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Get away from the tourist areas and pretty much any British accent will do that.
Unless you're Scottish, in which case, before they melt, you need to endure a twenty minute explantion of their "Scotch-Irish" ancestry before they ask if you might have heard of their great-great-great -great- uncle Willie McDonald from Skye.
Spent my whole life not moving more than about 30 miles so fairly broad Doric. Kids all speak "properly" as the wife says as we stay in what is basically a commuter town for Aberdeen so lots of different accents
Proper Caaardiff like, I'm from Basra innit. (sad but true)
Faded Dumfriesshire (Annan). I've lived in Edinburgh for 22 years and needed to make myself understood to these well-spoken types (without ridicule) so dropped some of the more specialist tones/ language but retained the inescapable vocal indicator of a Dumfriessian upbringing: that a word with "ou" in the middle requires a "w" sound when spoken:
Pound = "Pouwnd"
Round = "Rouwnd".
Anyone from the area can spot a fellow Dumfriessian even when in disguised accent from that vowel pronounciation!
And I still use the term "coupit ewe*" Ewe being pronounced "yeouwe"! Meaning a tipped over sheep. As in
"Ah tripped ower that kerb when I was pished the ither night and was lying in in the street like a cowpit yeouwe". A cowpit yeouwe is the rural Dumfriessian's worst nightmare, I rescued many as a youngster.
And "shan" in Edinburgh is used interchangeably with shame but in Dumfriesshire a "shan" is an embarrassment.
"Ma mam keeps wearin' that aul'shell suit top when she gans shoppin, it's a total shan".
Which could also be said as "ma mam aie ways shans us up when she gans shoppin in her aul' shell suit top"
I love accents and dialects. 🙂
Forgot to say, if yow wotch tharold bleck countray pubs videeyur on yow chewub (the one worropowstid) - switch them captions on iss a good loff ayet!? (LOFFOL!)
(them compyowters n thet, they cor gerret royet)
I love Yam Yams (Wolverhampton?) too.
And worked in Shropshire for a few months and was more than impressed with their language of Salopian and took massive offense when someone said to me "how bist thou jockey lad?" thinking they were ripping me for being Scots. Not realising jockey was a term for mate. 😀
And I still use the term "coupit ewe*"
I actually said that this morning in reference to our puppy who was lying sleeping in the middle of the floor on her back with four feet in the air and her tongue hanging out. 🙂
As close to no accent as I can get, but most people would probably label it as generic southern England.
educated northern, I guess, probably identifiable as just about yorkshire. It's what I was brought up speaking and I was given a hard time at school for being posh. Many years elsewhere inc 14 of London didn't do that much to it, except of course when giving directions in the street ("yeah mate, you wanna do a left dahn there init!"), that still kicks in when I'm down there, which I often am. In London I was often told I spoke like a northerner but now I'm back with no accent...
North West Cumbrian. But not Maryport/Workington.
I've been accused of being Geordie and Scottish too.
queensferry with a twist of leith...
very scottish and sweary
I’m common coal mining north Notts. There’s no Hs where I come from - I went to school in ‘Ucknall - and there’s a lot of slang -
Gioore scrattin!
‘E c**t stop a pig inna gennel
Oo worra wi? Worra wi me mam or worra wi mesen?
Etc
I’ve lived Hampshire for over 25 years though and my brother reckons I’ve picked up some southern (I do say ‘laatte’) but we’re moving to Sheffield next month so I’ll probably revert to type in about a week..... 🙂
Glaswegian, which tends to become thicker the further I get away from home? Depending on where I find myself it can have a Dowanhill slant or a Blackhill inflection.
I work in Stirling, eh? Never ceases to amaze me, they all talk like there in a different planet, ken. It's only 20 mins from Glasgow.
Without a doubt whilst traveling up the Uists on my bike, the people there and their accents are the best bar none. Thoroughly charming.
fairly neutral from spending time in the smoke, light worcestershire/herefordshire with the odd bit of black country and cornish and a very subtle hint occasionally of posh glasgow.
when in cider country though, i'm a hobbit.
nice one Malvern, what a great little film. Thanks for posting
Yorkshire/Barry Island/Warwickshire combination. I just sound like a farmer.
Manx, a proper one yessir, not the sort that sounds more like a Scouser. Cav, for example.
Originally from Motherwell here too, but my accent's pretty much standard-issue soft West of Scotland.
Not sure I could explain the difference between a Glasgow and Lanarkshire accent, but I reckon I could distinguish between them in a "Pepsi-Challenge" type scenario.
Feeling very nostalgic at the mention of Gowky. Witnessed a fantastic duel between two guys there, one armed with a butcher knife, the other with a tiny milk-pan.
Witnessed a fantastic duel between two guys there, one armed with a butcher knife, the other with a tiny milk-pan.
😆
I think i might have witnessed the rematch where an unarmed man was repeatedly stabbed with a madeira cake.
Mostly
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Slightly softened by 20 years amongst yonners, but still there.
pyoor workin class ruggie/glezga south east. I suspect half of you would struggle to understand me! 😆
Not sure I could explain the difference between a Glasgow and Lanarkshire accent, but I reckon I could distinguish between them in a "Pepsi-Challenge" type scenario.
further east you get from motherwell the more chookterish it gets, you really start to tell the difference when you hear the differences in the words glezga/glezgy. cheeri-o/cheerie. When you start hearing the latter is where banjo sales start to increase exponentially! 😆
Speaking of dialects, I posted this a couple of years back. I'll unlock the thread if anyone wants to have a go.
http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/prabux-imbux
North Leeds tempered by living in Bristol for over 20 years - fortunately I haven't picked up any Bristolian inflections.
Luton, softened after 8 years in Bristol but not picked up any accent from down here.
fairly neutral from spending time in the smoke, light worcestershire/herefordshire with the odd bit of black country and cornish and a very subtle hint occasionally of posh [s]Glasgow[/s].
You're me and I claim my foihverr!
I was once told I had a strong hampshire accent by someone who has no idea where i was from (they were correct). which is kind of bizarre as i didnt know hampshire had an accent (its a massive and varied county after all), let alone it could be strong.
Good god man, one of our greatest judges, Lord Denning, and one of the greatest voices to grace our airwaves, John Arlott, possessed fine Hampshire accents.
Ive been asked by if I was Edinburgh born and raised on three occasions this month. I put it down the them being from the west coast.
Theoretically, I should be a mix of rural Norfolk and rural Northamptonshire.
A great comment on regional accents
If you've not read it then Pies and Prejudice by Stuart Marconi is a great read about why northern towns so geographically close have such wildly different dialects
My dad is from Leigh. When him and his old mates get together over a few beers they might as well be speaking Urdu, it's that incomprehensible
He spent a lot of time working in France and speaks the language fluently, but there is truly nothing funnier than hearing my dad launch into fluent conversational French in a broad Leigh accent 😆
Like others a bit of a mongrel. Born in Nottinghamshire, moved to Yorkshire until I was 18, then went to uni in 'ull, then lived in Brighton for 3 years and now lived in Sunderland for 8 years.
So it's mainly Yorkshire with a bit of Mackem/Geordie thrown in. If I got back home for a day or so though I go full Yorkshire and start dropping h's left right and centre. Does my other half head in as she can't understand anything. We told her we were going to the 'arbour bar down Scarborough seafront, to her it sounded like a Moroccan souk. It most definitely is not that.
I'm a mix of generic/southern, Welsh and Herefordshire, but lots of people say I sound a bit Welsh even when I don't think I do.
I was brought up in a council scheme in Glasgow, but my mum thought she was posh as she'd moved out of he singleend in Maryhill. So she always made sure we spoke properly. I went to school with a bunch of neds and my dad was in the police, as you can imagine I had a tricky time at school.
So anyway 'posh' glaswegian, a hint of ayrshire and as I married a Yorkshire lass then a few yorkshire words in there too. I know that sounds incredibly glamorous 🙂
I'm a mix of generic/southern, Welsh and Herefordshire, but lots of people say I sound a bit Welsh even when I don't think I do.
I was wondering if you were going to weigh-in on this. I find your accent very difficult to pin down, so the fact that you describe it that way makes me feel a bit better.
'sake, Gowky's could end up with a right bad name if this keeps up.
I mean, it's not the prettiest place in the world but it's no Forgewood.
Did I mention I worked in Ellsmere Port once. That's a wonderful part of the world.
NE is has a vast array of accents many within just a few miles.
I have a Darlington accent. It's totally different to a Bishop Auckland or Durham or Teesside or North Yorkshire accent.
Apparently I sound like a Mancunian Wurzel Gummage, 😕 proper Mancunian though, which is a bit more farmyard than the 'eeeearrrrre maaaate' scouse/Liam Gallagher accent..
Cheltenhamshire born and bred, not as coarse as a Gloucester accent but no where near as thick as a true forester accent.
Finest Sheffield Yorkshire for me, the g.f is German, but spent time in the USA some years back so she speaks English with a US, Yorkshire, Deutsch mix
Which is much better than my attempts with "Sheffield German"
Don't get me started on the Swiss German accent.....
Used to be a fairly generic south east ish southern accent but after 6 years in Western Australia i'm told I have picked up a a wee bit of the natives accent. I can't hear it myself and think its just my mates giving me crap.
West Cumbria, but try not to use much of the local vernacular. Most people here in Bristol think I sound like a Geordie until I introduce them to my friend Gary who IS a Geordie and they can barely understand a word he says 🙂
I find your accent very difficult to pin down, so the fact that you describe it that way makes me feel a bit better.
I do shift when talking to people though, since I consider you pretty neutral I become more neutral myself.
You only seem neutral to me though because I live with a North American so I am used to it. I'm sure the rest of the forum wouldn't think s0.
I'm not sure I could pick you out as Canadian instead of something like New England with enough confidence to not worry about causing offence...
There is a Hampshire accent, you just have to venture into the Downs or the upper Downs to find it. Forget the conurbation that is Sotty/Pompy/Eastleigh/Waterlooville/Winchester because there are a lot of folks from Up Landan way and it’s all sort of mockney with a bit of round tones..
But a true Hampshire accent is something similar to rural Dorset or Wiltshire, a bit colloquial farmer and very rounded with lower registers.. beautiful to hear and surprising too when you are in a Pub in the Downs and someone asks for a Pint and you have to take stock of what you’ve just heard.
Lovely.
West Cumbria, but try not to use much of the local vernacular. Most people here in Bristol think I sound like a Geordie until I introduce them to my friend Gary who IS a Geordie and they can barely understand a word he says
Fukn ay up marra.
I'm pure Barrovian with a hint of South Cumbrian yacker. Do my best to hide it though.
I've lived in Cheshire and Manchester and have a general northern accent, a bit boring maybe but very different to RP.
Merseyside meets Oxford with notes of entitled bellend.