accents

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So, I'm American, and I was browsing some youtube videos of British people (or English if you like) trying to imitate the American accent, and I found it interesting because it seems in other countries they seem to think we all sound like Paris Hilton, that is super preppy. While some Americans do talk like that most of us do not. I also found it interesting a lot of people talk in a California accent when trying to imitate us. A couple actually sounded more Canadian then American. Maybe because that's how Americans are portrayed on English tv, I don't know? Anyways my question is, what do people in other English speaking countries (particularly England) think of the American accent. I know here in America, most people think of the British/English accent as snobby, or at least higher class. Do people in England have the opposite view about the American accent, like it makes you sound dumb or something? I'm not naive to the fact that America's not the most liked country in the world.

I love american accent. I think its sexy! I wish I had an american accent instead of australian.

The "American accent"? Which one is that? We have many accents, some of which sound way different from others... Southern, Northern, Californian, Mid Western, Cajun, etc.

Can you add an option to the poll that says 'some American accents' or 'some are okay'?

I find some of them okay, but some become really annoying after a while and sometimes they almost hurt. Some of the southern ones aren't so bad (although really southern ones just sound funny). I like the accents of Richard Bradford (from Man in a Suitcase) and Tony Curtis. I don't know what regions they're from though.

People imitate the 'super preppy' ones because those are the ones heard in so many films.

Alabama accent FTW. And recieved pronounciation english (the posh one) is even thought somewhat snobby us English. Anyone who thinks the British accent is highter class hasn't heard Scottish, Welsh, Brumy, liverpool or (my personal favourite) SUFFOLK accents

There's no such thing as a "British accent" really, there are very many regional accents. The "oh so posh" upper-class twit English accent common on American programmes is about as representative as British impersonations of an American accent. I don't think we distinguish very well between American accents, except perhaps the stereotype "deep South" accent or the "hhWhite hhouse" posh (east coast?) accent, the rest is just a big mish-mash. I don't think people perceive the American accent as "dumb" though.

The other way, there's the persistent belief that Britain and England are the same thing, which upsets a lot of people (both English and non-English, sometimes for different reasons.) I can't distinguish between Welsh accents, I struggle distinguishing Scots ones (which is embarassing given one side of my family is Scots ), the Northern Irish accent is quite distinct from the southern Irish one. Any of those could be called "British" accents; then there's many major regional English ones which are also British; Cornish, West Country, London (several flavours), Essex, Suffolk, Brummie, Scouse, Mancunian, Yorkshire, Geordie (most English people call any North East accent Geordie, but in reality Newcastle, Sunderland, Durham and Middlesbrough accents are distinct); I've probably missed a few but they're all distinct.

I get the impression that American English is a lot more homogenous (which is perhaps surprising given the USA is so geographically large and has, what? five or six times the population of the UK), how true is that? What American accents are there?

I live in Birmingham and the Brummie accent has to be one of the worst accents in Britain!

What I think is wierd is the prevalance of the California accent in American media. Movies of course becuase they are mostly made in California but also for example - My grandparents live in Massachusetts and have a huge Bostonian accent but all the news anchors on TV talk in a California accent. Also seems like the younger generation over there is growing up speaking in a California accent, probably due to the media.
Does that mean that soon other accents are going to be phasing out?

I just think its weird.

Black country accent (not the same of brummie btw)

In a discussion of American English, accents, and any state of homogenous it probably needs to be pointed out that the most of the population of America comes from an ancestry that immigrated here since 1860

and after the 1st World War it became extremely unfashionable to be anything but 100% American in America (unless you were just visiting) until the Civil Rights movement actually started to take hold in the late 60s early 70s.
(This is also a reason why few Americans who grew up in the generation before Civil Rights era know the language their parents came to America with.)

People learning English here after WW1 first used radio (and much later TV) as their accent standard.

Americans are also a very mobile people. Very few can point to a local cemetery for more than a couple generations to being buried there.

yeah there realy is no "true" american accent... what it is... we dont even know its just how we talk...

Accents/dialects is a funny thing
i live in a tiny potatofield and still
there`s huge differences all over.
The accent here i live sounds so
insane that other people some
times just have no idea what
you`re talking about I dont
have that accent myself, i can
speak it but choose not to

lol

Its crazy but we have the "regular" norwegian
if we call how they speak in the capital that, and
then if you start in the capital and drive out of it
the language will change every 250 kilometers
or something and up north there`s the Laps
i have no idea how their language works, thats
something totally different

Last edited by ImTheGuyThatDidThat on 03 Dec 2008, 12:38 pm, edited 1 time in total.

thats... Kool... lool

Yes, when people outside the US picture an 'American' accent it's really a California accent they're picturing. It's what seems to have become the most influential and transparent abroad precisely because of Hollywood, showbiz, the media...

Also, American English has had far less time to develop regional accents in the way British English has. In comparison, migration has happened too quickly for regional accent development to keep pace with it.