Accents

My mom and my best friends dad were both from Boston and when JFK was running for president, our friends would always come to one or the other of us to "translate" what he was saying. My mom dropped the  "r" too - she would "pahk the cah in the yahd" but for some reason she would tack the dropped "r" onto the end of a word that didn't have an "r" - so Cuba became "Cuber." She lived in CA for 58 years and never lost a bit of that accent. []
 
Joyce
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Gina, I'm with you on the Harry Connick voice!  And his personality is just adorable too.
 
Bevo, as a fellow Southerner with pronounced Texas drawl and all, I just want to say I think you're taking things a little too seriously.  Someones likes and dislikes are personal.  There isn't a right and wrong here.  What you read into someone's comments are certainly up to you but I don't see what you're seeing.  Don't let them become self-fulfilling prophecies.  I for one love my Texas accent but I don't get offended when someone doesn't.  I know I'm not the simpleton some think people from the South are and love proving them wrong.  Instead of getting upset, show them how it really is!  Just my [sm=2cents.gif].

ORIGINAL: scrubsfiend

  I know I'm not the simpleton some think people from the South are and love proving them wrong. 

 
That's one of the things I really like about Hilary Clinton - she broke that stereotype.  Way too many people think "woman + blond + southerner = stooopid.  Whether you agree or disagree with her politics, you have to admit she proved 'em wrong. []
 
Joyce

I love linguistics. On an intellectual level I really am fascinated by all different types of accents.

But my heart belongs to the Scots. I am Scots in heritage and I think it's something deeply embedded in my amygdala. I also swoon for bagpipes when everyone else I know thinks they sound like cats mating. Close runner up are various regional English accents, southern mostly. When we got a flat tire in Yorkshire we nearly had to get out a pad and start writing back and forth with the attendant at the gas station because we couldn't understand him and he coulnd't understand us.

Why yes, I have seen The Story of English MULTIPLE times.

Also, Janet lol on the Beijing-ren and their adding of "R" to every single freakin word. It drove me batty when I was visiting there too, but it's not much worse than the Shanghai habit of reducing all ch, sh, x, q sounds to "ssss".

Psst - Joyce - Hillary Rodham Clinton was born/raised in Illinois, educated in the North East.  But, (shrug), who cares where she's from... she is smart![]

I grew up in Central Canada with parents from N. Ireland and there were many times that my Mum had to ask me to "translate" what she was saying to someone.  We always made a joke of it but I know that it annoyed her that she was speaking the "Queen's English" and not being understood.
Many companies base their call centres in that area of Canada because the accent is considered to be neutral and others are surprised that I am not a native.  This happened when I lived in Delaware as well - I guess I just adopt the local accent and colloquilisms and move on.
I have to admit that I really enjoy listening to someone with a Northern Irish accent telling a story.  This is probably because it throws me back to my childhood.

ok i feel like i should have explained why i cant stand southern drawls..... it is because I HEAR THEM EVERYDAY. it's that simple [:@]
dont worry, there is no danger of me judging a book by its cover.. my uncle has the thickest southern drawl you've ever heard... (not the one from Alabama - i mean my mom's brother inlaw - talking to him is impossible.. (partly because he is almost deaf) but when you ask him a question you wonder if he even heard you, or if he doesnt feel like answering. nope. he is one of a rare few that actually THINKS before he replies.... ask him any question about any big important issue and at first he says "Ah...." ...long silence... then he gives you a brilliant answer!
to look at him you would think his name would be Bubba... he's short, missing a lot of teeth, bushy hair cut, has a HUGE round belly, and very stocky legs and arms... just picture Santa Clause without the beard... that's him. but do not enter a battle of wits with him because you wont win.
now as for people assuming southern accents = stoopid ....
If you want to get cute, you can say that a lot of propaganda on tv associates German accents with nazis, hitler, fascism, etc.
they associate spanish accents with illegal aliens, or the Frito Bandito, or the taco bell dog...
the gangsta/thug accent with drugs, dog fighting, drive by shootings, etc......
The french are mincing pansies that spout poetry, smoke cigarettes, and wear funny hats.
Italians are all in the mafia, they all eat spaghetti, and "whack" their enemies....
 jeez.... there's something for everyone []
besides....  am i not allowed to say i dont like something anymore in this forum? i didnt get that memo.... [8|]

all that aside....

what about you guys from Europe... the one with english as a second language - i always wondered, and i'm sure i'm right - do Americans speak your language with a cute/funny accent too? i was once teaching myself German and a lot of the phrase books said "Dont worry too much about pronouncing things properly ALL the time" .. so i wondered.. and it didnt occur to me until at work one day one of the guys was making fun of someone (a friend, they werent insulting a foreigner, so chill) saying they spoke spanish with an indian accent (indian meaning India)

ORIGINAL: DumDog


If you want to get cute, you can say that a lot of propaganda on tv associates German accents with nazis, hitler, fascism, etc.

 
Try having my last name, which is Kittler and always being asociated with Hitler! [sm=smile.gif] 
 
My Mom used to order from a Chinese restaurant,and every time she gave our last name the Chinese guy would say, "Ohhhh, you say Keetler, but I say Heetler!!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"   And he would bust out with a little Chinaman's laugh...
 
It happened every time she called... finally she stopped ordering from them. I thought it was hysterical but it bugged her to no end! lol! [sm=rotfl.gif]

lol i would have laughed too
similar circumstances but not the same... i used to call this radio station all the time to request sons (i'm a radio junky) and there was this one DJ that would answer and soon as i said my name (if he guessed it was me) he would say "Yes Virginia there IS a Santa Clause"   ...THAT was annoying.... it was cute the first couple of times... but everytime?

I have a little bit of a southern accent. I can mask it though!! If i'm talking really fast, which i generally do, you'll hear a long "i" here and there. Especially when i say ice, light, night, etc. When i went to wisconsin a few years ago and talked to some people, they all thought i had a thick accent...but when i talk to people from eastern kentucky, i think they have a thick accent!
 
anyway, i really like australian and british accents. I also like texas/georgia type soft southern drawls

i think its funny how the movies portray southern accents.... like Gone with the Wind... the whole southern belle thing...or Yosemite Sam.... i have YET to hear a true southerner speak like that! it just seems over the top, maybe because it is?

and as someone mentioned before.. American actors putting on English accents.. WHY? why not just get an English actor?
...however.. Bridgette Jones, and Miss Potter were good enough.... i cant spell that actresse's name at all, but i didnt even know she was an American until i heard her true accent in an interview on HBO..

I love the irish accent.....the biggest thing that hit me when I moved to the south was , "Ya all"....where I come from we say " You guys".......and for the longest time I tried to figure out what"Over yonder" meant........but, I get it now[]

also like texas/georgia type soft southern drawls

 
I have found the best representations of the Texas accent, of which there is some variation, are in the accents spoken by a few actors from Texas. Bill Paxton and Tommy Lee Jones. Bill's sounds more north Texas and Tommy's is a bit more south Texas.

I do want to add that since I'm originally from New Mexico, I have an affinity for that particular accent, as well as conversations that can last for days.[]