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Thread: On the Benefits of Having a British Accent

  1. #1
    Senior Member ChrisGeorge's Avatar
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    Default On the Benefits of Having a British Accent

    A cut glass English accent can fool unsuspecting Americans into detecting a "brilliance that isn't there", says Stephen Fry. So is a British accent - of any variety - the route to success in the United States?



    See Best of British By Megan Lane from the BBC News Magazine

    For myself, I am a complete dope but because I speak with a British accent, people think I am a college prof. . .
    Christopher T. George
    Editor, Ripperologist
    Editor, Loch Raven Review
    http://christophertgeorge.blogspot.com/
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    Senior Member shytalk's Avatar
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    I don't have a British accent, I speak pure Scouse.
    You can always count on Americans to do the right thing - after they've tried everything else.
    Winston Churchill

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    Re-member Ged's Avatar
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    I find myself speaking more eloquently when speaking to our European friends whilst on the phone in my line of business simply because they can't understand a word I say in my normal scouse.
    www.inacityliving.piczo.com/

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  4. #4
    Gnomie
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    sorry Ged cant understand you

    I think we all put a phone voice on for work.

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    Member bigpab's Avatar
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    My mrs still says that she cant understand a word I say when I'am talking to another scouser! But to anyone else she has no probs.

  6. #6
    Newbie Dade's Avatar
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    Not a British accent but the Belfast accent can confond alot of people although I can use my professional voice where all the slang is dropped but in full force "Norn Iron" it confuses the hell out of alot of people

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    Senior Member Cloggie's Avatar
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    What did Ged say...?????

    The 'Norn Iron' accent takes some listening to but it's a great accent!! In a book I was reading recently..........'She spoke using more vowels than there are in the English language' Refering to a Belfast person. It does seem like that tho..hehehe.
    Think I still have me Scouse accent, I was a taxi driver here in Holland for a while. When speaking Dutch it was obvious to the punters that I was English, it was obvious to some of them that I was Scouse!!! I have 2 lads who were born here they're 23 and 18 now and speak both languages without any accent but there's a bit of Scouse in them.........'u gorra cob on or wot??' How else do u say 'gorra cob on'????...............'Are u in a bad mood'...??? far too posh!!!

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    Newbie Dade's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Cloggie View Post
    What did Ged say...?????

    The 'Norn Iron' accent takes some listening to but it's a great accent!! In a book I was reading recently..........'She spoke using more vowels than there are in the English language' Refering to a Belfast person. It does seem like that tho..hehehe.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7FY6vMFIyE

    watch that and think again ok ok it is heavily "put on" to the extreme in that video but god... I come from Belfast and it really annoys me in that vid!
    Last edited by Dade; 04-09-2007 at 02:10 AM.

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    mike mike13's Avatar
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    Talking

    When I came to OZ early 60's usual things ten quid pom etc etc ,now I have
    just retired from owning a bussiness doing a couple of mill a year UP their's
    Mike

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    Member Louis's Avatar
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    its strange anytime i go to edinburgh, london or places in the south, i find myself speaking much slower so people can understand me, and i dont even have a full on scouse accent.

  11. #11
    Senior Member lindylou's Avatar
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    I speak slower to non-Scouse people.

  12. #12
    chippie
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    Default pure scouse

    Since coming to live down here I,ve put on my accent so that the locals know I,m" not from round here then" As soon as my present neighbour heard my accent he knew where I was from. When I was living and working in Liverpool I had a more controlled accent as I used the phone a lot and I think I was beginning to soften my accent by doing just that over the years. But I,m not ashamed to be a broad scouser.

  13. #13
    MarkA
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    I've toned my accent down over the years as coming from Croxteth, I didn't pause for a breath when speaking. Now, I've slowed down and try to pronounce my words, although some people still don't understand anything I say. When I speak to people on holiday I've been told that I sound like I'm from Scotland, Newcastle and even Birmingham. Once, in Amsterdam with my wife, we were on a canal cruise. We had been speaking to an English couple opposite us for over half a hour when the fella's wife asked my wife where about in Holland I was from! Another occasion in a bar in Amsterdam I was asked for directions to other brown bars in the area. I gave directions to the couple, they thanked me and asked where I was from. I told them I was from Liverpool and they said that I spoke good dutch. I told them that I didn't speak any dutch, to which they replied "but you've been ordering all your drinks in dutch"

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    Senior Member Waterways's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Cloggie View Post
    What did Ged say...?????

    The 'Norn Iron' accent takes some listening to but it's a great accent!! In a book I was reading recently..........'She spoke using more vowels than there are in the English language' Refering to a Belfast person.
    I personally can't stand the Northern Irish accent. I think it is the most grating sounding accent of any ever heard. No disrespect to any decent people over there, that is just my view.
    Last edited by Waterways; 10-04-2007 at 12:10 AM.
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    Senior Member Waterways's Avatar
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    I Have a very watered down Liverpool accent and pronounce the words correctly. One lady on the phone said I had the best voice she had ever heard on a telephone - I was shocked.

    Having a Liverpool accent in the south is a distinct disadvantage. If we were collectively black we would have legal case against some organisations. I met one girl who went for an interview and they said to her that she cannot have the job as many people would find her accent "offensive".

    In the USA, I get regarded as a "very" intelligent person, as I write with an italic pen and they are astounded. I also know more about the world and history than them. They are in awe at times - to the point I unintentionally intimidate some of them. One company would always run some projects past me, as I thought and looked from a different angle than them.

    In the south of England the only way to survive is out dress them. Have a clean crisp white shirt on every day. A dark blue immaculate suit and a Burberry raincoat. Immaculately polished black shoes. They then can't point at you. If you are scruffy you get nowhere. The doormen also call you Sir when dressed that way - just say little to nothing to them, as if they detect the accent the respect drops.

    Always be in first in the morning and one of the last to leave. Don't drink alcohol with them at all, as Liverpudlians are drunks aren't they. If you have to, only at company meals, and learn about wine and knowingly order the wine if you can. It helps if you learn French too. Don't willingly socialise with them as they really don't want to know you. Some will make an attempt to be friendly with you, but mainly out of a sense of duty more than anything else.

    Follow all that and you will survive. You may not be the first on the redundancy list then.
    Last edited by Waterways; 10-04-2007 at 03:01 PM.
    The new Amsterdam at Liverpool?
    Save Liverpool Docks and Waterways - Click

    Deprived of its unique dockland waters Liverpool
    becomes a Venice without canals, just another city, no
    longer of special interest to anyone, least of all the
    tourist. Would we visit a modernised Venice of filled in
    canals to view its modern museum describing
    how it once was?


    Giving Liverpool a full Metro - CLICK
    Rapid-transit rail: Everton, Liverpool & Arena - CLICK

    Save Royal Iris - Sign Petition

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