Accents and Dialects.

[ecco]

Ok, so we had breiefly started talking about accents/dialects in the event forum a few days ago, then today this video pops up in my news feed on facebook.... click here to observe the sheer stupidity at work.


now, speaking in a different accent and mucking it up a bit is only natural. we all tend to exaggerate the differences we hear in other peoples speech when we try to immitate them.

but that.... that is unforgivable. nevermind the fact she calls british a "dialect" - so she clearly doesn't even understand the terminology of the subject at hand - but i'm pretty damn sure this woman has never met a british person, probably never even watched a british tv show.

because i dont know ANYONE who has heard any british person speak that could get it that badly wrong. NOBODY in this country talks like that. we have plenty of different regional dialects and accents and so on, but none of them even come close to.... that, whatever it was. o_O;;



so... i'd like to know what you guys think of that vid, british, american, wherever your from. i want to know if the rest of you find it as insulting as i do XD

and while we're at it... anything else to add on the subject? i have always thought speech quite interesting :3

[Pikmin]

Speaking as a Brit myself...
I would like to tear that womans vocal cords out and replace them with a vuvuzela.
God that is just awful, I speak nothing like that...
The most of an "accent" I have, is that I will miss the h out at the beginning of words sometimes.
ie: "'''ey mum, are you going out the 'ouse today?"
But that tends to only be in a rush.. Other times the h is present.
Silly voice...

[ecco]

yea, nout wrong with that. i tend to drop the t's, which is funny because pronouncing the ends of words properly seems to be one of the common things people think british people do .__.

like water. i pronounce it like... "waw'uhr" it's practically impossible to spell it how it sounds actually, that's the best i could come up with. it's just funny what some people think "british" means. being british generally means you talk common, dont pronounce things as they're written and think anyone who does is a posh twat XD

[Pikmin]

I do that as well xD ... Wawr-erh...
Something like that anyway.
But yeah, I know no one that really talks that posh. Sometimes I type posh but that's about it lol
Generally now, the only thing I can stereotype British people as (around 80% of the time) is that we tend to be miserable, sarcastic sods o.o

Even the word British is more like.. Brih-ish.

[ecco]

i agree, hahah~
we are very sarcastic, cynical and on the whole just like to take the piss out of anything and everything. humour knows no bounds here XD

but yus! can't spell water how we say it, but brih'ish is pretty damn accurate.

[Chu]

Gross. What an idiot.

Accents bother me for some reason. I've never encountered an accent/dialect that doesn't make my stomach squirm or cringe. :/ It's not like I can't listen to people who have them, but still. Not attractive.

No offense toward anyone, but I hate how obsessed people seem to be over British accents too. >_> Maybe it's just my pet peeve of accents in general speaking, but it really bothers me to hear girls freak out over some guy just because of an accent. It doesn't make sense. British accents themselves are on the same level of discomfort as any other accent though.


There's a kid with autism that goes to my old high school, and any time he read aloud, he'd speak in a strange accent. They were all blatantly fake, and no one could take him seriously, but he'd get pissed and cry if you laughed or didn't listen. Since, y'know, he couldn't really do anything about it. (Which I think is a load of shit but that's beyond the point.) Hated the guy, but he was fucking brilliant.


Oh, and I live in the Southern part of the US. I'm sure I don't need to say more. Luckily, the southern accents aren't terribly bad in my city, but there's still the odd person that I just want to punch in the face.


I sound awfully cheerful in this post. XD I think I'll quit before I piss anyone off. (Probably already did.)

[Pikmin]

That's a little weird... I'm autistic too, and I don't think I've ever spoken any different to normal.
Though I can understand why, autistic/aspergers people are sometimes called "little professors" is it really clear/slow/posh?

As for the obsession with British accents, I completely bloody agree! I used to speak online with my friends on Skype (they're all American/Canadian/Australian) and whenever I spoke they'd be like OMG British accent!!!!!! <3 <3 <3 Love love love.
Put me right off, I don't speak online anymore.

[Chu]

I'm glad I didn't make you angry with that comment. ._. That's a load off my shoulders, haha.

I'm not sure why he did it. I don't understand much about autism myself, but there was always a degree of phoniness when he used those accents that made me feel like he was milking it. The guy was naturally the self-important type, so he loved the spotlight. That's what I always figured it was.

Like I said though, I don't understand autism, so it could have been real.


Sometimes I'm afraid to speak to people because I feel like my southern accent will slip through. XD I always thought that I didn't have one, but then I got a lot of "sweet little southern girl" comments when I traveled north once and became self-conscious of it.

[Pikmin]

Hmmmm...
Autistic people can seem really self-absorbed sometimes 'cos they tend to have really fixed interests and know like everything about said interest, then go on about it despite the fact that everyone else has lost interest/fell asleep/left.
(I used to go on and on and on and on about books. Books books BOOKS)

So that's probably why lol, odds are he didn't even realize he was doing it.
Though.. I never did it with an accent xD

I hate it when people make comments based on accents though, like when I went to London one time, there was a group of posh people (was at an awards ceremony of sorts) and when I spoke they called me common ¬¬
Ignore the fact I was in a suit and all, lets judge on a bloody accent now, eh?

[Chu]

Maybe so. I wish I could know for sure through; you've sparked my curiosity all over again. XD

Yep, that's pretty much how people look at southerners here. Simple-minded, right-winged rednecks. Guh, I hate shallow people.

[ecco]

ahh chu, as i've said before here, i prefer southern american accents. it's interesting how what we're used to hearing around us affects what we dont like to hear.

ie, i know a TON of people, myself included, who often find it hard to listen to northern-american accents, particularly if it's female. not all mind you, for me it only happens every so often, but just occasionally the accent and the person's voice (ie pitch) just combines to make your head hurt.

and no offence taken here either, *shrug* i kinda like it how some people seem so fascinated by british accents, but really it bugs me when they dont even know what a real british person talks like

[Chu]

That's so weird. XD Are you talking about heavy southern accents or ones with just a little southern twang?

Yeah, impersonations of accents bother me more than the accents themselves do. ESPECIALLY the British impersonations, because the people seem to be trying so hard.

Ooh, or when people try to speak Japanese with what they think is a genuine Japanese accent. *twitch* By trying (and failing, might I add) to speak quickly and with a high pitch.

[Reika]

Bahahaha that video xD I can't speak with good British accent, but from what I've heard from movies and tv shows, and just real British people talking, she is nothing I've heard before.

And oh, Chu, I also really hate when people use high pitched japanese ! It would sound better if they would just use their natural pitch :C
I've heard more japanese speak with a little lower than average voice than higher pitched ones. And they always use the same speeds, never the natural flow that normal japanese talk with. They been watching too much anime.
Oh, and I hate when they use the over -exaggeration that anime voice actors use. Too creepy and unreal. It's like they only have a few expressions; hyper, angry, pouty, and bitchy/condescending.

[ecco]

i'm not sure on the southern accents chu, as i've only really been exposed to it on tv shows and such. XD

and ARGHHH i totally agree with you guys on people doing that high-pitched japanese talk. SO unbearable to listen to. it makes me want to punch things.


ya know, all this talk of accents is making me want to make a video to show you guys how i talk XD cos i kinda wonder if it's what people imagine..

[Chu]

Yeah, when people do that you can just tell that they watch far too much anime. x_X


I'd be interested in hearing how everyone talks, actually. XD Does that make me creepy?