The Yorkshire accent took centuries to perfect, it was developed simply to woo sheep.

We moved to Scotland from Sheffield with three mini Sean Bean’s, who crossed ‘t roaad ‘t get buss.

We now have two Highlanders and one non-descript northern accent, who like me will be mistaken for an Austrailian now and again…

Could be worse.

You could live in Birmingham Bristol 😉

The kids are young enough, just beat it out of them.

Who wants a Yykesyire accent anyhoos 🙄

But I’ll agree it is weird, my BIL born and bread in Yorkshire, his Wife the same, yet Son 1 (11yrs old) speaks RP, son 2 (8yrs) speaks a mix of Devon’ish and East Yorkshire.

How very odd.

I blame the Cattle Feed delivery driver and the Sheep Shearer..

Strangely, our son, who was ony just 3 when we moved from Kendal to Perthshire (now 17) has never developed a Scottish accent – his is much more like my wife’s and mine (she’s Sussex, and I’m more middle class Home Counties). My accent, however, is nothing like my parents, who moved to London from Ireland just before I was born.

He gets called posh at school solely because he has an English (but not Eastenders) accent.

funkmasterp- I live close to Macclesfield (though I’m from Northwich) and there is a bit of an accent. Though I agree, not a very strong one.

We moved from NE England to Australia in 2006 with our two children that were 12 and 10 at the time. Within, I’d say 6 to 12 months they both had strong Australian accents. My wife and myself always kept our accents, just learned to speak slowly so that the Aussies could almost understand us, lol. Whenever we came home for a holiday the kids always got stronge looks because of their accents.

We returned to NE England in 2013. Again, within 6 to 12 months, their accents had changed again.

Somebody once told me that children up to the age of 18 will change their accents to ‘conform’with their friends.

Somebody once told me that children up to the age of 18 will change their accents to ‘conform’with their friends.

It’s not just children though is it. Adult Scots in London for example will strongly tone down their accents but not when they are speaking among themselves.

And I myself will subconsciously speak differently when I’m working on site to when, for example, I’m speaking to my GP – I tend to tone down a tad my South London accent, not massively but probably noticeably. Saying “or why geezer ouse i’ goin” to my GP doesn’t feel right, sounds fine on site though.

EDIT : It’s just occurred to me why I might tone down my South London accent at certain times – when I’m working on site I am completely unaware of my London accent, but if I’m having a conservation with someone who hasn’t got it I become acutely aware of it – I can hear it myself as I’m speaking. I guess that creates pressure for me to try to tone it down a bit.

Adult Scots in London for example will strongly tone down their accents but not when they are speaking among themselves.

I’ve found that it’s more about pace and dialect than accent. When communicating amongst themselves, Weegies speak at twice the rate of most English folks and use strange and unusual words like walloper , diddies and dobber.

Just the other day i mistook a Lancashire accent for West Yorkshire, there just all the same to me.

East Lancs and West Yorkshire are pretty similar TBF.

Somebody once told me that children up to the age of 18 will change their accents to ‘conform’with their friends.

I don’t think it’s necessarily conscious, but some people are more susceptible than others. My better half was born in Central Lancashire, grew up in Somerset, lived in the Home Counties for a good chunk of her adult life, spent a lot of time in London and has been in East Lancs for the last ten years (I think I’ve got that right, it’s hard to keep track. She has a fairly neutral accent but it does tend to flux if we move around the country. Up here people think she’s well spoken, go down to That London and everyone thinks she’s a Northerner. Visiting her mum for a week in Taunton and she comes back sounding like she’s been in the fields on the cider.

My ex was a Welsh schoolteacher, out of term time she’d have a nondescript accent that you’d never place; during term she sounded like Charlotte Church.

I’m similar too I think. Away from home my accent tends to soften (sometimes by choice so that I can be understood by Americans), then when I get home it almost immediately degenerates into hey up and sithee. I’m not as broad as my farmer grandparents were, but can affect it if I put my mind to it. Part of that’s probably just by dint of being educated and learning to pronounce words properly; things like “bath” and “note” are as flat as you like, but things like “Sarah” come out as “Say-rah” rather than “Surr-ah” because, I dunno, it just sounds wrong and ugly otherwise.

Toddboy – Member

Somebody once told me that children up to the age of 18 will change their accents to ‘conform’with their friends.

Also adults over 18.

OTOH I get more scottish the close to London I get
.

I lost much of my accent when working in London and it’s never fully returned. I suspect it’s also to do with the people you come into contact with on a regular basis. My career involved talking with lots of English, Irish and American “english” speakers as well as folk who were newer to the language. My current job is in tourism and I also find I tone it down/slow it down a bit. I’m occasionally asked to talk in a broader accent by some of our customers. It’s surprisingly hard just to switch it on when asked 🙂

I have a strong Cumbrian accent.
The missus less so. We’re darn sarf.
L’il j sounds like a BBC news reporter from the 50’s to me! He has a toy “carstle” and takes “barths”.
When we take him home, family beg him to talk & then ooh & ah like imbeciles.
He does quite a good northern accent too. 🙂

the bible was written using yorkshire dialect………. FACT

I’ll second Ton. It’s definitely a fact.

MrsMC grew up near Eastbourne. Our kids were born and raised in Derby. The arguments about “grass” and “grarse”, “bath” and “barth” are a constant joy!

The world does not revolve around Yaaaarkshire, FACT. 😆

I’m English, MrsSC is Canadian, eh.
Both boys have wee Scottish accents but not as broad as some in the playground. Suspect their accents are broader in school – and both have won prizes for reciting Scottish poetry (they pronounce pooem rather than po-em.)

And the stories above remind me of my late-friend Ken, from North Shields. His accent was impenetrable and he spent his retirement teaching English to children in Spain.

ton – Member

the bible was written using yorkshire dialect………. FACT

That’s why you can believe every single word in the bible.

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKHFZBUTA4k[/video]