# What is it about Scottish accents, anyway? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 13, 2003, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it-about-scottish-accents-anyway/148285 "2003-01-13T13:41:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2003, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it-about-scottish-accents-anyway/148285/1 "2003-01-13T13:41:14Z")
I was watching a show on the History Channel last night about the true story of Braveheart. They had some Scottish historians, and I was reminded once again how the burr of a Scottish accent makes my knees wobble. I want to run for the nearest phone book, flip to the R section, and have them start reading aloud. (The fact that one of the historians was wearing a kilt didn’t hurt, either ;)) Do Scottish accents make you melt? What is it about the cadence, the accent, the brogue, that makes us melt at a Scotsman’s feet, ready to do his will? Or is it just those of us with an Anglo-Saxon heritage? Do those of you with other backgrounds (Asian, perhaps) find Scottish accents just as toe-curling? Or do other brogues strike you as sexy? ---
**Author:** ![Mith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e36b37/32.png) [@Mith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mith)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2003, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it-about-scottish-accents-anyway/148285/2 "2003-01-13T13:53:38Z")
They make me melt and then some. Rob Roy, hell yeah. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Clawman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e47c2d/32.png) [@The\_Clawman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Clawman)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2003, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it-about-scottish-accents-anyway/148285/3 "2003-01-13T13:56:49Z")
**ivylass** , **Mith** so how arrrre yooou twoo dooin’? Actually I’ve got one of those really guttural Central Belt accents that is incomprehensible to furriners. It’s been mistaken for German on a few occasions! ---
**Author:** ![Celyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9dc877/32.png) [@Celyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celyn)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2003, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it-about-scottish-accents-anyway/148285/4 "2003-01-13T14:00:43Z")
Incidentally - why the “R” section? Anyway - being Scottish myself, some Scottish accents are great, some not - just like other accents I suppose. And then of course, Irish accents…🙂 and Welsh…🙂 I could export my brother to you if that would help? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Crusoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/49beb7/32.png) [@Crusoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crusoe)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2003, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it-about-scottish-accents-anyway/148285/5 "2003-01-13T14:03:31Z")
Yep. I like a nice soft Edinburgh lilt, but some of those rough council estate versions are as bad as anything else. I think, particularly to non-Britons, that the romance of the place and its history makes the accents seem more appealing. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Clawman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e47c2d/32.png) [@The\_Clawman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Clawman)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2003, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it-about-scottish-accents-anyway/148285/6 "2003-01-13T14:09:23Z")
The sweetest accent to me is the one people who live in and around Inverness have. Very lilting and sing-songy (but not as up and down as Welsh, say), and very clear pronunciation. And few if any glottal stops. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2003, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it-about-scottish-accents-anyway/148285/7 "2003-01-13T14:18:16Z")
All the Irish lasses I know go gooey for Scottish accents. An UL in Dublin says that unplanned pregnancies rise significantly every time Scotland are over here to play rugby. I find an Edinburgh or Highlands accent very fetching on a lady, too. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2003, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it-about-scottish-accents-anyway/148285/8 "2003-01-13T14:18:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Celyn \* > \*\*Incidentally - why the “R” section? > > \*\* Cuz of all the rolling of the R’s…brrrrrread and butter, that type thing. Ooooh…I’m getting all shivery! ---
**Author:** ![Celyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9dc877/32.png) [@Celyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celyn)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2003, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it-about-scottish-accents-anyway/148285/9 "2003-01-13T14:21:20Z")
I suppose it is a bit cynical of me to see a slight pun in this "rolling of the "R"s? :):)🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Siemsi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b19c9b/32.png) [@Siemsi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siemsi)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2003, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it-about-scottish-accents-anyway/148285/10 "2003-01-13T14:23:46Z")
OH yea. Sexy Scottish accents. \*_ **melt, quiver, swoon** _ LOVE men who wear kilts. **drool** \*\* ---
**Author:** ![flodnak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/838e76/32.png) [@flodnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flodnak)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2003, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it-about-scottish-accents-anyway/148285/11 "2003-01-13T15:00:25Z")
A Scottish accent makes you think of guys in kilts. Guys in kilts are, by definition, sexy. Therefore, by association, Scottish accents are sexy. QED. ---
**Author:** ![NurseCarmen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5daacb/32.png) [@NurseCarmen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NurseCarmen)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2003, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it-about-scottish-accents-anyway/148285/12 "2003-01-13T15:05:56Z")
Scottish females make me drool. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2003, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it-about-scottish-accents-anyway/148285/13 "2003-01-13T15:13:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by NurseCarmen \* > \*\*Scottish females make me drool. \*\* Do a Google search for Gail Porter. It will make you happy. ---
**Author:** ![Kilt-wearin\_man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/82dd89/32.png) [@Kilt-wearin\_man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kilt-wearin_man)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2003, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it-about-scottish-accents-anyway/148285/14 "2003-01-13T15:15:37Z")
I have a definite weakness for women with Scottish and Irish accents…particularly a pleasant voice with a Highland accent… And my wife has a friend who practically starts panting when I do my Sean Connery impression…especially if I happen to be wearing my kilt at the time… ---
**Author:** ![The\_Clawman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e47c2d/32.png) [@The\_Clawman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Clawman)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2003, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it-about-scottish-accents-anyway/148285/15 "2003-01-13T15:15:44Z")
Or better still try searching for Kirsty Gallagher. ---
**Author:** ![Fretful\_Porpentine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fretful_porpentine/32/2873_2.png) [@Fretful\_Porpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fretful_Porpentine)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2003, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it-about-scottish-accents-anyway/148285/16 "2003-01-13T15:29:50Z")
Pretty much _any_ strongly marked British regional accent is dead sexy, as far as I’m concerned; I don’t discriminate between English and Scottish. Unfortunately, they are _all_ few and far between in North Carolina. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2003, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it-about-scottish-accents-anyway/148285/17 "2003-01-13T15:44:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by The Clawman \* > \*\*Or better still try searching for Kirsty Gallagher. \*\* Despite her other superb attributes, she doesn’t really have a Scottish accent, though, does she? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Clawman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e47c2d/32.png) [@The\_Clawman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Clawman)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2003, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it-about-scottish-accents-anyway/148285/18 "2003-01-13T15:57:19Z")
Eh, that’s actually a pretty good point **jjimm**! I’ll get me coat. ---
**Author:** ![Royal\_Berk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c37758/32.png) [@Royal\_Berk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Royal_Berk)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2003, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it-about-scottish-accents-anyway/148285/19 "2003-01-13T16:13:07Z")
There’s a world of difference between the Edinburgh refined ‘prime of Miss Jean Brodie’ voice, which is internatioanlly acceptable, and the mucher rougher Aberdonian voice, which even other Scots have suggested should be sub-titled. But then most American voices sound the same over this side of the pond. Which annoys the hell out of Canadians. ---
**Author:** ![cart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3ec8ea/32.png) [@cart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cart)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2003, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it-about-scottish-accents-anyway/148285/20 "2003-01-13T16:28:28Z")
Yes, I find Scottish accents attractive. American ones too. Cunningly I choose to live hundreds/thousands of miles away from where I might hear either on a regular basis. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it-about-scottish-accents-anyway/148285.md?page=2)