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[mrkgoo]

....don't know if I'm opening a Pandora's Box here or not, but which "foreign" accents do you find particularly annoying? Or attractive? Or amusing? Stories involving misunderstood accents?

For me, I know there are lots of differing accents in the US, but since I can't pick them specifically, I'm just going to lump them together - i think the American accent definitely has potential to be one of the ones to be the most annoying. It just sounds soo...."whiny" and nasal. (Californian not so bad).

I used to be unable to pick the difference between the Aussie and New Zealand accent, but I was very young and naive then. Can you Americans tell the difference between an NZ and Aussie accent?

Scottish accents are particularlt alluring, as are particular English accents (not Cockney and some others - I don't know the region).

Indian accents really amuse me, particularly when Indian people do that head-wobbling thing, that looks kind of like a shaking-no, but they actually mean yes. I knew an indian woman who insisted she didn't do it, but she did. Was Hella confusing, when I;d ask her something, and claim, "...,right?", and she'd be shaking like mad.

 

[Pedigree Chum]

Indian english accents are horrible, I know, I'm Indian.

Scottish and British accents are awesome.

Asian english accents are funny.

 

[Jonnyram]

I love the variety of accents across Europe.
Germans sound quite evil in a cool way, French sound slimy, those crazy Scandinavians sound almost like normal British people, but in an accent-less type of way, like if you've lived in the country all your childhood but went to a university in the city and had your country accent beaten out of you (not that I'm speaking of personal history or anything).

 

[Polari]

Favourite accent: a Kensington one. Just too sexy.

 

[mrklaw]

Some posh southern accents are nice. I tried to unlearn my accent (midlands) because its really common sounding.

Liverpool is OK but other northern towns can be grating (Manchester especially)

Scottish is nice.

 

[gollumsluvslave]

Scottish is nice.

Depends on whether you are talking about Ewan McGregor style thespian Scottish accent or chav/munter/weegie speak :lol

Scottish neds sound as bad as any i've heard, especially from Glasgow.

Check this out

http://www.glasgowsurvival.co.uk/belters/belters.html#mp3s


:lol The "Aw yer base" link is comedy gold :lol
http://www.freewebs.com/bdtm1/Aybneds.htm

 

[Macam]

I find nothing more irritating than the infamous Texas drawl.

 

[Scrow]

I used to be unable to pick the difference between the Aussie and New Zealand accent, but I was very young and naive then. Can you Americans tell the difference between an NZ and Aussie accent?

it's easy. one group says "fish and chips" the other says "fush and chups". can you guess which is which?

 

[D-X]

Can you Americans tell the difference between an NZ and Aussie accent?

Some can't even tell Aussies from Poms

 

[Vormund]

NZ accent = all vowels swapped to another vowel.

So if something is on the left hand side...it's lift hand side.

and the aforementioned fush and chups.

 

[AniHawk]

I want to know what the average American accent sounds like to other people.

A teacher of mine had a Boston accent, and he said that to him it sounded like we had none.

 

[Alyssa Hu$tle]

You have to admit it though, the Aussie accent is sexy don't you think?

 

[Scrow]

i've heard new zealanders pronounce the car brand "Subaru" as "subara". sounds ridiculous

 

[Vormund]

I want to know what the average American accent sounds like to other people.

A teacher of mine had a Boston accent, and he said that to him it sounded like we had none.

Hmm a bit nasal-like? Aussies were really bad for that in the 50's

 

[D-X]

Apparently the way Aussies finish sentences like they're asking a question is annoying. There is a name for it but it escapes me right now.

 

[tetsuoxb]

Apparently the way Aussies finish sentences like they're asking a question is annoying. There is a name for it but it escapes me right now.

Rising intonation?

I like the aussie accent on girls, the british accent on comedians, and "accent-less" East Coast standard american english for everything else.

 

[SonicMegaDrive]

I don't mind most accents. In fact some of them are quite pleasing to the ear.

But I absolutely loathe southern(redneck) accents.

 

[Koshiro]

I'm Scottish and not a ned, does that make my accent good? I know advertising agencies like to use Scottish voice actors to convey trust (apparently we sound trustworthy).

 

[gollumsluvslave]

I'm Scottish and not a ned, does that make my accent good?

Apparently the trust thing is true. I was in Minneapolis on a training course a year ago, and at the local bar i got a free beer simply for being Scottish :lol

Also made a few friends during my stay, it's amazing how girls seem to like Scottish accents - i vainly tried to say that no one *actually* say "bonny wee lass" in general conversation, but they didn't seem to care :lol :lol :lol

 

[teh_pwn]

I want to know what the average American accent sounds like to other people.

I think the biggest thing that seperates us is our ERs.

In English english and most others the R is very faint.

They say Water, we say Waderrr.

 

[whytemyke]

If you have the Scottish accent like Sean Connery, you'll get TONS of womens.

I think some of the most annoying accents I've heard are Yooper and Newfie accents. They're quite similar, except the Yooper accents have people pronouncing every letter in a word. "We went on da bow-at to go fishing eh." Yooper is like a bastardization of Kentucky-retard/hick and Canadian.

I can't tell right off the bat the difference between some English and Australian. Once I listen for a bit, I can pick up on it, because of the different euphemisms and such.

Coolest accent in my eyes is the Russian one.

Funniest is obviously Asian. I had a professor who had lived here in the states since he was 17, so he knew the language just as well as anyone, but he never lost his accent. First day of class he was like, "I Korean! I know I know, you all say I look chinese... well I say *flips bird to the class* Fuck you!" He was cool as shit. "No kidding! You see happy old man with dog on bike in Korea... cuz he know he has good dinner!"

EDIT: PS, if you guys want a cool site to check out for the 'michigan' accent, go here: http://www.michigannative.com/ma_home.shtml

 

[Fatghost]

All I know is this: if you don't spell colour or theatre or programme properly, you're dumb. And it's "zed" not "zee".

 

[Scrow]

Rising intonation?

I like the aussie accent on girls, the british accent on comedians, and "accent-less" East Coast standard american english for everything else.

heh, "accent-less" doesn't exist

 

[demon]

All I know is this: if you don't spell colour or theatre or programme properly, you're dumb. And it's "zed" not "zee".

Pompous spelling doesn't make you smart. It just makes you pompous.

 

[tetsuoxb]

heh, "accent-less" doesn't exist

agreed. hence the quotes. but most americans would say that east coast SAE is accentless.

 

[SKluck]

If there is a english dialect that has the least accent to it, it's gotta be the north midwest. But maybe its just cause I'm from the area, I've never noticed any kind of accent.

If anything, it seems that people with accents say people from that area have accents. So they misconstrue having no/little accent, as having an accent.

 

[tetsuoxb]

Miami has "no accent".

 

[sonicfan]

If there is a english dialect that has the least accent to it, it's gotta be the north midwest. But maybe its just cause I'm from the area, I've never noticed any kind of accent.

If anything, it seems that people with accents say people from that area have accents. So they misconstrue having no/little accent, as having an accent.

I agree. I grew up in the Midwest, and I would say most of the people I knew had little that I could tell and sounded the most like TV newscasters. That being said, there were real pockets of accents, mostly from people whose families had been there a long, long time, and were from some sort of ethnic group, like french, or swedish.

One accent I have heard that is sort of weird is Europeans (non-english) that speak with a British accent. There is a pro golfer I have heard, he is from Denmark IIRC, and he speaks with this weird British type of accent. Kind of cool actually. I've heard Germans also with this type of accent.

One I like is South African, but they even have different ones, depending on their background.

 

[Leatherface]

LOVE:

French (women only, guys sound odd and sleazy haha)
Italian
Icelandic
Scottish
Irish
Spanish (spain)
Asian- No particular nationality, but when an asian girl speaks english with their little soft voices, it's so damn cute! :blush:


ANNOYING:

British- sounds stuck up and prissy. Makes me angry instantly. Not in all instances mind you. A subtle accent can sound very pleasent.

The Boston/New York accent- I live in the North East and I can't stand the thick Boston or New Yorker accent. It drives me fucking nuts. Thankfully I've lived far enough away not to be cursed with it.

Hick Speak (America): Southern drawl makes me want to hurl.

SOMETIMES SLIGHTLY BOTHERSOME BUT OTHER TIMES REALLY NICE:

Austrailian
New Zealand
Southern (America) A slight southern accent can sound really pretty on a female.

 

[human5892]

Worst - Southern
Best - British

 

[Blackace]

Miami has "no accent".

Wrong! Seattle has no accent... the girl who tells you the time on the phone is from Seattle...Which has nothing to do with the fact that Seattle has no accent..or does it?

 

[DCharlie]

i will break my post embargo to tell all J-GAFers that i WILL speak Cumbrian whenever they feel the need to hear the disgusting shite that is "full on northern English"

I can also replicate Geordie to a native level.

"az telya thuz is al gyana ef te get yowsed te't coz at tenda jya marras gyana tek owat wurld"

(technically - this last sentence is english)

fucking hell - i fucking quit gaf because it's full of moronic ill-informed cunt rags and i end up posting in OT...

shitting fucking crickey

 

[Blackace]

i will break my post embargo to tell all J-GAFers that i WILL speak Cumbrian whenever they feel the need to hear the disgusting shite that is "full on northern English"

I can also replicate Geordie to a native level.

I can't do anything... but Katakana English.... =(

 

[Nerevar]

For me, I know there are lots of differing accents in the US, but since I can't pick them specifically, I'm just going to lump them together - i think the American accent definitely has potential to be one of the ones to be the most annoying. It just sounds soo...."whiny" and nasal. (Californian not so bad).

Wow, how willfully ignorant.

That's like me saying "I think all British people sound the same, they sound like they're speaking with cotton in their mouths". It might be true for a segment, but it hardly applies to the country as a whole. There's a world of difference between a harsh New England accent, a slow southern accent, and a long Texan drawl.

 

[radioheadrule83]

Some posh southern accents are nice. I tried to unlearn my accent (midlands) because its really common sounding.

Liverpool is OK but other northern towns can be grating (Manchester especially)

Scottish is nice.

I haven't got a strong scouse accent, but you'd probably be able to tell where I'm from. I don't mind any of the northern accents as long as they're not too strong. In terms of what I like the most: Irish and Scottish... when it's coming out of someones mouth and its understandable as opposed to drawl, it sounds awesome.

What I don't like? I don't know. I guess Birmingham is a stronghold of some awful accents, at least as the stereotype goes.... but no accent really annoys me. Sometimes habitual things that span all accents annoys me:

Making a sentance sound like its a question when its not. Fake / overly-boistrous laughter. Use of language (including body language) that is again, seemingly fake, pre-conceived/scripted, based off of TV/trend/celebrity.

For example:
"I watched Big Brother last night? Good, yeah, really good. Oh what about that part where so-en-so did something-or-other? BWA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA *SNORT* HAHAHAHAHA yeah? hahaha yeah. Hey man, check out my new ringtone:"

*plays god awful crazy frog thing*

 

[Desperado]

houston has the least southern accent of most cities in the south, from what i've heard and been told.

btw, bostonian=ugh

 

[u_neek]

those crazy Scandinavians sound almost like normal British people, but in an accent-less type of way, like if you've lived in the country all your childhood but went to a university in the city and had your country accent beaten out of you (not that I'm speaking of personal history or anything).

Haha :lol sucks for us...

 

[Firest0rm]

I like the South African english accent.

 

[Macam]

houston has the least southern accent of most cities in the south, from what i've heard and been told.

Houston's just like any other major city in Texas (Dallas and Austin in any case) -- you won't generally run into the dreaded Southern drawl much, if at all. The rest of the state, if they don't speak Spanish, they have the accent.

 

[Blackace]

Houston's just like any other major city in Texas (Dallas and Austin in any case) -- you won't generally run into the dreaded Southern drawl much, if at all. The rest of the state, if they don't speak Spanish, they have the accent.

ehhh... I have a lot of family in the south and Houston is one of the places where I have some... the never pronouce their H's ..."welcome to 'Ouston. We can go out to the clubs 'ere there be 'ella women there"

 

[aoi tsuki]

So-called "southern" (US) accents annoy the hell out of me, but it's mainly when they're really pronounced. i call them so-called because when i was in Michigan, there were a lot of people with similar accents. Similar accents extend accoss the midwest, though there's distinct differences from state to state.

houston has the least southern accent of most cities in the south, from what i've heard and been told.

btw, bostonian=ugh

Bastonian?

 

[calder]

I find Australian accents instantly grating. Like most ppl, I've been brainwashed into thinking the classic English accent is cool and smart sounding. I really like Scottish, Irish and Welsh accents (providing I can understand what the hell they're saying) too.

Southern US accents, to me, sound... and I'm trying to find a non shallow way to say this.. kinda dumb. My wife is from Texas and grew up in Tennessee so hey at least I can look past my instinctive reaction to certain accents. Texas isn't that bad, or maybe I'm just used to it. I think it's worth pointing out too that a lot of the "southern" accent that sounds offputting to me is really just the local grammar which I found jarring even after living there for most of a year.

Canadian accents are pretty mild I find. Hardcore Newfie accents just make me giggle - I think newfies and Scots are the same in that they must find it easy to make ppl laugh at their jokes because the accents are inherently suited to drunken humour.

In my job I talk to recent immigrants a lot and it's interesting to see how some birth languages make ppl's accents either very difficult to understand for me and my western Canadian ear or sometimes very pleasing. I'm pretty good at understanding most African accents (east Africa especially for some reason) and Asian accents I do pretty well with. I've found a lot of African accents to be quite pleasant sounding (maybe they're just still a bit novel to me, unlike say Polish/Ukranian or Native accents which I've heard all my life). But I consistently have a tough time with Indian and Middle East accents.

 

[mrkgoo]

Wow, how willfully ignorant.

That's like me saying "I think all British people sound the same, they sound like they're speaking with cotton in their mouths". It might be true for a segment, but it hardly applies to the country as a whole. There's a world of difference between a harsh New England accent, a slow southern accent, and a long Texan drawl.

Well, to clarify, I did say that I know there are differing accents in the Us. I didn't mean that they all sound the same. What I meant is that I CAN tell the difference in the accents, but I can't pick the actual LOCATION they're from, but made a general comment anyway.

for my next trick I'm going to claim you are wilfully ignorant for not being able to tell a Palmerston Nroth accent from a Cantebury in NZ.

Aussie vs. Nz

Funny how Aussies think they say Fish and Chips, and Nzers say "Fush and Chups", because Nzers think we say "fish and chips" and AUSSIES say "Feesh and cheeps". It's the whol perspective thing.

 

[Desperado]

Bastonian?

does that look like an "a"? no.

 

[GSG Flash]

The most annoying probably has to be either men speaking in Australian accent or the southern US accent for both guys and girls (Texas accent)

 

[hXc_thugg]

Everytime I hear someone from the Southern US speak I get pissed off. They speak too slowly, like they're tired, and they sound like big idiots. The stereotypical Bostonian and NY east coast accents piss me off too. They do sound whiny and nasally.

Scottish and Irish accents are the best.

 

[SatelliteOfLove]

I want to know what the average American accent sounds like to other people.

A teacher of mine had a Boston accent, and he said that to him it sounded like we had none.

When I got my camera fixed in London, a Midlander couldn't tell the difference between my mild Appalachian and a Jersey couple in the same tour group that were buying film. /shrug

 

[Dyne]

Actually, there's a difference between Seattle and Vancouver accents. I was taught this, and whenever I go down to America with family or friends, they can usually tell that we're from Canada/Vancouver. I sound a bit different though, because I was raised in Ontario until I was 5.

But yeah, the difference between American and Canadian accents is: intonation. Canadians usually use different tones while speaking sentences, whereas Americans tend to emphasize certain words instead of intonation. This comes from Canada having more british roots than America.

The funny thing about Vancouver is, though, we're insanely multicultural, so the percentage of actual 3rd-generation+ is quite small. My Kindergarten class here was primarily white/more than 3 generations, but my grad class was very, very varied.

 

[marsomega]

We need samples of Suerte's british accent spewing british banter stat!

 

[Lemurnator]

I HATE Canadian accents, not the French ones, but the aboot ones.

Even worse than Canadian accents are Michigan accents. It's very much like the one William H. Macy and the character Marge Gunderson has in the movie Fargo.