Accents

[cbrzychcy]

Awwww, I do love you so, ST. i wouldn't dream of calling you much, besides ST, since I am a lady and you are a gentleman. Works out quite well, doesn't it?

[SepticTone]

Yes, madam, considering I'm a Northern foreign gentleman & you are a Southern lady.

Would you like a Mint Julep?

[SepticTone]

And speaking of Accents........

Would you say that David Walliams' Texan accent is 100% accurate in this lil clip from 'Little Britain'? I suspect it's not. Just a hunch.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0O3k04pxOQ

I realise the rest of the portrayal is clearly falsely stereotypical of a Brit's idea of Americans, but try & ignore that. I'd warrant a guess that 'Little Britain USA' doesn't include sketches like this.

Natch, I'm just trying to get this thread back on topic.

[PeterSF]

Actually ST that bit IS from LB USA.
Not sure if that's a good Texan accent, but pretty good for around that area, but what do I know living in CA, and being English?
Could be some bits of Georgia accent in there, maybe a Texan will let me know.

My American friend Rochelle loves LB and is quite an Anglophile anyway.
Course they got one detail wrong about the Colt .45 being a "simple blow-back" pistol, and a real sheriff wouldn't sweep the audience with his muzzle, but they were showing him as a doofus anyway and this ain't a firearms forum so I'll stop there.

p.s. the gym locker room scene is even more outrageous. Walliams does a good accent (Carolinas or thereabouts?) when talking to "Mr. Doggie" also.

[cbrzychcy]

That, to me, sounds like a British person with a pretty nondescript 'British' accent trying to fake the funk with a Texan accent.

[davec]

All Texans I've ever met have at least a little bit of a drawl--those from the central plains area tend to have it very lightly, but it's always there. I had a good friend from Junction TX, in that neck of the woods, and she had that superlight drawl. But our trained American ears always pick up on it.

Walliams does not sound obviously English to me, but his accent is more Oklahoman than Texan, without that drawl. Some parts of Arizona can sound that way too. I don't think he nailed a particular accent, so it's tough to locate, but what the heck, it's pretty good for just a quick comedy sketch.

[SepticTone]

That, to me, sounds like a British person with a pretty nondescript 'British' accent trying to fake the funk with a Texan accent.

That's what I thought too.

Course they got one detail wrong about the Colt .45 being a "simple blow-back" pistol, and a real sheriff wouldn't sweep the audience with his muzzle

I knew that, natch, but I thought the whole idea of the sketch was that he wanted to sweep the audience with his muzzle. Perhaps he was also just wishing that the Colt.45 would give him a simple blow-back, whatever that is.

[Syrae]

AH! Lovely! A discussion of various English accents from all over. I've started to be really interested in accents since a few months ago. Of course, I have a small problem, which is that it's really hard for me to hear subtle differences in pronunciation.

That Little Britain clip was a pretty good immigration Texan accent, but I don't think it was spot on. There was something a bit off about it, though I couldn't say what. I'm tempted to forward that clip on to my Texan friend and hear what he has to say about it, except I'm not sure it's quite "safe for work" enough for where he works.

Something I've noticed for me is that the more homogeneous everyone around you sounds, the harder it is to identify how other people sound different. I grew up in Southern California and I'm now living near San Fransisco, so to me, pretty much everyone I've ever talked to has spoken "Hollywood" American and everything on TV and most movies use the same accent. I think most of the other accents I've heard in media have probably been bad fakes like Dick van Dyke's "Cockney" in Mary Poppins. I just thought that's how Brits spoke for the longest time. Heh.

It's just interesting to me that some people can so easily adopt a non-native dialect and do it well, while some of us are only capable of making fools of ourselves. I'm pretty sure I'm in the later camp.

[davec]

Welcome aboard, Syrae.

I think this is the longest thread in the forum. It's really gone out on some tangents here and there--very educational!!

Threads go that way a lot in this forum. It's definitely not an organized encyclopedia, but it will illuminate many little unexpected corners of the English speaking world in a way you won't find anywhere else, I'm sure. I have definitely learned a great deal that I wouldn't with any number of well-written books (some discussed here) or other, topic-focussed reference material. Savor its crunchy goodness and let it fire up your curiosity.

And bring back what you find, of course!

When did you leave SoCal? I lived there '82-'88 and the prospect of having to commute to work on the Ventura Freeway finally brought me to my senses.

[Broc]

I have a British friend from London who visits here on business, and I get embarrassed sometimes when he speaks quickly and I have to go "huh?". I am sure I must sound equally puzzling to him if I speak rapidly. Also, I doubt I'd ever try to guess between Australian and British accents. I don't hear enough of them to judge accurately and would hate to offend someone.