Are all British accents posh to the North American ear?

There are 7 replies in this Thread which has previously been viewed 4,365 times. The latest Post () was by EJLarson.

1st Official Post

    Wow, I guess they haven't heard of the Geordie and Cockney accents


    A lot has changed since the 60s where they used to always talk with the Queen's English on TV and radio, and thank goodness for that, because it is annoying to talk like that

    If the accent isn’t straight from Windsor Castle, I need subtitles - watched and enjoyed John Hannah in McCallum and Rebus with those little letters dancing around the screen, telling me what they were really saying. Yorkshire accents also are best decoded with a Rosetta Subtitle.

    • Official Post
    Quote from richietog

    Wow, I guess they haven't heard of the Geordie and Cockney accents


    A lot has changed since the 60s where they used to always talk with the Queen's English on TV and radio, and thank goodness for that, because it is annoying to talk like that

    What's annoying about the Queen's English for you Ritchie?

    In my other life I travelled the length an breadth of the UK and the subtleties in the accents has always fascinated me. North, West and South Yorkshire all have slightly different accents as does the bordering county of Lancashire. Woe betide you if you confuse a Yorkshireman with a Lancastrian too. They take it quite seriously.

    Same with Ireland, although the Northern Irish accent is much harder than in the South and never, ever make the mistake of saying Southern Ireland as it's a gross insult to them.

    I once had an Irish distributor come to see me. Seamus was his name and I used to keep my tobacco in an old tin with the Queen's portrait and coat of arms on it. When I offered it to him for a smoke, he pushed it away in disgust with "You can get that fockin thing away from me fer starters!"

    Quote from Splinter

    I once had an Irish distributor come to see me. Seamus was his name and I used to keep my tobacco in an old tin with the Queen's portrait and coat of arms on it. When I offered it to him for a smoke, he pushed it away in disgust with "You can get that fockin thing away from me fer starters!"

    This is more about ethnicity than accents, but your comment re the Irishman brought this to mind, so, with apologies for a mild hijack ...


    My son is business partner with two Italians, one of whom is in a long-term relationship with an Irish woman of maybe thirty years of age. We’ve been out with them several times in the evening and have observed that the Irish woman has, on each forearm, a very detailed and realistic tattoo of a revolver pistol. She dresses in a way that emphasizes the pistols - always short or medium sleeves.


    Of course no one wants to ask, and since she doesn’t bring up the subject ... could this be a political statement?


    Or maybe she just likes guns.