As far as Americans are concerned, there are only 2 British accents:
Villain or wise mentor: Queen's English
Henchman or comic relief: Cockney
I would really like to see a movie about a team up between detectives with Yorkshire, Brummie and Scouse accents; working cross regionally to bring down a gang of criminals. Hardcoded subtitles for the Americans please.
Because Americans tend to have positive views of scottish accents. I picked the two most famous examples of accents generally viewed somewhat negatively.
Assuming “British” is being used colloquially, as it often is, to describe someone or something from the UK, then there are Irish accents in the UK. The island of Ireland contains Northern Ireland, which is part of the UK. People from Northern Ireland have Irish accents. Try telling Nadine Coyle she doesn’t have an Irish accent.
That’s fair. It’s not like the whole thing around Northern Ireland and Britain isn’t without its complications and controversies, to understate it massively. But that applies just as much to saying that people from Northern Ireland aren’t British as much as it does to saying they *are *.
People from Northern Ireland are legally entitled to choose to be British citizens. That doesn't make their accent British, any more than them cooking boxty makes boxty British.
Given that the people of Ireland reject that name, it's a very British thing to deadname them.
Serious answer - no Prythonic speakers lived in Ireland, so there is no proper basis for the name beyond people quoting a Greek who had never been there. It fell out of use for a millennium and was revised by a Welshman who spoke to angels as a way to erase the separate identities of Scotland, Wales and Ireland. His reasoning was that the King of the Britons, Arthur, had conquered Ireland (if he ever existed, he did not). I am speaking of John Dee who also coined the terms British Empire (it stuck) and British Ocean (it decidedly did not).
To expand on Arthur, if he ever was a real person his first historical record was written 300 years after his supposed death and it claims he was a war leader, not a king, fighting the Saxons to ultimately no avail, though the Historia Brittonnum makes sure to assure the reader that's only because the Saxons kept bringing in new troops and not because Arthur lost any battles.
It does, but I once met a Mancunian who sounded, in his own words, common as muck and rough as fuck to a fellow brit, but in the states was treated like Shakespeare
British gal is visiting New York. Loves it and makes plenty of friends. She learns that if she has a job offer she can almost certainly get permission to stay. Goes to an employment agency and gets an interview the same day. Hired to a prestigious firm almost immediately. They tell her they love her classy British accent. In the UK she was lower middle class.
edit = silly me. I forgot that 'middle class' means different things.
At home, she would be a barmaid at the local.
In NYC she was a receptionist in a law firm on Madison Avenue.
Lenny Bruce said "Thank God Einstein came from Germany! If he'd told people about the Theory of Relativity in a Georgia accent they'd have laughed him out of the college."
Which British accent though? Like RP will make you sound intelligent, West Country makes you sound like a farmer, Northern Irish makes you sound like you're about to stab someone, Edinburgh makes you sound like a lawyer, Glaswegian makes you sound like a docker, Liverpudlian makes you sound like a rascal, Yorkshire makes you sound like a Union leader, and Shetland makes you sound like a folklorist.
Starmer seems to think AI is gonna make all the Torry policies he's continuing actually work. Hard to predict anything, but if nothing happens between now and the AI bubble bursting, then I think the resulting market crash will be what finally gives him the boot.
Oh yeah his obsession with AI is so weird. They were going on about this university supercomputer they've built that's going to apparently run everything and then as per usual we've heard nothing since.
Labour absolutely suck at PR, not that the AI was ever actually going to do anything useful but if you introduce it you should keep going on about it. Otherwise it's just radio silence.
As an American, Boris Johnson and Nigel Garage still sound like morons to me. Factoring in a 20 IQ accent upgrade, puts them in the low 50s. How are they even able to speak?
Except for the part about the term starting in the UK in the 1880s as slang for Association Football to distinguish it from rugger "Rugby Football" where it later fell out of fashion but by then had made it's way to America and, due to the popularity of Gridiron Football taking the name "football," needed to be distinguished by another name, and what better to use than the previously established slang term, from Britain, "soccer."
Then you see a pack of them getting off a Ryan Air or Wizz flight for a stag party in a place they picked for the sole reason of cheap pints and realize how misguided you were all along.
In their defence, Queens English (Kings English now?) or RP was what most (older) Brits grew up hearing from news and documentaries. I'm still conditioned to give more weight to an argument given in a formal accent.
Though I do love how shocked Americans are by the range of British accents. E.g. the pirate, in "Treasure Island" was using a particularly thick West country accent.
You get 10 fun points, 10 adventure points, and 30 hard drinking points. We'll treat you like people treat every American in places where they don't see a lot of Americans.
"So, uh, do you know Mel Gibson/Hugh Jackman/the Flight of the Concords guys?"
"Mate, I used to live the next Cattle Station over from Mel Gibson/Hugh Jackman/the Flight of the Concords blokes!"
Depends which British accent. This post is referring to, probably, a fancy southerner accent, but if you speak like a crazed man from Birmingham, less so I'd imagine.
My boyfriend from the UK is actually staying with us right now and damn, the accent is powerful. Free food at restaurants, free drinks at bars. People just jumping into our conversations because they want to talk to him. Earlier this week we were taking the train to do some shopping, and when the ticket taker came around to get our tickets, he just said 'Oh, I'm from leeds, I didn't know I needed a ticket' (Even though I bought one for each of us already) and it was fine. Ticket taker just said 'Oh its all good, welcome to america' and just.... moved on.
Americans mostly just engage with the UK through high budget BBC productions or posh Brits who are rich enough to fly over here. Continental Europeans mostly deal with yobs flying Ryanair to Villinus or Amsterdam for Stag parties.
It was a joke. I'm honestly dunking on them mainly because I don't care for the dominant political mindset. I know they have the same intelligence mix as most any other large populace.
That's ok, they're only functionally literate. They don't know any better and didn't say it in a way that makes me think they've got the necessary accent to have extra intelligence.
Pretty spot-on, honestly - I chose this moniker because it seemed to fit my "Jack of all trades, master of none" knowledge levels. I know my limitations, and will freely admit to them. That includes not having the IQ-boosting accent.
Depends on which accent.
As far as Americans are concerned, there are only 2 British accents:
Villain or wise mentor: Queen's English
Henchman or comic relief: Cockney
I would really like to see a movie about a team up between detectives with Yorkshire, Brummie and Scouse accents; working cross regionally to bring down a gang of criminals. Hardcoded subtitles for the Americans please.
Michael Cain would like to have a word about the Cockney accent typecasting.
He gets a pass cause he can make cockney sound refined
Hey now, I've watched enough Simon Roper to know that's not true.
In Flushed Away, is Rita's accent Cockney? It's certainly not Coruscanti
Many yanks don't tend to think of brummie or scouse...
My apologies in advance to the good people of Birmingham but it is well documented that the accent is associated with low intelligence.
As someone living not far from Brum, I concur. Brummies are thick.
That's only in the UK.
Brummie is the 8th most attractive accent in the world (to Americans)
Because Americans tend to have positive views of scottish accents. I picked the two most famous examples of accents generally viewed somewhat negatively.
Because it says British? Ireland isn't British
Assuming “British” is being used colloquially, as it often is, to describe someone or something from the UK, then there are Irish accents in the UK. The island of Ireland contains Northern Ireland, which is part of the UK. People from Northern Ireland have Irish accents. Try telling Nadine Coyle she doesn’t have an Irish accent.
Interesting take. Try telling Nadine Coyle she has a British accent?
That’s fair. It’s not like the whole thing around Northern Ireland and Britain isn’t without its complications and controversies, to understate it massively. But that applies just as much to saying that people from Northern Ireland aren’t British as much as it does to saying they *are *.
People from Northern Ireland are legally entitled to choose to be British citizens. That doesn't make their accent British, any more than them cooking boxty makes boxty British.
Is Ireland one of the British Isles?
Given that the people of Ireland reject that name, it's a very British thing to deadname them.
Serious answer - no Prythonic speakers lived in Ireland, so there is no proper basis for the name beyond people quoting a Greek who had never been there. It fell out of use for a millennium and was revised by a Welshman who spoke to angels as a way to erase the separate identities of Scotland, Wales and Ireland. His reasoning was that the King of the Britons, Arthur, had conquered Ireland (if he ever existed, he did not). I am speaking of John Dee who also coined the terms British Empire (it stuck) and British Ocean (it decidedly did not).
To expand on Arthur, if he ever was a real person his first historical record was written 300 years after his supposed death and it claims he was a war leader, not a king, fighting the Saxons to ultimately no avail, though the Historia Brittonnum makes sure to assure the reader that's only because the Saxons kept bringing in new troops and not because Arthur lost any battles.
Why can't England be part of the Irish Isles?
It does, but I once met a Mancunian who sounded, in his own words, common as muck and rough as fuck to a fellow brit, but in the states was treated like Shakespeare
Anecdotal..
British gal is visiting New York. Loves it and makes plenty of friends. She learns that if she has a job offer she can almost certainly get permission to stay. Goes to an employment agency and gets an interview the same day. Hired to a prestigious firm almost immediately. They tell her they love her classy British accent. In the UK she was lower middle class.
edit = silly me. I forgot that 'middle class' means different things.
At home, she would be a barmaid at the local.
In NYC she was a receptionist in a law firm on Madison Avenue.
Do you mean in US terms or UK? That phrase means something very different in the UK.
I'm an idiot.
Yes, I meant USA.
To rephrase, to a Brit she was a slum girl who'd gotten a bit of education.
To americans she was Lady Diana's cousin.
Did she speak RP tho? Or is this so nuanced in the UK that everyone can tell when you try to speak RP but come from a lower middle class family?
Okay, now I'm lost. RP? Role playing? Ron Perlman? Randy panties?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Received_Pronunciation
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Good_American_Speech
The 'midlantic' accent was created in Hollywood and popularized by actors like Kate Hepburn and Cary Grant.
Thanks for the information.
Nah, despite the article that was just the “North Eastern Elite” accent and people just spoke like that.
Oi! That's a right load of poppycock!
+20 intelligence
Lenny Bruce said "Thank God Einstein came from Germany! If he'd told people about the Theory of Relativity in a Georgia accent they'd have laughed him out of the college."
Which British accent though? Like RP will make you sound intelligent, West Country makes you sound like a farmer, Northern Irish makes you sound like you're about to stab someone, Edinburgh makes you sound like a lawyer, Glaswegian makes you sound like a docker, Liverpudlian makes you sound like a rascal, Yorkshire makes you sound like a Union leader, and Shetland makes you sound like a folklorist.
ASAR - All Scousers are Rascals
I need a Shetland voice actor to read the Silmarillion...
We know for certain we can rule out the Dudley accent anyway.
don't worry, this malady can be cured by following british politics for a month or two
I think we were worse than America when we had the conveyer belt of PMs
feel like the conveyor might restart any time soon.
Starmer seems to think AI is gonna make all the Torry policies he's continuing actually work. Hard to predict anything, but if nothing happens between now and the AI bubble bursting, then I think the resulting market crash will be what finally gives him the boot.
Oh yeah his obsession with AI is so weird. They were going on about this university supercomputer they've built that's going to apparently run everything and then as per usual we've heard nothing since.
Labour absolutely suck at PR, not that the AI was ever actually going to do anything useful but if you introduce it you should keep going on about it. Otherwise it's just radio silence.
It's a little tradition that we've sadly stopped. Everyone in the country could have had to go by now.
Was that the one with fresh lettuce on it?
Just listen to Boris Johnson talk. Dude's head is so far up his ass he can taste his own hair.
A month or two? Seeing the age verification ordeal changed my mind in a matter of 30 seconds.
This is true- am British, lived in America. Also good for dating
It’s because we know you didn’t go to school in America
Isn't that already how it works in the UK, for RP? Which is probably the "British accent" that most non-Brits are thinking of, anyway.
Not necessarily. In many places RP labels you as a posh wanker.
...or a Tory, Criminal or Conman (or all of the above).
One summer, when I was 19, I became deeply infatuated with a British girl and it took me two full weeks to realize she was really dumb.
Clearly never spoken to a brummy
The most sensual accent known to man
As an American, Boris Johnson and Nigel Garage still sound like morons to me. Factoring in a 20 IQ accent upgrade, puts them in the low 50s. How are they even able to speak?
Life finds a way to fuck shit up.
My favorite is how autocorrect turned Farage into Garage. More life fucking things up.
private eye typo
How does Boris being born in New York change your opinion?
Money and attention. Give a broken record a platform and watch as people dance to the irregular beat
I take twenty away.
I know what you people do at your soccer hooliganeries.
Ok but the word "soccer" doesn't even exist outside the USA.
Except for the part about the term starting in the UK in the 1880s as slang for Association Football to distinguish it from
rugger"Rugby Football" where it later fell out of fashion but by then had made it's way to America and, due to the popularity of Gridiron Football taking the name "football," needed to be distinguished by another name, and what better to use than the previously established slang term, from Britain, "soccer."Nah, they play soccer in Canada, Australia, Japan, and a few other places
Then you see a pack of them getting off a Ryan Air or Wizz flight for a stag party in a place they picked for the sole reason of cheap pints and realize how misguided you were all along.
In their defence, Queens English (Kings English now?) or RP was what most (older) Brits grew up hearing from news and documentaries. I'm still conditioned to give more weight to an argument given in a formal accent.
Though I do love how shocked Americans are by the range of British accents. E.g. the pirate, in "Treasure Island" was using a particularly thick West country accent.
Also see "Hot Fuzz" for the best play on accents!
He says “an ‘edge is an ‘edge, only chopped it doon cause couldn’t see view no more waz monin bout?”
Oi mate how many points do Oi get with my Aussie vibe?
You get 10 fun points, 10 adventure points, and 30 hard drinking points. We'll treat you like people treat every American in places where they don't see a lot of Americans.
"So, uh, do you know Mel Gibson/Hugh Jackman/the Flight of the Concords guys?"
"Mate, I used to live the next Cattle Station over from Mel Gibson/Hugh Jackman/the Flight of the Concords blokes!"
+5 knife size
+7 can throwing
-2 etiquette
About 5 surfer points
If you sound like Tom Hiddleston, sure.
If you sound like Shaun Ryder, probably not.
Depends which British accent. This post is referring to, probably, a fancy southerner accent, but if you speak like a crazed man from Birmingham, less so I'd imagine.
My boyfriend from the UK is actually staying with us right now and damn, the accent is powerful. Free food at restaurants, free drinks at bars. People just jumping into our conversations because they want to talk to him. Earlier this week we were taking the train to do some shopping, and when the ticket taker came around to get our tickets, he just said 'Oh, I'm from leeds, I didn't know I needed a ticket' (Even though I bought one for each of us already) and it was fine. Ticket taker just said 'Oh its all good, welcome to america' and just.... moved on.
How do You think this works for central Europe?
Americans mostly just engage with the UK through high budget BBC productions or posh Brits who are rich enough to fly over here. Continental Europeans mostly deal with yobs flying Ryanair to Villinus or Amsterdam for Stag parties.
Well, if we're actually talking TX here, wouldn't that just about put you into Mensa territory - relatively speaking, of course?
Haha yeah texas dumb
Also though, not in terms of IQ. Texas is exactly average, which makes sense because it has a massive population.
Also the mensa cutoff is top 2% of general population or like 130.
It was a joke. I'm honestly dunking on them mainly because I don't care for the dominant political mindset. I know they have the same intelligence mix as most any other large populace.
Ye i gotchu fam
That's ok, they're only functionally literate. They don't know any better and didn't say it in a way that makes me think they've got the necessary accent to have extra intelligence.
Pretty spot-on, honestly - I chose this moniker because it seemed to fit my "Jack of all trades, master of none" knowledge levels. I know my limitations, and will freely admit to them. That includes not having the IQ-boosting accent.
I'm pretty sure that doesn't apply to someone who speaks heavy Brummie or Scouse.
Even the smart Brits are so bad at names that they just change them to English or mispronounce them to sound more white
I've seen Americans comment "bro is speaking English Premium" under videos from English Youtubers
Which british accent, though? Do they respond the same to Northern English? Scottish? Northern Irish?
Idk you just named two that cant speak English
Northern English and Scottish. True English is in Northern Ireland 😎
I asked my wife to turn the hoover off once but it turns out she was just chatting to her mate from NI and they'd gotten a little excited.
Times like this I miss reddit gold
🤣
Can I trade them for groceries?