Pedantic? No. A wee bit oversensitive? Perhaps. A bit rough on the retort? I would have to say yes. I myself am quite aware of the political and national structures of the countries of The Commonwealth. I am fully aware that England is one of the countries of The Commonwealth and not to be confused with a catch-all term to describe all of the countries within the United Kingdom. But to expect the rest of the English speaking peoples to be as versed as you or I is a bit much. I say we draw it mild, aye? And Washington D.C. is not in ANY state. D.C stands for District of Columbia which is a square patch of what was once bog that was separated from all other states to serve as the home for the federal capital. But I don't see any reason to get hot under the collar if folks get that wrong.
Hmmm....did I miss something or isn't the theme of this thread to "Share" your accent by either recording it or describing it? Hell, half the people who hear me talk think I am from Georgia...nope. But I take it in good humor and politely explain that I am from North Florida which sounds different from the accents in Central and South Florida, and even Georgia.
It's quite true. The Floridian accent is quite distinct and most other Southern States tend to not think of Florida as part of The South.
Yes, Wrey...and honestly, I get upset when people tell me that. But as I said, I just pass it off by saying something like,... *best southern accent*..."Yall, just don't understand the state of Florida...would you like some sweet tea and fried okra?" That pretty much keeps them quiet.
I was working at a Mervyn's just north of Atlanta (Marietta) one X-mas and I was helping out in the gift wrap dept. I am awesome at gift wrap. I was working at my usual fast pace and one of the ladies waiting in line commented jovially, "Look at him! You know he's from the North." To which I replied with equal good cheer, "No, I'm Southern, I'm from Florida." At that point, all the smiles on all the faces in line dropped and the lady replied coldly, "Florida is not the South." You could have heard a pin drop.
To save people from googling: The Commonwealth is pretty much every country that was part of the British Empire, except for the US (you guys left on your own), and technically Zimbabwe (they've been kicked out / left for the time being). Also, I think the Republic of Ireland isn't part of it. Great Britain is England, Scotland and Wales. The United Kingdom is England, Scotland and Wales plus Northern Ireland. Also, people should post samples of their accents - telling us you're from Boston means nothing to non-Americans!
Not everyone will want to post a sample. People will respond with whatever they are comfortable with sharing.
I know - it's just slightly frustrating to hear descriptions of really cool sounding accents, and not have a clue what they sound like IRL.
Maybe poeopl could give examples. i know one or two poeple have. For example, somebody wrote "I sound like julie andrews" maybe that would help (not that I do BTW)
I don't really know if this counts, but anyway, I speak a lot of slang, probably more then most Australians, most of us from country towns do. We shorten words down, I for one swear a lot and I tend to sound rather gruff for a woman, I know I upset people with the way i talk sometimes more so on the net if they don't understand my type. I guess I would sound closer to american people then I would my own kind. The old Australian ideal is dying which is pretty sad.
Please, please, please, forgive me for using Harry Potter as an example, but they were playing a marathon of all the movies on one of the channels this weekend and this thread came to mind. Can someone tell me the given regional accents of the three main characters as portrayed in the movies? Or have they had their voices voice-coached into a more or less standard BBC English?
Wreybries - voice coached!! No accent as far as I cant tell. I dont know any part of england (and I say england because the Celts - Wales, Scottland and Irish have very distinct accents, of which those are none of, so I can at least rule those out for you), which has such a plummy well rounded accent. Its sounds so forced and movized. Hope that Helps!
I thought so. The vast majority of American actors also have their voices smoothed out into a rather generic American accent. If the U.K. has 'BBC English,' then I guess the closest analogue from the U.S. would be 'CNN English.' There are some American actors who do hold on to their regional accents because it is part of who they are as an actor, but to maximize their potential, most actors work hard not to sound like where they are from.
We are getting slightly better over here now, theres a Welshman - with a strong welsh accent, I may add, reading the National (as in it gets broadcases across the whole of GB)BBC News, as opposed to the Regional Welsh (only braodcast in Wales) one. There was a few raised eyebrows and letters to the Papers at the begining, but he's been at it a while now so cant see him going anywhere.
I had the same question! I was thinking of just posting a video of me and the hubby on Youtube and then linking.
Yes, it's a Midwest accent. The American midwestern accent is generally the accepted "public" accent all across the country. Most TV and radio ads have that midwestern "non-accent", even though only a small percentage of the country actually speaks it. And even though the midwest accent is considered "no accent", it does indeed have an accent. Oy! My head hurts now... I'm from the midwest and grew up in Chicago, so I speak Chicagoan when I'm in the city, and midwestern when I'm not. I went to school in Michigan and in London, and still have the lingering accents I've picked up from both of those areas. A weird mix of northern US twang, London drawl, and Chicago nasal. Like Boston, only less grating on the ears.
