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Do u have an accent?

Poll - Total Votes: 48
I have an accent
I used to have an accent but i lost it over the years
I love accents
I hate accents
I dont usually notice or care about accents
I dont have an accent
Show Results
You may vote on multiple answers, up to 2.
As someone with an accent i always wondered how other people feel about them or their experience having one. Maybe its just me but i always have it in the back of my head while speaking to someone. Im also wondering if imma lose it completely once i move for good. If that happened to u pls share ur experience.
Matt85 · 36-40, M
Accents are relative. We all have an accent deary.
dontdmme · 22-25, F
@Matt85 dialect and accent isnt the same.
@dontdmme Even dialect means something different depending on the country you're in.
dontdmme · 22-25, F
@BohemianBoo yep i agree
ArishMell · 70-79, M
[i]Everyone has an accent![/i]

We don't notice our own in the normal course of life because we are surrounded by people with the same basic accent. When we go to another part of the country the residents soon notice we are from elsewhere, even if they can't place our accent with any accuracy.

If we move elsewhere we tend to lose our native accent in favour of the adopted one, but may keep traces for life. I am a Southerner (English) but inherited Midlands traits from my parents' Nottinghamshire accent they never completely lost; and I have picked up Northern English dialect phrases from some years of visiting friends "Up North". Respectively those areas are around two hundred and three hundred miles from my native and resident counties.

For example, I pronounce [i]bath[/i] and [i]castle[/i] as those - with a hard 'a' as in "sand" where most Southern English people give the 'a' a slight 'ar' sound: nearly [i]barth, carstle[/i]. Yet the same Southerners say "sand" with a hard 'a'! We do [i]not [/i]though, go around saying "Ooh Aarrrrrgh!"; no more than Yorkshire people say "Eeh bah gum!" Those are comedians' inventions.


A few people try to rid themselves of their native accents, out of real or perceived necessity; but really they are trying to adopt the accent of their new surroundings or company. That was more common in the past, linked to mere snobbery and stereotypes.


It is amusing to we Britons to see phrases like "the English" or "the British" accent, singular; in SW posts from (mainly) Americans. The British Isles are home to an enormous range of regional native Welsh, Scots, Irish and English accents and dialects! Not only that, but many of these change markedly across only a few tens of miles; and more so in the past, even across the few miles width of a conurbation.

While of course the many here from many other countries bring their own languages, dialects and accents.

There are two English accents that are semi-invented: Received Pronunciation based on the Home Counties voice; and the "Estuary English" attempt at London's East End and Essex accents. (R. Thames estuary.) These areas centre only around 40-50 miles apart, E-W, but the natural accents are very different.

The former is very precise, rather clipped, and with no dropped consonants. The art-critic Brian Sewell has cultivated it for his own voice into oh-so-affected. "Estuary English" was affected particularly by 1980s-90s entertainers, DJs and the like trying "to get dahn wiv de yoof" - think something like the American actor Dick van Dyke's horrible attempt at Cockney in the film[i] Mary Poppins[/i].

Both are often exaggerated into dreadful parodies of their foundation voices.

[The true Cockneys with their well-known "Gor Blimey, Guv!" accent, dropped letters and rhyming slang, are natives of one small area of the formerly-industrial, East End of "Lunnon" (London).]
I've been told i have a slight accent LOL
@SheCallsMeCrushDaddy My cousins still live in Graham to this day. I have very fond memories there as a child.
@NoGamesTolerated I got a fondness for Alamance county since my daughter graduated from Elon Univ
@SheCallsMeCrushDaddy I remember seeing that college when I lived there.
Ironically, accents aren't real but I can mimic the accents or speech patterns of people I speak with quite often
@dontdmme lmao

Just lmao

I'm dyij at thus 😂😂😂
Certified memester 👀
dontdmme · 22-25, F
HannibalAteMeOut · 22-25, F
@sexyjigsaw but I forget about themmm wait I will post some I already have here






revenant · F
I do have an accent which betrays my origins yes.
revenant · F
@GeistInTheMachine Bingo is in the British isles.
revenant · F
@GeistInTheMachine Country is in bad shape alright. The situation is just not sustainable.
GeistInTheMachine · 31-35, M
@revenant Oh, I thought Bingo was just an elderly and kid thing. I guess Americans brought it from there.

Yeah? A lot of countries are atm. Sadly.

Just be glad you're not the Brits. I think you guys are in a better position to salvage it.
Morvoren · F
Cornish/West Country English
Everyone has an accent, usually formed by the first language they learned.

Whether it sounds (to others) like an accent depends on how far the speaker has moved from their childhood home.

Whether an accent is enjoyable depends on how easy it is to understand the speaker.
A thick accent can be almost impossible to understand and some people will give up trying and walk away.
A moderate accent can still be quite stressful because of the effort it requires; many people will tire quickly and try to avoid te speaker.
A mild accent is no problem and the person will integrate well into the society and quickly make friends.

Some of the reactions may be based on cultural prejudices.
Queendragonfly · 31-35, F
Yes. Northern Sweden has a very significant accent that stands out if you go south. I don't hear my accent anymore but all southern peeps around me does.
AndysAttic · 56-60, M
I suppose now it would be called 'received pronunciation' with a hint of a Scottish accent.
DrWatson · 70-79, M
We all have accents. (Even "textbook perfect speech" is [i]one[/i] way of speaking, so I think it would still be considered an accent.} But mine has changed over time, I used to have more of a New York City accent than I do now.

Fifty years after high school graduation, I got a message online from someone I knew in my New York HS . When I talked to her on the phone, I was amazed at what a heavy New York accent she had. I wondered, "Is that what she sounded like back then? Is that what [i][b]I[/b][/i] sounded like back then? Is that what we all sounded like back then?" When I remember high school, I imagine people speaking in the accent I am currently surrounded by here in the American Midwest, but of course that is not how people would have spoken at that time and place.
Pretzel · 61-69, M
We all have an accent. The only time you don't hear it is when people speak like you do
dontdmme · 22-25, F
@Pretzel if people speak like me i definitely hear an accent lol
Abstraction · 61-69, M
If someone moves to a new country before they turn c.12 they will probably lose their accent. After that age there will almost always be a trace. Something gets hard-wired in the brain.

My speech pathologist son told me this a decade ago and i've found it to be almost completely consistent.

At home I don't have an accent, of course. Overseas people think I'm English, but I'm Australian.
wonkywinky · 51-55, M
Yorkshire accent,west yorks,not the more broad s yorks.
SammyJo · 51-55, F
We all have accents relative to where we were born, brought up, the surrounding people etc...

Me? A strange mix of Sheffield (where I was born), Derbyshire (where I lived for 20 odd years) and the Surrey Delta (having spent close to 9 years down here now), so it's all a bit of a jumble - using words/sentences/phonetics from one area and mixing them with another...

☺️
Crazywaterspring · 61-69, M
Yes. It is enough of a mix that I'm constantly repeating myself.
[big][center][u][i][b][c=800000]I have none in my own language well I think not anyways BUT if I spoke a second language than I might..[/c][/b][/i][/u][/center][/big]
dontdmme · 22-25, F
@PrincessRoarBuddy i dont even sound right in my 2 mother languages 😭
@dontdmme [big][center][u][i][b][c=A69800]Awww that's a shame, that is maybe what u think but maybe other people think differently. Don't worry about it.



Plus you can always ask someone for help or learn if you are not great at them. [/c][/b][/i][/u][/center][/big]
Havesomefun2 · 56-60, M
I have a Yorkshire accent problem is people think iam thick as a bag as spuds
@Havesomefun2 But that’s such a cool accent ! 😊
Havesomefun2 · 56-60, M
@bijouxbroussard thank you tha
Havesomefun2 · 56-60, M
@bijouxbroussard tha know s x
Lyndawifeandmom · 36-40, F
I've lived in southern , U.S. my entire life . Everyone pretty much talks the same . So I never actually think about it ...
ArishMell · 70-79, M
@Lyndawifeandmom No - same anywhere; but would your and your neighbours' voices be quite different from those of New York or maybe California?

I can say the same for me, in Southern England, but I'd need go barely 100 miles Northwards in England for others to notice I am a visitor; and I'd probably notice their accent! Go 200 miles and my accent would be even more different still.

(If I travel 100 miles NW I'd be in Wales, with totally different accents and unique syllable-forms to the English ones; even without the Welsh language itself. 100 miles South, I'd need speak French....)
Ducky · 31-35, F
I am a sucker for accents! I just got a plain American accent, but I can emulate my dad’s Italian accent and a Trans-Atlantic accent pretty well.
Well I am southern English, so in the UK my accent is not very strong, but to people from other english speaking countries it probably sounds quite distinctive
HannibalAteMeOut · 22-25, F
You'll pick up the accent of the place you will move to for sure, maybe you will not sound native but it will get better with time.
GeistInTheMachine · 31-35, M
I have a standard American accent. If that is an accent.

When I speak spanish I'm told I sound gringo sometimes.
I was told by someone in California, and another in Pennsylvania that I have an accent. I'm from New Jersey.
Jessmari · 41-45
Yes, a Maine accent and I can't ever lose it. It just mixes with other accents if I'm around them long enough.
firefall · 61-69, M
I dont have an accent, its [b]everyone [/b]else that have them
@firefall I went to college in Georgia, back while Jimmy Carter was president. The running joke back then was,
"[b]We[/b] don’t have accents anymore, y’all do !" 😅
I have a real southern accent. LoL
SW-User
Texas accent, yes
Peril · F
Everyone has an accent.
Everyone has some kind of accent.
Explain what you mean
@dontdmme also in the US and also in the UK there are loads if different accents. Each person sees people who don't talk with his own accent as having an accent.
A Yank in the UK has an accent and a Btit in Nrw York has an accent.
dontdmme · 22-25, F
@BridgeOvertroubledWaters true but uk and usa are also completely different parts of the world
@dontdmme within UK and US as well.
If someone from the deep south goes to NYC he'll sound strange.
If someone from Newcastle goes to London he'll also sound different.
I have an accent according to people I talk with in the UK.
But, coming from the Midwest, I don't have an accent.
I sound like a news reporter.
You won’t lose it but it will morph a bit as you pick up inflections from the region. I embrace mine! No one can every figure out where I’m from.
Yes. And I'm quite proud of it. it actually is a conversation starter now that I moved to another part of the country.
A slight southern accent. Although I can go full on Bubba just to piss off the west coast locals.
LookingForIt987 · 51-55, M
To my own ear I don't. But people have been able to "guess" that I'm from Philly, so I must have one. 🤷‍♂️
Wish I had an English accent.. my fave.. or an Aussie accent would do…
akindheart · 61-69, F
I am told I do...but i come from the midwest and I don't think I do.
SW-User
It’s a mixture of Oxford posh and Essex girl UK.
French. No, the rest of you have an accent.
Patriot96 · 56-60, C
Southside irish catholic
@Patriot96 That’ll definitely come in handy tomorrow!
SW-User
but literally everyone has an accent...
antonioioio · 70-79, M
My accent is as Irish as you can get,
SW-User
I don't but everyone else does.
NickiHijab · F
Doesn't everyone have an accent?
Starcrossed · 41-45, F
Lol yeah, it's embarrassing
Iwantout · 26-30, M
I have a southern accent
pdockal · 56-60, M
Depends where i am
I have a accent.
WonderGirl · 36-40
Yes. Chinese.
Tres13 · 51-55, M
I think we all do, relative to others. Mine is ”hella" San Franciscan, which I always thought was pretty generic until I went to school down South.
DrWatson · 70-79, M
@bijouxbroussard What do you mean by "hella"?
@DrWatson Cali slang for "hell of a".😅
DrWatson · 70-79, M
@bijouxbroussard OH! I had no idea what you were referring to! 😄

 
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