i got asked in the barbers down the road "where i was from", i replied with the town i was from (it's luike two towns side by side...) and he asked me "no, originally...". "from (the town i livce in)" i replied. he thought i was american...😛
so i decided to grow my hair and haven't been back 🙂
I am a New Zealander, and I can say that the NZ and Australian accents are totally different! I have been to Australia and South Africa, and I have found that the Australian accent actually varies a bit. I found that Australians of Eastern Europe parents, but who were born and raised in Australia, had the clearest, most easily understood accent.
The South African accent varied, too. Those of Dutch heritage had the real deep typical Boer accent, but those of British descent had more of an English accent, and were easier to understand.
I have heard people say the NZ accent is similar to the South African, but apart from some pronunciation similarities, for example, we both say 'dance' as 'd-ar-nce', but the South Africans stretch the 'ar' a bit, there is not a lot of common sounds.
The NZ accent actually varies within NZ, which is a little known fact that many dont realise. Way down south, in Central Otago, and mainly towns like Gore, they roll their 'r's, much like the Irish. And in Christchurch, there is a different accent. Not too much different, but their is a definite variance. Way up north, there is a different accent, too! Because of the high maori population, the accent is a mixture of the maori accent and the standard NZ accent.
The English have many different accents, many of which are incoherent! Some accents from some parts of the US are also incoherent. An American friend once told me the best clearest English spoken, is in Wisconsin. I will take his word for it.
And for those that think Kiwis and Aussies sound similar, just ask us to say 'fish and chips'.
Aussies say 'Feesh end cheeps', Kiwis say 'Fush und chups' 😉
Luckily not all Australian accents are as bad as the Melbourne accent, made even more famous by the tv show 'Kath and Kim'! 🙂
There's a Scottish comedy TV show called "Still Game" that is (apprently) going to be aired to the whole UK rather than just Scotland soon. Even more apparently, there have been ongoing discussions as to whether it should be subtitled! There were similar discussions for Taggart, Trainspotting, Rab C Nesbit, Shallow grave etc.
Regional accental variation is still alive and kicking. Everywhere it seems.
Originally posted by ivangriceand the classic 'fush and chups' instead of 'fish and chips'. i'vew justr arrived in |Sheffield, England, and the local accent is a bit hard to understand at times. the most startling bit is how everyone says 'arl-rii-iight?'
Kiwis sound mostly like the Brits? No way! They sound like ocker Aussies, and say 'wist' instead of 'west'...
Way down south, in Central Otago, and mainly towns like Gore, they roll their 'r's, much like the IrishI can't believe u think the irish roll their r's. I had some spanish classes in South America last year, and rolling the r's was what the three of us (all irish) found the toughest.
The only similarity between South African and posh english is when they say Yaw yaw, instead of yeah or yes. That cracks me up.
But its not just english which has massive regional variations. Take Spanish for example. In Spain (most noticable in Catalan) they lisp their c's. In South America they don't. Chicken in spanish is Pollo, which is pronounced in Argentina as Pojo, Chile Poyo, Bolivia and Peru Polyo. Chile has to be the hardest though. They actually cut off parts of most of their words. Papas Fritas (chips) become pap frits, Mas o menos (more or less/average) becomes ma o men.
An aside, why (how) do singers hide their accents when they sing? The only artiste that I've heard who doesn't (can't?) hide his accent is Damien Dempsey, an Irish singer/song writer from inner city Dublin.
D
Originally posted by donallyneHow about Cerys Matthews from Catatonia....? sings with a very strong Welsh accent.
An aside, why (how) do singers hide their accents when they sing? The only artiste that I've heard who doesn't (can't?) hide his accent is Damien Dempsey, an Irish singer/song writer from inner city Dublin.
Originally posted by dfm65Alright?, what are you doing in Sheffield?
and the classic 'fush and chups' instead of 'fish and chips'. i'vew justr arrived in |Sheffield, England, and the local accent is a bit hard to understand at times. the most startling bit is how everyone says 'arl-rii-iight?'
I am there now (work here).
Originally posted by AcolyteI've spent quite a bit of time in America and Canada and, because of my Yorkshire accent, few people think I am English/British.
Unlike the US and Canada, England really does have a standard accent that many people (myself and Tony Blair included) speak all the time, with only slight variations. These days our news anchors don't generally put on a standard accent, ...[text shortened]... the population still speak with some kind of regional accent.
My wife has a more standard accent, and a cafe owner in New York (who sounded Italian-American by the way), who was convinced he was good at guessing accents thought she was Australian!
The funniest was a Quebecker who thought I was German!! That's funny considering I sound a little like Sean Bean ("Ey up, 'obbits" ).
There are too many variations too count. Here in Australia there are at least 3 main accents. Some New Zealanders strike my ears as real "fush and chups" people and some barely sound like they have an accent at all.
I usually pick Canadians by thinking "that's a North American accent but it's not driving me crazy" 😉
Travelling around the UK a few years ago was an ear-opener. Cornish people sound pretty unique. South-east England has a couple of variations even I could hear, Midlands was different, Northern England was different, South Wales and North Wales were different, Edinburgh was intelligible but some Glaswegians could of speaking Martian for all I knew. I met a woman in North-Eastern Scotland who said she was often teased by her friends about her North-Western Scottish accent!
And all of this doesn't event take into account differences in LANGUAGE. It never occurred to me that the term "bushwalking" would get blank looks in many countries. And I heard once that a "floppy" (disk) here was (at some point, anyway) called a "stiffie" in South Africa.
Okay, rambling now, must stop...
the queens english is the standard by which we should comunicate between cultures. not upper class, southern as you put it. im northern and proud of it but when on the phone etc i want people whoever you are to understand me.
are we assuming that "british" is the queens english? i.e. upper class southern accent.[/b]