the way people talk

[Mr.Dude]

Well not in the context I was discussing :p but otherwise yes it is pretty coo'. Has a neat sort of sophistication or ring to it.

[Yosuke]

Absolutely true, I'd love to be able to speak as relaxed and slowly as you do in the American South, however I just can't help but talk at breakneck speed.

Personally I speak fairly quickly, I've been told I'm faster than a New Yorker, though I grew up in semi-rural atmosphere. Whenever I present papers in class I'm always told to slow down...

libertylove4: Haha! I think I'd agree for the most part. We really love to play with northerners when they visit...personally I enjoy faking a hollywood 'steel magnolias' accent...maybe I'm mean but I do get a kick out of it.

[Genersis]

I'm a londoner and should have a london Accent.
But due to a lack of "Social Exposure" (the Comunicative, not naked in a public place, Kind:tongue: ) I have an unusual accent to the extent that Londoners have asked me where i'm from a few times.:confused:

Maybe i'm the first to have the "internet accent":eek: !

[peterinmalaga]

I'm a Scouser (I'm from Liverpool, UK) but one doesn't talk with a scouse accent, does one. Strangely the word “scouse” comes from Germany! Labskaus (lob scouse in Liverpool) is a sort of stew which is typical of a number of north European countries not just Liverpool. But in Liverpool it is considered typically Liverpudlian (or typically scouse). These days I only eat Blind Scouse (scouse without meat) because I'm vegetarian now. The Liverpool accent is influenced by the many Irish immigrants who still live there. But within a space of 20 square miles Liverpool has in fact got quite a few accents. British people can be a bit snobbish about accents but this also has its positive aspect – it's easier to understand people who have a standardised accent. I thought I spoke German fluently till I went to live in Bavaria. I thought I understood English, till I went to Glasgow and I thought I understood Spanish till I came to live in Andalucia.

[fredv3b]

Allegedly Gladstone spoke with a Liverpudlian accent, but he certainly said one so it couldn't have been a scouse accent.

But within a space of 20 square miles Liverpool has in fact got quite a few accents.

Similar story in a few other British cities, particularly London, its one of the things I like about Britain, it makes it a more interesting place to live.

British people can be a bit snobbish about accents

Occasionally, normally very snobbish, either conventionally or reverse snobbery.

I thought I understood English, till I went to Glasgow

Although I know for a fact that there are people there who can speak English, but for the most part whatever it is that they do speak it isn't English.

[boxerdc]

I love that gentile Southern Gentry accent, it's really awesome. There's a guy in one of my classes that has it and I almost died when I heard it. I think it's a very hot accent.

My partner is from Tennessee, and when he speaks, I have a hard time keeping my clothes on..

He sounds like Issac Hayes.

[kitschcamp]

Locally we have a definite rural Fenland accent. Five miles away, across the River Nene and into Lincolnshire, the vowel sounds are completely different and much more northern sounding.

I was born and raised in Yorkshire, specifically around Leeds. You could tell which village or town around Leeds a person was brought up from their accent quite easily. Like you, you could hear the difference between someone brought up in Horsforth or Pudsey, yet they were just a few miles appart.

When I moved from Yorkshire to the Midlands, I had to work hard to lessen my accent and become more neutral, as it was a barrier to people sometimes understanding me. If I go home for a few days, though, the accent comes flooding back...

The strangest thing, though, is to hear what happens when someone speaks a foreign language. I now live in Sweden. I'm not really sure what I sound like in Swedish, BUT I know what my Swedish colleagues sounds like speaking English. Some still have very very distinctive Swedish accents to their English, but some have the most recognisable West Coast SoCal accents when they are speaking English. I met one guy who has the most amazing English Public School Boy accent when speaking English.

[marshlander]

The same is true of Switzerland where people from neighbouring villages often speak differently from each other ... not that I can tell the difference!

[fredv3b]

My partner is from Tennessee, and when he speaks, I have a hard time keeping my clothes on..

How do you manage to go out shopping together and the like? Does he have to pass you post-it notes?

[boxerdc]

How do you manage to go out shopping together and the like? Does he have to pass you post-it notes?

We shop quickly, and head right home..
It's actually pretty bad in restaurants, because he sits there looking gorgeous, and talking with that drawl...
There are times when, after a couple of glasses of wine, that I want to just take him on the table with everyone watching.

Luckily, we're both old enough to control ourselves.. at least so far.