What is it with the British accent?

[Continuity]

Considering just how many different accents there are in Britain, this question is relatively meaningless, except to raise the question of what recording examples of all known accents from Britain and digitally collating them into one voice would sound like.

Well of course there is BBC English, which is the closet thing we have to a standard. Though its not so consistent these days as a lot of local shows have presenters with local accents, plus there has been something of a boom in media popularity of welsh, Northern Irish, and Scottish accents in the last few years.

You say typical but I've never met anyone who speaks like that. I don't think there is a typical British accent.

Once again I'd have to say BBC English, that at least has contributed to the overseas view of the British accent.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Received_Pronunciation

 

[No_Remainders]

I could just as easily say "What is it with the Irish accent?"
One of my English friends says that it's the most eargasmic accent she's ever heard.
Apparently the English love it.

 

[Daverson]

There isn't really such a thing as a "British" accent, though. Or at least, not in the same way as, say, a French accent, which results from the language differences, so most people who speak French as their first language tend to have a similar way of speaking English. (not necessarily "getting it wrong", but tending towards grammatical structures that are more like the French ones)

 

[fates_puppet13]

i have a mixture of cockney, irish and northwestern accent
and i've noticed that it instantly attracts americans
therefor my only ligical explanation is that the have a thing for it
especially considering theres a whole country that can speak in a british accent that is to say be british and have an accent

 

[thenumberthirteen]

Hmm... Maybe I should move to America... And wear a monocle.

 

[Sebenko]

I'm from North Yorkshire and have a mix of the local northern accent and disgusting southerner accent.

The combination results in a smooth, trustworthy accent that would probably get me laid quite often if I was actually a likeable person.

 

[Squidden]

If I couldn't get Morgan Freeman or Seananners to read me the back of cereal boxes, I'd get a British guy. Just sayin'.

 

[Furious Styles]

I'm west country, but only mildly. I think I have a pleasant accent.

 

[ThreeWords]

Maybe it's just the novelty...

 

[Pariah87]

It's really difficult to describe your own accent, especially as in England they seem to change subtley every 20 miles or so. It all becomes very much a local thing, where how certain words are said show where you're from.

For example, I'm from Northampton and there are two or 3 towns within 15 miles that sort of share the accent here. There has been a slight mix in the last 50 years as the exodus from London to here meant that the population jumped from 50,000 to nearly 300,000, so you can even tell those who have purer accents and those that are mixed with London influences.

One of the nearby towns is called Kettering. Those with the local accent call it "Kettrin" or an area of town called Duston we call "Dusson". We then have a village nearby called Cogehoe, which we pronounce "Cookno". We miss out the middle of words aswell. British to us becomes "Bri'ish"

Even that, in America was found sexy, which is hard to believe because when it's strong it's the most vile accent ever on a girl. That is when they didn't think I was German -.-.

 

[The Unworthy Gentleman]

What I want to know is why people call a Southern accent a British accent but when it comes to a Welsh, Scottish or Irish accent it's not a British accent. I also want to know what defines a British accent. Come up North and you'll find that we rip the piss out of the way Southerners talk with their 'grahss' and their 'plahster'. You can't lump all accents together.

If I said to you 'throw your hammer over here' in my accent you would think I was speaking a foreign language. But if someone with a Southern accent said it, you'd know exactly what to do.

 

[Disaster Button]

I'm from Yorkshire, so I'm not proud of my accent. Whenever I talk to people from places like London, they act like I have an IQ of around 70 because I talk like a farmer from 'up north'.

I feel your pain, I'm from the North East and probably have a faint Geordie accent.

 

[dragonslayer32]

I doubt they would like my accent. I'm from Sunderland (North East) and have a very strong Mackem accent.

 

[Retroshotv1]

I'm from Yorkshire, so I'm not proud of my accent. Whenever I talk to people from places like London, they act like I have an IQ of around 70 because I talk like a farmer from 'up north'.

I feel your pain, I'm from the North East and probably have a faint Geordie accent.

I am from the midlands and there is about 4 different accents around here, plus i used to have a really bad yorkshire accent so i know what popadoo is going on about. The geordie accent is probably the most entertaining accent in England it brightens my day when I hear it

 

[TheRightToArmBears]

I live near Bristol in England and the people around here have fairly slight Bristolian/westcountry accents, but if you go into Bristol you hear some great ones. I'm from Southern Ireland, and funnily, despite the fact that we've been bombing you for the last forty years, the brits love the accent.

 

[Aidref]

Aussie accent is better

I second that motion. We're dead sexy aren't we?

I immediately read that post in his voice.

I'm Irish and have often been asked by americans if I'm ginger and happen to live at the end of a rainbow

 

[BlastedTheWorm]

Whenever they say British its some English accent, no one likes the welsh

At least they don't think you're Irish...

 

[Squidden]

I'm west country, but only mildly. I think I have a pleasant accent.

West Britain or West North America?

West North Americans (Not too Western, mind you) have pretty good accents.

 

[Alleged Despair]

I don't know why; they just are cool. As a guy I find girls with a British accent attractive as well.