A Question about British English (Page 2): Yes, I've come across that, and I thought it was funny. To me, a southern accent is a southern accent. There are a couple of YouTube channels...

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

therwol wrote:

Probably more than you want to read but informative.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_American_English

By the way, I grew up in Alabama, and even there, people make fun of others with extreme southern accents.

Yes, I've come across that, and I thought it was funny. To me, a southern accent is a southern accent. There are a couple of YouTube channels about Appalachian accents.

Jack47 Loc: Ontario

dancers wrote:

down here.......we say Aitch.

Why not just say H. 😂😂😂

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

MadMikeOne wrote:

Newcastle, OMG! Newcastle. A few years ago, hubby & I were going through customs at Heathrow. The older customs agent didn't skip beat asking us if we were "taking an interpreter" when we told him our next stop was Newcastle. Since we'd been in Newcastle before, we immediately got his point. I speak a couple of languages in addition to (American) English, but Newcastleonian isn't one of them. It's just too hard to learn!

Many years ago, we went to the Isle of Wight, and the people there talked like we hear pirates taking in movies.

raymondh Loc: Walker, MI

How come the accent all but disappears in song?

alberio Loc: Casa Grande AZ

In Springdale Utah we have gotten bombarded with more tourists from other countries that we now understand what the story of the Tower of Babble was all about.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

alberio wrote:

In Springdale Utah we have gotten bombarded with more tourists from other countries that we now understand what the story of the Tower of Babble was all about.

I saw something on YouTube about that - lots of foreign tourists going there on group tours. I don't know if they were going to Springdale, but wherever they were going was really popular for foreign tours. I couldn't find that video.

Springdale -
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=goup+foreign+tours+in+springdale%2C+utah

Bloke Loc: Waynesboro, Pennsylvania

therwol wrote:

I've been all over England, Scotland and Ireland. I've heard many accents and pronunciations and also colloquialisms that don't transfer to other locations. Take "Geordie" in Newcastle. It almost qualifies as a dialect rather than an accent.

Ah, Geordieland... God's country. I have been in the US for more than 30 years, but people still say I talk funny... Course, when I go back for a visit, everyone thinks I talk 'merkin!

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Bloke wrote:

Ah, Geordieland... God's country. I have been in the US for more than 30 years, but people still say I talk funny... Course, when I go back for a visit, everyone thinks I talk 'merkin!

I've heard of that happening. People don't sound right on either side of the Atlantic.

Daryls Loc: Waco, TX

Growing up in Chicago in the 1950s' the nuns told us that we were the only ones who spoke English correctly. Everyone else in the country spoke with an accent! Their "rulers" made sure we spoke correctly.

Daryl

alberio Loc: Casa Grande AZ

jerryc41 wrote:

I saw something on YouTube about that - lots of foreign tourists going there on group tours. I don't know if they were going to Springdale, but wherever they were going was really popular for foreign tours. I couldn't find that video.

Springdale -
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=goup+foreign+tours+in+springdale%2C+utah

That would be Zion National Park 1/2mile from us.

mikenolan Loc: Lincoln Nebraska

If UK accents interest you, try watching the House of Commons on the Internet (not just Prime Minister's Questions on TV), there will be speakers whom you will struggle to understand. Yes, you'll hear a lot of 'toff accents, but some regional ones as well.

therwol Loc: USA

Bloke wrote:

Ah, Geordieland... God's country. I have been in the US for more than 30 years, but people still say I talk funny... Course, when I go back for a visit, everyone thinks I talk 'merkin!

It seems that you may have inadvertently developed a "Mid-Atlantic" accent, having characteristics of both American and British accents. Two actors I can think of with such an accent are Katherine Hepburn and Cary Grant. This type of accent is one that was contrived by the "upper class" in the American Northeast. There is a lot about this in this article.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mid-Atlantic_accent

By the way, Geordieland (Newcastle) is a perfect starting point for exploring Hadrian's Wall, the castles of Northumberland, Holy Island and many abbeys that are still standing in ruins. Nothing against the people living there at all, but I wish I could understand them when they speak.

Bloke Loc: Waynesboro, Pennsylvania

therwol wrote:

By the way, Geordieland (Newcastle) is a perfect starting point for exploring Hadrian's Wall, the castles of Northumberland, Holy Island and many abbeys that are still standing in ruins. Nothing against the people living there at all, but I wish I could understand them when they speak.

My family home is about a mile from Wallsend, which of course is where Hadrian's Wall ends. Or starts, depending on your perspective!

Sendai5355 Loc: On the banks of the Pedernales River, Texas

In Texas, accents vary geographically. Years ago, I worked temporarily in Baton Rouge and it took me sometime to understand the locals.
My wife is from Thailand and after spending many years in the States, when she returned to Thailand for a visit people thought she spoke Thai like a Japanese.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

mikenolan wrote:

If UK accents interest you, try watching the House of Commons on the Internet (not just Prime Minister's Questions on TV), there will be speakers whom you will struggle to understand. Yes, you'll hear a lot of 'toff accents, but some regional ones as well.

I'm glad they have maintained their different accents.

They played a joke on Johnny Carson years ago. They scheduled a guest who was supposed to be upper crust British. He spoke with that posh accent that no one can understand. Johnny struggled until he realized it was a joke.

I think this is what I had in mind.

Several hours after the Wimbledon tennis matches were completed, Tinker phoned Carson and asked him to join a cocktail party honoring the Wimbledon sponsors. Carson hurried to the Mayfair Hotel, where he found himself shaking hands and talking to dozens of earls, dukes, lords and ladies. But Carson had trouble understanding the thick British accents and politely nodded his way through the conversations. Only when he was finally told that he was on camera as the victim of a practical joke did Carson learn that all the distinguished guests were actually British actors speaking gibberish with a British accent. The show will be aired in September.