Why doesnt all English people speak like Charles Dance?

shootthebandit

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Wadders said:
shootthebandit said:
because england is so diverse even though its such a small country. here is a sample of all the different regional accents






<3 Noel!

"oh, let's write a song about fucking washin' up liquid or summin'..."
if you dont love noel there is something wrong with you

@OP if you include wales, scotland and N.ireland as england (most people outside the UK do) then there are so many more accents
 

ThreeName

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Guy from the 80 said:
If you speak in a horrible accent, why not change it? Also, what is Charles Dance accent called?
Pffft, because bitches love the Australian accent? The language of gentlemen can blow me, we speak the tongue of the larrikin. Proper pronunciation is a rare sight, and we don't miss it.

Why be charming when you can be awesome?
 

Wadders

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shootthebandit said:
Wadders said:
shootthebandit said:
because england is so diverse even though its such a small country. here is a sample of all the different regional accents






<3 Noel!

"oh, let's write a song about fucking washin' up liquid or summin'..."
if you dont love noel there is something wrong with you

@OP if you include wales, scotland and N.ireland as england (most people outside the UK do) then there are so many more accents
Seconded, he is practically God.

I'm sure you're aware of this, but just to make OP aware, those aint 'all' the regional accents, as you put it. They may be some of the major ones, but even in England there are loads more - West Country, Fens, Stoke, Leicester, there's another 4 totally unique ones off the top of my head...
 

shootthebandit

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This sums up my opinion on "speaking properly". im from glasgow and i get this all the time

edit:All the automated telephone answer machines only recognise the "charles dance" accent
 

scarfacetehstag

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I'm North American and an english accent doesn't sound perfect to me, never has. The continental accent is the most perfect to me, it's the one I can understand the best, an it's the one I have. That should be your answer, why do people speak spanish if english has a far larger vocabulary and ability to express?
 

Shadow-Phoenix

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Accent wise there's always Hugh Grant swoons



I myself am Manx so I don't really have an accent much of my own even though I am half Yorkshire/Scottish but I can do other accents if I wanted to.
 

Phasmal

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I sort of speak like that. I get a bit more of an accent when I'm talking to my family, my `t's` tend to disappear.
My stepdad is from Devon, and he speaks in a `BBC standard` english accent too, because he practiced it (though when he gets a bit drunk he goes back to his natural accent).

I dunno, I like the fact that we have a lot of accents. It's more fun.
 

Best of the 3

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Guy from the 80 said:
SckizoBoy said:
Just out of interest, what is your native tongue, because I'm betting that unless there are only a million or fewer native speakers of it, there will be regional variations if not dialects of it.
I'm Norwegian but our dialects doesnt really vary much.
Maybe they don't but I find accents do. Being Half English and Norwegian (for the most part) I've found that Norwegians have quite a few accents For example, my mother's accent is rather monotone (Tromso accent), and quite low pitch. Whereas an Oslo accent seems to end words on a high pitcher and sound almost fluttery, and I personally can't stand.

As for his way of speaking, it's more about class than anything. Some people are brought up in a class that speak like that. Some are not. It's mostly about upbringing but varies with many people. It has to do with place, as some places in England use slang words that others don't. But accents also play a big role in that. We have a truck load of them. Varies from county to county. And his way of speaking would not work with some people's accents.
 

CrimsonBlack

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Guy from the 80 said:
Since my native tounge is not English perhaps I rate the various types of english in a different way? But Charles Dance speaks perfect English, its so beautiful. My impression is that the amount of people who speaks like he does is shrinking, is this correct? If so then the English language is like the movie idiocracy. There are so many English dialects thats horrible, terrible and unberable.



If you speak in a horrible accent, why not change it? Also, what is Charles Dance accent called?
I know that nobody's going to pick up on this post, but...

I have an "RP" accent. Charles Dance's accent is accentuated by his VOICE - a mellifluous, vibrating and authoritative voice. I think you might be confusing his authoritative voice with actual RP.

Throughout my adult life I've been hiding my RP accent by using a Scottish one (I live in Edinburgh). I do this because it seems friendlier, less authoritative, less posh, less patronising, more approachable - even though ultimately I can't help but have my accent. Believe me, some people in Britain are quite beleaguered by their accent, including me.
 

GonzoGamer

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Shit, I wish I sounded like Charles Dance. But I'm from NY, if I started talking like him I would sound less cool and more pretentious. Maybe I can pull off Tom Waits if I start smoking again. He has a cool voice.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUB1uMZgYoI
 

Da Orky Man

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CrimsonBlack said:
Guy from the 80 said:
Since my native tounge is not English perhaps I rate the various types of english in a different way? But Charles Dance speaks perfect English, its so beautiful. My impression is that the amount of people who speaks like he does is shrinking, is this correct? If so then the English language is like the movie idiocracy. There are so many English dialects thats horrible, terrible and unberable.



If you speak in a horrible accent, why not change it? Also, what is Charles Dance accent called?
I know that nobody's going to pick up on this post, but...

I have an "RP" accent. Charles Dance's accent is accentuated by his VOICE - a mellifluous, vibrating and authoritative voice. I think you might be confusing his authoritative voice with actual RP.

Throughout my adult life I've been hiding my RP accent by using a Scottish one (I live in Edinburgh). I do this because it seems friendlier, less authoritative, less posh, less patronising, more approachable - even though ultimately I can't help but have my accent. Believe me, some people in Britain are quite beleaguered by their accent, including me.
At least your natural accent can be easily recognised both in and out the country. I happen to have s bastardised accent combining my dad's mostly RP and my mum's South Welsh, with a nice healthy dash of mid-Welsh where I grew up in for good measure. It means I sound English in Wales and Welsh in English, and quite strange abroad.

OP: Some people around here, meaning my patch of rural mid-Wales, can tell which village/town you grew up with by your accent alone. If you count this in, then there are literally hundreds of regional accents, build up over more than a thousand years.
 

pierre61

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Everyone in England spoke RP in the 1940's I know this for a fact because I have seen the films.
 
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Guy from the 80 said:
The last time I was in Cornwall well....not much charm there
Nonsense, we have rustic charm.

I am also writing to inform you of your impending death, by way of several red hot pasties crammed up your behind. I suggest making some form of will.
 

omega 616

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May 1, 2009
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Guy from the 80 said:
That's not so much an accent as it is a way of speaking, which is called "Toff". They go to private schools and made to be perfect gentlemen and ladies, for the upper classes to show off and be proud of etc

Us common folk who talk with accents, which are to you "horrible, terrible and unbearable" (thanks for that by the way) are a product of our environment. I used to have a scouse accent, which is just about the worst accent in the world but when you have it you don't realize how "horrible, terrible and unbearable." it is. For every region there is an accent.

You probably have an accent which would considered horrible, terrible and unbearable.

That way of speaking will always be around 'cos the families that put there kids into private school will always be around 'cos they have been around since "Oliver" (the movie) would have been considered a documentary. They don't live in houses, they own manors, they have a butler named Alfred and who's whole family has served there family, Alfred has currently served 3 generations.

And they all liked Thatcher!
 

shootthebandit

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rob_simple said:
Being from Glasgow, I'm much happier working towards sounding like this:

we have a superb accent made even better by our inclination towards the more fucking profane language
 

rob_simple

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shootthebandit said:
rob_simple said:
Being from Glasgow, I'm much happier working towards sounding like this:

we have a superb accent made even better by our inclination towards the more fucking profane language
Agreed, I think Glasgow is one of the few places on Earth where '****' is a noun, verb, adjective and term of endearment.

"You're a top ****, mate."
"I am absolutely cunted."
"He's getting his **** kicked in."

And, my personal favourite I read somewhere years ago,

"**** it in the fuck."
 

PoolCleaningRobot

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That feel when you're from Middle America and you don't really have an accent that can be characterized in any way. I'm serious. You can't even make fun of how I talk. Its not fair at all. And no, I can't really change my accent. I could do a Southern American one or a British one (though Brits are probably laughing at the notion of a straight up "British accent") I could never do it well enough.

Reminds me that my uncle's neighbors are English. They're an older married couple and the guy talks just like Micheal Cain. All I want is for him to address me as "Master Wayne" but I can't bring myself to ask him

Guy from the 80 said:
Also, what is Charles Dance accent called?
I'm in favor of calling it the Charles Dance accent

Though, the Morgan Freeman voice is what most of us would site as perfection. But the guy who plays Professor Snape/voice of God in Dogma would probably be a tie (no, I can't remember his name)