British people are finally honest in a poll

[Bugs ****ing Bunny]

39%

And you do know that American woman are thinking of the posh accents when they hear "British accents" right? They think Benedict Cumberbatch, not Billy Connolly.

It's actually quite amusing sitting in bars watching folks who sounds like Ricky Gervais or Ozzy Osbourne trying to pick up chicks solely based on their accent. Sorry chaps, that ain't the accent women like when they say they enjoy British accents.

Americans rarely realise I'm English, as I have a pretty strong Somerset accent. They usually look puzzled and ask if I'm Irish or Australian.

[kentonio]

The Guardian also asks "Which British Accent" in response to the Time Out (which btw, isn't that a British outfit) poll.

http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandst...-but-which-one

So the Guardian doesn't have the answer either?

[Hauldren Collider]

The number of different accents in a country so small is pretty bizarre to me. There's only like 3 or 4 accents in the US and for the most part you only get accents other than what is thought of as standard American in the rural areas.

[kentonio]

The number of different accents in a country so small is pretty bizarre to me.

Why? We're a country that's evolved over thousands of years, with pockets of communities having little or no contact with most others for much of that time. The accents have softened in the TV age and will soften more over time, but them existing isn't a surprise.

[Imran Siddiqui]

I think Alston & Bird (that is A&B, right?) has its offices in a fun area as well (North Midtown - not far from the gay epicenter of Atlanta).

[Imran Siddiqui]

There's only like 3 or 4 accents in the US and for the most part you only get accents other than what is thought of as standard American in the rural areas.

That's a bit understating it. In the major metro areas of the Mid-Atlantic and NE, things start to blend together, but there are definitely a lot of different accents. I mean Georgia may have 3 or 4 different accents itself (at the very least North Georgia accent and South Georgia accent are different - as are the accents closer to Savannah from the accents closer to Alabama) .

[Hauldren Collider]

I think Alston & Bird (that is A&B, right?) has its offices in a fun area as well (North Midtown - not far from the gay epicenter of Atlanta).

I don't know. I should qualify I've only been to atlanta twice and the most recent time spent most of my time on the GaTech campus. I didn't get to spend much time in the city itself, though what time I did spend I liked.

EDIT: Actually I may have only been once. I'm not 100% sure. I think I went as a little kid with my dad but I can't remember for sure.

[Hauldren Collider]

That's a bit understating it. In the major metro areas of the Mid-Atlantic and NE, things start to blend together, but there are definitely a lot of different accents. I mean Georgia may have 3 or 4 different accents itself (at the very least North Georgia accent and South Georgia accent are different - as are the accents closer to Savannah from the accents closer to Alabama) .

Well even in Tennessee most of the people I knew didn't seem to have super strong southern accents. I didn't think I had an accent at all (I pretty much still think that) but somehow people from Pittsburgh readily identify me as from the south, which was very surprising to me. I didn't think anyone would be able to just tell until I got to CMU.

[kentonio]

America should have a ****load of accents, because you have communities formed from immigrants from all over Europe. Accents don't just disappear in a couple of generations.

[Bugs ****ing Bunny]

The number of different accents in a country so small is pretty bizarre to me. There's only like 3 or 4 accents in the US and for the most part you only get accents other than what is thought of as standard American in the rural areas.

It's changing. Regional accents are in decline, due to TV and other media. My kids have lived in Somerset all their lives, and share a house with my Somerset accent- but they don't have the slightest trace of it.

[Hauldren Collider]

America should have a ****load of accents, because you have communities formed from immigrants from all over Europe. Accents don't just disappear in a couple of generations.

Yes they do. Many of my friends are second-generation. Totally American accents, but their parents speak with incomprehensible Chinese or Indian accents and so forth.

[Imran Siddiqui]

I don't know. I should qualify I've only been to atlanta twice and the most recent time spent most of my time on the GaTech campus. I didn't get to spend much time in the city itself, though what time I did spend I liked.

EDIT: Actually I may have only been once. I'm not 100% sure. I think I went as a little kid with my dad but I can't remember for sure.

Well, technically GTech is in the city . It's Westside area, which is definitely within Atlanta city limits. It's just a walk over a bridge to get to Midtown.

Well even in Tennessee most of the people I knew didn't seem to have super strong southern accents. I didn't think I had an accent at all (I pretty much still think that) but somehow people from Pittsburgh readily identify me as from the south, which was very surprising to me. I didn't think anyone would be able to just tell until I got to CMU.

I have been told I have gotten a Southern accent from college friends who I saw after 10 years. So some of it has rubbed off on me. As for Tennessee, people from the mountains in the East sound very different from folks from Nashville or folks from Memphis.

[Imran Siddiqui]

My kids have lived in Somerset all their lives, and share a house with my Somerset accent- but they don't have the slightest trace of it.

Bloody ungrateful kids

[Hauldren Collider]

I have been told I have gotten a Southern accent from college friends who I saw after 10 years. So some of it has rubbed off on me. As for Tennessee, people from the mountains in the East sound very different from folks from Nashville or folks from Memphis.

It was surprising to me that people could tell because I mostly grew up in Northern Virginia, which I had always been told was "not really Southern". I no longer buy that, because of how readily people from the North seem to pigeonhole me as southern. I think they are confusing "Southern" with "Very Conservative".

edit: "they" meaning those who believe nova is not the south

[kentonio]

Yes they do. Many of my friends are second-generation. Totally American accents, but their parents speak with incomprehensible Chinese or Indian accents and so forth.

I'm not talking about recent immigrant groups moving into an area where there's already a predominant accent, I'm talking about the communities that have been there for generations and only gained access to a more generic accent in the radio/TV era. Although with what Bugs just said, I might well be underestimating the new generation. It's certainly the case though that strong regional accents have persisted in the major regions of the UK.