Poll: Do You Think British Accents Are More..."Sophisticated"?

[Shiftygiant]

We sound sophisticated even though we would probably give you a Glasgow send off (Obscure reference that is not a threat but a reference).

 

[MightyRabbit]

There's a lot of British accents. When Americans, Canadians etc. say "British accent" you tend to mean Received Pronunciation, or Estuary at a stretch. Trust me, there's nothing sexy or sophisticated about a Birmingham accent.

 

[Mysten]

Listening to a Geordie speak at length can and will shut down every operating synapse in your entire body. True story.

Geordie Shore is actually the world's first televised euthanasia service.

 

[dex-dex]

it depends on the region that the accent is from.
but usually things do sound nicer to me. not so much sophisticated.

 

[Philol]

A stereotypical British accent certainly sounds more sophisticated, but as Britain is made up of three countries each with a variety of accents I don't think it can be summarised quite so simply.

 

[The Artificially Prolonged]

I live in Liverpool so very few have the "posh" accent around here. Plus people with the posher accents often sound like they are stuck up their own arse which is one of reasons I cannot stand them accents. I much prefer my scouse accent, fantastic accent to have a angry rant in.

 

[Tipsy Giant]

Yeah I live on the outskirts too and love the countryside round here.

I studied Creative Sound & Music and learnt that most experimental music is pretentious and boring and most pop music is the equivalent of a placebo when it comes to human expression.

Something i'm sure will be mirrored in your course!

But got some good mates from the experience and an album which i'm glad is almost finished

Well sure, there's the odd impenetrable arthouse film and a slew of vacuous, homogenous blockbuster flicks to wade through, but when executed well I think both have their place to a degree. But yeah, sounds like an interesting course and glad to hear it's paying off if you've put something to disc. As for the social aspect of things, well...in the words of the immortal Yahtzee Croshaw I have 'the social skills of a nervous badger' so that side of things isn't going too swimmingly but you kind of have to roll with the punches I guess.

The trick is to go to the campus bar when everyone has gone to a big clubby student night, the people just hanging at the bar then are most likely nice people just looking to avoid the masses of idiots that go out drinking all the time

 

[pilf]

If you're talking about the fancy English accent commonly found in London, then yes.

Personally, I have a Mackem accent. It doesn't sound sophisticated at all.

Wow, another Mackem on the escapist. While there's nothing wrong with our accent it definitely doesn't sound very sophisticated. Once you get down past the midlands intonation and diction start to become a little more formal and fancy/annoyingly snobbish.

 

[Something Amyss]

Yeah, them Cockney folks are truly sophisticated sounding.

 

[EeveeElectro]

There isn't a 'British' accent. Unless you mean the ones the Americans put on when impersonating a Brit. I've never, ever heard anyone speak like they think we do.
I've spoken to a few well educated sounding people, you get them all over though.
Also my accent is this:


Yeah... Sophisticated >______<

Well, as a Yorkshireman, I feel obliged to post here and find a way of saying "oh good God fuck no" in such a way as to meet the minimum word count for an acceptable post.

That should do it. Just in case, though...

Oh good God fuck no.

Apparently, we have the most trustworthy accent?? That counts for something.

[sub]Yorkshiiiiiireeee. Fuck yeah.[/sub]

 

[RagTagBand]

Though I hope its been pointed out before, There is no such thing as a British accent, no more than there is a "European" one. Britain, like Europe, is a collection of countries with recognizably different accents.

It does get on my tits when people (usually Americans) equate "British" to "English", and then equate "the english accent" to either Victorian-esque, chimney sweep cockney or a poor impersonation of the Royal family (that is, the real Royal Family, not the sitcom)

Honestly I don't think that a posh accent makes you sound sophisticated, I think it makes you sound like a Spoiled shit. There's something to be said about a neutral-English accent but that, again, is different to "Posh" or "Upper class".

MOST English accents make you sound like a fucking idiot, Scottish accents make you sound angry (and gloriously so) whilst Welsh accents make you sound placid and confused, like a lost dog.

 

[ShotgunZombie]

I think it's more pleasing to hear but sophistication is something that I merit towards the use of proper grammar and vocabulary.

 

[The White Hunter]

Well if you're a posh person with bags of money and have never had to be exposed to the poor sure, maybe it does.

But being from Cumbria (the North and such) then no, I do not sound sophisticated. Nor do the vast majority of accents you can find in the UK.

 

[DRTJR]

I've known too many people with heavy southern drawls that have a doctoral degree in law or experts in their field, and Brits who I swear I wonder if they have two functioning brain cells.

 

[AmrasCalmacil]

The midlands are where sophisticated accents go to die.

 

[mental_looney]

Depends what exactly you mean by "British" which is probably the London south east England type of accent pretty uncommon really - no Scots, as a Scot there is not just one Scottish accent either or Geordie or Welsh.

It's not really sophisticated just kinda boring.

Oh and I have an ayrshire accent, not incredibly strong.

 

[srm79]

Its hard to say, anyone can sound more sophisticated by actually using words that are more complex that "got" and "cuz". I'm sure a British accent can sound sophisticated to some people, but for me I seem to start smiling whenever I get into a verbal argument with someone whose British.

Something about how they swear just makes me laugh.

It's also a scientific fact that nobody else (apart from the Antipodean colonial cousins) can use the word "bloody" as a swear word without sounding bloody ridiculous.

 

[putowtin]

Define "British accent", though.

An Irish accent isn't the same as a Welsh accent, which isn't the same as a Scottish accent, and they aren't limited to one each.

England, with 50+ million people (though almost no land mass) has any number of accents.

Now, various upper class British accents tend to sound sophisticated to me, doesn't really matter what part of Britain.

64 million and rising!

The problem is most of the world think of the British accent as "STiff upper lip, tea and cruppets" or Dick Van Dyke "Mawy Poppens!"

I'm from Yorkshire and speak with a Yorkshire accent, which is lovely and warm and most of the country don't understand!

h.
Also my accent is this:

I find that really offensive, just as I'd expect a scot to find my impersonation of a scotish accent to be offensive.

Well, as a Yorkshireman, I feel obliged to post here and find a way of saying "oh good God fuck no" in such a way as to meet the minimum word count for an acceptable post.

That should do it. Just in case, though...

Oh good God fuck no.

Sophisticated fuck no
down to earth fuck yes

 

[AnarchistFish]

There's so many different forms of British accents though. The stereotypical ones sound more 'sophisticated' but take any average person and I don't see why you'd think that from their accent. Britain encompasses 3 countries and there are many variations even in those so...

 

[Kelthurin]

In my opinion, they are. It seems to me, British people sound much more intelligent than Americans when speaking. What do you think?

Also, this isn't meant as an insult, I don't want anybody to take this the wrong way haha...

"Movie british"; yes.
Your average-joe british; Yeeaaaaaah no. Geordie, Scouse, etc, all horrible.