Ikonboard » Printable Version of Topic » Yet another stupid topic from Ic0n0

Forum: Geek Forum
Topic: Yet another stupid topic from Ic0n0
started by: ic0n0

Posted by ic0n0 on Mar. 30 2001,15:29

I know this is going to sound stupid but here it goes, Are American accents weird to people from England and the rest of the English-speaking world? I mean one doesn’t realize one has an accent but I don’t think the American accent sounds like any of the others.(besides maybe the Canadian one) I mean we don’t sound like Britons or Irish or Australians but to most Americans those accents sound somewhat similar. So I guess what I am trying to ask is do Americans sound like everyone else and we just don’t realize it?

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"I am not a Marxist." -- Karl Marx

Posted by Spydir Web on Mar. 30 2001,15:44

and this is in the geeks forum?...

anyways... all accents "sound" funny to anyone. If you're from Boston, hearing some redneck from Mississippi is funny as hell. Aussie, British, and Irish accents sound a like cuz that's the general idea us Americans get...

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Sometimes you're the dog, sometimes you're the hydrant...

Posted by Sithiee on Mar. 30 2001,16:23

watch british shows that have brits playing americans, and then they do "american accents" they sound like southern drawls kindof to me.

Posted by askheaves on Mar. 30 2001,19:38

I think it may be a coincidence, but everywhere I've lived (Twin Cities, Milwaukee, Arizona), the general populous doesn't have an accent. And, from what I've heard, this might actually be true. The midwest accent is one of the most understandable accents there is, because there's very little added inflections and crap. Most successful radio DJs sound like they're from the midwest.

As for Arizona, almost everybody that lives here moved from Minnesota. It's odd. Even black people (all 4 of them) don't have much of an 'Urban' accent/dialect.

I've seen Fargo and it made me laugh, because it's a huge exageration of what's supposed to be a Northern Minnesota accent. Nobody down in the Cities ever talked like that. It's Hollywood's interpretation of one of the 'fly-over' states.

Posted by ic0n0 on Mar. 30 2001,20:20

It was odd that in Naples Florida the newscasters sounded like people from where I was from (Milwaukee and Chicago) and the Midwest in general. Southern Florida has become like the north in terms of accents. It also seems like people in the media in general sound like there from the Midwest. Even Conan O’Brien who is from Boston sounds Midwestern now. Although people in Wisconsin including myself don’t pronounce I’s very well I try to correct myself but it’s hard, for example it’s not Wis-con-sin it’s was-con-sin and it’s not Milwaukee it’s Ma-Waukee

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"I am not a Marxist." -- Karl Marx

This message has been edited by ic0n0 on March 31, 2001 at 02:26 PM

Posted by kai on Mar. 30 2001,21:14

the reason why people didn't talk like that in the cities is because just that. you lived in the cities. actually go to brainard and then hear what people are like. trust me. you can find hicks anywhere.

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I have yet to meet a C compiler that is more friendly and easier to use than eating soup with a knife.

Posted by askheaves on Mar. 30 2001,22:42

I've been out in Bemidji, and Lutson, and my folks live down in Montgomery. Outside the Twin Cities, you get hicks all over. It's funny, because down in Southern Minnesota, you get mild southern accents. In Northern Minnesota, you get mild Fargo accents. Maybe there's something to the city concept. Except, people from downtown Boston, downtown Pittsburgh, downtown Chicago, downtown Atlanta, downtown Dallas, etc... all have their own distinct accents.

I don't know. I have to believe that America has the most diverse sets of dialects and accents in the world. I know the Brits would expound about the Welsches, the Londoners, the Scots, the Irish, the Some-other-province accents... but how can you stretch from Southern Drawl to Boston, to Valley-Girl, to Fargo? I think it's cool, even though everybody without a Twin Cities accent sounds like an uneducated hick to me

Posted by PersonGuy on Mar. 31 2001,01:19

Did you know the main chick character from Pitch Black is British? I saw her in an interview and she had a HUGE British accent, and she was talking about how she had to LEARN to do an American accent!

And Marla from Fight Club is British to. I thought they just got some weirdo to play that part, but when you see have gorgeous she is in real life, you relize that she doesn't get enough credit for ACTING so well in that role!

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-< PersonGuy >

Posted by Sithiee on Mar. 31 2001,14:39

hugo weaving (agent smith in the Matrix) is australian....when i found that out, it blew my mind.

Posted by askheaves on Mar. 31 2001,20:24

Xena is from New Zealand. It's awesome to hear her talk in interviews. Plus, she's totally nuts.

Posted by Bozeman on Apr. 01 2001,02:58

What about the movie Fargo? Gotta love those accents. Well, not really...

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Posted by WillyPete on Apr. 01 2001,11:46

It's not that hard to do a foreign accent. But the reason the Brit and Aussie actors sound southern is that it's easier to pick out the really obvious differences and Southern drawl is easier to copy than the slight difference between common english accents and say, a midwestern.
Same for yanks doing brit. Check out 'Snatch'. Brad Pitt couldn't do a London East-End accent easily, but that weird accent he does is supposed to be irish/gypsy, but even we can't understand what the fuck he's saying.
It's easier for you guys to try and copy a scot or 'posh' english than to do one of our more common dialects. Because the differences are so big it's easier to remember what you need to 'change' to sound like them. Funny, when I'd been in the states for a few months, folks thought I was aussie cause of the South african inflection or canadian because of the south african habit of saying 'hey' at the end of sentences. haha

Posted by Dark Knight Bob on Apr. 02 2001,02:21

quote:
Originally posted by Sithiee:
watch british shows that have brits playing americans, and then they do "american accents" they sound like southern drawls kindof to me.

so is watching american actors only able to manage bad manchester accents and "eastend london cockney" type accents. god knows if any of yu lot could do a welsh accent

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Posted by Sithiee on Apr. 02 2001,05:05

heh, if you watch snatch a second time, it becomes incredibly easy to understand pitt...i dont know why, but it does.

Posted by DuSTman on Apr. 02 2001,05:18

quote:
Originally posted by Sithiee:
heh, if you watch snatch a second time, it becomes incredibly easy to understand pitt...i dont know why, but it does.

Maybe your brain manages to decode certain words the first time, thus leaving it free to concentate on the other ones the second time..

This message has been edited by DuSTman on April 02, 2001 at 12:20 PM

Posted by Jynx on Apr. 03 2001,05:42

quote:
Originally posted by ic0n0:
It was odd that in Naples Florida the newscasters sounded like people from where I was from (Milwaukee and Chicago) and the Midwest in general. ...

That's because everyone who does either radio or TV is given voice lessons, to remove any accents from their voice. For example, we have a talk radio host up here who is originally from Boston, but he has no accent at all. Recently, he played some of his really old material, and he had a noticable Boston accent. He then said that he took a class to rid himself of his accent.

As for the lack of accents in cities, I'd be willing to bet that it is because of all of the visitors and immigrants to those cities that wipe away any accent. For example, I grew up in New Orleans. In the city, there is a remarkably neutral city-wide accent, with very few exceptions. However, travel five miles out, and you struggle to understand the southern or cajun accent (depending on the family).

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--Jynx

I used to be a kleptomaniac, but then I took something for it.