Languages, accents, dialects an' t'ing

[sharkyvilla]

5 hours ago, PussEKatt said:

There is a guy at table tennis that is from Newcastle and I could listen to him all day.There is also a woman from S.Africa and I love her accent as well.

Strong Afrikaaner accents are horrible, probably a bit racist but I instantly think of Apartheid when I hear it.  I find the New Zealand accent a bit grating at times as well, like Australians but they've switched all the vowel sounds around.  Also rugby league players all seem to have the same thick accent, even though I know half must be from Lancashire and half from Yorkshire they all sound the same to me.  Worst of all is the Jamie Carragher scouse, where the 'k' sounds like they're bringing up a load of mucus that they're going to flob at you.

Apart from that, everyone is fine.

[bickster]

24 minutes ago, sharkyvilla said:

Worst of all is the Jamie Carragher scouse, where the 'k' sounds like they're bringing up a load of mucus that they're going to flob at you.

I call that rough Northern Scouse, it's the one I don't like either. Though Carragher himself is a nice enough bloke irl

[Xela]

6 hours ago, lapal_fan said:

An accent I've always really disliked is the Nottingham/Stoke accent.

Are they the same? I think they're slightly different. 

[Xela]

I always find it amazing that accents change in such a short distance. 

Brum, Wolvo, Stoke, Notts, Mancs, Scouse. Not a great distance between any place. 

Is it like that in other countries? In Germany for instance? Is there a Frankfurt accent? A Munich accent? A Hamburg accent?

[Keyblade]

8 minutes ago, Xela said:

I always find it amazing that accents change in such a short distance. 

Brum, Wolvo, Stoke, Notts, Mancs, Scouse. Not a great distance between any place. 

Is it like that in other countries? In Germany for instance? Is there a Frankfurt accent? A Munich accent? A Hamburg accent?

I think the UK is quite unique in that. London alone having multiple accents is quite remarkable. Can't think of anywhere else like that.

[sidcow]

9 minutes ago, Xela said:

I always find it amazing that accents change in such a short distance. 

Brum, Wolvo, Stoke, Notts, Mancs, Scouse. Not a great distance between any place. 

Is it like that in other countries? In Germany for instance? Is there a Frankfurt accent? A Munich accent? A Hamburg accent?

I think I've said this before but Brum to Cov, such a short distance but zero similarities at all. 

[mjmooney]

16 minutes ago, Xela said:

Are they the same? I think they're slightly different. 

Definitely different. Stoke is basically Manc with a tinge of black country. Nottingham and Derby are sort of softened south Yorkshire. 

[Wainy316]

13 hours ago, Xela said:

I always find it amazing that accents change in such a short distance. 

Brum, Wolvo, Stoke, Notts, Mancs, Scouse. Not a great distance between any place. 

Is it like that in other countries? In Germany for instance? Is there a Frankfurt accent? A Munich accent? A Hamburg accent?

Like how I see absolute vast landmass of the US accent wise.  

New York, Boston, Deep South.  The rest is just American.  The end.

[icouldtelltheworld]

Always think it strange that Brummie accents get so much stick but you rarely hear criticism of East Mids accents. Basically all the worst parts of West Mids, Yorkshire and East of England accents combined, its probably the only one that grates on me.

Accents in general are fascinating, as others have said its incredible that they change so much in such short distances 

[Mark Albrighton]

9 hours ago, Wainy316 said:

Like how I see absolute vast landmass of the US accent wise.  

New York, Boston, Deep South.  The rest is just American.  The end.

[LondonLax]

It’s also possibly equally strange how Australia is the size of Europe or the US but has comparatively little variety in the accent. There is a ‘strong’ country accent and a more softly spoken city accent but apart from that it’s pretty universal across the continent.

[villa4europe]

On 15/07/2021 at 20:52, Xela said:

I always find it amazing that accents change in such a short distance. 

Brum, Wolvo, Stoke, Notts, Mancs, Scouse. Not a great distance between any place. 

Is it like that in other countries? In Germany for instance? Is there a Frankfurt accent? A Munich accent? A Hamburg accent?

Bavarian yep definitley, it's the only one I can differentiate, in German and English too

[bickster]

3 hours ago, LondonLax said:

It’s also possibly equally strange how Australia is the size of Europe or the US but has comparatively little variety in the accent. There is a ‘strong’ country accent and a more softly spoken city accent but apart from that it’s pretty universal across the continent.

When the culture is a constant diet of Neighbours, Home and Away, Prisoner Cell Block H and Skippy you don't expect cultural diversity really do you? 

[chrisp65]

A point just made by Ray Davies on the tv, a tip of the hat to bands that sing in their own accents:

Jam, Oasis, Madness, Lilly Allen, Ian Dury, XTC, Small Faces

..and of course The Kinks

 

 

God save the village green preservation society.

[bickster]

Just now, chrisp65 said:

a tip of the hat to bands that sing in their own accents:

Depends if you like the accent I guess

Can't bear Maximo Park for example

[chrisp65]

Just now, bickster said:

Depends if you like the accent I guess

Can't bear Maximo Park for example

I’m not a fan of XTC, but I’d rather they be from Swindon than some rinsed midatlanticaland

 

[bickster]

18 minutes ago, chrisp65 said:

I’m not a fan of XTC, but I’d rather they be from Swindon than some rinsed midatlanticaland

 

I like XTC. There’s not many accents I don’t like tbh but Geordie irks me and Maximo Park sing like Geordies.

[mjmooney]

8 hours ago, chrisp65 said:

A point just made by Ray Davies on the tv, a tip of the hat to bands that sing in their own accents:

Jam, Oasis, Madness, Lilly Allen, Ian Dury, XTC, Small Faces

..and of course The Kinks

 

 

God save the village green preservation society.

This was one of the things I had in mind when I started the thread. I mostly prefer pop/rock music sung in 'American' (even by British artists) - it just seems more 'right' to me (like Shakespeare should always be done in a British accent). 

Of the above artists, I do like the Kinks and Small Faces, but I'm less fond of The Jam, Oasis, XTC or Dury, precisely because of the accents/vocal styles. Lily Allen is like fingernails down the proverbial blackboard, absolutely horrible. 

I like the songs of The Proclaimers, a lot, but I can't stand to listen to them, the way they lay on the Scots accents with a trowel. Likewise Welsh - same problem with Cerys Matthews. 

Irish is OK (maybe because it's closer to American?), particularly in folk music. 

There are a few exceptions to the rule - surprisingly I do like the frightfully well enunciated Al Stewart, albeit in small doses. Oh, and Sandy Denny. 

There seem to be very few, if any, American artists that adopt British accents (Colin Meloy of The Decemberists occasionally, but he's about the only one I can think of). 

Edited July 17, 2021 by mjmooney

[sidcow]

9 hours ago, chrisp65 said:

A point just made by Ray Davies on the tv, a tip of the hat to bands that sing in their own accents:

Jam, Oasis, Madness, Lilly Allen, Ian Dury, XTC, Small Faces

..and of course The Kinks

 

 

God save the village green preservation society.

I saw that, great programme.  Good to hear a Brummie accent on it as well! 

The Kinks are just brilliant.  

Oh god......what have I done? 

Edited July 17, 2021 by sidcow

[bickster]

58 minutes ago, sidcow said:

Oh god......what have I done?

Do you suspect there's a lot of Kinks hatred here? I would imagine you are wrong. I think people fall into three categories on The Kinks, Love Them, No Opinion or Who?