There's no such thing as a British accent!

[Valkyira]

i said technically because of the definitions of wikipedia, in fact people from northern ireland are british since they are all british citizens and have british passports, same with the falklands

Spoiler: Great Britain

Spoiler: United Kingdom

I'll also think you'll find, Northern Irish people have Irish passports or those of the United Kingdom. Not British. The first passport is that of the United Kingdom (which Northern Ireland is a part of) The second is a purely Irish passport. Irish people do not use a British passport. As you can see, it says 'United Kingdom Of Great Britain AND Northern Ireland.' Why would they say 'and Northern Ireland' if they were a part of Britain? Because Northern Ireland is not part of Britain.

 

[Cavouku]

Well just yesterday I confused a man with from Australia for having a British (I meant English) accent, so I'm questioning whether I should take part in this. I also did the same thing to a Welsh man a while ago. In fact, because of that, I'd asked the man if he was from the British Isles at all (hoping I'd get a hit), and was still wrong.

See I have some attributions to certain accents. Because I'm from Canada, I'm exposed to a lot of accents, but more often than not I don't go around asking people where they're from, so I've got no way to make the phonetic differences for myself. I've never heard a Welsh man before, and I forget what that man sounded like as he only said a few words. And of course, like almost everyone, I've heard of the Crocodile Hunter, so I expect the Australian accent to be overzealous by nature.

I'm constantly assuming the accent has the following pronunciations; Water = Wowtah; Vita(h)mins = Vitimins; Aluminum = Alyuminiyum.

And I'd be wrong, and I expect to have possibly offended some people. It's just how I've attributed the accents. Unless I have an extended conversation with someone, I wouldn't be able to determine if they are British-English (If I just said "English" that could apply to anyone that speaks the language), Welsh or Australian, and the same would probably be for Scottish/Irish. I'd just take a swing unless I heard some keywords.

Being a Canadian, and watching a lot of American TV and Canadian TV, I've found that you could say there are differences if you're picky, but really, we sound a lot alike (no, I've never heard anyone say "aboot" and such, and "eh?" is sometimes treated as hillbilly talk). Oh, speaking of hillbillies (horrible term, I'm sorry), we have folk who have a Southern accent here in Nova Scotia. Little Nova Scotia, a peninsula not 12 miles from end to end.

But then you get mainland Nova Scotia mixed up with Cape Breton and you're asking for a fight, because Cape Bretoners are very found of their Gaelic heritage, and I can recognize a Cape Bretoner off the bat, but I'd be quick to call a Scottish/Irish person a Cape Bretoner, rather than them being Irish/Scottish. On the mainland we've got a very general Eastern North American accent, which is what people attribute to being the "American accent" around here. And Newfoundland's not part of the maritimes, it's Atlantic, and a whole bunch of local accent/dialect issues.

...See? We take big deals in our local accents, but globally, I imagine we all make little mistakes like that. Well, with the acception of a Welsh or English man confusing an Australian for one of them, and so forth (whatever so forth is in this case).

Geez... I didn't think I'd go on for so long.

So, just to be clear, the accents I get confused often (there may be others but I wouldn't know them because I don't know a lot of people with accents)

Irish/Scottish/Cape Breton
English/Welsh/Australian/New Zealand
Eastern American/Middle American/Southern Canadian (as in most of the Can. Population)
Nordic/German

...I think that's it. I can imagine I get a lot of vice for that, but I've never been further than Montreal... Oh don't even get me started on Quebec/France. Don't even.

 

[Composer]

eh the words all translate to the same thing i dont care how there said

 

[Cavouku]

Next time I hear someone and they sound Scottish (and I know they aren't Irish because of keywords or something) I'll ask if they're British. Would that make it better? I'm doing more than just making the "British = English" mistake, I'd be encompassing another country from Great Britain.

 

[Kenny Kondom]

It is merely a generalisation term. I can see how it is annoying, but take it on the chin. Obviously these people saying these things come off looking either rude or stupid. I therefore chose the latter.

 

[Necrofudge]

Well I've learned something new today. Unfortunately I'll probably forget it and continue calling the combined accents of the United Kingdom an Irish accent.

 

[RikSharp]

Great Britain is an island made up of three countries, England, Scotland and Wales.

Probably well ninjad by now, but doesn't Northern Ireland count?
They are a country after all and better still, part of the UK.

on topic, the accent called "british" isn't even a real accent. its a stereotype of toffy english that nobody actually speaks.

 

[0_Insomnis_0]

It seems to me that Americans (I am one) seem to group an English accent, a Scottish accent, an Irish accent etc. into one big group because most of us can't tell the difference between them. Leave alone the differences between the countless dialects and regional nuances in speech patterns. It's easy even for me to tell a man from Yorkshire! I don't claim to have any great insite to British culture, I'm American, most of us don't have great insite into anything at all, but I'd like to think I'm not so, as you'd say, thick. I will admit I'm guilty of this, and will watch myself from here on in!

Edit: There's another problem that's been hinted at. For Americans, it isn't so much ignorance or apathy, as it is lack of ever seeing the diffrent accents. In the UK, there's so much interaction between the diffrent countries, and thereby accents, that everyone learns to tell them from one another. But here in the US, we don't have that. Other than movie and tv, the average American never hears them. In an unrelated note, Americans should be watching more Dr. Who and Top Gear!

 

[Treefingers]

There are a range of accents within every country.

 

[Valkyira]

Great Britain is an island made up of three countries, England, Scotland and Wales.

Probably well ninjad by now, but doesn't Northern Ireland count?
They are a country after all and better still, part of the UK.

on topic, the accent called "british" isn't even a real accent. its a stereotype of toffy english that nobody actually speaks.

Northern Ireland is part of the UK. But we're talking about Great Britain, which Northern Ireland is not a part of.

 

[Sparrow]

Yeah, it irritates me. It's ignorance, really. I just sort of screams "I can't be bothered to learn about your country". The thing I REALLY don't get is, when someone says they're Welsh they are refered to as Welsh. When someone says they're Scottish, they are refered to as Scottish. But when you're English, you're British. It just makes no sense.

Plus, a worrying amount of people think England is Britain, oppose to England being in Britain.

...meaning that it is perfectly acceptable for people who don't hear them everyday to lump them all together.

Pff. Apparently you don't know any Americans.

pfft, it's not like I live here or anything >_>

Someone appears to be missing the point here. I meant alot of Americans are just the same, which is where you come from, so don't call the kettle black because you live in a giant pot.

 

[RikSharp]

Great Britain is an island made up of three countries, England, Scotland and Wales.

Probably well ninjad by now, but doesn't Northern Ireland count?
They are a country after all and better still, part of the UK.

on topic, the accent called "british" isn't even a real accent. its a stereotype of toffy english that nobody actually speaks.

Northern Ireland is part of the UK. But we're talking about Great Britain, which Northern Ireland is not a part of.

fair point. Scrub half of my comment, but i still stand by that the "british accent" is a stereotype that does not happen naturally in britain.

 

[Cavouku]

I play with a close knit of Americans on my 360.

I taught them this and what most regional dialects are. They are pretty good at calling out different accents now.

I still can't recognise a Brooklyn accent though.

Another point. I'm not upset with you for not identifying, but I can. And you can point out the difference between an English and Welshman a mile away, whereas I still can't (don't hate me).

And being from Atlantic Canada, I've gotta' ask; has anyone ever mistaken a Newfoundland accent for anything else? I've never heard anything like it.

 

[Valkyira]

Great Britain is an island made up of three countries, England, Scotland and Wales.

Probably well ninjad by now, but doesn't Northern Ireland count?
They are a country after all and better still, part of the UK.

on topic, the accent called "british" isn't even a real accent. its a stereotype of toffy english that nobody actually speaks.

Northern Ireland is part of the UK. But we're talking about Great Britain, which Northern Ireland is not a part of.

fair point. Scrub half of my comment, but i still stand by that the "british accent" is a stereotype that does not happen naturally in britain.

I'm going to have to agree with you. No-one in Britain talks like Pip from South Park.

 

[Cavouku]

Another point. I'm not upset with you for not identifying, but I can. And you can point out the difference between an English and Welshman a mile away, whereas I still can't (don't hate me).

That was the point of my post...just switch the places round...

And being from Atlantic Canada, I've gotta' ask; has anyone ever mistaken a Newfoundland accent for anything else? I've never heard anything like it.

I can tell a Canadian and an American apart any day, if that's what you mean.

Really? I can't. But Newfoundland is a whole other thing in it's entirety. Ever heard the song "I'se the B'y"?

It's Newfie for "I'm the boy".

 

[randomrob]

You forgot Northern Ireland mate. But yeah this is a point I've been trying to get across online for ages.

 

[ThePantomimeThief]

I'm going to have to agree with you. No-one in Britain talks like Pip from South Park.

Come to Exeter University and see some of the 'characters' we have here. They sound like a grown up Pip just ready to jump into their 6-figure BMW and assistant director job in their daddy's company.

Or better yet, watch this:

Spoiler

Anyway, back on topic - there's no such thing as a British Accent, or an English accent, or even a Scottish or Welsh accent. There's different accents for every little bit of the UK, and it's the same in other countries. When someone tells me I have a British accent (or occasionally an Australian accent) it doesn't bother me much, since I have made the same mistake with people from other countries before. Something you shouldn't take to heart I think, it's an honest mistake.

Although I will offer some advice to people: if you're unsure where someone is from in the UK, it's better to call them British than English in case you get a Scot or a Welshman. As a part-Scottish guy you REALLY don't want to suggest we're English. Even I hate the English side of me lol.

 

[Valkyira]

I'm going to have to agree with you. No-one in Britain talks like Pip from South Park.

Come to Exeter University and see some of the 'characters' we have here. They sound like a grown up Pip just ready to jump into their 6-figure BMW and assistant director job in their daddy's company.

Or better yet, watch this:

Spoiler

Hahah! I love that guy. Is he being serious or is this a joke? There was a girl from Skins who spoke like that, she pissed me off.