Well I'm from Newcastle
I just sound nothing like a person from Newcastle :biggrin1:
it is a bad accent though, instantly makes a person sound less intelligent
Same here :biggrin1:
I would hate to have a geordie accents, mine is pretty posh
Some get it right.A lot of people in the U.S didn't realise that Hugh Laurie is British.On the subject of yanks learning to sound English, it doesn't sound any more stupd than Brits attempting to sound American!
Gwyneth Paltrow can pull off a good Brit accent in my opinion.
big d reading Jilly Cooper - How LOVELY!!
I really dislike most British accents.
Strange I suppose...
I think precisely because it is such a small country there hasn't been as much incentive to uproot, business areas tend to be localised so it's easy to find a similar job, your family stayed in one place so that was a reason to stay there too. Probably loads of reasons I can't think of too.
because it's an older nation.
accents evolve. in times when ordinary people didn't travel, they evolved away from each other.
america has only existed since people travelled.
Don't be so fucking stereotypical as it makes you come across as a thick twat.
If you were that posh you'd at least be able to use basic grammar.
I'm from the North East and proud of my accent although it is very watered down with travelling. When I do venture back home to Newcastle the accents sound very strong to me. They are warm, hard working friendly people.
For some reason I find it a vaguely unsettling combination.:biggrin1:
I wasn't being stereotypical, it makes you SOUND, like you have little intelligence, I am in no way saying that people from Newcastle are not clever, it just isn't an accent that sounds intelligent.
Good link MB! It looks like they haven't heard of your explanation of the origin of "naff".
naph = bad (quite possibly the origin of the current British English slang term naff)
I sometimes hear repeats of 'Round The Horne' on BBC7,it's surprising what they got away with considering homosexuality was illegal until 1967.BBC bosses probably didn't have a clue what they were talking about. :biggrin1:
I remember "Naff off!" used to be one of Princess Anne's favourite phrases.
Yes, that may explain why so many dialects came about but you no longer live in Old England. People travel now don't they? Listen to national broadcasts, no? People from different towns marry, right? I would imagine dialects changing or converging as a result. Are you saying that there is no trend for a "standardized" British dialect?
The funny thing about British accents is that I can understand some, like the Queen's, but others are competely incomprehensible. I wonder if Brits have the same problem in parts of Britan and Ireland themselves.
The power to conform and be accepted is great. Why not so in Britain?
I'm sorry if I seem like a judgemental bastard, that is certainly not what I am
sorry I offended you, regarding your accent
It is here too, well sort of but I don't think we're so easily led, not deep down any way. Cultural maturity and a sense of heritage probably play a part. Remember Britain is in effect four nations, each with it's own entensive and turbulent history and each has a distinctive sense of self.
Part of that is individuality is linguistic and it's unlikely we'd give that up easily, and certainly not for the mere sake of 'standardising' our accents.