Sometimes Americans can't understand me...

[Kanalah]

I love accents.

I still rememeber when we had some aussies come into the Bordello. Hubby and I were working together that day. He heard thier accent and asked what part of britain they were from.
One of the men said "I ain't no bleeding POHM!" then I said, "honey, they're austrailian!" It wasn't the accent, it was the black swan on his shirt.

[EricKei]

I have encountered the "Cain't unnerstand no suthern tawk" on occasion among fellow Southerners...Though I have been asked "Wait, you're from New Orleans? Why DON'T you have an accent?" from people way up north in Yankee territory (read: Atlanta.) x_x

This, despite my own noble efforts to cultivate a local accent ^^; ...I can do a hardcore New Awwwwwlinz accent when I want to, but only on call. I would never actually attempt to communicate with someone while doing that. On the upside, I can understand many accents just fine.

[Jay 2K Winger]

Oh, American accents are fun for me, too. Heck, any language or accent is fun to play with, and I get complimented from language geeks for picking up on subtle things. (Like when I'm doing a Russian accent, and I pronounce it "Muscoh" and not "Mosscow".)

I was talking with a friend of mine online one time. He lives down in Louisiana (not New Orleans), and when I briefly adopted an accent to say "N'Awlins, Loozeeyana," he was gobsmacked and asked if I'd lived in the New Orleans area, because I'd gotten it spot on.

When I lived in Texas, my family liked to joke about the way some people talked, e.g. "Hi, how are you?" becoming "Hai! Haarryeww?"

[EricKei]

Oh, American accents are fun for me, too. Heck, any language or accent is fun to play with, and I get complimented from language geeks for picking up on subtle things.

I have a knack for accents, as well, provided that I can listen to the real thing first.

and when I briefly adopted an accent to say "N'Awlins, Loozeeyana," he was gobsmacked and asked if I'd lived in the New Orleans area, because I'd gotten it spot on.

I would agree. That's how I would transliterate THE most common way to say the city's name, and one of the more well-known "rural" ways to say the state's name ^_^ ProTip: Never, ever say it as Nyuu OR-lee-unz (unless you're from a French-speaking area) or New Or-LEENZ. Both will mark you as one o them durn outsiders tout de suite Or-LEENZ **is** how you pronounce the name of the Parish (county) in which the city of NOLA is located, however.

[Peppergirl]

I can assure you that this Ohioan would be honored to have you speak with her and hear your accent. Hate when people from my own state act like tools. It just perpetuates the stereotype that we're all a bunch of backwoods hicks. Sorry people have been so rude to you.

[LillFilly]

I love accents! I can't imagine there being a problem in understanding a British or Australian accent though, but maybe I've just watched enough BBC and Croc Hunter that my brain automatically fills-in the terms.

Drives my parents nuts when I use 'bloody' 'lift' etc. though. And they can never understand the actors when I try to get them to watch Red Dwarf...

I think American English has almost become its own language by this point.

[Little Retail Rabbit]

I can assure you that this Ohioan would be honored to have you speak with her and hear your accent. Hate when people from my own state act like tools. It just perpetuates the stereotype that we're all a bunch of backwoods hicks. Sorry people have been so rude to you.

Oh no worries n_n My fiance is a Ohioan himself, and I love him to bits. His family have (mostly) been very welcoming (although some have been ignorant), and generally I have found interaction with the general public delightful. Admittedly, sometimes people are a bit weird or rude, but more often than not, i find that Americans are very warm people

Generally, I think people are more bewildered by my appearance. I've had parents pull their kids away from me in stores and things like that. With some people, I get the impression that once I start talking, the accent makes more sense because then I'm a foreign eccentric

I have no sound clips, but I do have an image of the "Mary Poppins gone evil" sort of look that was my real love of last year, for those who were curious. I was wearing the hat and corset in Hot Topic in March XD. Actually, i need to do it again at some point when the weather is cooler (far too hot for corsets and bustles right now).


That reminds me actually, i did phone a Hot Topic once and the very...bimbo...sounding girl on the other line kept repeating "How can I help yeeewww?" in a bubbly but confused voice everytime I said anything. I suspect she also had trouble understanding XD

As for Cheryl Cole, I'm not at all surprised as to why she was booted off American X factor- she had apparently taken elocution classes but they have not worked at all. She still does Loreal adverts and I've noticed recently that the only change in her speech is that she has stopped dropping her "t"s.

[ralerin]

*swoon* I want your clothes. Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaant.

[Merriweather]

I
Off topic: has anyone else had the sensation of watching or listening to a bunch of people speaking in an accent not their own and suddenly having that accent sound normal and their own accent sound foreign? That happened to me watching Doctor Who the other day, and it was weird. On the plus side I can now distinguish Welsh and Scottish accents that aren't ridiculous and over the top from British accents.

I lived in the UK for 9 years - first in Wales, then England. Though back in the states now, I still watch as much British TV as possible, including buying any series I can afford (my local thrift shop has my number & calls me when they get anything British in, lol). My head bounces back and forth from one to the other so much I have to stop and think sometimes as to what nationality a character was, my brain processes none of them as foreign. And I picked up enough British slang during those years that permanently stuck that I have friends giving me blank looks all the time, lol. My granddaughter stays with us for a month or so each summer, she (who has never left the US) now has to go to the loo, LOL.

[emax4]

I too am smitten with women that have a British Accent. Years ago when I worked in a grocery store a senior couple came in. The husband spoke american English but the woman spoke British. I could have listened to her talk all day

I think after being around someone for a while, one can pick up the accent and start speaking that way. I remember a friend of a friend came by who was from the country and had a bit of a drawl (sp?). She would say "peyuhn" but I couldn't make out if it was "pen", "pain", "pin", or "paying" ..

[Sapphire Silk]

I love accents, especially British accents and a good Southern accent, especially the cultured Dixie Carter variety.

Unfortunately, I can't mimic any sort of accent worth a crap.

Funny thing was, when I lived in North Dakota, all my friends there thought I had this wonderful Southern accent!

I don't. I have no accent at all, and I enunciate clearly . . . most of the time (consequence of singing diction).

[Frantic Freddie]

Damn,Little Retail Rabbit,you make me wish I was young & single!


I have a tendency to fall into some accents when I'm around people that speak like that,my east Texas cousins being the prime example,I can spend 2-3 days with them & then drive my wife absolutely bugfuck for the next 2 weeks "STOP TALKING LIKE THAT!!!"

One thing I'm good at is being able to discern accents,I've made some people very happy when I said "Oh,you're from the UK/Ireland/Australia",they always say most Americans can't tell the difference.Since I speak Spanish too I can tell when someone's from northern or central Mexico or another western Spanish speaking country (I learned it in Spain,I used to speak perfect Castilian with a Madrid accent ) .I can tell the difference between the deep south & the southeast & never have any problem figuring out that someone's from NYC.

[EricKei]

Rabbit -- Simply awesome. The little hat is the icing on the cake

I don't. I have no accent at all, and I enunciate clearly . . . most of the time (consequence of singing diction).

I think that it's the same thing with me (chorus/chorale/etc from middle school on up), plus the fact that my parents always did their best to speak clearly. My Mom has a slight Gaw-ja Peach accent, but not much of one. ^_^ I also attribute my ability to imitate accents to that very same (informal) voice training/practice.

[RecoveringKinkoid]

This scene is from The Foreigner, which is one of my favorite plays. It's hilarious. I think this rendition of this particular scene is a little sedate, but at 5:20, when the guy in the overalls tries to teach the guy that supposedly doesn't speak English how to pronounce a one syllable word while speaking with a southern accent, it never fails to crack me up.

[Pagan]

Someone on here said once they thought Aussies and American Southerners sounded similar. I've since heard others say that elsewhere. I personally don't hear it, but I guess maybe there's something to it.

I've always thought an Aussie accent sounded like a mix of English and American Southern.

Though I have been asked "Wait, you're from New Orleans? Why DON'T you have an accent?" from people way up north in Yankee territory (read: Atlanta.) x_x

While it's obvious by my looks that I'm a Celt, because of where I grew up, I tend to sound like a chola, especially when I'm tired. Gets me some funny looks from people. They can't figure out how come the juera sounds like that.

I was talking with a friend of mine online one time. He lives down in Louisiana (not New Orleans), and when I briefly adopted an accent to say "N'Awlins, Loozeeyana," he was gobsmacked and asked if I'd lived in the New Orleans area, because I'd gotten it spot on.

I had someone convinced I was from Scotland once. And I hadn't even visited yet at the time.

I would agree. That's how I would transliterate THE most common way to say the city's name, and one of the more well-known "rural" ways to say the state's name ^_^ ProTip: Never, ever say it as Nyuu OR-lee-unz (unless you're from a French-speaking area) or New Or-LEENZ. Both will mark you as one o them durn outsiders tout de suite Or-LEENZ **is** how you pronounce the name of the Parish (county) in which the city of NOLA is located, however.

What do you do when people say it in French? Nouvelle-Orléans?

I have a tendency to fall into some accents when I'm around people that speak like that,my east Texas cousins being the prime example,I can spend 2-3 days with them & then drive my wife absolutely bugfuck for the next 2 weeks "STOP TALKING LIKE THAT!!!"

If I've had to have been in the Ag Building down at NMSU, I wind up sounding like I'm from Hobbs, America (complete with sounding like I got dip in my mouth) for a few days.