When I was younger I wanted to grow up to be British. Or move to NZ. I always loved those accents. I guess it comes from doing Oliver! in the fourth grade, but I loved singing, "Oom, pah, pah, oom, pah, pah at's ow it goooes."

Is there an accent that drives you crazy? Is there one that you wish you had?

-- Anonymous, May 27, 1999

Answers

Woo hoo! Pamie, you'd love having me around ... grew up in New Zealand and am now developing a distinctly British slant.

Some NZ accents are a bit twangy, but they're better than Australian accents - NZers sound like Australians after intensive elocution lessons, in fact.

I always thought I'd want to marry an Irishman, because I loved that accent, but I've gone off it now I live in London and hear it all the time. I suppose it sounded really exotic when I was in NZ.

When I moved to London the one thing my mother insisted was that she got to meet any prospective husbands before it was all too late - just in case she couldn't stand their accents. Some regional British accents are horrible.

I now really like Scottish accents - my Scottish cousins sound fantastic, even if they're just asking me to pass the milk. My husband's accent is lovely - very public school British with a hint of South Africa (he was born there and went back there for university).

The other accents I really like are the ones from the South of the USA - Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil style accents. They sound so relaxed. I also like South African accents on the whole - unless they're really broad Afrikaans - they sound slightly retarded at times.

How many times will I use the word 'really' in my next post? Stay tuned.

-- Anonymous, May 27, 1999

This forum was made for me. I am from Alabama and now live in Dallas. People are calling me a Southern Belle all the time. I suppose I sound a little different than these Texans, but I don't think my accent is grating. I usually receive compliments rather than attacks.

Speaking of _Midnight in the Garden..._, although that was a truly horrible move - I think Kevin Spacey pulled the Savannah accent off without a hitch. (The book was SO southern and graceful. Even though the author was from New York, he wrote like a gentle southern man. As much as I love John Cusack, he was not telling the same story.)

Accents that annoy me? I don't like loud, midwestern voices. Accents that cause me to salivate? Proper British, any Irish and any Scottish.

-- Anonymous, May 27, 1999

Oh yes, British, Scottish, Irish, Australian, New Zealand and one of my all time favorites, Heavy Cajun-somewhere down Lafayette way. If I had snagged me a lady with one of these heavenly accents I would no doubt be a poor, broke, man; because I could refuse them nothing! Wait--I'm still broke. I'm kind of a mimic so when I went to England for a month it was only a matter of time until I was using the accent. I really wasn't trying to; as a matter of fact I had to really concentrate to sound like my midwestern self. My brother and some friends that were with me were pissed at me constantly for this. It took two weeks of being back in the states to get back to normal(whatever normal is). Anything Gone With the Windish makes me want to heave, except on the rare occasion that it is of the very subtle, refined, soft variety; and it doesn't hurt if the lady in questian has a kind(not haughty) soul. New Yawk tends to grate as well; at least of the Fran Drescher variety.

-- Anonymous, May 27, 1999

Accents... it's funny how many accents there are in england. I am american and working in england... I am on the phone all the time and am constantly being told what a nice IRISH accent I have! My accent is from norfolk virginia... Yesterday someone told me I had a great scotish accent and asked where in scotland I was from.... he was SO embarassed when I told him I'm american. As far as accents that get on my nerves... southern (non london) english accents annoy me and canadian accents grate a bit. Aussie accents are the best though... :)

-- Anonymous, May 27, 1999

That's interesting, Mae, because I grew up in Virginia Beach, Virginia, and when I was in London I was also asked several times if I was Scottish.

But Canadian/Great Lakes accents make me swoon, I confess.

-- Anonymous, May 27, 1999

I've ALWAYS wished to have a British accent. When I was younger I pretended to really have one. My boyfriend and I still talk like that sometimes for fun, he's just as obsessed with them as I am so it's really a lot of fun!

For some reason, Russian accents REALLY annoy me. It's sad because I am Polish and they are so close in dialect but anytime I hear a Russian accent I cringe.

-- Anonymous, May 27, 1999

I was born and spent 7 years in South Africa so my accent is almost gone by now, although I still say ba nah na and to mah to. I love the accent there, though anyone from Jo-berg pisses me off. Hoidy toidy accents there reveal them to be the British wannabees that they truly are.

Here in Canada there are no accents, Quebecers notwithstanding. We just say "eh" at the end of every sentence. American accents don't really do it for me, though one tech support call to Georgia got me feeling all warm and fuzzy with Southern Belles.

British accents are so vastly different from block to block that I can't say I'm comfortable with any of them. Especially when they say things like "nuffink".

Irish and Scottish accents are only good coming from women, so sorry if that sounds sexist but there you go. Kiwi and Ozzie accents are great too, but the whole argument comes full circle and leaves me saying that it's Afrikaaner for me.

Tot ziens!

-- Anonymous, May 27, 1999

Oh, you guys aren't mentioning the best accent in the world...a sexy deep ITALIAN voice...*drool*. I used to work in a video store and there was an OLD Italian man who would come in a lot. He'd ask me for help, and I'd pretend to not understand just to get him to talk more! I didn't think HE was sexy, but I could have listened to his voice forever.

South American accents are sexy too. Not Mexican accents though. Sorry if that sounds non-pc, BUT...I don't like 'em. They're too whiny and...incomplete. Too many letters get dropped. The perfect South American accent would be "that one guy" on Suddenly Susan. Oooh, yeah, that's nice. And while I'm on the subject...Ricky Martin is the sexiest man I've seen in years. He makes me have that kind of "Oh, hi, I'm 15" crush. The last guy I drooled over like that was Christian Slater in Pump Up The Volume. It's been a while. MellieBee

-- Anonymous, May 27, 1999

I just hate any accent I can't imitate. I also hate it when people say "rawtcheeah" instead of "right here". and "notchyet" instead of "not yet". yet i say "getchoo" and "hatechoo". it's different. i swear. anyway i have a weird accent and i have no idea where it came from. friends say i sound like a canadian in denial. i had speech problems when i was little.. if that helps any. plus my mom has a heavy hispanic accent (even though she's been in the states for more than 20 years.. which really irritates me but i guess you can't teach old people new languages huh?) but it sounds korean and i hate it because i can't imitate her. and my dad has a slight southern accent, while the rest of his family live in s.c. and georgia and alabama.

so i guess korean sounding hispanic accent plus slight southern accent makes canadian in denial accent. figures.

-- Anonymous, May 27, 1999

Wow.. um.. accents. I was hoping to come here talking about strangers and I have to talk about accents. Well.. okay. I love those Minnasyota accents, like Bobby's mom has on "Bobby's World." Er, excuse me, "Byobby's World." Anyway, my friend Christine's mom is the perfect example of the Minnesota mom -- she's got this round face with blonde hair, her eyes crinkle when she smiles, and she packs the kids' lunches with strawberries, homemade cookies, and peanut butter and jelly. But there's one little twist. She doesn't have a full Minnesota accent -- it's more of a Minnesota/Kentucky hybrid. That's why, without further ado, I will present the Top 5 Favorite Sayings of Christine's Mom, Affectionately Known as T-T:

5. "Nyow... Chriiiiiiis... lyet's trah to be on hyome along about elevennnnn."
4. "Yoo kyids shouldn't be talkin' about thyat hyanky-pyanky styuff, dontcha know."
3. "Chriissstiiiiine. Thyat Curtis byoy keeps callin' for ya. Whyat's his problem?"
2. "Wyell, Maggie. What does yer myother think about this here sitcheeation, there, then, now, yet?"

AND THE NUMBER ONE THING THAT T-T LOVES TO SAY IS...

1. "Dyoes anybody want syome of my pyork chops with onions?"

Ahem. Yeah.

-- Anonymous, May 27, 1999

Having an Australian accent, I think I have one of the most unflattering accents of all..... it is soooo flat and droll. The phrase "I'm going to have a shower" coming out of my mouth probably sounds closer to " Um gunna ava shhhour"..... sexy eh? I've always wanted the old cockney kind of english accent - I'd go round saying 'gov' a lot.

-- Anonymous, May 27, 1999

I'm originally from the New Orleans area. New Orleanians do not sound like Cajuns or Southerners, they sound more like New Yorkers... only worse. The accent from the part of town where I grew up just plain sounds illiterate. I am embarrassed to use it in front of non-natives. Luckily I've picked up a shade of a Texas accent and I use that instead -- unless I'm on the phone with someone in my family, or I meet another New Orleanian somewhere. I scared a friend of mine once when a woman from New Orleans started talking to me in the mall. Also, I have a nasty habit of cussing while driving and that normally comes out in the Evil Accent as well.

How can you spot people who grew up in one of the suburbs of New Orleans? Because we all paid close attention to the national news and we work really hard to sound like we're from nowhere. We can pick up any other accent in a trice. Anything to avoid that fast-talking, slurred, raucous way of talking that features words like "ax" for "ask."

-- Anonymous, May 28, 1999

I believe I'm the only Australian for miles around, I moved from Adelaide in South Australia, to Millville New Jersey. South Australians tend to have a plummier accent, I'm told, so I rarely get the 'Oh, you sound like Paul Hogan', but moreso the 'Oh, you sound like Princess Di'. My accent tends to broaden and flatten out when I've been trawling through Oz slang dictionaries or talking to my rels back in Oz. I like my husbands accent, it's a Southern New Jersey accent, but it's not very broad. I was in hysterics this evening, listening to a pre-recorded message in the local Pathmark (supermarket) by a chap who was quite obviously from around here. Kept talking about the local Pathmoik, and how the donations were for a good ca-uwse. My accent causes some interesting non-sequitir conversations around here, they don't quite get the vowels:

Me: What a lovely kitchen you have, all the space him: It's the candles. me: what?

Turns out, the Australian 'a' comes out as the southern NJ 'i', and he thought I was talking about the 'spice'.

me: my name is Amanda him; emender?

sigh. It's very weird to hear your own accent filtered back at you.

I also have to be very careful with the word can't, with my accent it comes out as ryhming with punt. Which has been know to stop conversations, particularly if I just say 'You can't!'

-- Anonymous, May 28, 1999

Amanda, i think I can relate to that...... using "can't" creatively is the running joke in our office at the moment (we are so easily amused).

-- Anonymous, May 28, 1999

Ah, Jette, you made me homesick. I am from a little town an hour aways from New Orleans and I miss it(mostly the food). I live in Texas now, and also have lost most of my accent except when talking to my family and then I can't help it. Nobody guesses Louisiana though..always Brooklyn. And that makes me so mad, as I cannot stand Fran Drescher's voice. It is the stuff of nightmares. And, like yours, mine comes out when angry and cussing(usually scaring everyone at work out of their wits) As for you, mog, and anyone else with an Australian accent, not sexy my ass! Heath Ledger(10 Things I Hate about You) has just about the sexiest voice I've ever heard.

-- Anonymous, May 28, 1999

Australian accents are neat. What I found fascinating during a visit to Oz was that they really say things like "G'day mate" -- it's not just something invented for Outback Steakhouse ads -- in a business office they'd actually say "G'day mate" when they talked with each other on the telephone.

I grew up in upstate New York and so, of course, I have no accent, it's just people from other places who have accents It's amazing how many accents there are in the United Kingdom... not to mention the vocabulary differences. I sometimes work with people from all around the world and it is amazing to hear the linguistic confusion when you put some Americans from the deep south in the same room with, perhaps, a couple Brits and a German and an Italian and maybe a Brazilian. It's usually the guy from Alabama that I have the most trouble understanding.

I moved to Rhode Island a few years ago and I am still amused when grocery shopping to hear an announcement over the PA system urging shoppers to sign up for a frequent shopper card or "Shoppa's Cod"

-- Anonymous, May 28, 1999

I've lived most of my life in Colorado, and most people round here (to me anyway) sound like news anchors.. that sort of non-accent having American English. But oddly enough there are a lot of "y'all"s and "fixin' to"s .. or maybe that's just me. My dad comes from Kentucky, my mom from, well, Thailand (and learned English along with me from watching _Sesame Street_), and my stepdad from Cape Cod.. combine that with living in Colorado, and I sound like verbal goulash.

Oh, yeah, and unlike every other Coloradoan, I say the fizzy stuff that comes in cans and bottles is "soda," for Chrissakes, not *shudder*groan*faint* "pop."

And I'd love to have that Northern U.S., Minnesooota/Wiscaansin accent mentioned before. It's so camp! Oh, and that Irish brogue *drool*.. I think that it's an injustice that I have three Irish/Scottish names (Sean McMillin Locke) and I sound like a news anchor who says "y'all" and "fixin to." But there's this woman on NPR who's a DJ for Celtic music and ..gaahhhh.... My wife punches me in the arm every time I start drooling when this DJ comes on. Heh.

Sean

-- Anonymous, May 28, 1999

Yep, 'G'day Mate' (phonetically giddoiy moite) is something that's taken from the real. Hang around my rels for not too long and you'll hear it. My friends tend to use the more colloquial still 'matey'.

Heath Ledger is Australian? I didn't actually see '10 things..', did he have his own accent or was he pretending to be US? Gah, the things you miss when you don't have access to the TV Guide..

Fuck is another good one in the Australian accent. Taking a cue from Graeme Kennedy, I pretend I'm making crow calls with that word.

Faaark, faaark.

Of course, he shortened it a bit one night in the 70's, and his show was pulled.

-- Anonymous, May 28, 1999

Daria... I am actually from Va Bch as well ( I said norfolk as most ppl know where that is) Small world! I lived there for 12 years :) Before that I was a navy brat up and down the west coast. I think that the slight southern accent mixed with a brit twinge sounds irish at times.

Is it just me ... or are irish and scotish accents easier to mimick? I hate doing an english accent. It always comes out... well, stupid. I am living in the north of england, the accent here is gentle :) At work I often have to get someone else to take a call for me 'cause I can't understand them.. I still get laughed at for saying vacation, period, and etc. My co-workers love to get a rise out of me by doing Jerry Springer-est accents "Don't go there" "whateverrrrrrrr" I wonder if everyone there (USA) knows that the rest of the world sees Jerry Springer?? It's like trying to explain to your friends that the rest of your family isn't like your crazy aunt... and cousin and brother in law...

-- Anonymous, May 28, 1999

No, he didn't pretend to be American..they worked it into the movie by saying he lived with his mom in Australia until he was 10.

-- Anonymous, May 29, 1999