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Trevor Thompson
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 13 June 2015
Posts: 346
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| Posted: 25 April 2019 at 9:49am | IP Logged | 1
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Being from the UK I can rarely tell the difference in US accents I can tell the a Califorinan accent (well the sort of southern drawl and Valley Girl type), New Yorkers have a strong bullish accent, southerners have a distinct accent, so to minnesotan, and then there's Bostonians (well southies) which is probably my favourite American accent but apart from that I wouldn't be able to tell a Texan accent from someone in Kansas.
In fact, I thought a Phildelphian accent is the same as New York until I watched an SNL Superbowl Skit and realiesed that there's definitely a different way Philly pronounces words.
What are some of the regional distinctions forum members have noticed and what are their favourite accents?
Like I've said in the US I like the Boston accent but in the UK I like the Birmingham accent.
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Ed Aycock
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 05 May 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 1004
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| Posted: 25 April 2019 at 10:14am | IP Logged | 2
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I've always wondered how Brits and others responded to our accents.
Having grown up in Western Massachusetts (no Boston accent) with a father from North Carolina (I can barely understand some of my aunts on the telephone) and having lived in New Jersey, now Brooklyn and with good friends in the Midwest, I can say we do have our dialects and accents.
I can tell a Cockney accent from say a Mancunian accent but that's about as far as I go with British accents. I know a Scottish accent and an Irish brogue and know that Australian doesn't sound that close but my gosh, the Brits know their accents and to me, you just sound English - just that some pronounce "th" as "f" and some say "funny" as "foony" and some drop the "h" at the start of words and that "posh" upper class accent we Americans think exists everywhere isn't so widespread.
And for a fun spin on California, the SNL skit "The Californians" is fun parody although Eve Plumb as Jan Brady had a great, breathy California accent.
Edited by Ed Aycock on 25 April 2019 at 10:17am
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Ed Aycock
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 05 May 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 1004
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| Posted: 25 April 2019 at 10:16am | IP Logged | 3
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I remember somebody from one of the outer boroughs of New York City telling me about a book she started by stopped (by James Patterson) because it was "so retaaawwwwwhhhrrrded."
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Brian Floyd
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 07 July 2006
Location: United States
Posts: 8356
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| Posted: 25 April 2019 at 10:53am | IP Logged | 4
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Heidi was born in Germany (her father was stationed there), raised in Mass, and moved here from New Hampshire. Some people mistake her accent for New York.
There are different southern accents. I can tell the difference between someone from Georgia or Alabama, for example.
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 132288
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| Posted: 25 April 2019 at 10:59am | IP Logged | 5
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I have a friend from Texas who is the only person ever to have survived calling me “Johnny”. It’s the accent that makes it work.
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Ted Downum
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 21 April 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 2371
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| Posted: 25 April 2019 at 11:13am | IP Logged | 6
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I like to think I have a pretty good ear for regional accents, and perhaps I do, as long as I keep the regions within the US, the UK, and maybe eastern Canada (I might be able to tell an Ontarian from a Nova Scotian).
A couple of years ago, though, I got cocky while talking on the phone to a colleague with a distinct south-seas accent. I guessed--aloud, I'm sorry to say--that she was Australian; she was actually from New Zealand (and she was not pleased with me). I'm not sure I'll ever master that distinction.
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Peter Sullivan
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 16 April 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 167
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| Posted: 25 April 2019 at 12:01pm | IP Logged | 7
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Having grown up in London, and leaving to live in the the US when I was 30, I now find the US accents more appealing than the UK accents. When I visit “home” every 2 years now days. If I find myself in a space with lots of voices I find it so grating on my ears, it gets to the point where I have walk out of large shops or areas with this ear numbing din. When I think about it, I find it sad that I have come to this.
Cheers, Peter
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Tim Cousar
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 12 May 2006
Location: United States
Posts: 1663
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| Posted: 25 April 2019 at 12:13pm | IP Logged | 8
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I used to work with a lady who could tell what part of our county someone came from by how they spoke.
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Doug Centers
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 17 February 2014
Location: United States
Posts: 5468
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| Posted: 25 April 2019 at 3:50pm | IP Logged | 9
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After moving to KY as a teenager, from MI, my Literature teacher would ask me to read aloud more that the other students. She told me "I love to listen to you speak because this is how English should sound".
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Matt Hawes
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 16 April 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 16430
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| Posted: 25 April 2019 at 5:00pm | IP Logged | 10
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I've had a couple of customers that frequented my shop that came from Canada. One had moved to my city some time before, but still had his accent. The other was still living in Canada but traveled to my city for business. Listening to the both of them, I got so that I can usually pick out a Canadian on TV shows and YouTube videos. Heh.
The fellow who came to town on business once brought his wife to the shop, as they were both in the area to attend a wedding of an associate. Her accent was particularly thick, and she was very sweet and friendly.
I also had a customer that came from Birmingham, England. He was a great guy. I think he must have moved, though, as I haven't seen him in years.
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Peter Hicks
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 30 April 2004
Location: Canada
Posts: 1891
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| Posted: 25 April 2019 at 5:43pm | IP Logged | 11
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Stephen Colbert was raised in South Carolina but noted people on TV and in movies who spoke with a southern accent were always portrayed as fools. So even as a child, he purposely spoke with the same accent as the national newscasters, who were all from New York.
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
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| Posted: 25 April 2019 at 6:10pm | IP Logged | 12
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Much the same experience my father had, deliberately shedding his Black Country accent in England.
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