There's no such thing as a British accent!

[Valkyira]

Okay, this has been bothering me for years. There is no such thing as a British accent!

Great Britain is an island made up of three countries, England, Scotland and Wales. Each of these countries has their own accent, not to mention countless more dialects depending on the area of the country.

It seems like when people say a 'British accent' they are referring to the English accent. So why not just say the English accent?

It's like saying someone has a South/North American accent or an Asian accent. It just doesn't make sense.

I know making this thread isn't going to change anything in the grand scale of things, but I just hope that some users here on the Escapist realise that there is no such thing as a British accent.

So for discussion value, who here is like me, bothered by people saying 'British accent'? And who here doesn't give a shit?

Thanks for putting up with my rant.

 

[PurpleSky]

And knowing is half the battle.

 

[Flames66]

I always specify that I am English, not just British so yes it could get on my nerves slightly.

 

[cuddly_tomato]

Isn't that like saying there is no such thing as an American accent? After all there is Texan, New York, Deep South etc. As a general catch-all term for accents stemming from the British Isles it is a reasonable phrase.

 

[Jack and Calumon]

I am not bothered by it, as I know they mean English... Then again, there are many English Accents like Cockney, Yorkshire, Birmingham, and Cornish.

A *Political Correctness gone mad* joke would be nice.

Calumon: I guess it's the same when you say American Accents.

 

[ProfessorLayton]

Because it doesn't matter. You know what they're talking about, right?

Calumon: I guess it's the same when you say American Accents.

Exactly. America is made up of 50 different states and different areas. People from the South don't have the same exact accents as people from up North, but I don't really care when you say American accent because I know what you're talking about.

 

[Valkyira]

Isn't that like saying there is no such thing as an American accent? After all there is Texan, New York, Deep South etc. As a general catch-all term for accents stemming from the British Isles it is a reasonable phrase.

I agree with you to some extent. Although the Texan, New York and Deep South accents are dialects of the USA. Great Britain is actually three separate countries.

 

[Jack and Calumon]

Calumon: I guess it's the same when you say American Accents.

Exactly. America is made up of 50 different states and different areas. People from the South don't have the same exact accents as people from up North, but I don't really care when you say American accent because I know what you're talking about.

Actually I'm going to call you out on that. Do you really know what I mean? I mean there is too many accents of America it would be hard to tell which one I mean, but you would think of the one accent that you assossciate with that. When I hear "American Accent" I picture a voice similar to Miss Teen South Carolina. You might think of that Rich Texan from the Simpsons, or Cletus, or anything. You might even think Brazillian because it's South America!

Calumon: This is why no-one should ever go into detail, about anything.

 

[Valkyira]

Because it doesn't matter. You know what they're talking about, right?

That's not the point. The point is that they're incorrect. I'm pissed off about it, but some people are downright offended at other people's ignorance.

 

[mokes310]

So for discussion value, who here is like me, bothered by people saying 'British accent'? And who here doesn't give a shit?

What bothers me is people who don't know the difference between a dialect and an accent. The differences are VERY distinct and are often confused since the term "dialect" has a negative connotation.

 

[Daveman]

But then english isn't an accent either. OBVIOUSLY. A British accent is more the posh southern english accent. At least that's what I think it means.

But I really don't care about people saying it.

 

[Sabrestar]

I suspect when people not from the UK refer to a "British" accent, they probably mean RP ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Received_Pronunciation ), the "generic" accent associated with BBC presenters in the middle of the 20th century. It's not exactly a "true" accent in the sense that it hails from any particular area of the country, but it's supposed to be representative (kinda like the Esperanto of the UK, I suppose). I think the closest thing to a "generic" Yank accent would probably be the relatively flat Mid-Atlantic accent in the Maryland/DC/Delaware/central Pennsylvania area.

 

[tehweave]

Bugger!

Really, it's a 'northern' accent. Just like us in the US have a 'western' accent.

 

[JEBWrench]

And there's no such thing as a Search Bar either!

 

[maninahat]

Well, if we are splitting hairs, why not point out that there is no such thing as "the English Language". Seeing as how English is spoken by Americans, Australians, the British etc. It seems in accurate to label it all as "English".

Either that, or we can agree that there is such thing as a British accent: an accent that originates from Britain. It could be Cockney, Brummy or Scouse, but it is still a British accent.

 

[reg42]

And knowing is half the battle.

Your avatar pleases me

OT: Yeah, I know how people feel about this. People seem to think that all South Africans speak like Wikus Van De Merwe, which is very annoying.

 

[AngloDoom]

I am not bothered by it, as I know they mean English... Then again, there are many English Accents like Cockney, Yorkshire, Birmingham, and Cornish.

A *Political Correctness gone mad* joke would be nice.

Calumon: I guess it's the same when you say American Accents.

Double good points here. It's a generalisation; having an 'exact and accurate' generalisation entirely defeats the point of it- oversimplification. It'd be tiring if every time someone met me they said: "OMG! You've got a west-midlands accent with hints of both a southern background and many years in Germany!"