# What Accent of English Do You Have? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 14, 2011, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-accent-of-english-do-you-have/585394 "2011-06-14T03:44:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Apollyon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/apollyon/32/4238_2.png) [@Apollyon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apollyon)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2011, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-accent-of-english-do-you-have/585394/81 "2011-06-14T23:41:37Z")
None. What? 😛 OK, Kiwi… but as I’ve had other Kiwis assume I’m English I have to conclude that it’s not typical Kiwi… which seeing as how my parents and grand-parents were Kiwis is all a bit odd. ---
**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2011, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-accent-of-english-do-you-have/585394/82 "2011-06-14T23:54:34Z")
Southern drawl ---
**Author:** ![I\_Am\_The\_Lorax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19adc/32.png) [@I\_Am\_The\_Lorax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Am_The_Lorax)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2011, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-accent-of-english-do-you-have/585394/83 "2011-06-15T01:32:26Z")
Very Buffalo. Northern Cities Vowel Shift. It’s so heavy I’m sure Henry Higgins could tell you my street address. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Woo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7c8e57/32.png) [@Dr.Woo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Woo)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2011, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-accent-of-english-do-you-have/585394/84 "2011-06-15T01:41:15Z")
> [@RandMcnally](#): > > The funny thing is, some of my family and friends have a tinge of Southern accent in there due to all the migrant farmworkers who moved to the Central Valley during the Dust Bowel. And do they pronounce ‘almonds’ as ‘aaaaaamuns’ like mine do? ---
**Author:** ![slightly\_askew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d07c76/32.png) [@slightly\_askew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slightly_askew)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2011, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-accent-of-english-do-you-have/585394/85 "2011-06-15T01:58:05Z")
Pittsburghese here. Although it has softened since I left the area. It all comes back when I go to visit my folks. ---
**Author:** ![Reeses\_Monkey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reeses_monkey/32/2885_2.png) [@Reeses\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeses_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2011, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-accent-of-english-do-you-have/585394/86 "2011-06-15T02:08:11Z")
Pittsburgh accent here (“Yinzer” is a nod to our accent. We call a group of people “yinz guys” like Jerseyites say “youse guys.”) However, since I’m in radio I’ve trained myself out of the thick accent that renders “wash” as “worsh” and “color” as “keller.” ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2011, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-accent-of-english-do-you-have/585394/87 "2011-06-15T02:18:33Z")
Pretty standard American normal speech. Although I have been told I have a bit of a twang, by people who nail that I grew up in Colorado. ---
**Author:** ![horsetech](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dec6dc/32.png) [@horsetech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/horsetech)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2011, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-accent-of-english-do-you-have/585394/88 "2011-06-15T02:27:14Z")
Generic - I grew up just outside Washington, D.C., surrounded by all kinds of accents - with a dash of Ballmer, Merlun. I was in denial of having any kind of accent until I realized that I do sometimes say things like wuhdder instead water. ---
**Author:** ![moejoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de053/32.png) [@moejoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moejoe)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2011, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-accent-of-english-do-you-have/585394/89 "2011-06-15T02:39:23Z")
Northern Californian, but my kids tell me that when I’m nagging them I sound just like my southern mama. ---
**Author:** ![Imago](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/85e7bf/32.png) [@Imago](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Imago)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2011, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-accent-of-english-do-you-have/585394/90 "2011-06-15T03:00:59Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > I speak the King’s English as it was meant to be spoken–with a Southern drawl. (minor hijack) I always thought it was “Queen’s English” while Britain had a queen and only “King’s English” when they have a king. I have never heard it called anything but “Queen’s English”, and I’m a youngish adult… (end hijack) ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2011, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-accent-of-english-do-you-have/585394/91 "2011-06-15T03:47:06Z")
> [@bump](#): > > Gulf Coast Texas accent, but not country and educated sounding. I can dial it up though, if I’m out in the sticks and don’t want to seem like too much of an outsider. Ditto. I’m not above salting my speech with the occasional y’all, but no twang. ---
**Author:** ![antonio107](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7ea924/32.png) [@antonio107](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/antonio107)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2011, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-accent-of-english-do-you-have/585394/92 "2011-06-15T03:49:44Z")
> [@robardin](#): > > This is a fun database of accents: [http://accent.gmu.edu/](http://accent.gmu.edu/) > > Maybe we should start an audio clip wing of the SDMB gallery, so you can click on the pics and hear the person in question reading one of these semi-gibberish passages intended to disrupt the brain’s scan-ahead reading, the better to draw out and - well, accentuate - one’s unconscious phonetic tendencies: > > \*Please call Stella. Ask her to bring these things with her from the store: Six spoons of fresh snow peas, five thick slabs of blue cheese, and maybe a snack for her brother Bob. We also need a small plastic snake and a big toy frog for the kids. She can scoop these things into three red bags, and we will go meet her Wednesday at the train station. \* Hey! I posted that on the first page! I’m not sure what’s wrong with double posting a link, but I’m sure it’s a faux pas on teh internetz :-P. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2011, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-accent-of-english-do-you-have/585394/93 "2011-06-15T05:18:01Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Standard Canadian. More urban than rural, though, so not too pronounced. > > I’m amused that both California and Midwestern English have been claimed to be “standard” American English. Midwestern English is a very heavy accent to my ears; Californian is much more neutral though still distinct. We’ve been quite a few places in the US, and the only place where people didn’t have an accent to us was Montana. Some people in Chicago could barely understand me. ---
**Author:** ![ctnguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@ctnguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ctnguy)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2011, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-accent-of-english-do-you-have/585394/94 "2011-06-15T05:55:47Z")
I speak with what is allegedly a variant of the [Cultivated South African English](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_African_English) accent. It’s weird; despite living all my life in South Africa, by some quirk I’ve inherited a particularly “English” form of the accent, so that even some fellow South Africans ask if I’m from England originally. ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2011, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-accent-of-english-do-you-have/585394/95 "2011-06-15T06:06:26Z")
Wow! For me, that’s a loaded question! When we first came to the US in 1960, I was 11 and spoke English with a very guttural accent, which caused people to believe I was arrogant and mean-spirited. Due to peer pressure, I then acquired the southern accent spoken here in Georgia, and things weren’t quite as bad as I became more “accepted” in school, and later in several rock bands. After being discharged from the USAF in '74, I went to work for a local radio station and then I learned to remove the regionality from my voice. No more drawling, in other words. Now, in the autumn of my years (:)) people tell me, I _do_ have a southern accent, yet “not quite”, so I don’t know how to describe my accent to you and you would just have to listen to me speak “live” as **Mama Zappa** and **Typo Knig** did recently when we visited them in DC. Thanks Q ---
**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:** [June 15, 2011, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-accent-of-english-do-you-have/585394/96 "2011-06-15T06:23:58Z")
> [@Imago](#): > > (minor hijack) > I always thought it was “Queen’s English” while Britain had a queen and only “King’s English” when they have a king. I have never heard it called anything but “Queen’s English”, and I’m a youngish adult… > (end hijack) You misunderstood. It has nothing to do with the British royal family. He meant he speaks like Elvis Presley. ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2011, 10:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-accent-of-english-do-you-have/585394/97 "2011-06-15T10:47:39Z")
> [@Reeses\_Monkey](#): > > Pittsburgh accent here (“Yinzer” is a nod to our accent. We call a group of people “yinz guys” like Jerseyites say “youse guys.”) However, since I’m in radio I’ve trained myself out of the thick accent that renders “wash” as “worsh” and “color” as “keller.” Although I’m not a native of New Jersey, I’ve been here a number of years, and have never heard anyone say “youse”. ---
**Author:** ![Wallenstein](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b5a626/32.png) [@Wallenstein](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallenstein)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2011, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-accent-of-english-do-you-have/585394/98 "2011-06-15T12:04:03Z")
English RP but with a pervasive [estuary](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Estuary_English)influence on some words, and a flat fenland drawl on others. In formal settings it’s razor-sharp RP. ---
**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:** [June 15, 2011, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-accent-of-english-do-you-have/585394/99 "2011-06-15T13:00:47Z")
> [@ctnguy](#): > > I speak with what is allegedly a variant of the [Cultivated South African English](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_African_English) accent. It’s weird; despite living all my life in South Africa, by some quirk I’ve inherited a particularly “English” form of the accent, so that even some fellow South Africans ask if I’m from England originally. Ditto, down to the always being asked if I’m English. Same is true for most of my friends - did you go to any of SACS/Bishops/Rondebosch Boys/Wynberg Boys ? , They are mostly where I get it from, with a bit of conscious effort on my part to distance myself from any trace of Flats accent _shudder_ ---
**Author:** ![ctnguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@ctnguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ctnguy)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2011, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-accent-of-english-do-you-have/585394/100 "2011-06-15T13:47:01Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > Ditto, down to the always being asked if I’m English. > > Same is true for most of my friends - did you go to any of SACS/Bishops/Rondebosch Boys/Wynberg Boys ? , They are mostly where I get it from, with a bit of conscious effort on my part to distance myself from any trace of Flats accent _shudder_ I went to St George’s (in Mowbray), which is I suppose part of that same Southern Suburbs milieu, so it’s possible that I picked up some of the accent there, though my accent was occasionally commented on as unusual there as well. It may also be to do with my father, though: people say I sound very much like him. As a child he lived in Lourenço Marques (as it then was), so perhaps without so many South Africanising influences, and then he went for high school to Rondebosch Boys. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-accent-of-english-do-you-have/585394.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-accent-of-english-do-you-have/585394.md?page=6)