Poll: English/ British?

[Continuity]

As an American who's never met someone from the U.K., and I've been having trouble lately deciding whether to refer to it as an english accent or a british accent. Which one do you tend to say?

That depends very much on whether the person you're describing considers themselves to be "English" or "British", these days most British citizens born in England consider themselves English rather than British, mainly because the empire collapsed and the rest of the union despise the English.
I however consider myself to be British first and foremost as I'm a 4th generation child of the Empire, my father was born in India and my great grandfather went to India as part of the British Raj government.

Besides, if we have ever had such a thing as a national accent/dialect it would be BBC English or Queens English, which is what was spoken though the Empire and taught in public schools.

As England itself doesn't have a definitive accent i would say that "British accent" would be more accurate, where British would refer to the Empire rather than the isles as such.

 

[Red Right Hand]

Also, as to your other point, is it really that hard to tell the difference between Scottish, English, Irish and Welsh accents? Maybe it is because i've lived in Britain my whole life, however, the difference between all of the accents is like night and day for me.

Well, I don't have an issue with differentiating between them, though the Welsh I don't hear often, and at the moment cannot even remember what it sounds like. However, some people will call a Scott Irish, and vice versa.

Can you tell the difference between a Brooklyn accent and a Queens accent? Boston accent? Seriously, it gets crazy. The situation between our States, and your Countries is not that dissimilar, really. Every state has their own accents, and withing, accents on those accents.

My main point here is that I don't have a problem with people calling my accent Scottish. I don't have any issue if they don't recognise that i'm a glaswegian rather than just a Scot. However, I don't like people saying that I have a British accent because it's not the accent of my own country.

Don't get me wrong, i'm not saying that all accents in america should be referred to as just "the American accent". I just think that, there still is an American accent, because that is the accent of one country. Whereas the British accent is the accent of 4 countries so it doesn't really work.

EDIT: I do understand that there are many different accents and dialects in the states, its just that all of those accents are still a part of the American accent.

 

[PAGEToap44]

I'm Scottish, and whenever I talk to people from outwith the UK they make sure to note my Scottish accent, not British. If someone mentions you've got a British accent, chances are you're from the south of England, which is only a quarter of the UK roughly. I was talking to an American friend with another friend from the outskirts of London, and it annoyed me to no end that she kept referring to him as British but me as Scottish. It's like calling someone from Alabama American, but some one from Texas Texan and implying he is therefore not American. That's not the best example but it proves my point.

So I'd go for the more geographically accurate English accent.

The above is a good guide for foreigners. Many British people tend to be really touchy about their accents, myself included. I'm Scottish and if someone calls me English I can't restrain myself from correcting them. I find it rather offensive, I shouldn't, but I do.

 

[CharrHawk164]

English please =] Do people think the English accent is attractive?

 

[BlueberryMUNCH]

There is no 'British' accent; for such a small island we cane a massive array of different accents..

 

[Zykon TheLich]

You see, here in Ireland we refuse to use the term "British Isles" in the Dail. It's considered something of an insult, for reasons I'm sure you can understand.

You can refuse to use the term all you wan't, and I understand why, but that's what they're called.

 

[bobknowsall]

You see, here in Ireland we refuse to use the term "British Isles" in the Dail. It's considered something of an insult, for reasons I'm sure you can understand.

You can refuse to use the term all you wan't, and I understand why, but that's what they're called.

Well, I did specifically say "in the Dail". That's not a linguistic tic, btw. It's our National Assembly.

And, you see, that's where we run into a little problem. You could call them "England and Ireland", you could call them "these islands", which is what they're called in official documentation, or you could call them the "Anglo-Celtic Islands" if you were feeling fancy.

Or, even more intelligently, they could be called the "British-Irish Isles", which would eliminate the problem entirely. Hmm?

 

[baddude1337]

English, but even then there are loads of accents in the UK. For example, being from Devon I sometimes speak a bit like a country bumpkin farmer, whereas Londoners have distinct cockney city accents.

 

[Zykon TheLich]

And, you see, that's where we run into a little problem. You could call them "England and Ireland", you could call them "these islands", which is what they're called in official documentation, or you could call them the "Anglo-Celtic Islands" if you were feeling fancy.

Or, even more intelligently, they could be called the "British-Irish Isles", which would eliminate the problem entirely. Hmm?

Why would I do that? They've been the British Isles since the Romans were around.

No matter how much I may or may not want to be part of the EU, England and the rest of the British Isles are part of Europe. When I am refering to Europe as a whole I say "Europe", not "England and Europe".

 

[Section Crow]

is there such thing as a british accent?

isn't that just when americans can't depict that a "british" accent is either a english,irish,welsh or scottish accent?

 

[CarpathianMuffin]

I say British. Though it covers a wider spectrum than saying an English accent would.

 

[IndianaJonny]

It's not really a question of one or the other as they refer to different things.

Refering to a 'British' accent is like refering to a 'North American' accent, it's rather vague and, if anything, unhelpful.

An 'English' accent can be used as a catch-all term although our neighbours, Scotland, (N.)Ireland & Wales, will rightfully remind you that their own linguistic idiosyncrasies do not constitute an 'English' accent.

Even when applied to English nationals the term 'English' accent is still far from ideal for, as with virtually every other nation, regional accents can make the idea of a single 'English' accent an untenable concept.

 

[Kortney]

As an American who's never met someone from the U.K., and I've been having trouble lately deciding whether to refer to it as an english accent or a british accent. Which one do you tend to say?

No such thing as either. Britian consists of Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales and England. Four countries that have completely different accents. And within these countries there are many more accents. There isn't a "British" accent and there isn't an "English" accent.

Have a look a this : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dABo_DCIdpM

That guy is pretty talented and goes through very few of the accents in the UK, but enough to give you an idea. Please have a listen.

 

[Lukeje]

Britian consists of Northern Ireland, ...

No. Northern Ireland is part of ``Great Britain and Northern Ireland''.

 

[technoted]

Well, there's no such thing as an English accent, it may be a small country but the diversity amongst accents is huge.

 

[Kortney]

Britian consists of Northern Ireland, ...

No. Northern Ireland is part of ``Great Britain and Northern Ireland''.

Nope. If I said "Great Britain" consists of that, you'd have a point. But I said "Britain". Britain is a very commonly used synonym for the UK.

From wiki:

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland[note 7] (commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK, or Britain)

It's common speech. Don't nitpick

 

[PhoenixBlade]

I'm from England (Liverpool) and I'll take English or Scouse (the term for the Liverpool accent)
Like most people have said before me, people prefair to be called by there local dialect.
As long as you don't call someone welsh you'l be fine.

 

[thirdsonsaburo]

Every region has a different accent. There are multiple accents within individual cities.

What you think of as an "English" accent is likely the stereotypical London accent.

 

[Iggy Rufflebar]

no one really cares for the Welsh[footnote]This is just a joke for demonstrative purposes, I swear.[/footnote].

British covers more area, so you're less likely to piss off the Welsh

I'm welsh and it's time to raaaaageeeeee!!


but meh, British is technically the correct term to cover everyone from the British isles as it's all apart of Britain *ok technically only the north of Ireland so they're Irish*


On a slightly unrelated note, I hate you empire:total war for stating Wales doesn't exist there's only more England!

 

[Redlin5_v1legacy]

English accent. Never ever heard of a British accent.