Poll: Upper-class English accents... your views, please

[Sparrow]

I hate it. Americans use it as a stereotype for English people when about one in everyone million freaking English people actually talk like it, which means that any American I've ever met goes "You're not British. British people don't talk like that."

 

[The Stonker]

Well I speak with a upper class English accent but not in the snob way, but the Stephen Fry way.
I've even had girls and women telling me to whisper in their ear....weird.

 

[LiquidGrape]

You had me at "Stephen Fry" [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVRODdXVI3Q].

 

[MartianWarMachine]

Most people don't like their voices when they're played back to them from a recording.

Yeah, so I have noticed. But I would rather have Microsoft Sam for a voice than the monotonous drolling I currently have.

I feel the exact same way man.


Could you give us a video clip of a high upper class english accent? I don't think i've heard it before

I'm afraid I don't have a video clip for you, but I'm sure that there are plenty of them all over Youtube.

Its martian is'nt it?

I'm afraid I couldn't say, as I have no idea what Martians sound like. They could easily be just as diverse as the various species' that populate this planet.

 

[wolf thing]

i Scottish so any thing english pisses me off.

im joking. its okay but i hear it a lot because of the bbc.

 

[Sticky Squid]

I tend to adopt the accent whilst making a speech or putting something forward as it seems to make people pay more attention.

 

[Charli]

I speak like that and if people don't like it they can kiss my upper-class pasty British arse.

 

[Wondermint13]

I moved to a different country after perfecting my English to a somewhat upper class style.
Now I am at both ends of the scale, Either I'm loved for being 100% authentic British. Or I'm seen as that stereotypical English twat.

Joy O' Joy

 

[The_Fezz]

Being Northern I can't stand it, UNLESS it's Stephen Fry...

 

[Eatbrainz]

Very, very few people can have an upper-class accent without gaining the label of Posh Wanker.

Reminds me of something Ed Byrne once said; "If you tie a jumper around your waist, it's neither working, middle or higher class. If you take that same jumper and tie it around your shoulders: Instant posh twat!"

 

[silent-treatment]

Merh I live in California so its not very often that I hear a British accent, let alone really have the ability to pick out what specific area you are from. One of my Dad's partners grew up in Liverpool, so i have some experience with that sort of accent.
Im sure I have a cali accent ( which is really just minor vocal inflections and copious use of the word "like")

I hate it. Americans use it as a stereotype for English people when about one in everyone million freaking English people actually talk like it, which means that any American I've ever met goes "You're not British. British people don't talk like that."

wow the Americans that you meet suck.

 

[bobdonkey]

As an East-Midlands English speaker, it pisses me off. Grr....

 

[Lionsfan]

I don't know the different British accents, like I know sound differences but I don't know areas. But I find almost any British accent pretty hot so that's my views on it.

I myself have no accent, so I cannot attest to what it is like to be looked down upon due to them.

You definitely have an accent. Everyone does

 

[Tipsy Giant]

As a West Country Englishmen, I hate the posh boy accent and it brings up issues of entitlement and beurocracy, so I hate it and it makes me Mad GRRRRR

 

[AngloDoom]

Meh. After doing a few video projects with people I know, I realised I sound somewhat like that kind of accent too.

Honestly, I wish I didn't, but it seems to win over some people. It just makes people more likely to hit me in the face too.

I would kill for an accent like that. ANY accent, in fact. I've heard myself, and it makes me want to tear out my vocal chords.

What accent is it that you have?

I have no accent whatsoever. Well, I have been told that it's slightly Scottish, but I can't hear it.

Everyone has an accent. It's impossible not to have one, it's just the way you speak. You said it yourself, slightly Scottish.

Eh idk about that...my area has been acclaimed for having near zero accent at all, thats why most spanish immigrants come to our area because we speak (american) english exactly as it is to be spoken, with zero accent of it all. I'm sure to southerners/northerners we sound odd, but we speak the most clear basic english out there (i really wish i could find the source but it was in a couple of magazines a couple years back)

OT: eh..we have some english students here for the year, and a couple of them have some heavy accents, but it doesn't bug me..well besides one guy, but he's a cocky douchebag, nothing to do with his accent.

so overall, its fine (to me at least)

The accent certainly helps someone sound more cocky. Hence I try and sound as humble as possible in a debate since I naturally sound like I'm teabagging you whilst I validate my point.

Also, I was under the impression that every voice is an accent. Speaking English as it was created has a term for it: it England it's 'the Queen's English' and there is probably some kind of variation for where you are. People seem to think that 'accent' is a way of saying there is a variation that changes some kind of 'norm' in pronunciation. I thought that every voice is a form of pronunciation: just coming from America or England gives you an American or English accent, even though each country has wild degrees of variance in the way they go about saying things.

 

[The Man With the Soap]

My fellow Escapists...

I'm British, and naturally speak English with quite a high-class accent, but for some reason, it doesn't really sit well with a lot of people I come across. So, over time, I've developed a knack for speaking with an East London/deep-Essex accent. But was that the right thing to do?

So, I ask you: what is your opinion of people who speak 'Queen's English' or like George Osborne (for non-Brits, he's the Chancellor of the Exchequer and is due to inherit a Barony or Baronetcy along with a massive amount of money, so he's a popular hate figure over here).

And then, what do you think of the stereotypical Stephen Fry accent?

A penny for your thoughts and I'd rather there was no change.

You should try speaking with a nice Southern drawl.

 

[VaudevillianVeteran]

I've developed a bit of an upper-class accent which makes no sense considering my mainly Cockney upbringing, but it's just something I can't help. I was called posh a lot because of it, but that's it.

 

[aenimau5]

I speak like that which is strange because i only lived in england till i was four, and that was in Newcastle.

 

[Eumersian]

I try a number of accents to mess with people in public. I managed to convince the whole of Busch Gardens in Virginia that I was Scottish. But I've never tried an upper class accent, unless maybe I was quoting a Monty Python skit (assuming that's the accent).

I'm rather indifferent towards them. They're certainly not as bad as the Connecticut Clench (or Boston Brahmin, whatever) but can sound arrogant and lame if used improperly. I myself, have a "nothing" accent as I call it. Many people call it "neutral", but I call it "nothing" because it's funnier. Perhaps that's why I like to do accents, since I don't really have one in the first place.

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

Meh. After doing a few video projects with people I know, I realised I sound somewhat like that kind of accent too.

Honestly, I wish I didn't, but it seems to win over some people. It just makes people more likely to hit me in the face too.

I would kill for an accent like that. ANY accent, in fact. I've heard myself, and it makes me want to tear out my vocal chords.

What accent is it that you have?

I have no accent whatsoever. Well, I have been told that it's slightly Scottish, but I can't hear it.

Everyone has an accent. It's impossible not to have one, it's just the way you speak. You said it yourself, slightly Scottish.

Eh idk about that...my area has been acclaimed for having near zero accent at all, thats why most spanish immigrants come to our area because we speak (american) english exactly as it is to be spoken, with zero accent of it all. I'm sure to southerners/northerners we sound odd, but we speak the most clear basic english out there (i really wish i could find the source but it was in a couple of magazines a couple years back)

OT: eh..we have some english students here for the year, and a couple of them have some heavy accents, but it doesn't bug me..well besides one guy, but he's a cocky douchebag, nothing to do with his accent.

so overall, its fine (to me at least)

The accent certainly helps someone sound more cocky. Hence I try and sound as humble as possible in a debate since I naturally sound like I'm teabagging you whilst I validate my point.

Also, I was under the impression that every voice is an accent. Speaking English as it was created has a term for it: it England it's 'the Queen's English' and there is probably some kind of variation for where you are. People seem to think that 'accent' is a way of saying there is a variation that changes some kind of 'norm' in pronunciation. I thought that every voice is a form of pronunciation: just coming from America or England gives you an American or English accent, even though each country has wild degrees of variance in the way they go about saying things.

haha oh no this guy really is a tool, like i said the other english guys i'm fine with, accents actually make you seem more friendly in my eyes, idk why but just does i suppose.

but yeah i get what your saying, and our "accent" from my area, is basically what they use for tapes/school videos, where the bland white person in the background is going "H is for Honey!" or "A is for apple!"

oh and i did find a link actually i suppose

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midwestern_United_States#Linguistic_characteristics

it even mentions my city surprisingly in there.