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

[Risingblade]

What's that accent people with monocles talk in? That's the one I wanna talk in not the common tongue

 

[Khanht Cope]

The only thing I find hard about having that stereotypical British (English) accent, and I do, is that I seem to spend more time saying what I need too, and people get bored and talk over me and say it in less time by not pronouncing every syllabal like I do.

:\

First world problems I know, but when talking to Americans online it gets hard to say everything without being talked over, and somedays I just throw up my hands and just blurb it all out in a terrible American style mock up.

I think that's more to do with how Americans approach even friendly or flirtatious interaction with a seemingly sociopathic aggression.

 

[mrdude2010]

Do people honestly not realize that there is more than one British accent? People with Cockney accents don't exactly sound sophisticated, for example.

 

[Chalacachaca]

It's a great accent (my favorite by the way), but I don't find it sophisticated at all.

 

[Suicidejim]

Didn't think so, then moved to Canada and got swarmed by people who love my accent. Mine does come across as 'sophisticated' I suppose, but that also has something to do with my manner of speaking, which is generally quite formal. I'm not sure, say, my father, or half the people I went to school with, would exactly come across as intellectuals.

 

[Extravagance]

Ahh, this old chesnut again. The "sophisticated" English accent - referred to as the Queen's English (King's if we have a king on the throne and vice versa)is just one of a plethora of accents here. Every region has one or two at the very least and some regional accents vary between cities/places within the region. And yes, the Queen's English accent sounds sophisticated because it's meant to. It's a clean, clear accent in which all words are pronounced correctly. It's the accent of the middle/upper classes.

 

[Rule Britannia]

I'm british (living in Canada) and it has been commented that i sound sophisticated it really does depend on what part of england you're from. I'm from Suffolk (east anglia, two hours north of London) and I have a strong accent but not of a country living suffolk person (if you know the accent you probably know what I mean).

On topic:
Yes I think british accents do sound more sophisticated but obviously each country has its own negative end of the spectrum; chavs (from England) and rednecks (America), both of which sound truly awful. :/ (just my opinion)

 

[DarkRyter]

I used to.

But then I saw Skins.

 

[I-Protest-I]

I have what is commonly listed as one of the worst English accents; The Black Country accent. Closest accent to Middle English in Britain and almost indistinguishable from the Brummie accent to those not from around here. Famous speakers of these accents include Ozzy Osbourne and the rest of Black Sabbath, Noddy Holder from Slade and Rob Halford from Judas Priest. It has been stated in polls that those two accents are the ones that make a person sound the least intelligent; usually on the premise of 'the broader the accent, the less intelligent the speaker' (mine is quite broad, sadly). A lot of it stems from unique pronounciation of words and phrases, or just coming up with new words altogether. Here are a selection of examples used by both accents that I've pulled from Wikipedia;

Babby = Baby
Donnies = Hands; e.g, 'Go and wash your donnies.'
Saft/Yampy = Mad/Barmy/Silly

Another trait is to pronounce the vowel 'a' as 'o', for example;
'Sond' instead of 'Sand'
'Hond' instead of 'Hand'

We also tend to use 'Thee', 'Thy' and 'Thou' seriously in conversation; "Dids't thou knock?" = "Did you knock?"

When I speak to someone new I try to tone it down enough so that I can be understoood, because if I'm not trying to stop it, the accent allows a person to speak incredibly fast, which is fine around family as they all understand and speak it, but to others then it's easy for things I say to be missed completely.

If you want another glimpse and to hear what it sounds like in practice I would direct you to this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrIqSlt9PXg - The Black Country alphabet.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NqIcbLkY2iY&feature=related - Also this one, where people try to explain what certain phrases mean.

Not too far from a Yorkshire accent, my accent, the best of accents.

 

[Robert Ewing]

Define British accents. There is hundreds of British accents.

If you're referring to the stereotypical hometown accent, then yes. That accent is sophisticated. Because it's only spoken by highly educated, upper class citizens. So I guess the very rule of that accent is that it must be spoken by a sophisticated person.

But a cockney accent... Well, The person speaking cockney is probably less sophisticated than the inner tubing of a bike tyre.

But I can't speak, I have a Swindonian accent. We can't pronounce our 'T's.

So it's all like "Wha' are you doing? Ge' off that sea' you ti'!" Not considered sophisticated at all.

But yeah, Hometown accent is sophisticated. Edinburgh accent is sophisticated. Lots of British accents are sophisticated.

 

[The Bum]

Some...others...(IE: Black pool, Cockney) not so much. I personally adopted a British accent (I'm American) after moving to the north, and being teased for "sounding like a cowboy". Nobody teases me anymore

 

[octafish]

Exactly what kind of British accent are we talking here? There's more than one. A lot more.

Not that it matters, everyone knows Welsh accents are better in every way.

Indeed, they have gravitas in a low voiced person such as Hopkins, Burton, Tom Jones, even Brydon but are curiously whining in higher pitched voices like Secombe.

OP Too much variation in accent. For every Richard Griffith and Miriam Margolyes there a two dozen Scousers, Brummies, Lancastrians and Yorkies.

 

[SextusMaximus]

There is no one accent in the British isles, assuming you're talking about "Queen's English" then yes, it is quite sophisticated. Assuming you're talking about Wigan or Manchester, hell no!

 

[GenericAmerican]

An accent? As in this?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sM45TACI4H4

Because this I can understand perfectly.

*can someone tell me how to make the video actually show rather than a link? I used to know. Herp a derp :/

 

[Merkavar]

girl in orange = /thread

 

[Dr. Pepper Unlimited]

Sophistication is based on what you say, not the accent in which you say it. So, no.

 

[CrazyGirl17]

I'd say it'd depend on the particular accent. I still love me some British accents, though. ^^

 

[JasonKaotic]

You obviously haven't been to Gloucestershire. Or Manchester. Etc. Heh.
The fact that I'm English probably voids my opinion, but I really don't think so. Especially seeing as I have a 'lower-class' Gloucestershire accent, and so do a lot of people I know. I don't pronounce words properly, basically.

I will re-type this in the way I would say it:

You obviously 'aven' been 'uh Gloucestershire. Or Manchester. Etc. Heh.
The fa't thu' I'm English prob'ly voids my opinion, bu' I really don' fink so. 'Specially seein' as I 'ave a "lower-class" Gloucestershire accen', an' so do a lo' o' people I know. I don' pronounce words properly, basically.

 

[Fappy]

No, not really. After I heard an Englishman say "helicopter" one time I could no longer take his accent seriously.

 

[Oly J]

I'm probably not the first to mention this but there is no such thing as a "British" accent, Britain encompasses 4 countries all with different accents, but I know the accent to which you refer, and no I don't think they are more sophisticated, they just sound like it