Do English People like the American Accent?

British English isn't even the real english accent, British accent changed because they didn't want to be like the "scummy" colonists. The accent of people in the Appalachians is the closest to Elizabethan times English it gets. So the next time you hear someone British popping off say "nice fake accent dipshit."

Well I love both, seeing as I speak neither of them.. or I talk with a more American accent than a British accent. Of course there are accents I dislike from both countries.

I spell in the American way though, mostly because of my spell-check tells me to do so.

Well here's something you guys can check out, it'll seem like blatent advertisment but it really isnt lol

www.myspace.com/elementalfunky

If anybody likes old school hip hop go on there, its a british mc from the north west, and an american mc from detroit, its an interesting clash of accents that i think sound really good together.

" @The_A_Drain: What the OP is referring to, is the typical American businessman accent, that covers the biggest percentage of Americans. The accent that most of Hollywood portrays as the typical American accent. That is the most widely spoken.

Edit: Found this funny video of English girls attempting the American accent. They actually got the R's down pretty well, which I heard is the hardest part. I say we all should post sound clips of us attempting the accent of the other country.

 

"

I have a question for the English on GB.  If a flashlight is called a torch, what's a torch [burning stick of wood] called?  And why the hell is the hood of a car called a bonnet?

Another interesting fact what many is the world and even America consider to be an "American" accent is due to tv.  General American—like BritishReceived Pronunciation (RP) as well as most standard language varieties of many other societies—was never the accent of the entire nation. General American is sometimes promoted as preferable to other regional accents. 

This is a great book on the whole "english language" history. 

The girls do ;-)

"I have a question for the English on GB.  If a flashlight is called a torch, what's a torch [burning stick of wood] called?  And why the hell is the hood of a car called a bonnet? "

" @The_A_Drain: What the OP is referring to, is the typical American businessman accent, that covers the biggest percentage of Americans. The accent that most of Hollywood portrays as the typical American accent. That is the most widely spoken.

Edit: Found this funny video of English girls attempting the American accent. They actually got the R's down pretty well, which I heard is the hardest part. I say we all should post sound clips of us attempting the accent of the other country.

  

"

I LOVE English accents. LOVE them. Totally classy, they're great.

I have a basic American accent. (From the NW so we don't have any specific accent really, just standard.)

" @PenguinDust said:

"I have a question for the English on GB.  If a flashlight is called a torch, what's a torch [burning stick of wood] called?  And why the hell is the hood of a car called a bonnet? "

I think a better question would be the inverse, they are torches and bonnets, why the hell do you call them flashlights and hoods?Anyway, bonnet i'm not sure of, but I suspect it has something to do with, well, a bonnet.A torch on the other hand is just that, a torch be it electronic, or a piece of oil soaked material wrapped around a piece of wood. "

So glad I don't have a terrible southern accent, even though I've lived in Texas my entire life. :)

"@The_A_Drain said:

" @PenguinDust said:

"I have a question for the English on GB.  If a flashlight is called a torch, what's a torch [burning stick of wood] called?  And why the hell is the hood of a car called a bonnet? "

I think a better question would be the inverse, they are torches and bonnets, why the hell do you call them flashlights and hoods?Anyway, bonnet i'm not sure of, but I suspect it has something to do with, well, a bonnet.A torch on the other hand is just that, a torch be it electronic, or a piece of oil soaked material wrapped around a piece of wood. "

i believe the reason for bonnet is that many refer to their car as "she", and so a bonnet is a hat for woman, i guess they just thought to put it their and it stuck.as for torch, probably general meaning for anything that produces light for the purpose of seeing in the dark."

also like to note, British people can completely lose their accent if they change country's.
my grandfather moved to BC Canada when he was 18, you can now no longer tell if hes British.
completely lost his accent, now it sounds like a normal Canadian.

" @The_A_Drain: What the OP is referring to, is the typical American businessman accent, that covers the biggest percentage of Americans. The accent that most of Hollywood portrays as the typical American accent. That is the most widely spoken.

Edit: Found this funny video of English girls attempting the American accent. They actually got the R's down pretty well, which I heard is the hardest part. I say we all should post sound clips of us attempting the accent of the other country.

  

"

" @MattyFTM said:

" @Ineedaname said:

"Mum, once again note the U, "

Mum/Mom/Mam are used interchangeably in different regions of the UK. Mum is probably the most common, but mom is pretty common in the West Midlands & North West. It isn't an Americanization, it originated over here. Similarly in some regions of the US, they use Mum. "

I have never heard anyone refer to their mother as "mom" in the North West, not once. "

" @Amilmitt said:

"@The_A_Drain said:

" @PenguinDust said:

"I have a question for the English on GB.  If a flashlight is called a torch, what's a torch [burning stick of wood] called?  And why the hell is the hood of a car called a bonnet? "

I think a better question would be the inverse, they are torches and bonnets, why the hell do you call them flashlights and hoods?Anyway, bonnet i'm not sure of, but I suspect it has something to do with, well, a bonnet.A torch on the other hand is just that, a torch be it electronic, or a piece of oil soaked material wrapped around a piece of wood. "

i believe the reason for bonnet is that many refer to their car as "she", and so a bonnet is a hat for woman, i guess they just thought to put it their and it stuck.as for torch, probably general meaning for anything that produces light for the purpose of seeing in the dark."

The car one sounds spot on, the torch thing though, I think it's just because an electronic torch is used in the same situations for the same purposes. There are other light sources that are not called torches, for example lanterns, lamps, but I think those all share oil as a source of fuel. (Although, wooden torches also use oil soaked rag for the tip, so I don't know) "

Im British. I don't think we hate the american accent, i just think we are a little pissed about the fact that we have been using this language since the 5th centuary (old english) and the US who are only about 230 years old (colonisation) take a language which we developed and change stuff then teach it to other nations wrong.

I also believe we are a little bitter that most of you don't recognise that you have European ancestors. Because without Europe the US you know today wouldn't exist.

But back to the point no i don't hate the american accent, although people from the deep south sound a bit retarded

" The accent on 'the hills' tv program is terrible, I'm assuming it's beverly hills? Some Americans have an accent thats comparable to the Essex accent in that they use the word like a lot (A word that fits the accent). Two things about that accent, it's irritating and it makes people sound stupid whether they are or not.Americans say the word ass better than us English. "

I'm Irish and when I was in Florida everyone LOVED my accent. I don't even notice it. I guess everyone's the same. If someone told you that you had an accent you'd be like 'Do I?'
But anyhoo, My favourite accents are Scottish and Australian. Dunno why. I just really like them. I don't like the English accent, probably because i'm Irish, and sorry I don't like most American accents, They just annoy me. Once again I don't know why, they just do.

Edit: And the Irish say arse the best!

I don't blame you guys for not liking southern accents, I hate them, and I've lived in the south for most of my life. I still don't have a bit of southern accent and I'm proud of that fact, considering that all I hear is ya'll and what not.

 I can't understand a fucking word that most people from Texas say

wow, its kinda weird seeing English people struggle with American accents, makes sense but never really though about it before.

I do think its funny wow people from the south think people from the north talk too fast. You talk to slow! get you words out, I got shit to do.

I went to Bulgaria on a 3 day pass while I was in the Army a few years back.  At the hotel I stayed at in Sofia (the capital) there just happened to be a group of british students there as well.  It was weird though because I actually ran into them at the bar, not the hotel.  Anyways, we partied like it was 1999 and had a blast.  They loved us Americans that day, and we loved them.  I constantly tried to mimick their accent, but they said I sounded more like a Scot then I did a Brit.  I tried to tell them they were wrong because I know my James Bond.  It was a blast though.  They also tried to mimick my American accent and butchered it as well.  All they knew, much like that video, was how to say stuff most American's don't say.  

I generally only dislike American accents in games.  Not all games, just those set in Europe or Asia pre America.  It happens in movies as well (Tom Cruise as a German soldier with an American accent?  No thanks).  I just wish that they would get voice actors from Asia and Europe to do it, in their own accented English.

"wow, its kinda weird seeing English people struggle with American accents, makes sense but never really though about it before.I do think its funny wow people from the south think people from the north talk too fast. You talk to slow! get you words out, I got shit to do."

Canadian here. I like the English accent and the American accent.

The stereotypical Canadian accent probably comes from Newfoundland (eh?), but a majority of Canadians speak nothing like that. We also use the British spelling --- which I prefer --- for colour, favourite, etc.

Heavy french Canadian accents can get on my nerves though; I grew up in Montréal so that's all I heard.

I wish I talked with an English accent. That would be awesome.

"@eclipsesis said:

" Im British. I don't think we hate the american accent, i just think we are a little pissed about the fact that we have been using this language since the 5th centuary (old english) and the US who are only about 230 years old (colonisation) take a language which we developed and change stuff then teach it to other nations wrong. I also believe we are a little bitter that most of you don't recognise that you have European ancestors. Because without Europe the US you know today wouldn't exist.But back to the point no i don't hate the american accent, although people from the deep south sound a bit retarded "

And without the US, the Europe you know today wouldn't exist. Don't go down that stupid road.

" @The_A_Drain: What the OP is referring to, is the typical American businessman accent, that covers the biggest percentage of Americans. The accent that most of Hollywood portrays as the typical American accent. That is the most widely spoken.

Edit: Found this funny video of English girls attempting the American accent. They actually got the R's down pretty well, which I heard is the hardest part. I say we all should post sound clips of us attempting the accent of the other country.

  

"

I always thought British people were better at imitating American accents than Americans were at imitating British accents. I guess we all just suck. Especially them :-|

"

There are many forms of the accent, so it's hard to say. Some sound cool, while some others are not so.  A few can be quite annoying if severe. Those voice actors in American ads are particularly bad.

I live in the U.S. South, but I no longer have an accent. I live close to the Appalachian mountains and enjoy theater. I love Shakespeare and it is said that the people of Appalachia do Shakespeare quite well, because their accent has some semblance to Elizabethan English.

I found this article. http://www.bbc.co.uk/voices/recordings/individual/ulster-omagh-mckenna-stephen.shtml

Here's a quote from the article.

It's interesting to hear Stephen talk about the echoes of Elizabethan English that he hears in older speakers locally and the comparisons he draws with the English used by William Shakespeare. The same has been said of English dialects in the Appalachian Mountains in the USA.

Some people believe this to only be a myth.

No

The north Yorkshire accent does not sound classy m8 lol

Any House fans out there? Hugh Laurie, the guy that plays Dr. House is English. He does a pretty good job of faking an American accent on House, but it does sound different than anything I've ever heard. You can tell his British accent isn't as thick as it used to be when he's talking normally.

" Any House fans out there? Hugh Laurie, the guy that plays Dr. House is English. He does a pretty good job of faking an American accent on House, but it does sound different than anything I've ever heard. You can tell his British accent isn't as thick as it used to be when he's talking normally.

Well, he was on Ellen. They compared slang terms. 

I've never even heard of the slang term, "flossing" used in that context. No one really says ba-donka-donk. I've never heard anyone besides rappers say "Shawty". I think she cheated!

Do any British guys here want to tell us if the slang terms that Hugh Laurie gives are actually used?

  

"

@turbomonkey138 said:

"The north Yorkshire accent does not sound classy m8 lol "

eh im from yorkshire and i don't even have the accent 

" I am indifferent towards the accent. What does annoy me though, is the stupid spellings you use for some words!!!! It's colour & flavour, not color and flavor. And I hate that you say football when referring to a game that it not football!!!!!! And that you call football Soccer, a word that is a slang term for the word Association. "I'm going to watch a match of association". IT MAKES NO SENSE!!!!!!!! "

" @Commando said:

" Any House fans out there? Hugh Laurie, the guy that plays Dr. House is English. He does a pretty good job of faking an American accent on House, but it does sound different than anything I've ever heard. You can tell his British accent isn't as thick as it used to be when he's talking normally.

Well, he was on Ellen. They compared slang terms. 

I've never even heard of the slang term, "flossing" used in that context. No one really says ba-donka-donk. I've never heard anyone besides rappers say "Shawty". I think she cheated!

Do any British guys here want to tell us if the slang terms that Hugh Laurie gives are actually used?

"

Chuffed is one, never heard of the first. "