What accent do you really hate? and which one you love?

When did this board turn into American Stereotypes 101?

If people are shouting, it is probably because they cannot hear you. Have you ever thought for a second that you might be speaking too softly? My hearing isn't the greatest, and when someone speaks very low and with an accent that I do not hear on a daily basis, I will either ask them to repeat what they said or to speak up. Of course, even Americans will do this, and if I cannot understand them, I will say the same thing to them. It is not meant to put anyone down, but rather to clear up a problem in communication.

"When did this board turn into American Stereotypes 101?"

Indeed.

But, as I mentioned in an earlier posting, the title of this particular thread is not one likely to generate any serious, objective language discussion anyway.

"And Noel - whom I think isn't at least an active bigot: I live in the city. If the natives are inherently louder than the English, why can I always hear an English a mile off? I lived in London for a few years and the people don't speak any softer than Americans. That's my anecdotal experience."

go back re-read my post

I just said the natives of my own country,(ie, british -- not only american) speak louder than I do,its more noticeable in the countryside where people speak at a lower volumes.... that is the people I interact with,(can't speak for all country folk)

Meaning the english can be just as loud as the americans,.but I still believe the americans I've met to be louder than the natives.

and I think thats all I can say on that really
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"My advice would be to steer this thread back on to something about languages and accents or I'm afraid it'll have to be closed down."

This thread could have been about any topic and it would still end up involving either politics,religion,racism,etc,etc.Initally I did stay within the guidelines,of which accents do you really hate and which do you love and gave my reasons for my dislikes,it is not my intent to insult or upset,I just give my own opinions,and experiences,agree or disagree it's up to you.

This thread started off with very interesting and informative opinions on the issue of accents of English from all corners of the globe. Now it's descended into a sort of cold war of insult and bile.

On a UK level the "best" accents are those of Edinburgh and the Highlands and Islands, with true native Cornish, Devon and Somerset (West Country) in second place, and a close third parts of Wales.....North West and West Wales.

The "worst"?.....well, it'd be a bit invidious to do a "naming and shaming" job here would it not? As these are my own personal opinions all I will say is that the harshest of Glaswegian and Liverpudlian (Glasgow and Liverpool) will never be flavours of the month in my hearing. Neither would be a certain strain of the London accent. Listen to the fair proportion of callers to TalkSport Radio station phone-ins who seem to be from the London area and you'll know what I mean. TalkSport comes out something like "TokeSpote" in that brand of Londonspeak.

Shut the thread down. It never had the potential for any constructive dialogue simly because people always (this has been proven) like or hate an accent based on positive feelings or hatred for the respective people.

I apologize to the more level-headed for my nastiness on this thread, but on the whole, I was only responding to the stereotypes thast have come out of the woodwork which I have felt both on this forum and in other countries in which I've lived. I can promise that if these posts about stereotypes keep coming out, I'm going to get a great deal nastier. There's simply no other way to deal with these people (at least that I can stomach), either on a message board or in the real world.

seppo, do you think you are a macho or something, we can make your panties wet with our ranting and stereotyping. Get out of the kitchen if you can not take the heat or else if you want to stay in then stop complaining like a sissy girl.

I'm not macho, but I'm not going to lay down for you. I just know that you're of substandard intelligence and horribly bigoted and I'm not afraid to say so. If you live in Australia, I'll be there in a few days and I wouldn't think twice about telling you the same thing to your face, if you're game. In fact, let me know where you live and I'll give you my e-mail. I'll probably be there within the next year or so and we can see first hand who the sissy is.

Whoa there, big fella! Testosterone poisoning is an ugly syndrome, but I think most of the symptoms can be controlled by regular viewings of Oprah and the occasional perusal of a Martha Stewart magazine (and honestly, who know you could do so many things with pomegranates? All this time, I've just been eating them....)

<<Uriel - If I wouldn't by default be forced to ditch my beautiful wife, baby girls and puppy, I might be digging on you a little... >>

Of course you would, sugar. ;)

<<My advice would be to steer this thread back on to something about languages and accents or I'm afraid it'll have to be closed down.

Some of you folks really scare me.>>

As opposed to what -- the rest of the site, where we NEVER engage in international insults or petty sniping? It is to laugh, as Bugs would say!

And speaking of Looney Tunes, I have a sneaking suspicion that that's where the rest of the world used to learn all about American accents -- Bug's Bunny's Noo Yoik stylings, Yosemite Sams' western hillbilly drawl, Foghorn Leghorn's Southern-fried proclamations, and Porky Pig's fussy urban Eastern voice. But fair's fair -- I used Pepe Le Pew as my voice model in high school French class, and my teacher used to gush over how good my pronunciation was! (I never got around to telling her the source of my inspiration....)

"I'm not macho, but I'm not going to lay down for you. I just know that you're of substandard intelligence and horribly bigoted and I'm not afraid to say so. If you live in Australia, I'll be there in a few days and I wouldn't think twice about telling you the same thing to your face, if you're game. In fact, let me know where you live and I'll give you my e-mail. I'll probably be there within the next year or so and we can see first hand who the sissy is"

Seppo I didn't see you chime in earlier when they were insulting the Irish,the english,the welsh,the scottish etc etc etc,I'm sorry but you are a major hypocrite and for a supposed level headed person your LET ME KNOW WHERE YOU LIVE comment only highlights your insecurity and child like attitude.Insulting people for their views won't change anything.Just like the american view of the Irish,a bunch of drunken,four leaf clover wearing,wheres me crock of gold,kiss the blarney stone,theres a view that americans are obnoxious,egotisical,arrogant,loud and whining like a little school girl won't change anything.You have a right to defend yourself but please do it in civilised manner without resorting to pettyness.

I made the mistake last night of posting under the influence. It does look silly in hindsight.

But Mark, if you think that the stereotypes between Americans and the Irish are turnabout and equally dealt, I couldn't disagree more. Americans are overwhelmingly negatively stereotyped by the Irish and generally disliked in the abstract (and occasionally treated poorly by complete strangers wthout provocation), while the Irish are essentially worshipped in the US - and it's not because you're better people than we are. I suspect that this will change, however as Americans don't even have to pay for a flight to Ireland to be abused by the Irish.

Here's something that I've always chuckled at: The Irish think that it's racist of the English to stereotype them as stupid, but it's fun and widely accepted to paint Americans as stupid. (And then we're perceived as not understanding irony...)

In hindsight, I'm not certain that I should have made any response to "Mark" at all if he's the one who posted the trailblazing kind of stupidity in that series of comments pertaining to YouTube.

"In hindsight, I'm not certain that I should have made any response to "Mark" at all if he's the one who posted the trailblazing kind of stupidity in that series of comments pertaining to YouTube."

and yet you felt compelled to do so......

Youtube a site with millions of american resigtered users,a majority who more or less have the same agenda,"all muslims are terrorists,anyone who doesnt support GW is a terrorist,"I hate n*ggers,"the holocaust never happened,it was a hoax arising out of a deliberate Jewish conspiracy to advance the interest of Jews at the expense of other peoples"

oh dear I made a typo "resigtered"

I certainly hope it won't damage whats left of credibility,if any...

Wow. You have a very strange view of the world, Mark, but it's not surprising that it's because you look at it through media instead of reality. Don't slander the sky by looking at it through a pipe.

It's funny, but my experience with YouTube is mostly to watch college wrestling matches. I can't imagine what you're on about. Man, I thought that I was tightly wound at times...

I also think that you've got a lot more anti-semitism on your side of the pond as well, not to mention racism. Are the Dubs still publicly beating African Uni students?