I wasn't able to look it up on wikipedia.
What exactly is a "Posh accent"?
What exactly is a "Posh accent"?
What is a "Posh Accent"?
"Posh" is a Britishism for upper-class. A posh accent would be someone who talks like the public school products who live/frequent Sloan Square in London and use expressions like N-Double-O-C (not of our class).
Actually it's Sloane Square.....with an "e".....as soon as you emerge from the bowels of the earth at Sloane Square tube station, on the District and Circle Lines, then you will see Sloane Square itself immediately in front of you in all its arborial grandeur, with the famous King's Road leading out from it on the opposite side of the square and taking you down into Chelsea proper, the true stomping ground of all the "yah" "yah" Sloanes.
Beware of hordes of people milling about around you all saying "yah" instead of "yes" and looking like they can hardly wait for their next Pimms. These are known as Sloane Rangers....the late Diana, Princess of Wales, was a Sloane Ranger, and she used to say "yah". This is proper "posh" speak. Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, missus of the Prince of Wales, speaks "posh", as does her old man, Charles.
The Queen speaks "posh", and so does her old man, grumpy Pip. Her Ladies in Waiting speak "posh". Her Private Secretaries all speak "posh". In fat the whole Establishment all go around speaking "posh"
Her chambermaids and footmen and butlers and chefs and under parlourmaids et al are not likely to speak "posh" though.....they no doubt come from all over the UK, and perhaps from further afield now, who knows, in which case they neither speak "posh" nor "regional" - just "foreign".
The Commanding Officer in charge of the Troop of Guards and Household Cavalry outside the Queen's windows at Buckingham Palace, down in the courtyar and forecourt, speaks "posh", but not many of the footsoldiers of the Brigade of Guards or Household Cavalry, all resplendent in their colourful uniforms, speak "posh" - in fact, none at all I would say. They too come from all over the UK.
Certain sectors of the English populace are very good at "posh" - they perfected it down to a tee, a phenomenon of England....some people think that the word "posh" - meaning smart, refined and elegant - originated from the dandies of former times - a "posh" in Regency times in England (17th/18th centuries) was a stylish, highly affected fop of a man, elegant in dress and manner, and speaking accordingly to suit his bearing.
Others say that "posh" is an acronym for Port Out, Starboard Home - meaning those cabins on board ships of the British fleet in the most desirable locations on the vessels, affording the most comfortable facilities for the more affluent and influential people, and port/starboard according to the position of the sun and thus allowing for shade for the privileged elite.
Beware of hordes of people milling about around you all saying "yah" instead of "yes" and looking like they can hardly wait for their next Pimms. These are known as Sloane Rangers....the late Diana, Princess of Wales, was a Sloane Ranger, and she used to say "yah". This is proper "posh" speak. Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, missus of the Prince of Wales, speaks "posh", as does her old man, Charles.
The Queen speaks "posh", and so does her old man, grumpy Pip. Her Ladies in Waiting speak "posh". Her Private Secretaries all speak "posh". In fat the whole Establishment all go around speaking "posh"
Her chambermaids and footmen and butlers and chefs and under parlourmaids et al are not likely to speak "posh" though.....they no doubt come from all over the UK, and perhaps from further afield now, who knows, in which case they neither speak "posh" nor "regional" - just "foreign".
The Commanding Officer in charge of the Troop of Guards and Household Cavalry outside the Queen's windows at Buckingham Palace, down in the courtyar and forecourt, speaks "posh", but not many of the footsoldiers of the Brigade of Guards or Household Cavalry, all resplendent in their colourful uniforms, speak "posh" - in fact, none at all I would say. They too come from all over the UK.
Certain sectors of the English populace are very good at "posh" - they perfected it down to a tee, a phenomenon of England....some people think that the word "posh" - meaning smart, refined and elegant - originated from the dandies of former times - a "posh" in Regency times in England (17th/18th centuries) was a stylish, highly affected fop of a man, elegant in dress and manner, and speaking accordingly to suit his bearing.
Others say that "posh" is an acronym for Port Out, Starboard Home - meaning those cabins on board ships of the British fleet in the most desirable locations on the vessels, affording the most comfortable facilities for the more affluent and influential people, and port/starboard according to the position of the sun and thus allowing for shade for the privileged elite.
Could someone point to a Youtube video (or something like that) that illustrates an "extreme" posh accent? I always thought that the Queen spoke pretty typical/unremarkable UK English.
<<Could someone point to a Youtube video (or something like that) that illustrates an "extreme" posh accent? I always thought that the Queen spoke pretty typical/unremarkable UK English. >>
Are you joking? Just check out her strangulated voice, especially certain vowels. For instance, she says 'hice' for 'house'. Another poshism is pronouncing 'yes' as 'ers'. The playwright Johnathan Miller said the british upper class accent was developed as a way of talking that involved moving the jaw as little as possible. Younger members affect a drawl, but of a similarly minimal character.
Are you joking? Just check out her strangulated voice, especially certain vowels. For instance, she says 'hice' for 'house'. Another poshism is pronouncing 'yes' as 'ers'. The playwright Johnathan Miller said the british upper class accent was developed as a way of talking that involved moving the jaw as little as possible. Younger members affect a drawl, but of a similarly minimal character.
It seems that some years back now the Queen actually underwent something resembling elocution lessons but in reverse - something like Eliza Dootlittle's with Professor Higgins in the opposite direction.
If you listen to the Queen's voice when she was a lot younger than she is now then you have to agree it sounded pretty dire to our ears today, certainly to us Scots anyway, and to those of us who do not remember the way the so called upper strata of English English society once spoke as a matter of course.
Strangulated really is a good way to describe the way the younger Liz used to speak, but even the world's most instantly visually recognisable woman has had to change with the times and tone down those strained cut glass tones of long past times in order to fit in more realistically with the way the vast majority of her subjects across the length and breadth of this Realm of hers speak her Language - the Queen's English, as it is officially called here, ignoring the fact that Her Majesty's tongue has such a wide diversity of expression from one area to another in these islands.
Even so, she does sound quite "posh", especially when she pronounces certain words. I'm not too sure about "hice" for "house" - I'll have to listen more attentively to her Christmas Day message to us all next month - but I know that she says "aawf" for "off" and "lawst" for "lost", so let's hope she says something about looking forward to travelling "aawf" on a tour to foreign parts in the New Year and hoping that she doesn't get "lawst" on the way back to her "hice" at the top end of the Mall (the long avenue stretching from Trafalgar Square, underneath Admiralty Arch, all the way to her "hice" - aka Buckingham Palace. btw: Mall - this rhymes with pal).
Poor Liz!.......but poor she most certainly ain't and there;s no outstanding mortgage on her "hice" - or on all her other "hices" "acraawss" the land! She'll survive the Credit Crunch, that's for sure! ;-)
If you listen to the Queen's voice when she was a lot younger than she is now then you have to agree it sounded pretty dire to our ears today, certainly to us Scots anyway, and to those of us who do not remember the way the so called upper strata of English English society once spoke as a matter of course.
Strangulated really is a good way to describe the way the younger Liz used to speak, but even the world's most instantly visually recognisable woman has had to change with the times and tone down those strained cut glass tones of long past times in order to fit in more realistically with the way the vast majority of her subjects across the length and breadth of this Realm of hers speak her Language - the Queen's English, as it is officially called here, ignoring the fact that Her Majesty's tongue has such a wide diversity of expression from one area to another in these islands.
Even so, she does sound quite "posh", especially when she pronounces certain words. I'm not too sure about "hice" for "house" - I'll have to listen more attentively to her Christmas Day message to us all next month - but I know that she says "aawf" for "off" and "lawst" for "lost", so let's hope she says something about looking forward to travelling "aawf" on a tour to foreign parts in the New Year and hoping that she doesn't get "lawst" on the way back to her "hice" at the top end of the Mall (the long avenue stretching from Trafalgar Square, underneath Admiralty Arch, all the way to her "hice" - aka Buckingham Palace. btw: Mall - this rhymes with pal).
Poor Liz!.......but poor she most certainly ain't and there;s no outstanding mortgage on her "hice" - or on all her other "hices" "acraawss" the land! She'll survive the Credit Crunch, that's for sure! ;-)
The Queen of that other English speaking country.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KzLvBxldMNc&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KzLvBxldMNc&feature=related
<<The Queen of that other English speaking country.>>
The Queen still sounds pretty typical (for the UK, not here) to me, and pretty understandable for someone from the UK. Maybe I'm not all that good at distinguishing UK accents, because they're all so vastly different from mine. I seem to recall that Damian had problems distinguishing most US accents, except the very extreme ones (deep south, eastern New England, traditional Brooklynese, etc.)
BTW, the guy with the gray beard at around 1:41 on the tape sounds pretty "posh" to my US ears.
The Queen still sounds pretty typical (for the UK, not here) to me, and pretty understandable for someone from the UK. Maybe I'm not all that good at distinguishing UK accents, because they're all so vastly different from mine. I seem to recall that Damian had problems distinguishing most US accents, except the very extreme ones (deep south, eastern New England, traditional Brooklynese, etc.)
BTW, the guy with the gray beard at around 1:41 on the tape sounds pretty "posh" to my US ears.
Yes, I fully admit that I had difficulty identifying the regional accents of the Americans on Stephen Fry's program, except for the ones I mentioned - the ones most Brits would be able to name anyway. The vast majority all sounded the same to me.
I am not the only one having problems with Transatlantic accents though - spare a thought for the new Google iPhone voice recognition tool - apparently it's absolutely hopeless in recognising or even understanding British regional accents.
Using this new American VR technology a Scot used his Scottish voice to ask Google to search for "iPhone" found his phone looking under the term "sex" and then suggesting that my fellow countryman use a link to adult web sites. The frustrated Scot tried a second go and then found the new search engine looking under the word "sledding", the American word for the British "sledging". It's true that snow is being forecast for parts of Scotland this coming weekend but it doesn't seem to interest this particular Scot.
A guy in Kent asked for "iPhone" and was directed to "my sister" and then "Einstein", while a bloke in Surrey was given "My Space" as well as "Einstein".
A Yorkshireman was luckier though - at first he was offered "bonfire" but subsequently he really did get through to "iPhone" - the only time VR worked.
There must be something about the Yorkshire accent that makes it easier for Americans to understand, which astounds me, to be honest with you. It took the American Bill Bryson at least two years to fathom out Yorkiespeak when he first went to live down there. Now he's trying to understand what the hell the people of Norfolk are talking about.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/scienceandtechnology/technology/apple/3479305/Google-iPhone-voice-recognition-tool-baffled-by-British-accents.html
I am not the only one having problems with Transatlantic accents though - spare a thought for the new Google iPhone voice recognition tool - apparently it's absolutely hopeless in recognising or even understanding British regional accents.
Using this new American VR technology a Scot used his Scottish voice to ask Google to search for "iPhone" found his phone looking under the term "sex" and then suggesting that my fellow countryman use a link to adult web sites. The frustrated Scot tried a second go and then found the new search engine looking under the word "sledding", the American word for the British "sledging". It's true that snow is being forecast for parts of Scotland this coming weekend but it doesn't seem to interest this particular Scot.
A guy in Kent asked for "iPhone" and was directed to "my sister" and then "Einstein", while a bloke in Surrey was given "My Space" as well as "Einstein".
A Yorkshireman was luckier though - at first he was offered "bonfire" but subsequently he really did get through to "iPhone" - the only time VR worked.
There must be something about the Yorkshire accent that makes it easier for Americans to understand, which astounds me, to be honest with you. It took the American Bill Bryson at least two years to fathom out Yorkiespeak when he first went to live down there. Now he's trying to understand what the hell the people of Norfolk are talking about.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/scienceandtechnology/technology/apple/3479305/Google-iPhone-voice-recognition-tool-baffled-by-British-accents.html
"There must be something about the Yorkshire accent that makes it easier for Americans to understand, which astounds me, to be honest with you."
This is true, Damian--Yorkshire accents are among the easiest for us to understand. Perhaps some of the vowel sounds are the same...
This is true, Damian--Yorkshire accents are among the easiest for us to understand. Perhaps some of the vowel sounds are the same...
<<Yorkshire accents are among the easiest for us to understand>>
A few years ago, I was listening to snippets of UK regional accents from some web page. What's interesting is that the easiest one to understand was from somewhere in Scotland, but the hardest one was also from Scotland. Perhaps there's more variation up there?
A few years ago, I was listening to snippets of UK regional accents from some web page. What's interesting is that the easiest one to understand was from somewhere in Scotland, but the hardest one was also from Scotland. Perhaps there's more variation up there?
«Could someone point to a Youtube video (or something like that) that illustrates an "extreme" posh accent?»
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6BpOe-o4Upk&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6BpOe-o4Upk&feature=related
<<<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6BpOe-o4Upk&feature=related>>>
I don't know how and why, but it's still easy to notice that he is American.
The epitomy of the anachronistically posh English English RP accent is that of Brian Sewell, who is probably the most well-known English art historian:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3G618-hxgA
Here is another video of him - he is on Big Brother Hijack and is discussing conceptual art with a conceptual artist. It's interesting to note the striking contrast between the two speakers' accent:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZ3LO21vxnQ
Another good example would be Jacob Rees-Mogg, a he Conservative candidate for the North East Somerset Parliamentary Constituency and the son of William Rees-Mogg, the former editor of the Times. It was often mentioned that his extremely posh accent (which is too posh for his age - he is only 39) might be a disadvantage in establishing a successful political career. Probably it's not just the accent but the attitude as well...referring to non-public / private school-educated people as "potted plants" is far from being a gesture that guarantees widespread popularity...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8U6aIXOqaw
I don't know how and why, but it's still easy to notice that he is American.
The epitomy of the anachronistically posh English English RP accent is that of Brian Sewell, who is probably the most well-known English art historian:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3G618-hxgA
Here is another video of him - he is on Big Brother Hijack and is discussing conceptual art with a conceptual artist. It's interesting to note the striking contrast between the two speakers' accent:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZ3LO21vxnQ
Another good example would be Jacob Rees-Mogg, a he Conservative candidate for the North East Somerset Parliamentary Constituency and the son of William Rees-Mogg, the former editor of the Times. It was often mentioned that his extremely posh accent (which is too posh for his age - he is only 39) might be a disadvantage in establishing a successful political career. Probably it's not just the accent but the attitude as well...referring to non-public / private school-educated people as "potted plants" is far from being a gesture that guarantees widespread popularity...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8U6aIXOqaw