If you are interested in the subject, you should check out Origins of the Specious: http://www.amazon.com/Origins-Specious-Misconceptions-Englis.... It also addresses this.
Did Americans in 1776 have British accents?
141–150 of 175 posts
Re: Did Americans in 1776 have British accents?
#142Earlier quoted context omitted.
I served this one up on a platter for someone to take but I think lkozma's reasoning is more plausible. I don't think ErrantX's comment was based in ethnocentrism. It's just a way of describing a non-regional accent in the US and apparently the UK.
Do you mean a Californian accent? A New York accent? Boston? The accent of a hypothetical guy who immigrated from Mexico when he was 5, went to an all black school in Chicago for 3 years, then moved to South Africa till he finished high school, and now lives in New York? Because while he would have a "non-regional" accent, he will kinda sound a bit different.
All of the above. It could be a person from anywhere without a distinctly regional accent. The news person is the common example. It's what Veronica Corningstone refers to in Anchorman when she says, "But while they're laughing and grab-assing, I'm chasing down leads and practicing my non-regional diction."
People that think they have this accent or that someone else has this accent will often refer to it as "no accent". It's not an ethnocentric viewpoint. Now, I definitely think the average person is not aware of how distinctive their accent really is and mistakenly think they have a non-regional one. But I do think it exists.
Just to give an example off the top of my head: take Conan O'Brien. He's from Boston, went to college in Boston but does he have a Boston accent? Maybe you could pick it out of his voice, but the average person probably wouldn't and he certainly doesn't have a strong one.
Re: Did Americans in 1776 have British accents?
#143Which explains why we can understand Aussies and Kiwis, but a random Nigel from the UK would have a speech that baffles. It boggles the mind how two people from different corners of London have different accents. Not to mention Manc vs Scouser vs the myriads of tongue-twisting nasal hiccups uttered all over them Shires. It's like they almost take pride in differentiation. Throw an international party and the two UKia…
Try being a Brit without an accent. It's so bloody boring I have to fake the Queens English to get laid. ;)
Australian here .. I've always had a bloody atrocious time in my travels, with my accent .. so I just standardized on "American-sounding" and I get along just fine with people understanding me, mostly, about 100% of the time .. except when I reveal I'm from Australia, and the whole thing unravels into a nationalism-filled diatribe about how I'm not a "true Aussie" since I don't speak A'Strine properly ..
I am a true Australian, since I don't actually live there, and consider anyone else living there, not an Aborigine, to be just a bunch of bloody tourist wankers, heh heh ..
Re: Did Americans in 1776 have British accents?
#144Earlier quoted context omitted.
Try being a Brit without an accent. It's so bloody boring I have to fake the Queens English to get laid. ;)
Australian here .. I've always had a bloody atrocious time in my travels, with my accent .. so I just standardized on "American-sounding" and I get along just fine with people understanding me, mostly, about 100% of the time .. except when I reveal I'm from Australia, and the whole thing unravels into a nationalism-filled diatribe about how I'm not a "true Aussie" since I don't speak A'Strine properly .. I am a true…
Yes, same here - I need to pronounce certain things in an American fashion to be understood at all when at work in the US. And much like this example, it revolves around the 'r':
'Excuse me, do you have you wireless internet access here?' (pronouncing it British / Australian style as a two syllable word)
'Sorry sir?'
'Excuse me, do you have you wireless internet here?'
'I'm sorry I don't understand'
'Do you have you wiYERless internet here?'
'Yes Sir, we do have wiYERless. Here's an access card...'
Re: Did Americans in 1776 have British accents?
#145Earlier quoted context omitted.
Enlighten me, what's the the British accent popular in movies like Football Factory, Human Traffic etc. which I find cool; while every Brit I've met in my life had this 'royal' accent I personally don't find understandable (sorry, no offence)? Actors of international-targetted movies use some other accent for a certain effect? Also, once I've met a guy AFAIR south London or sth, he spoke that his wife told me even mo…
Enlighten me, what's the the British accent popular in movies like Football Factory, Human Traffic etc. which I find cool They will be London accents; of which there is quite a broad range anyway. It can be a pretty strong accent. * while every Brit I've met in my life had this 'royal' accent I personally don't find understandable* Queens English should be pretty understandable; so it might not be what you've heard (…
Once I was on a trip and landed with a British family in one car, couldn't understand a word, it was sth like (hard to write it) "Ncaaaw, intt!" and took me 2 times repeat and focusing hard to get it was "Nice car, isn't it?". And the whole family was talking like that all the time.
It wasn't any Scottish (this one I recognize). I have no problem understanding and talking to most Brits, Americans, Canadians, but sometimes you (Brits) really surprise me :D
Re: Did Americans in 1776 have British accents?
#146Earlier quoted context omitted.
Enlighten me, what's the the British accent popular in movies like Football Factory, Human Traffic etc. which I find cool They will be London accents; of which there is quite a broad range anyway. It can be a pretty strong accent. * while every Brit I've met in my life had this 'royal' accent I personally don't find understandable* Queens English should be pretty understandable; so it might not be what you've heard (…
Once I was on a trip and landed with a British family in one car, couldn't understand a word, it was sth like (hard to write it) "Ncaaaw, intt!" and took me 2 times repeat and focusing hard to get it was "Nice car, isn't it?". And the whole family was talking like that all the time. It wasn't any Scottish (this one I recognize). I have no problem understanding and talking to most Brits, Americans, Canadians, but some…
Yeh, that's certainly not a common British accent or dialect.
I can't place it exactly but it sounds like a London or non-posh southern accent.
Re: Did Americans in 1776 have British accents?
#147Earlier quoted context omitted.
I can't speak for him but as someone that had the exact same thought, here's the problem: it's not a "delightful jab" at all. You misinterpreted it and then went on to say things in a way that could be easily taken as being a dick or an internet troll. I have a sense of humor and will laugh at just about anything but the written word does a poor job at conveying subtleties. If you want to be interpreted as "piss-taki…
It might come off wrong in writing, but it's worse in person when you're on the receiving end of banter like that, coming from an Aussie or Irishman or a Geordie with a very straight face. I too was offended the first time it happened to me, but I dropped all pretense and self-righteousness; learn to give it back, cold, and you might earn yourself that highest label of endearment: the C-word :-) Then you shout the fi…
My standard way of answering my friends on the phone is "how's the virgin" or "I saw your mother out in town last night" or uuuhhhhoooohhh (sex noise). Makes things more interesting for the rest of the conversation. Even my boss takes the piss at work. Great way to prevent people getting 'up' themselves (Irish btw).
Re: Did Americans in 1776 have British accents?
#148Earlier quoted context omitted.
You can also pick up clues in rhyming, jokes, slang and puns that wouldn't otherwise make sense.
Just a couple of examples I happened to come across while researching for another comment: In Julius Caesar , Shakespeare makes a pun which only works if "Rome" is pronounced like "room". Also, in Henry IV, Part One , there's a pun resting on the similarity of "reason" and "raisin".
In parts of Ireland, you'll still hear "reason" pronounced much like "raisin" is in much of the UK.
Re: Did Americans in 1776 have British accents?
#149Earlier quoted context omitted.
I served this one up on a platter for someone to take but I think lkozma's reasoning is more plausible. I don't think ErrantX's comment was based in ethnocentrism. It's just a way of describing a non-regional accent in the US and apparently the UK.
Do you mean a Californian accent? A New York accent? Boston? The accent of a hypothetical guy who immigrated from Mexico when he was 5, went to an all black school in Chicago for 3 years, then moved to South Africa till he finished high school, and now lives in New York? Because while he would have a "non-regional" accent, he will kinda sound a bit different.
Grew up in Australia and then moved to the UK for 10 years. English people think i'm Australian. Or sometimes American (too much time watching US TV, I think). When i'd return to Australia, people would think I was English.
I then spent 2 years in Boston. And now 2 years in Toronto. My accent is completely mangled and jumps all over the place (ie, I might sound vaguely North American, but I know that you there's a 'h' in 'herbs').
Re: Did Americans in 1776 have British accents?
#150Melvyn Bragg (who is in possession of a beautiful accent himself) has done a large number of BBC radio programmes on the recent evolution of the english language, accents, etc.
Routes of English: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/routesofenglish/