There's no such thing as a British accent!
- Thread starter Valkyira
- Start date
And each of those American accents are more distinct-sounding to an outsider than those of Wales, England, and Scotland.Valkyira said:
The habit of calling it a "British" accent is probably the result of decades of touchy pricks saying "I'm not English" when someone tries to be specific but is incorrect. Thus, people learned to use a more general term, so that a different set of touchy pricks can get upset about people being correct, but not specific enough.
Also, let's not forget that the legal responsibilities and priveleges of what you call the "countries" of Great Britain are an awful lot like the legal responsibilities and privileges of what we call "states" in the U.S. You can call them countries all you want, but they are not sovereign nations. They're all part of the U.K., and all of them are smaller in area and comparable in population to the state of Texas.
well according to wikipedia and valkyira great britain is the main isle of britainThyunda said:
so the only countries in britain are scotland, wales and england
which i find very pointless as british means all of the UK and britain is a single isle
and if you want to be really picky
britain = wales and england
great britain = scotland, wales and england
UK = scotland, wales, northern ireland, england, falklands, channel islands and isle of man
all very pointless but are very important to valkyira
Because some people care about silly things I suppose :/Valkyira said:
I'm British and I always just say I have a British accent. Sometimes I specify by saying English but I don't care enough to correct people. If I really cared I'd have to start saying: 'I have an east-midlands English-UK accent'
nooobody cares.
(I should clarify, I am now living in Australia so I get asked a lot too)
I don't really mind about the british and english accent thing.
i think that the main reason is british is easier to say than english
i think that the main reason is british is easier to say than english
"Great Britain" is a geographical designation, it relates to the largest of the British Isles, which consists of thousands of islands and charted rocks.
"The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland" is a political designation for the nation state which consists of the three countries situated on the island of Great Britain along with the territory of Northern Ireland and several dependencies, including the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. Other large islands and archipelagos off the coast of Great Britain are considered part of one or other of the constituent countries. The Isle of Wight is part of England, Anglesey is part of Wales; the Western Isles, Orkneys and Shetlands are part of Scotland.
"British accent" does irritate me a little, but I can see the use for foreigners. I can sometimes tell the difference between a Northern US accent and a Canadian accent, but it does depend where they're from. Likewise Australian and New Zealand accents are hard to differentiate.
Personally I find it odd that foreigners can't differentiate between some of our regional accents and dialects, although that may be due to a lack of exposure. Walk into the Bigg Market in Newcastle or the Bullring in Birmingham and expect a "British" (i.e. RP accent) and you'll get a shock, to say nothing of the South Wales valleys, the East End of London or rural Somerset! That said the English can't usually distinguish between a South or North Welsh accent, which (to a native like me) are as different as, say South Carolina and New Jersey; or Home Counties and Scouse.
Oh, and the vowel shift that apparently makes people in the US speak a more original form of English than the British is, again, dependent on regional variations. The short "a" form in words like "bath" is used in the North of England, the elongated vowel "baahth" in RP, the West Country and Wales. Do any parts of the US that have the archetypal "southern drawl" elongate the vowel?
My tuppence worth. Argue away!
"The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland" is a political designation for the nation state which consists of the three countries situated on the island of Great Britain along with the territory of Northern Ireland and several dependencies, including the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. Other large islands and archipelagos off the coast of Great Britain are considered part of one or other of the constituent countries. The Isle of Wight is part of England, Anglesey is part of Wales; the Western Isles, Orkneys and Shetlands are part of Scotland.
"British accent" does irritate me a little, but I can see the use for foreigners. I can sometimes tell the difference between a Northern US accent and a Canadian accent, but it does depend where they're from. Likewise Australian and New Zealand accents are hard to differentiate.
Personally I find it odd that foreigners can't differentiate between some of our regional accents and dialects, although that may be due to a lack of exposure. Walk into the Bigg Market in Newcastle or the Bullring in Birmingham and expect a "British" (i.e. RP accent) and you'll get a shock, to say nothing of the South Wales valleys, the East End of London or rural Somerset! That said the English can't usually distinguish between a South or North Welsh accent, which (to a native like me) are as different as, say South Carolina and New Jersey; or Home Counties and Scouse.
Oh, and the vowel shift that apparently makes people in the US speak a more original form of English than the British is, again, dependent on regional variations. The short "a" form in words like "bath" is used in the North of England, the elongated vowel "baahth" in RP, the West Country and Wales. Do any parts of the US that have the archetypal "southern drawl" elongate the vowel?
My tuppence worth. Argue away!
Well, actually, people do say 'North American accent'. And most of the people I know say 'British accent' because saying 'English accent' makes it sound as though all people who speak English have that accent, when that is not the case, clearly.
Its just one of those things that most people don't pay attention to.
Hell, I was on a cruise a few years back and there were heaps of British families and American (I'm Aussie) and most of the Yanks all confused me as a Brit and the British were being called Australians.
Its just that no one knows what anyone else sounds like, they are just weird (compared to them).
Hell, I was on a cruise a few years back and there were heaps of British families and American (I'm Aussie) and most of the Yanks all confused me as a Brit and the British were being called Australians.
Its just that no one knows what anyone else sounds like, they are just weird (compared to them).
I guess it's easier for a British person, like myself, to get annoyed when foreign people group our accents under one heading. But they aren't exposed to the plethora of accents there are in Britain, which vary from each county, city, town or village, so it's harder to tell the difference. The same way they might get annoyed when we group all the various accents of North America, which I imagine vary from state to state, as American. Unless it's a Southern North (is that an oxymoron?) American accent.
I understand that, but your accents all sound pretty similar. At least to other people. I can make out an Irish accent just fine, but I can barely tell the difference between an English accent and a Scottish accent. I don't even recall if I've ever heard a Welsh accent. I may have.Red Right Hand said:
Point is, your accents all sound similar. I'm sure there are quite a few Brits, Scots, Welsh, and Irish pissed off after reading that, since the countries aren't exactly fond of each other, but thats how the majority of people see it.
That would imply there is no such thing as a British person.
A British accent would come from Britain, whilst it may not be specific, its still accurate.
You never hear people saying, "wow... He has a really strong Queensland accent" and yet apparently there is a difference between QLD, VIC and other Australian state accents.
A British accent would come from Britain, whilst it may not be specific, its still accurate.
You never hear people saying, "wow... He has a really strong Queensland accent" and yet apparently there is a difference between QLD, VIC and other Australian state accents.
It was invented by the English. Spanish is spoken in Mexico, too. Doesn't mean there's no such thing as the Spanish language.maninahat said:
Technically theres no such thing as an English Accent either: People who speak with an English Accent are speaking 100% Native English, so it should be referred to as "Common Old English" or something.
Well, I always refer to English as a language and British as a culture. No one's a fan of saying "English accent" when it's the language they speak and they aren't English. I believe in pronouncing the last letter of the alphabet correctly and spelling the word "honour" with a "u" as is proper language, but I would probably stop at saying I speak the language of England when the people of all the British Ilse's can be understood by those speak English yet are from another continent.
I don't think Great Britain is three separate countries. It's one country known as the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (UK).Valkyira said:
Well strictly speaking, English was invented by the Saxons. So I suppose that makes the English a bunch german speakers. As you say; "Spanish is spoken in Mexico, too. Doesn't mean there's no such thing as the Spanish language". Perhaps, but the Mexicans would prefer to think they are speaking "Mexican". Likewise, how long will it be before "North American" becomes recognised as a seperate language from "English"? Most English people are unfamiliar with the word 'podunk'. Is it still an "English" word, or can it be said to be an American word? How many such words are needed for American to be considered distinct?Stone Wera said:
Look, I'm just being arbitrarily pedantic here because I disagree with the OP's premise. We use generalised terms when it comes to things like language and accents for convenience sake. Of course Australians and Americans speak English. I was just pointing out that if the OP considers the term "British accent" to be too much of a generalisation over the smorgasbord of accents in the UK, then "English" is also too much of a vague adjective for the World's most widely spoken language.
