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

[FatalFox]

I think it is because a traditional British accent speaks much clearer than an all around American accent, and I guess some foreign complicated words make it seem a lot fancier to the states.
Myself I'd say I speak a mix or something, I am not AS accent heavy as the British are, and I mumble a lot, but I would say I'm more of a British speaker than American, just saying this since English is my second language.

 

[Alphavillain]

As a Brit, I think Americans associate British accents with "class", or being classy. I don't see it myself. But I have the idea that ex-colonial people continue to have an elevated view of their Old World ex-masters: witness Africans vis-a-vis the French. It's a pretty silly view.

 

[RandallJohn]

American here. Sometimes I do get this impression, but it doesn't last. For every David Mitchell or Stephen Fry, there's a Dappy.

 

[IamLEAM1983]

I figure most people from outside Great Britain tended to be exposed to or grow up with material that presents the British as speaking with the English Received Pronunciation. Oh, sure, it's as sophisticated and sexy as they come (Stephen Fry and David Attenborough's voices are liquid butter I could guzzle down all day, every day). As a kid, I also used to think that Barry Ingham's take on Basil of Baker Street was absolutely awesome, too.

Then there's the actual reality of Great Britain's treasure trove of accents. Like anywhere else in the world, really, you can't pop up in England and say "Boy, these people do sound British!". There's Scouse, Estuary, Brummie, Cockney, Pikey, lasting traces of Received Pronunciation (mostly on TV or as spoken by the cultural elite), plus whatever else I might be forgetting.

To answer the OP's question, yes, the cliché British accent is very sophisticated and cool. I just haven't heard anybody from across the pond use it in a realistic manner, unfortunately.

The same goes with Québec, really. You'll constantly hear that us French Canadians have a specific accent that Americans and French both like, but they fail to consider that Québec isn't quite as Cajun as New Brunswick or Prince Edward Island's French speakers can tend to sound. Then there's the French Canadian diaspora in the Prairies and in British Columbia that all have their own accents and jargons, and I'm pretty sure you could go all the way up to Yellowknife and find the occasional speaker of what's technically French, but that nobody from Montreal could conceivably understand.

 

[Patrick Buck]

I would to love to go to America, for one reason. Just to see how people would react to my accent. To see if they thought it meant I was smarter, or rich, or posh or whatever.
Would be interesting.

 

[JayElleBee]

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.

Awesome. Aside from friends on Facebook you're the first Mackem I've ever come across on the Internet, nevermind the Escapist. Personally I'm pretty fond of my accent. It's one of those friendly, approachable Northern accents. <3

 

[ZeroMachine]

No.

The idea that nothing more than the inflection of someone's voice can make them sound "smarter" or "sophisticated" is downright foolish and insulting.

It's the same reason accents are neutral to me on the whole "attractiveness" scale. I hear so many people saying "oh, that's such a SEXY accent".

I don't understand it. At all.

 

[soren7550]

I believe there are two types of British accents: the nice sounding one that makes the ladies swoon, and the annoying one that's like fingernails on a chalkboard.

(keep in mind, this is coming from an American)

 

[II2]

Depends which dialect. Well spoken, articulate professors with an oxford English delivery are going to sound pretty posh, but cockney or scouse or welsh english or scots or anglo-patwa don't really sound inherently sophisticated. I think it's down more to enunciation and delivery, beyond that.

As a southern Canadian, abroad, Brits and Aussies take me for American, while Yanks and other Euros often think I'm British.

Aside: Found out that apparently my home Canada is the favored destination for Asians (mostly Chinese/Japanese/Korean) looking to learn the most "neutral" or "universal" English.

 

[Lieju]

I don't know about sophisticated, but it tends to be nicer to listen to, mostly because of how used I am to it, and it seems more natural.

Some accents, like Welsh, I don't like as much, though.

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

Quite indubitably.

Or at least, we CAN do the English posh accent - because it's what all those furriners expect. When their backs are turned, we drop into our usual slang-ridden 'mare of a language.

There's also a scientific reason, in that Ye Olde English has very specific rules for the correct emphasis on words - Webster's English (US), Aussie English and other variations tend to alter the rules dependent on their natural pronounciation.

Which is why I keep getting red-lines below all of my words.

 

[BlumiereBleck]

No, not at all. We had a British foreign exchange sturdy come to my school, he wasn't the brightest star in the sky. He kinda ruined the acent for me.

 

[Musiclly enhanced]

london accent? yes
Yorkshire, Liverpudlian, Geordie and Norfolk accents? i think not

 

[Total LOLige]

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...

Have you heard someone from the midlands of england speak, it's hilarious. It was voted the accent that made people sound the stupidest. It certainly doesn't sound sophisticated.

 

[El Dwarfio]

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

Ty talking to someone with an Essex accent and seeing if that assumption holds up.

My accent has definitely got me more action here than my looks have though, it's the reason why America > England

EDIT: One thing I've found many Americans under-estimate is just how many British accents there are (it is reckoned there are around 40 odd).

 

[TheRundownRabbit]

No, when I want to judge how sophisticated someone is, I look at their actions, not their words and much less whatever accent they have.

 

[GigaHz]

Personally, I think French accents with a good grasp of the language can outshine even the classiest of Brits.

It just sounds so clean...

I know a lot of Brits will be up in arms about my statement but I work with a lot of Bilingual people. I'd much rather have the language glide across their tongue than a local any day of the week.

 

[FalloutJack]

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...

As I have been told BY British people themselves, "We are not all of one accent". And it's true. Dependent on where you're from in the UK, you have a different mode of speech, just as I (A man from Pittsburgh) sound wildly different from anyone living in Georgia, say.

In regards to that, I'll ASSUME that you mean the particular accents that SOUND more sophisticated, such as Pierce Brosnan, John Cleese, and Rowan Atkinson. To whit...no, actually. It's not intelligence that voice enhances. It's charisma. You can have a personality of lead and still sound like a decent human being. However, it won't make you seem more intelligent unless you have the brain to back it up. Many times are the people who sound incredible during a speech, but have said ABSOLUTELY NOTHING the entire time.

 

[Weslebear]

Not sure about sophisticated but sexy as fuck? Then apparently yes.

Oddly enough I have had more than a few people froth at the gash over my voice, telling me straight up that they are in love with my voice.

Good times.

 

[Broady Brio]

I'm British and I sound nowhere near sophisticated. I don't even have a particular accent, it's just... monotone.

I feel your pain there brotha'. I prefer monotone over Scouse or Geordie though.