003-08-24T13:30:37Z")

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Try and see some episodes of British cop show **The Bill**. Lots of different accents on there.

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**Author:** ![Dawne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Dawne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dawne)\
**Post date:** [August 24, 2003, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/types-of-english-accents/196598/34 "2003-08-24T14:10:09Z")

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I was walking through central park a few weeks ago and some men stopped us, asking if we were German. I don’t think any of us have been so offended in a long time.

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**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\
**Post date:** [August 24, 2003, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/types-of-english-accents/196598/35 "2003-08-24T14:48:46Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Dawne \*  
> \*\*I was walking through central park a few weeks ago and some men stopped us, asking if we were German. I don’t think any of us have been so offended in a long time. \*\*

I am from Kenilworth, Warwickshire.

When I was in Atlanta the guy cleaning my room asked me if I was “from France or something”.

I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

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**Author:** ![Oy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bc8723/32.png) [@Oy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oy)\
**Post date:** [August 24, 2003, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/types-of-english-accents/196598/36 "2003-08-24T19:53:39Z")

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The character Daphne Moon (Jane Leeves) on Frasier has a western industrial (Brummie or Mancunian or Liverpudlian) accent. I say the character because I don’t think Jane Leeves herself has that accent; it’s assumed for the character.

Stephen Fry has just about the most public school accent imaginable. Was he _born_ wearing tweed and with a pipe in his mouth?

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**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\
**Post date:** [August 24, 2003, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/types-of-english-accents/196598/37 "2003-08-24T20:16:12Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by AvhHines \*  
> \*\*The character Daphne Moon (Jane Leeves) on Frasier has a western industrial (Brummie or Mancunian or Liverpudlian) accent. \*\*

I think she has those accents all at the same time. She may even possibly have a few others involved as well.

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**Author:** ![everton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecb155/32.png) [@everton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/everton)\
**Post date:** [August 24, 2003, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/types-of-english-accents/196598/38 "2003-08-24T21:56:40Z")

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Or none of them. Please let’s not do the whole _Frasier_ thing again shall we?

**AvhHines** : None of those suggestions would be described as western, btw.

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**Author:** ![Briny\_Deep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/briny_deep/32/17188_2.png) [@Briny\_Deep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Briny_Deep)\
**Post date:** [August 25, 2003, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/types-of-english-accents/196598/39 "2003-08-25T02:10:21Z")

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How about Bubble on _Absolutely Fabulous_? (Jane Horricks, I think it is.) What’s her accent, or is it just a weird voice?

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**Author:** ![everton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecb155/32.png) [@everton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/everton)\
**Post date:** [August 25, 2003, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/types-of-english-accents/196598/40 "2003-08-25T03:08:35Z")

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See my previous comment about Jon Anderson. Jane Horrocks is from nearby in [the Rossendale Valley](http://www.streetmap.co.uk/streetmap.dll?G2M?X=385500&Y=422500&A=Y&Z=5) (although she cranks it up a bit for Bubble). You can use the zoom buttons and scroll south a little to see where that is in relation to Manchester and scroll south west to Liverpool.

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