You know which accent I mean. Technically it’s the one I have, though a combination of self-doubt and inside knowledge suggests that my own accent isn’t quite the one people dig.
I am talking of course of the ‘English Accent’.
There are of course many dialects within England and Britain that vary wildly. By way of an illustration I will tell you that I once knew someone from the north-east (I’m from the north-west) whom I could barely understand. If I was lucky I could pick out a few words from his ramblings and have a loose guess at what he was saying. I will concede that I suspect the guy had learning difficulties. But the bits of his speech that I didn’t understand were definitely very much north-eastern (or ‘Geordie’) in the way they sounded.
My particular dialect is ‘woolyback’ which is a 'scouser’s way of refering to those in the north-west that are not from Liverpool. In other words I have a woolyback accent, not an ‘English’ accent. Or maybe not. Maybe I’m sophisticated enough to posess a rather more generalized educated accent. I mean no big-headedness by saying that. I genuinely suspect that my dialect/accent is not that of a typical Accringtonian.
I digress. Why do the non-english english speaking dig the way the english speak?
Usually it sounds intelligent and charming in a whimsical way. In the Midwest I think I’ve known one British person in my entire life. It’s like finding an exotic species or a leprechaun.
It doesn’t actually matter what kind of an accent you have, as long as it’s one from far away. Most Americans can’t tell the difference very well anyway and/or don’t care much–while I can certainly hear the difference between a Cockney accent and a posh one, they are equally neat to American ears. (We don’t know much about class differences and care less.)
It isn’t just the English accents–pretty much any one will do. You’re making me remember my senior year in high school; we had a whole batch of European exchange students and their accents were considered very attractive, though the Basque guy was definitely cutest.
All that matters is that the accent isn’t American or south Canadian, that the person is fairly fluent in English, and that it is understandable to American ears. So you’re golden.
I say that as both a friend of people who like “accents” and a guy who tends to feel the same way about females’ accents.
Isn’t it mainly North Americans you’re talking about? I don’t think the Irish, Scots and Welsh are particularly enthralled by the way you speak. Dunno about the antipodeans.
I tease my boyfriend by telling him that I’m only dating him because of his accent (he’s from Belfast). I particularly love his vowels - most people pronounce my name HAY-zel but he says something closer to heh-zl. And he says “och”. I thought people only said that in books.
While the English accent is normally pleasant there are ocassions where it just grates on me.
Having a toddler at home I often have to listen to english children’s programs like Angelina Ballerina and Kipper the Dog. I…can…not…stand those voices.
I think it is mainly just the exotic and far away factor that people mentioned. I grew up in the Deep South with a very strong Southern accent but lost most of it as I moved around so that mine is mostly American neutral now. I live in the Boston area which is very much the non-south but I can revert back to some of my Southern accent if I want to gain attention or to charm someone. When my family flies up, they get tons of attention because they still have theirs.
Accents are very important to me. I don’t want to be around someone with an unattractive one. I could go for a nice English girl but Irish might even be better. An Australian would do in a pinch as well.
Lobsang, do you find American and Canadian girls hot because of their accent?
It’s different enough to be charming and pleasing to an American, but not so different (usually) as to be hard to understand. Anyone who’s seen Hogan’s Heroes or any of a zillion war movies will also associate it with our gallant bygone allies against the Hun and be predisposed to like whoever speaks that way.
I don’t think the fact they’re grating is their accents. I’m english and I find the way presenters of childrens TV talk grating also.
I do like American accents, but there are specific examples (such as high-pitched Teen) that might get on my nerves if I hear them too much.
:: nods ::
English, Australian, Hungarian, Indian… all sorts of accents are sexy… because they’re different.
I, too, am curious about this. I wonder whether mere difference makes the difference, so to speak, or whether some features of voice and accent are objectively more attractive. We had some threads featuring vocal samples of various posters, and it was interesting to compare.