Accents ?

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I find it easier to talk to people when I speak with an accent, I don't naturally have an accent
I also love peoples reactions because I'm this little quiet girl, I'm very shy and rarely talk but when I do, I use an Irish/Scottish accent and peoples eyes widen and they look shocked
No I am not Irish or Scottish.
Does anyone else do this ? if so what accent ? And how many of you don't naturally have an accent ?

Last edited by Squark on 07 Aug 2012, 10:10 pm, edited 2 times in total.

Everyone has an accent! You're just substituting your impression of another region's accent for your region's accent.

What is an "Irish/Scottish accent"? You might want to be careful with that as Irish and Scottish accents are very different, even within Ireland and Scotland. A Dublin accent is enormously different from an Edinburgh or a Glasgow accent.

@TheBicyclingGuitarist: I do not have an accent neither does my sister or my mother it is just the way we are My voice is extremely monotone.


@Tequila: It was just a generalization.

Lol, yes you do, everyone does. The only way you could not have an accent is if you don't speak! It's not a put-down to say you have an accent. EVERYBODY DOES!

I spoke more in a monotone when much younger, and in my home town people sometimes assumed I was a foreigner because I sounded different to them. Still, some of different regional dialects emphasis on different vowel frequencies and other patterns of rhythm and sound undoubtedly influence the sound of one's speech wherever one is from no matter if in a monotone or not.

Last edited by TheBicyclingGuitarist on 07 Aug 2012, 5:14 am, edited 1 time in total.

I take your point but people who know Britain well will know that your accent is fake, and that is likely to cause you embarrassment. Just sayin'.

I have only been on here for like ten minutes and your all having a go at me ?!?!?!?! SERIOUSLY !

I'm 16 with high functioning autism....I thought you would be a little nicer.
LIGHTEN UP PEOPLE ! I was trying to have a conversation NOT an argument !

@TheBicyclingGuitarist
I don't understand how you can tell me how I talk when you have not even heard me speak SERIOUSLY !
Definition of an accent is: A distinctive mode of pronunciation of a language, esp. one associated with a particular nation, locality, or social class.
Definition of a monotone voice is: 1. a single unvaried pitch level in speech, sound, etc. 2. (Linguistics) utterance, etc., without change of pitch 3. lack of variety in style, expression. etc.
They are two distinctly different things, I have a monotone voice therefore I do not have an accent.

I'm born and raised in southern California and so were my parents, and sometimes people have wondered if I have a very slight southwestern or mid-western accent. Oh well, it might work to my advantage when I finally escape this FUBAR state.

I love certain accents. Mainly most European ones Espescially German lol. I think that is due to Inspector Rex, which I used to watch ages ago. I know it is set in Austria, but they speak German XD

I always believed I spoke good Swedish.

Then it turns out my dialect is bloody heavy.

I was shocked, hah.

I used to be fascinated by accents, in particular the scouse (Liverpudlian) accent. I was always using it. And even when I was talking in my own normal voice, I had some comments before adulthood that I had an unusual accent that didn't sound as if I was from the area I lived in.

I've always been fascinated by accents as well. I used to mimic teachers, celebrities, etc in class (much to the amusement of class mates)

I also do this odd thing where I start to sub-consciously copy the person I'm talking to's accent which is very embarrassing, especially if they're from a totally different country!

Argh! That happens with me too - then it's worse when it finally dawns on you that you're doing it and you try to minimise the effect and the accent sorta fluctuates and warps into something else.

OMG me too! My husband is foreign and whenever I have to relay or repeat something he's said, either to him or others, I do his accent (although it's quite amusing).

OP, You have an accent. Without even hearing you speak, I can guarantee it. Even if you are using your own voice, to my ear, unless you are from the Greater Glasgow area, you will sound like you have an accent. You don't sound like me (even in your real voice), so you have an accent. It's all relative.

What's your Scottish/Irish accent like? There are very few people who can do either, without sounding ridiculous, phony and, in some cases, offensive. And, as Tequlia says, there are many accents in the UK and Ireland. There are slight or major differences in the way people speak, when they live in towns only 10 miles apart. Please don't do it, unless you're as good at it as Johnny Depp.

A friendly word of advice here: you are setting yourself up to be made fun of.

Indeed. Not only that, but you might actually be quizzed on where you're from in Scotland or Ireland - more embarrassment. Like I say, within 10 or 20 miles of me the accents change considerably.

Trying to mimic someone's accent is usually seen as offensive.



Indeed. I'll tell the OP a story now.

In the Britain of the 1970s there was a serial murderer of women on the loose throughout the North of England. He was known as the "Yorkshire Ripper". He killed 13 different women and attacked another seven. Anyway, during the hunt for this killer a man sent a tape in claiming to be the killer and taunting the police. This chap had a Wearside accent (Wearside is in the North East of England) and was known as "Wearside Jack". Anyway, the hunt for this hoaxer majorly disrupted the investigation for the real killer as precious resources were focused on the attributes of this hoaxer rather than those of the real killer. Anyway, the real killer was eventually found and locked up for a very long time.

Anyway, the investigation was still ongoing for the hoaxer and he was eventually traced, arrested and imprisoned. What helped in him eventually being caught was that his accent, and thus his voice, was that distinctive that it was traced to a particular housing estate in Newcastle. There were a lot of other things that contributed to his arrest but his accent was one of the factors in narrowing down the investigation.

Last edited by Tequila on 07 Aug 2012, 7:17 am, edited 1 time in total.