English War!!!!!

[Vyacheslav Brolotov]

I am reading Oliver Twist right now for English class. I am constantly like, "What is this shit in? This is not English." So, I decided to ask my English teacher why Charles Dickens wrote like that. He said that Dickens was trying to copy the many accents people from the different parts of London and the surrounding areas had. Da fok? So, I then proceeded to ask, "Is British English still similar to that?" He said yeah, and I was like da fok? So.....it is time for the battle of the dialects!!! Which English is better? American or British? This is not a nationalism fest :p, but a place where we can talk about linguistic facts. I say American English, because I feel like it, and that is a linguistic fact.

[Bronco]

Well considering Dickens was writing 150 years ago, and did so in a satirical fashion, you won't find many people here who talk like the characters do in his books

[Vyacheslav Brolotov]

Well considering Dickens was writing 150 years ago, and did so in a satirical fashion, you won't find many people here who talk like the characters do in his books

Yeah, I figured that out :lol:

But he did write well, it is just his characters' speech that bothers me.

[Os Cangaceiros]

I don't think it really matters...I can understand english in the UK fine. Not so much the english spoken in, say, Jamaica.

[Manic Impressive]

There has never been a British accent. It used to be true that every 5 miles the accent would change and be a little different from every village to village. However, due to immigration and the merging of working class cultures, especially Caribbean the accent has become more homogenized among much of the country (see Ali G). However, you still can't say that there is any one British accent compare London, Liverpool, Birmingham, Manchester, Cardiff, Swansea, North Wales, Yorkshire, Newcastle, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen and you'll see a completely separate accent for each. So I don't know what a British accent would be. Maybe if you mixed all of those together you would get an American accent?

[Os Cangaceiros]

So I don't know what a British accent would be. Maybe if you mixed all of those together you would get an American accent?

There is no such thing as an American accent! There are southern accents, midwestern accents, Boston/northeast accents, etc.

[Vyacheslav Brolotov]

There is no such thing as an American accent! There are southern accents, midwestern accents, Boston/northeast accents, etc.

Exactly. The only thing close to an American accent is a British accent, which also happens to not exist :p

[Manic Impressive]

Don't you think that the Australian accent is closer to the American? It's kinda American crossed with cockney and Irish.

[Vyacheslav Brolotov]

Don't you think that the Australian accent is closer to the American? It's kinda American crossed with cockney and Irish.

http://www.themoralliberal.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/George-Washington-41.jpg
NO

We Americans are unique, you redcoat! :p

But honestly, I don't notice it.

[Drosophila]

Amurichan english is best english! Everyone should be required to speak english if they want entrance into our shitty country!

[Bostana]

I don't speak English, sorry.

[Landsharks eat metal]

I don't speak English, sorry.

What is this English you speak of?

[Manic Impressive]

NO

We Americans are unique, you redcoat! :p

But honestly, I don't notice it.
I do say old boy thar's no need for all that. It's just not cricket, don't cha know. Have a cup of tea and calm down dear :tt2:
http://www.phrases.org.uk/images/my-cup-of-tea.jpg

[Bostana]

I do say old boy thar's no need for all that. It's just not cricket, don't cha know. Have a cup of tea and calm down dear :tt2:
http://www.phrases.org.uk/images/my-cup-of-tea.jpg


Hey you Brit don't make us start this tea thing all over again:
http://media-1.web.britannica.com/eb-media/75/96175-004-A4E3929F.jpg

[Rafiq]

Both can be obnoxious at different levels. The best is a soft british accent accustomed to living in the U.S. where you could barely notice but the prononciation is not as vulgur as it is when we speak.

[MarxSchmarx]

From the perspective of non-native speakers, I am often told that while American english is easier to comprehend for those who can read and write but not speak it, but that British english comes across sounding nicer, somebody once said "almost like French". I can actually see that point. For example, standard American english tends to clearly articulate "r", so for one who knows how to spell "car", the american "caRRR" is more recognizable than the British "cah". But there is also a hardness to how Americans emphasize certain vowel/consonant combinations; "My" in America very much sounds like "Mai" as opposed to the British "Moi" - and I can see how the latter seems more subdued.

[MustCrushCapitalism]

British accents are attractive to me for some reason. Depends though. Written American English is better (compare labor to labour) but spoken British English is better.

[Manic Impressive]

Both can be obnoxious at different levels. The best is a soft british accent accustomed to living in the U.S. where you could barely notice but the prononciation is not as vulgur as it is when we speak.
eeewww that's the worst. The mid-atlantic accent fuck that bourgie shit. Can't believe you like Carey Grant
iAT7_iG-SkM

[Os Cangaceiros]

From the perspective of non-native speakers, I am often told that while American english is easier to comprehend for those who can read and write but not speak it, but that British english comes across sounding nicer, somebody once said "almost like French". I can actually see that point. For example, standard American english tends to clearly articulate "r"

Not in "Bahhhston" they don't! :lol:

[Dr. Rosenpenis]

london accent and like bbc english are the nicest accents. the latter easily being the most intelligible. irish is nice as well. note that i cannot distinguish between irish accents if there is indeed more than one as i suspect. other british accents are hard to understand and kinda ugly tbph. southern american and aave are lovely. generic american accents are fairly inteligible, but not nearly as pleasant as the aforementioned ones. caribbean and african accents are great of course. scottish, welsh, aussie, new zealand, new england, canadian/upper midwest are ugly. please stop talking like that.

[Leftsolidarity]

If the person doesn't speak English, how would they chose the "I don't speak English" option?

[Prometeo liberado]

Hey you Brit don't make us start this tea thing all over again:
http://media-1.web.britannica.com/eb-media/75/96175-004-A4E3929F.jpg

I dont think tea parties worked so well the second time around:
http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRKA3QwVRWJttuVYrbhuotcK7eWA80lI dvXDoH-SxkqAg2l_d5y http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRf0M3OhJGW36g8T_UAHp9K3xluPQr4v zXA1qv4O8KK1Is3visW http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQVa6j3LUafupVaG2ajzkUa1xyImx7_q Kj5acr_j6aLAp7N7QZIpQ http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcR_Z3ba5HA3soWdX2hNCii7gHT9NGcnX Z3HGjd8gPGpuNEbP3wCIw

[Agent Ducky]

If the person doesn't speak English, how would they chose the "I don't speak English" option?

Shhhh, it's for those who appreciate irony.
Reminded me of this....
http://static.themetapicture.com/media/funny-British-vs-American-accent.jpg

[PC LOAD LETTER]

There's so many 'American' accents it's crazy. I speak with a blend between a little bit of New Orleans (especially the 'R's ... it's kind of a 'southern Brooklyn' and not as much of a French influence as the rest of Louisiana) and, mostly, the more generic 'urban south' accent I've picked up from living in Atlanta for so long, which is basically a northern Mississippi-Alabama-Georgia accent but toned the fuck down. But if you go to south Georgia you can hear a clear British influence, but obviously changed after so many generations.

Take someone from Texas, Louisiana, Alabama/Mississippi/North Georgia, Southeast Georgia, Florida, South/North Carolina, Kentucky, and Tennessee and have them stand next to each other and talk. You'll be able to distinguish a separate accent from each area. I think Louisiana and Kentucky accents are pretty pleasant sounding. Maybe Oklahoma, too.

[Tenka]

A strong Scottish accent is best accent. I wish my tongue was skilled enough to speak it.

I am reading Oliver Twist right now for English class. I am constantly like, "What is this shit in? This is not English." So, I decided to ask my English teacher why Charles Dickens wrote like that. He said that Dickens was trying to copy the many accents people from the different parts of London and the surrounding areas had. Da fok?
For an American equivalent example, let us look at H.P. Lovecraft's take on the dialect of people from rural Massachusetts in 1929:

There seemed to be a change in the old man - an added element of furtiveness in the clouded brain which subtly transformed him from an object to a subject of fear - though he was not one to be perturbed by any common family event. Amidst it all he showed some trace of the pride later noticed in his daughter, and what he said of the child's paternity was remembered by many of his hearers years afterward.

'I dun't keer what folks think - ef Lavinny's boy looked like his pa, he wouldn't look like nothin' ye expeck. Ye needn't think the only folks is the folks hereabouts. Lavinny's read some, an' has seed some things the most o' ye only tell abaout. I calc'late her man is as good a husban' as ye kin find this side of Aylesbury; an' ef ye knowed as much abaout the hills as I dew, ye wouldn't ast no better church weddin' nor her'n. Let me tell ye suthin - some day yew folks'll hear a child o' Lavinny's a-callin' its father's name on the top o' Sentinel Hill!'

[PC LOAD LETTER]

A strong Scottish accent is best accent. I wish my tongue was skilled enough to speak it.

For an American equivalent example, let us look at H.P. Lovecraft's take on the dialect of people from rural Massachusetts in 1929:
You are automatically awesome for reading Lovecraft

[Os Cangaceiros]

There's so many 'American' accents it's crazy. I speak with a blend between a little bit of New Orleans (especially the 'R's ... it's kind of a 'southern Brooklyn' and not as much of a French influence as the rest of Louisiana) and, mostly, the more generic 'urban south' accent I've picked up from living in Atlanta for so long, which is basically a northern Mississippi-Alabama-Georgia accent but toned the fuck down. But if you go to south Georgia you can hear a clear British influence, but obviously changed after so many generations.

Take someone from Texas, Louisiana, Alabama/Mississippi/North Georgia, Southeast Georgia, Florida, South/North Carolina, Kentucky, and Tennessee and have them stand next to each other and talk. You'll be able to distinguish a separate accent from each area. I think Louisiana and Kentucky accents are pretty pleasant sounding. Maybe Oklahoma, too.

Yeah, the accent around the Gulf Coast region (Louisiana etc) esp. is definitely distinct from the accent in, say, North Carolina.

[Dr. Rosenpenis]

gulf coast (florida, mississippi, alabama and texas) are way different from louisiana

im not great at distinguishing southern accents, but i can deffinitely tell louisiana apart from the others. also the atlantic coastal drawl is unmistakeable. i can also probably distinguish a southern florida country accent from a florida panhadle accent. also east texas. the others not so much.

[Os Cangaceiros]

gulf coast (florida, mississippi, alabama and texas) are way different from louisiana

That's true. Not so much Mississippi and Alabama, but definitely Florida and Texas. Although there are plenty of people along the Florida coast with bayou drawls just as pronounced as some people in Louisiana.

[coda]

<<"What is this shit in? This is not English.">>

David Copperfield: "Fuh gedda boud dit! ---I'm from Joysee."

[PC LOAD LETTER]

Yeah, the accent around the Gulf Coast region (Louisiana etc) esp. is definitely distinct from the accent in, say, North Carolina.
A lot of the variation (but not all) is because of who settled the areas historically. British agrarian aristocrats had south Georgia, the French had Louisiana, and Appalachia had a huge Scottish and Irish population.

The Scottish/Irish-derived accents, like what you mentioned in North Carolina, sound really sharp and unpleasant to me (Popcorn Sutton comes to mind) ... definitely stands in stark contrast to some of the more melodic southern accents

[dodger]

A lot of the variation (but not all) is because of who settled the areas historically. British agrarian aristocrats had south Georgia, the French had Louisiana, and Appalachia had a huge Scottish and Irish population.

The Scottish/Irish-derived accents, like what you mentioned in North Carolina, sound really sharp and unpleasant to me (Popcorn Sutton comes to mind) ... definitely stands in stark contrast to some of the more melodic southern accents

Canislupus, I can sense is the very model of Southern hospitality, gentility though a-hootin' and a-hollerin' with some a-howlin' when the winds a-blowin'.

[Dr. Rosenpenis]

That's true. Not so much Mississippi and Alabama, but definitely Florida and Texas. Although there are plenty of people along the Florida coast with bayou drawls just as pronounced as some people in Louisiana.

yeah, but the cajun thing

south/central florida country accent has more drawl
like atlantic coastal in a way

[Deicide]

A Slavoj Zizek accent is the best accent.

[Zealot]

American English is bourgeois, revisionist, and reactionary.

[Railyon]

COCKNEY period

[Nox]

West Country English is the best accent in the world. /thread

[Rooster]

Don't you think that the Australian accent is closer to the American? It's kinda American crossed with cockney and Irish.

You can hear a lot of Portsmouth in Australian.


Not in "Bahhhston" they don't! :lol:

Boston, England? :confused:


london accent

What London accent?

[Left Leanings]

I do say old boy thar's no need for all that. It's just not cricket, don't cha know. Have a cup of tea and calm down dear :tt2:
http://www.phrases.org.uk/images/my-cup-of-tea.jpg

I hope that's a refreshing cup of Earl Grey right there, comrade.

But where's your manners, dude? Get the cucumber sandwiches and scones, jam and cream out as well. Cos they are, of cos, quite nice (as they say in Society) lol

[Manic Impressive]

Earl Grey? Pssht nah only builders tea for me, me old mucker

[Vyacheslav Brolotov]

A Slavoj Zizek accent is the best accent.

Agreed.

[Left Leanings]

Earl Grey? Pssht nah only builders tea for me, me old mucker

Buzzn :)

[Manic Impressive]

Zizek sounds like Donald Duck

[Bostana]

I dont think tea parties worked so well the second time around:
http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRKA3QwVRWJttuVYrbhuotcK7eWA80lI dvXDoH-SxkqAg2l_d5y http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRf0M3OhJGW36g8T_UAHp9K3xluPQr4v zXA1qv4O8KK1Is3visW http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQVa6j3LUafupVaG2ajzkUa1xyImx7_q Kj5acr_j6aLAp7N7QZIpQ http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcR_Z3ba5HA3soWdX2hNCii7gHT9NGcnX Z3HGjd8gPGpuNEbP3wCIw

Damn!

You're right

[Rafiq]

eeewww that's the worst. The mid-atlantic accent fuck that bourgie shit. Can't believe you like Carey Grant
iAT7_iG-SkM

No, that sounds like fucking troy Mclore from the Simpsons.

[Offbeat]

However, you still can't say that there is any one British accent compare London, Liverpool, Birmingham, Manchester, Cardiff, Swansea, North Wales, Yorkshire, Newcastle, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen and you'll see a completely separate accent for each.
And even within Yorkshire, it being the largest historical county, there are a range of accents and dialects, eg South Yorkshire compared with West Yorkshire. A half an hour drive from where I live in West Yorkshire and I'm in Lancashire where the accents are noticeably different (although someone from say America, or even the south of England, would probably struggle to tell them apart).

[Left Leanings]

And even within Yorkshire, it being the largest historical county, there are a range of accents and dialects, eg South Yorkshire compared with West Yorkshire. A half an hour drive from where I live in West Yorkshire and I'm in Lancashire where the accents are noticeably different (although someone from say America, or even the south of England, would probably struggle to tell them apart).

I used to be in Lancashire.

I haven't moved.

But for some reason, the Local Government Act of 1974 introduced a new conurbation - Greater Manchester :D

[Manic Impressive]

I also missed out Nottingham, Derby, Cornwall and probably a whole host of other places :) The old thing of the accent changing every 5 miles still holds some truth just not as much as it did.

[Nox]

Is it weird that I can understand everything being said in this video?

sM45TACI4H4

[JustMovement]

scottish is the best,it cracks me up but i love it. i always found london a bit annoying but im also just used to it. irish throws me off it can sound a lot like american. the one i cant stand is midwestern american its like im in fargo.

[Sam_b]

Being brought up and speaking a dialect of English is not a preference.

What a dumb thread.

[Sperm-Doll Setsuna]

Needs more Scottish.

[Sam_b]

Aye well

[Ele'ill]

3UgpfSp2t6k

[Left Leanings]

3UgpfSp2t6k

This is a really cool video. I was wondering half way through, whether she is a professional actress, else trained to give elocution lessons. But at the end it transpires she's a singer and a dancer :)

[Vyacheslav Brolotov]

We just finished Oliver Twist and took two days off reading to learn about Victorian England and Revolutionary France. Learning about France was very weird, since our literary theme of the marking period has been Victorian England. But then . . . I found out what book we are reading . . .
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qc7chozIrI4/TS99nR-n2QI/AAAAAAAAANw/y8O8fZD-e48/s1600/A_tale_of_two_cities.jpg

ANOTHER CHARLES DICKENS BOOK!!
http://a.asset.soup.io/asset/1529/0794_a685.gif


P.S. My favorite character from Oliver Twist was Master Bates. You can guess why . . . :p

[ColonelCossack]

I am reading Oliver Twist right now for English class. I am constantly like, "What is this shit in? This is not English." So, I decided to ask my English teacher why Charles Dickens wrote like that. He said that Dickens was trying to copy the many accents people from the different parts of London and the surrounding areas had. Da fok? So, I then proceeded to ask, "Is British English still similar to that?" He said yeah, and I was like da fok? So.....it is time for the battle of the dialects!!! Which English is better? American or British? This is not a nationalism fest :p, but a place where we can talk about linguistic facts. I say American English, because I feel like it, and that is a linguistic fact.

-I like your use of da fok.

-Dickens lived ages ago.

- "proper" British english is not very much like the dialects used in Dickens. they are dialects. Slap your teacher for me.

-I prefer british english because I live here and that's how I speak. but it's not really a preference because it's just how i speak innit.

[Sam_b]

You can guess why . . .

Because you are immature?

[Veovis]

British English is well bad, innit though. :lol:

But I ain't even bovvered.

[Martin Blank]

Exactly. The only thing close to an American accent is a British accent, which also happens to not exist :p

Umm,...

yi1yhp-_x7A

[Os Cangaceiros]

scottish is the best,it cracks me up but i love it. i always found london a bit annoying but im also just used to it. irish throws me off it can sound a lot like american. the one i cant stand is midwestern american its like im in fargo.

The people who actually live in Fargo don't talk like the characters of "Fargo", lol. :closedeyes: (Assuming that you've never been to Fargo North Dakota).

The accent is definitely there and similar for some people, but the way the characters in "Fargo" talked was a bit over-the-top. "YAH YOU KNOW? OH YAH?"

[MustCrushCapitalism]

Two things that need to be added.

q-cAnFbEXY0
BZXcRqFmFa8

[Luc]

Umm,...

yi1yhp-_x7A

the user Grandin thanks this post.

[Vyacheslav Brolotov]

Umm,...

yi1yhp-_x7A

His/Her Excellency, The Right Honourable [Insert Name]. At Her Majesty's Pleasure.

Sounds legit.

[GallowsBird]

"My" in America very much sounds like "Mai" as opposed to the British "Moi" - and I can see how the latter seems more subdued.

In Standard English "Received Pronunciation" "my" is pronounced as "mai" not "moi", the latter being, however, in various varieties of Southern English ("Cockney" especially) but notin anyway "Standard". This always seems to be how Americans pronounce "my" when they are trying to sound "British" (who is a toff who speaks a mix of Standard, Cockney and sometimes Scouse)... the same way they almost always pronounce "not" as "nort" or "naught" as if any native speaker in England, Scotland or Wales says it in that way. It's mildly annoying (no offense to anyone from North America).

Incidentally, where I live "my" (and in much of the English North, Midlands and Scotland) tends to become "me" or "mi".

I tend to like the Scouse accent (which is really more Hiberno-English than anything) the best, though I do like the closely related accents of my hone; the Anglo-Scottish borders the "braid" accents of the older generations are quite beautiful in their own way and are generally being lost as Standard English dialect and thus accent replaces Northumbrian/Scots Inglis.

I am not that fond of English to be honest; I think there are far more beautiful languages to listen to. This is a personal taste and not anything political of course!