Topic: American vs. British accents

We have LOTS of accents in the states. I'm originally from Upstate NY, but have lived overseas, both coasts of the US, and the North and South in the US. I'm not sure what my accent is, but I've been told I sound Canadian (wtf?). Dunno what that's all about.

I would say we have both regional and cultural accents. Someone from Boston sounds much different than someone from Louisiana or SoCal or even New York City or Texas. Socioeconomic factors affect accents almost as much as where a person resides. I don't mind all the different accents so much, except when people sound completely uneducated because words are grossly misprounounced. I've also found that Northerners talk much faster than Southerners.

When someone says New Zealand accent all I hear is this...
[youtube:03L_ZTbKiRc]

You sir, have claimed victory over this thread.

I tend to think don't I have an accent.... Compared to people on other parts of my country.
But I'm often said I have a northern accent... Which I guess is fair considering I live on the north... ~On a state that includes the word "South" in its name.~

Want loads of different accents? Try talking spanish..

How about "Walmark" and "K-Mark"? Some of the people in my wife's family say those. Even stranger? Some of them actually work for Wal-Mart!

As a Dutchman, I do not really hear the difference between Aussie and Kiwi speech. I can differentiate Canadian from American if I listen closely ('aboot', anyone?), but I have to pay attention. Two other amazing English accents are the Irish and Scottish ones. The letter 'r' is the most important letter to pay attention to if you want to know what country or region a particular English-speaking person is from.

You dont hear your accent? Hmm, maybe when i talk english i really talk like this?
[youtube:exCYSfQod14]

This is often what Americans think Dutch sounds like: like German. This sounds nothing like Dutch at all, but it is funny nonetheless.

I know this annoying as hell kid. He wants to be Harry Potter. So that leads to a British accent. Not only is his fake British accent annoying, he's a smart too who has to correct everybody about everything. American really has no accent unless you're from the south. I just live in little old Iowa where the kids are ghetto and the adults all live in their hometowns.

Agreed. I bow to you.

Slightly NSFW

That pretty much sums it up.

As a Dutchman, I do not really hear the difference between Aussie and Kiwi speech.

Australians speak with a slow drawl, but they enunciate most words close to British English.

New Zealanders don't enunciate 'i' sounds very clearly. "Six" becomes "Sex" or "Sucks" depending on how thick the accent is. "Fish" becomes "Fush."

Really, as much as we'd (Australians) like to pretend otherwise, that's the only really discernable difference between the two accents.

On another note: I hope people realise that regional slang is different to accents?

@waltz: we do, but it's still funny :3

I have one thing to say:

THIS IS A BISCUIT!!

Oh. Well then. Carry on.

American accents are just plain boring.

Me, I have an immensely heavy regional British accent, specifically an English one. Though even then, you can pull out about 20+ regional accents from England alone. Please note though, that I do not drop my t's or h's, as many would expect we do. If you find someone with one of many British accents who does that, you can be sure they didn't have a half-decent upbringing, and is most likely a chav. _{Cough. Keira Knightly... Wade Barrett...}

Coming from someone who was born in America, I think Doctor Who pretty much made British accents natural to me. XD

Im mexican, so i have a small accent but i'm from chicago so technically I have no accent? but in chicago and around the area of the usa people say hey and speak normal english not ya'll or whatever? But, i can't stand southern red neck accents and new jersey accents. they drive me insane or some reason.