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macvillage.net · Mar 28, 2004, 06:04 PM

Inspired by slashdot. I'm curious what your favorite and least favorite accents are.

Here's The URL to sample away
http://classweb.gmu.edu/accent/

If you have an obvious bias (your from the area, especially non-native english speakers etc.) note that.

Obviously, this is about as scientific of a poll as "favorite color", it's purely opinion.... so... what makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up? And what relaxes you?

I did a quick run down. Just a few particular favortes, and the least liked (in no particular order).

Favorite Accents:
Most Islands (Jamaca in particular)
English - Brooklyn (I was born there, and grew up not to far away, so it's a bias)
German
Dutch (Bias, my mother was born in Holland)
Italian
sicilian!!!
Danish
Greek
Swedish
Synthesized English!!! (obvious bias)
Tagalog
Most Russian

Most Offensive:
French (sorry, it's true)
Most southern English accents, exception in particular for texas
cantonese
Hebrew
Farsi
Punjabi
Few Russian
Turkish
Yiddish

So... what's yours?

ryju · Mar 28, 2004, 06:11 PM

French, then British, then Australian.

philzilla · Mar 28, 2004, 06:13 PM

Originally posted by macvillage.net:
Favorite Accents:
English - Brooklyn (I was born there, and grew up not to far away, so it's a bias)

Most Offensive:
Most southern English accents, exception in particular for texas

what the hell? riddle me this, Batman: where are Brooklyn & Texas?

since when did you lot decide you had an English accent?

fireside · Mar 28, 2004, 06:45 PM

Originally posted by philzilla:
what the hell? riddle me this, Batman: where are Brooklyn & Texas?

since when did you lot decide you had an English accent?

since we beat your ass in the revolutionary war

macvillage.net · Mar 28, 2004, 06:51 PM

Originally posted by fireside:
since we beat your ass in the revolutionary war

Reminds me of the time I was lifeguarding on the 4th of july. My boss told a british guy "happy indendance day" (not thinking that he was british). Guy responded "it's funny being on the other side of things".

Everyone's got an accent... when heard from the ears of someone else.

Oisín · Mar 29, 2004, 01:06 AM

Originally posted by macvillage.net:
Inspired by slashdot. I'm curious what your favorite and least favorite accents are.

[blablabla]

So... what's yours?

I'm not really clear on what you mean here... you are talking about English accents, right? So... how can you possibly put the Danish English accent on your positive list???

Okay, mine:

Favourite accents
Irish (particularly Galway and Donegal)
Posh British BBC accent
Dutch
French (sort of)

Neutral
"Standard" American accents [ie. Hollywood accents]
Australian

Most offensive
Texas and all other Southern State accents!!!
Danish!!! (biased, from Denmark)
German
Chinese (biased, live in China)
Spanish (ie. from Spain, not the South American one)

ShortcutToMoncton · Mar 29, 2004, 01:21 AM

I'm down with the Newfie accent. It drives the ladies wild.

greg

dracoleb · Mar 29, 2004, 03:25 AM

I live in Southern California, so I have that "Hollywood accent" that you speak of, I would love to know what it sounds like to other people, though when in Boston once I was told that I had a stoner accent, found that amusing.

Back on topic, I really like German and Russian accents, indifferent to Mexican because I hear it quite a bit, and hate the French accent. Also I am partial to girls with an irish accent

mindwaves · Mar 29, 2004, 03:26 AM

Like: Korean
Hate: Vietamese

MindFad · Mar 29, 2004, 03:28 AM

Favorite accent: Scouser.

Least Favorite (hate is such a strong word, really): French.

Lateralus · Mar 29, 2004, 03:29 AM

I like German and Russian as well.

The sound of the French accent makes my balls hurt though ...in a bad way.

SamuraiDL · Mar 29, 2004, 03:31 AM

like: Botswanie
hate: bangladeshy

macvillage.net · Mar 29, 2004, 01:49 PM

I think we have proven that Americans just hate the French accent. See, it's not so much about their countries inability to keep the Nazi's out, despite somehow believing they were the #1 power in Europe at the time.

It's just their accents!!!!

Me likes Austrian too. Ahnold!

malvolio · Mar 29, 2004, 10:31 PM

People from Rhode Island tend to have a really ugly accent, IMO. Kind of a cross between Boston and Brooklyn. I believe it's referred to as "Swamp Yankee."

mitchell_pgh · Mar 29, 2004, 10:36 PM

Brooklyn!!!! you have got to be kidding me... It's like listening to a trucker that never passed the 4th grade!!!

GGGGGGGGRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!

Krusty · Mar 29, 2004, 11:59 PM

Originally posted by mitchell_pgh:
Brooklyn!!!! you have got to be kidding me... It's like listening to a trucker that never passed the 4th grade!!!

My thoughts on US accents:
Sorry, northeast urban accents sound like sandpaper on my eardrums (NJ, Philly, Brooklyn). Like Andrew Dice Clay for guys and Fran Drescher ("The Nanny") for women. " Yo Adrian !!"
"Inland South" accents sound cracky and whiny to me (think Jeff Foxworthy or some country-western singer) "YeeHaw!!, If yer car has less hubcaps than you've had ex-wives, you might be a redneck"
"Coastal South" accents grow more pleasing to my ears the longer I've lived here (think Rhett Butler and Scarlett O'Hara) "Frankly mah dear ..." The proper term for male buddies is "Beau" rather than "Buddy". "Pal", or "Dude" and addressing people with Title + First Name actually occurs. "Mr. David" .."Miss Karen". Very Weird.
"Upper Mid-West" accents sound "smiley" and "wholesome" to me ... "Oh yah, would you like more cookies ? Their made with peeeecans, dont-cha-know"
Most parts of the West sound like Standard American English with a midwest base but incorporating "Dude" a lot, Basically, "laid back" midwestern.
Boston. Haven't been there in 2 years. Does everyone still say "Wicked <fill in the blank>" every other word ?

Sounds OK to me on adults ... little kids with the Boston accent always remind me of something out of Oliver Twist.

Honestly, with the influence of TV and the movement of people, one can hear almost any accent (and bastardizations thereof) in almost any part of the country. Basically, the younger a person is, the more they seem to sound like "Hollywood" rather than their local region, IMO.

Foreign Accents:
French ? Meh. French Accented English?. oooh la la

British ? Quite a few different ones to choose from ... some sound pleasing.
German(ic) ? Sounds like they're pissed off -- even if they aren't.
Jamaican (also Gullah around here). Melodious. Loud. Clear.

I'm getting tired of writing ..

benb · Mar 30, 2004, 12:35 AM

Cockney - The life of the wife is ended by the knife!!!!!

maxintosh · Mar 30, 2004, 02:28 AM

Favorite accents:
British
German
Australian
Russian

I took French for 7 years, and I speak it nearly fluently. Started taking German this year -- I LOVE IT. So much fun. There's something really entertaining about capitalizing every noun and being able to smash a bunch of words together into one big word (example: speed limits = die Geschwindigkeitsbegrenzungen).

Jetzt muss ich ins Bett gehen, weil ich m�de bin!

daimoni · 01:25 AM

.

AppleCello · Mar 30, 2004, 04:46 AM

I have a mild american accent--> when Im speaking french. Its there, but people are surprised when I say Im from the states. they dont place it immeadiately, meanning that im improving

I Love the french accent in english.

Very often here in Paris, I have italian tourists approach me in the street, asking for directions or help... in Italian. no parlo italiano, but its amusing to work it out between french and italian. I can thank my grandparents' acestry for those amusing times!

Patrick

Cipher13 · Mar 30, 2004, 05:09 AM

Like:

�_British (male, Snatch-like accents, as well as the more 'proper' ones, to a point)
�_Russian
�_Vietnamese
�_Chinese speaking English
�_Japanese
� Japanese speaking Engrish
� French (like the guy from the Matrix with the superiority complex, and accent to match)
�_Thai

Dislike:

� British (female, ala Posh Spice)
�_Chinese speaking Mandarin/Cantonese

****ing hate:

� American
�_"Australian", as displayed by Steve Erwin and apparently the rest of our population
�_New Zealand
�_Inner-South-West Australian "Leb" "accent" - morons

ShortcutToMoncton · Mar 30, 2004, 06:00 AM

Originally posted by maxintosh:
...being able to smash a bunch of words together into one big word (example: speed limits = die Geschwindigkeitsbegrenzungen).

Whoa! I won a gold star for best pronounciation of that word in Grade 7 French class! Why we were speaking German, I can't remember, and I ran into an exchange student a few years back and she said I was bastardizing it...but still!

Twighlight zone!

greg

paully dub · Mar 30, 2004, 07:26 AM

If you think French accented English is bad I'll simply say that American accented French is really ugly. That and Americans tend to speak really very loudly.

But those Americans that actually speak a second language fluently ( not like Bush "speaks" Spanish ) can at least be commended for making the effort...

voyageur · Mar 30, 2004, 09:04 AM

I haven't heard an accent I didn't like. I've always been fascinated by languages and the different sounds in each, and love listening to them to figure out what makes them unique. Yes, even Boston and Brooklyn.

One pair of English accents that has always confused me, though, is Irish and Scottish. I know there are differences, but have trouble hearing them. Can someone explain to me the differences between these two?

paully dub · Mar 30, 2004, 09:16 AM

Originally posted by voyageur:
I haven't heard an accent I didn't like. I've always been fascinated by languages and the different sounds in each, and love listening to them to figure out what makes them unique. Yes, even Boston and Brooklyn.

One pair of English accents that has always confused me, though, is Irish and Scottish. I know there are differences, but have trouble hearing them. Can someone explain to me the differences between these two?

Well the Scottish tend to roll their R's and the Irish accent is a bit softer in that respect.

voyageur · Mar 30, 2004, 09:26 AM

Originally posted by paully dub:
Well the Scottish tend to roll their R's and the Irish accent is a bit softer in that respect.

It's that easy, eh? Thanks,

I thought it might have something to do with the r. Funny how the pronunciation of r is diagnostic in so many languages.

paully dub · 09:45 AM

Originally posted by voyageur:
It's that easy, eh? Thanks, I thought it might have something to do with the r. Funny how the pronunciation of r is diagnostic in so many languages.

Whoa, before the Scottish and the Irish go at it - it's not ONLY the R's, it's just the thing that pops out more to me. The Irish accent is quite different in many respects.

Oh and Scots tend to speak LOUDER...

SimeyTheLimey · Mar 30, 2004, 09:36 AM

Originally posted by voyageur:
One pair of English accents that has always confused me, though, is Irish and Scottish.

You'd confuse them too with that statement.

voyageur · Mar 30, 2004, 10:05 AM

Originally posted by SimeyTheLimey:
You'd confuse them too with that statement.

I was worried I'd offend someone with that statement

SimeyTheLimey · Mar 30, 2004, 10:46 AM

Accents I dislike:

English urban Midlands, especially Wolverhampton, "Behbingham", or Coventry.

The newly de rigeur declasse BBC accent. It's like having the news read by the cast of Eastenders.

Also dislike: the equally affected upper class twit accent (e.g. Prince Charles).

Glaswegian.

Bowlmer (Baltimore) (although I don't hate this one).

Beyerisch, but only because I can't understand a word they are saying.

Likes:

Southern US drawl. It grows on you (I have family in Louisiana).

Welsh

Most Italian.

Lowland Scots.

Irish, but not Ulster.

Suffolk. I used to hate it, but it's grown on me. Alroit bouy? Owyouadoin'of?

Oisín · Mar 30, 2004, 11:00 AM

Originally posted by voyageur:
It's that easy, eh? Thanks, I thought it might have something to do with the r. Funny how the pronunciation of r is diagnostic in so many languages.

Actually, the Irish accent tends to be more "soft" all round, not only with the r's. Some (not all) Irish dialects also have the easily recognisable "sh" t's (I believe Galway and Tralee are the best examples of this - they would say "gesh oush of ish" instead of "get out of it"). Neither accent (as far as I know) make the two pronunciations of "th" "properly" (as � [this] and � [think] respectively), but rather pronounce them kind of as an aspirated form of a French/Spanish/Italian d/t respectively. Kind of.

But listen to an Irishman and a Scot, and you'll catch the difference quite quickly.

andi*pandi · Mar 30, 2004, 11:20 AM

I like most accents, really, and it is interesting to see/hear different ones.

The ones I hate are nasally--Rhodh I-LinDH in particular. Bleah!

I do like most british isles accents, at least the ones where it's still recognizable as English.

I have a soft spot also for Romanian accents, I have just heard so many of them. Think Russo-Italian. That's my husband's family.

daimoni · 01:25 AM

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daimoni · 01:26 AM

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