# What accents do you like or dislike? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 16, 2000, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-accents-do-you-like-or-dislike/37097 "2000-10-16T07:09:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Skribbler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Skribbler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skribbler)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2000, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-accents-do-you-like-or-dislike/37097/1 "2000-10-16T07:09:34Z")
Do you have any accents that you hear which annoy you? Some that just set your teeth on edge no matter how fine or nice the person is? Some you simply adore? That you can listen to all day? I do. Southern Honey from the Plantation Lands of the Deep South can send me running from the room, ya’ll. A strong Texas accent (usually followed by attitude) irritates me. A Minnesota accent, with statements ending on high notes and ‘oh ya’ being used a lot is interesting but gets old fast. Cajun accents make me want to hurl. Jamaican accents set my teeth on edge, Mon. The ‘boyz of da hood’ accents make me want to punch them. A heavy Black accent I find irritating. Middle Eastern accents annoy me. Boston accents make me want to punch people. The Irish accent gets a bit tiresome after a bit. Heavy Jewish accents, after a while, gibe me the urge to chew carriage bolts. African accents bug me. Russian accents make me want to grind my teeth. I love Brooklyn accents. I like New York accents. I get a kick out of Valley Girl accents. I like both types of British accents. I can listen to a Scott talk all day. I get a charge out of Australian accents. French accents are cool, especially with the young girls. Japanese accents are OK. Chinese accents are fine. Middle US accents are pleasant. Most Canadian accents are fine, even pleasant, but there is one where the word/term/whatever called ‘hooskerdoo’ is used that just drives me up a wall. ---
**Author:** ![Tansu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/67e7ee/32.png) [@Tansu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tansu)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2000, 10:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-accents-do-you-like-or-dislike/37097/2 "2000-10-16T10:04:45Z")
> [@](#): > > I like both types of British accents. Which two types would those be? And what’s a “Black” accent when it’s at home? Y’know, Skribbler, you remind me of someone. Or is that several people? No, it’s just one person. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2000, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-accents-do-you-like-or-dislike/37097/3 "2000-10-16T13:18:42Z")
Moderators? ---
**Author:** ![manhattan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manhattan/32/7_2.png) [@manhattan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manhattan)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2000, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-accents-do-you-like-or-dislike/37097/4 "2000-10-16T13:36:13Z")
Off to IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![TwistofFate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@TwistofFate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwistofFate)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2000, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-accents-do-you-like-or-dislike/37097/5 "2000-10-16T13:48:48Z")
off to coventry, more like. ---
**Author:** ![Crunchy\_Frog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ebca7d/32.png) [@Crunchy\_Frog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crunchy_Frog)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2000, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-accents-do-you-like-or-dislike/37097/6 "2000-10-16T14:10:14Z")
Unlike other Robin Hoods, I can speak with both English accents. :rolleyes: And what kind of accent does con- I mean Jeb- I mean jay- I mean Skribbler speak with? ---
**Author:** ![struuter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b9e5f3/32.png) [@struuter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/struuter)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2000, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-accents-do-you-like-or-dislike/37097/7 "2000-10-16T14:16:40Z")
Hmmmm. Interesting question. And certainly interestingly put… I suppose people have their own…_ahem_ preferences…but in my (humble) experience, I’ve discovered that WHAT a person says is more expressive than his/her accent. For instance, what you wrote in your OP tells a lot about you…with or without an accent. ---
**Author:** ![pldennison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9fc29f/32.png) [@pldennison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pldennison)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2000, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-accents-do-you-like-or-dislike/37097/8 "2000-10-16T14:26:08Z")
Gee, how amazing–I guessed _before even opening the thread_ that Mark “Skribbler the Sentinel” Serlin would find the “black” (or, in Serlin-speak, the capitalized “Black”) accents annoying. I bet people **really** care if their accent annoys you. Every single day, people around the world wake up thinking, “Golly, I hope the speech patterns of the language of my birth do not make things uncomfortable for Mark Serlin today.” :wally ---
**Author:** ![Crunchy\_Frog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ebca7d/32.png) [@Crunchy\_Frog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crunchy_Frog)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2000, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-accents-do-you-like-or-dislike/37097/9 "2000-10-16T14:32:27Z")
Damn, I got my :wally 's confused. ---
**Author:** ![Archer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@Archer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Archer)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2000, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-accents-do-you-like-or-dislike/37097/10 "2000-10-16T14:41:54Z")
Makes a mental not to never speak around Skribbler. ---
**Author:** ![andyman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8491ac/32.png) [@andyman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andyman)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2000, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-accents-do-you-like-or-dislike/37097/11 "2000-10-16T15:18:48Z")
> [@](#): > > Cajun accents make me want to hurl. I resemble that remark! ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2000, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-accents-do-you-like-or-dislike/37097/12 "2000-10-16T15:21:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Skribbler \* > **The ‘boyz of da hood’ accents make me want to punch them.** I’m sure tha bruthas wouldn’t mind kicking your ass either, **Serlin**. ---
**Author:** ![Skribbler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Skribbler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skribbler)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2000, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-accents-do-you-like-or-dislike/37097/13 "2000-10-16T18:57:47Z")
[http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=40102](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=40102) [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=40374](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=40374) Coldfire: > [@](#): > > How about when people say “axe” instead of “ask”? (Found in this peachy post - [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=41569](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=41569) ) Hmmm. There’s various posts mentioning/complaining of/making fun of accents. Posts making derogatory comments concerning ‘gang-speak,’ inner city ‘dialect’ and so on. pldennison: > [@](#): > > capitalized “Black”) accents annoying SFB, did you happen to notice that Texas, Minnesota, Irish, and all other indicators were capitalized also? That kind of would suggest that Blacks are not being singled out, wouldn’t it? Tansu: Both British accents = the very proper one, used most by those of high status, then the average ‘Cockney’ one. Black accent: Even Blacks poke fun at other Blacks using the butchered up street-speak. ‘ax a question,’ ‘don’t be dissin’ me,’ ‘we be there,’ ‘who you?’ verses any regional dialect. (I suppose commenting on the very things Blacks comment about on BET and Black Comedy shows is unacceptable as I’m White. The dialect/accent Ebonics was designed for.) Note: Like, there **have not** been any stand up comics making fun of most, if not all, of the accents I’ve mentioned, often imitating them. No one **here** has ever expressed annoyance with a strong New York accent!! Entertainers have **never** made\*\* fun of Jewish accents. Blacks have **not** made fun of White accents. (If you believe that, you people must be living in holes in the ground.) My accent? A cross between Yankee and Cracker. As to who I am, I’ve been accused of being 4 different people now and it’s not worth responding to. Anyone who expresses something beyond a ‘milk soft’ opinion here is always accused of being ‘someone else.’ The history of this board has shown that whoever is accused remains under suspicion forever no matter what defense they produce. After reading the past battles over this for over a year prior to signing on, I’ve learned that protests are useless, usually degrade into insults, which range from questions/slander about the accuseds sexuality to intelligence, morality and statements of various forms of bigotry. Then it gets tossed into the pit. If the accused defends him/herself, everything is ignored, twisted, ridiculed, taken out of context and he/she gets cursed at. He/she is demanded to dredge up proof of any statements he/she made concerning things probably read 20 years ago and sneered at if he/she can’t. If he/she does, the references are ripped apart, denied, ridiculed and the harassment continues. If he/she declines to participate in the mass pit stomp, he/she is accused by triumphant posters as being who they claim because he/she is silent – not that he/she has a snowballs chance in a hot oven of making a successful defense against people unwilling to accept it. Then they congratulate each other and take bows for performing like a drunken mob, preferring not to consider the potential for having attacked the wrong person, stroke each other for being intellectual superiors and generally fine fellows all. So, this is my first and only response. Savor it. Refer back to it. Coddle it like a revered manuscript. Use it as my automatic reply to any further accusations or insults. Post it for me in reply to any derogatory condemnation made by such individuals. ---
**Author:** ![Crusoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/49beb7/32.png) [@Crusoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crusoe)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2000, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-accents-do-you-like-or-dislike/37097/14 "2000-10-16T19:08:56Z")
There are far more than two British accents (well, you can broadly differentiate between English, Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish for a start). Cockney is a minority accent in the east end of London only; “the Queen’s English” is also not that common to most people. English people from Manchester, Leeds, Newcastle, Birmingham, Bristol, Plymouth, Guildford and Southend would (generally speaking) all sound different. Scots from Glasgow, from Edinburgh and from Aberdeen sound different too. ---
**Author:** ![pldennison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9fc29f/32.png) [@pldennison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pldennison)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2000, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-accents-do-you-like-or-dislike/37097/15 "2000-10-16T19:11:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Skribbler \* > \*\*pldennison: > > > [@](#): > > > > capitalized “Black”) accents annoying > > SFB, did you happen to notice that Texas, Minnesota, Irish, and all other indicators were capitalized also? That kind of would suggest that Blacks are not being singled out, wouldn’t it? > \*\* Great. Show me “Black” or “Blackland” on a map, doofus. Texas, Minnesota, and Ireland are **proper nouns**. You know, place names? So where is “Black”? > [@](#): > > Tansu: > Both British accents = the very proper one, used most by those of high status, then the average ‘Cockney’ one. “Hi, my name is Mark Serlin, and I know absolutely _nothing_ about regional dialects in the UK, and I’m proud of it!” So, wait–is Liverpudlian the same as Cockney? How about the way people in Birmingham talk–which one is that? > [@](#): > > As to who I am, I’ve been accused of being 4 different people now and it’s not worth responding to. Anyone who expresses something beyond a ‘milk soft’ opinion here is always accused of being ‘someone else.’ :rolleyes" Gee, this is remarkably similar to what FarTrekker said when he was accused of being Serlin. And what Serlin said when he was accused of being Sentinel. You know what the funny part is? FarTrekker **was** Serlin, and Serlin **was** Sentinel. But go ahead and continue to treat us like we’re stupid. All you do is make yourself look like a pathetic wastrel who, despite repeated bannings, keeps coming back as if anyone is interested in what he has to say. ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2000, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-accents-do-you-like-or-dislike/37097/16 "2000-10-16T20:28:36Z")
You know nothing about the Irish accent either. There are at least 4 different accents in Dublin alone. Each of the other 25 counties have their own variation. The difference between a Cavan accent and a Kerry accent is huge. As for the Serlin thing. Even if by some miracle you are not Kingputz you are so like the fool that it really doesn’t matter. ---
**Author:** ![Crispy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e47774/32.png) [@Crispy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crispy)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2000, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-accents-do-you-like-or-dislike/37097/17 "2000-10-16T21:19:44Z")
Have you actually heard all of these types of accents, or do you just go by what the movies sound like? I have never met a New Orleanian that sounds anything like an actor with a fake accent. That is the only type of accent that really bothers me: stereotypical and inaccurate. ---
**Author:** ![hypergirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/49beb7/32.png) [@hypergirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hypergirl)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2000, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-accents-do-you-like-or-dislike/37097/18 "2000-10-16T21:27:06Z")
I love the sounds of British accents, royal and cockney. I think that’s what he meant by “both kinds”. I can immitate both accents too. I also think that Australian and South African accents are sexy. ---
**Author:** ![racinchikki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@racinchikki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racinchikki)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2000, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-accents-do-you-like-or-dislike/37097/19 "2000-10-16T23:41:47Z")
Ok, to ignore all the controversy and just state my opinion. I love almost all brands of Southern accent. My favorite is the kind I’ve heard in south-central Virginia; my favorite word in that accent is “more” pronounced like “mo’”. I could sit all day listening to my Virginian cousin talking. While in Louisiana, however, I discovered an accent that even I had trouble deciphering. My sister says it’s just the way people talk down there (Slidell, outside of New Orleans). I can’t describe it. It was just odd. I mean, I’m the offical Accent Translator for my family (I can understand Ward Burton perfectly even when he’s angry; any NASCAR fan should understand that feat). I couldn’t grasp more than two words the first time the lady spoke to me. After a while I got the hang of it, but it still strikes me as unusual. I don’t dislike it per se, but it’s very, very different from the accents in Mississippi and other parts of Louisiana. New York City accents tend to bug me. For some reason, my automatic defense to the accent is to retreat into my own ersatz Southernism. (I have an upstate New York accent, which is pretty much the same as what you’ll hear the non-Joey people on Friends speaking with, with a few word-pronunciation differences; but I spend a lot of time in the South or with Southern people and I pick up the twang. It only comes out when I’m excited, angry or very very happy, though.) I haven’t heard a real Canadian accent in the longest time, but I love the way my formerly-Canadian coworker will say “eh” without realizing it. I’ve adopted that mannerism, too. Oh, and I once was hanging out with some boys from Maine and at one point they said “bitch” but made it almost two syllables – “bayitch”, only not so extreme of a “bay”. It was hilarious. I love that word. ---
**Author:** ![Skribbler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Skribbler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skribbler)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2000, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-accents-do-you-like-or-dislike/37097/20 "2000-10-16T23:51:24Z")
CRISPY: Yep. All of 'em. The first time I heard a person speak in New Orleans, it set my teeth on edge. I actually had trouble understanding them for the first few times. The Jamacian accent was interesting for a time, some years ago, until suddenly Regge became popular. I intensly dislike Regge and shortly after, it seems Jamacians were everywhere (White and Black). It got so I dislike the accent. yojimbo: I don’t give a hoot about the variations. I don’t dislike the accent, but find it to be tiresome. To save space, and time, I didn’t bother going into detale on each of the variations on each accent. BTW, SFB, I’ve the right to like or dislike that which I find annoying, such as yourself. Hypergirl has it right. To my untrained ear, I can detect 2 distinct variations in the British accents. Just like most non-British people who have not been there any length of time. That excludes lumping in all of the other various Irish and Scottish accents and variations from the United Kingdom. I also found the predominately White ‘Afrikans’ accent to be very annoying. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-accents-do-you-like-or-dislike/37097.md?page=2)