Foreign people with Irish accents (sort of).

Terry

I was out in Liffey valley tonight and had to ask a security guard for directions.

We called him over and he said "Alright, bud. What's the story" in a Dublin accent.
So we start asking him for directions and then his accent slowly began sounding more and more foreign until we could barely understand what he was saying.

He looked European, but I'd be hard pressed to say which part of Europe because he could very easily (and did) pass as Irish at first glance (you know the sallow skin that some Dublin people have).

Has anyone else encountered this?

I know you get the odd knob coming back after three months abroad with a strange put on accent, but this dude did actually sound like he was from Dublin at the start.

Dartz

Probably been here a while.

If you learn English in Dublin, you're going to sound like you learned English in Dublin. Doesn't matter if you were born here, or if you just arrived last year off a boat...

Things that you have to say more common are going to sound more natural than things that you don't regularly say too, I find.

It is very confusing having problems comunicating with a chinese person who speaks with a waa waa Belfast accent.
And doesnt consider your flat midlands monotone to be English.

dlofnep

I know a few lads foreign who us "Well boy" all the time here in Waterford.. Tis funny. They say it in an Irish accent too, and then immediately go to their accent.

Terry

Moonbaby wrote: »

It is very confusing having problems comunicating with a chinese person who speaks with a waa waa Belfast accent.
And doesnt consider your flat midlands monotone to be English.

I met you once. You seem to have a relatively neutral accent.
Or I was just hammered.

hullaballoo

I'm from Greystones, living in Cork and the local domino's pizza guy is Polish but has a Cork accent over it. Some of the Phillipino people who work with my girlfriend have really strong Cork accents as well. I suppose it's just not something we're used to but it can be awful funny.

Red Hand

Some people from Newfoundland speak with Irish accents and they've never been to Ireland.

Terry

hullaballoo wrote: »

I'm from Greystones, living in Cork and the local domino's pizza guy is Polish but has a Cork accent over it. Some of the Phillipino people who work with my girlfriend have really strong Cork accents as well. I suppose it's just not something we're used to but it can be awful funny.

That just reminded me of last weeks episode of Heroes, where Hiro and Ando thumb a lift from a trucker who looks Chinese and he tells them to stop talking all foreign to him in a Southern U.S. accent.

I've known Black and middle Eastern people with Irish accents for years (They are Irish, but with parents from various countries). It was just weird to hear the gradual transition to his normal accent.

I have to say though, that the strangest thing I ever saw was a black wigger.
I was on a job a few years back and there was a black guy of about 18 or 19.
He had a proper Irish accent, so I can only assume he was born here, but he tried to dress like a rapper and had it arse about face. As did his scobie white friends.
I didn't know whether to laugh or cringe.

galwayrush

I know a guy who went to London to work, came home after only 6 weeks, homesick,came back with a strong Cockney accent, never lost it since.

Latchy

I do remember a few years ago meeting a girl in liverpool who had a very soft south county Dublin accent .When I asked her how long she was living over here she replied

'' Oh I am from liverpool but I was working in a bank over in Dublin for 7 years and picked up the lingo ''

I was like ' Oh really '' ? :eek:

RonMexico

Anything different to the "cmere I wantcha" accent is welcome.

Ann22

An African woman I know says her two sons have mad Dundalk accents. She said as well that they ask a question and answer it at the same time eg 'Do you want a biscuit...yeah?' or 'Do you want to come for a walk..no?'. That got on her nerves a bit. I was amused:)..I do that all the time but wasn't aware of it. Wonder if that's just a Dundalk thing or do other Irish people do it?

wylo

I love hearing it to be honest, it gives me a feeling that there in Ireland and proud of it!!!

JayeL

Worked with a few Italians in Cork, they spoke English in the customary up and down Corkonian accent, along with Corkisms like "how bad?"

Boskowski

I'm one of them. I'm not doing it because I want to please anyone or because I want to sound Irish. It's just something that happens to you over time.
I would have had fairly solid English before I came to Ireland but I really learned to speak English as an every day language here. And these little expressions and idiosyncrasies just creep into your own lingo when this is what you hear every day. Can't help it and rarely even aware of it unless someone points it out to me.

Friend of mine is originally from Manchester and lives in Berlin now for 20 odd years. Last time I met him when I went home he couldn't stop laughing and also givin' out over my accent.

stovelid

Latchy wrote: »

I do remember a few years ago meeting a girl in liverpool who had a very soft south county Dublin accent .When I asked her how long she was living over here she replied

She sounded American, in other words.

netwhizkid

A few lebanese took on Irish accents from dealing with the Irish soldiers stationed there for years, I remember an RTÉ news article about the Irish soldiers been withdrawn from UN peacekeeping duties and the lebanese old shopkeeper who dealt exclusivly with the Irish being sorry to see them go speak in a fine a brogue as any country mick.

It is the one thing I really love is my accent and it is a great bonus with women from certain countries who just love to hear it.:pac:

Latchy

stovelid wrote: »

She sounded American, in other words.

She did sould like she was from D4 ... a bit

netwhizkid wrote: »

A few lebanese took on Irish accents from dealing with the Irish soldiers stationed there for years, I remember an RTÉ news article about the Irish soldiers been withdrawn from UN peacekeeping duties and the lebanese old shopkeeper who dealt exclusivly with the Irish being sorry to see them go speak in a fine a brogue as any country mick.

It is the one thing I really love is my accent and it is a great bonus with women from certain countries who just love to hear it.:pac:

Remember seeing the documentry about the Irish troops in lebanon and they had a ' mingy ' shop .The young lebanese girl grew up surrounded by dublin accents and spoke with a kinda inner city type dublin accent

ie ' young wans...there's younfelliss '' .

Mairt will confirm this ...were are you Mairt .?

MikeyCdublin

Was coming home from town one night and got in a taxi the driver was nigerian and you could hear he was starting to pick up the dubllin accent he was sayn stuf like 'No Bother' and its ****in rappit and a guy walked infront of the car and he says 'fuking Mauritian get outta the way' Picking up the habits aswel ha

herya

I'm Polish and I was talking to a middle age Irishman once, at some stage he stopped talking, looked at me and asked "your accent... you're from..." (cue me waiting if he'll guess.. some people think I'm German or Dutch) "... Donegal!"

I've never been to Donegal in my life and I don't know anybody from there! I thanked him for the compliment though :cool:

trailerparkboy

Jeremiah 16:1 wrote: »

Some people from Newfoundland speak with Irish accents and they've never been to Ireland.

Yes sir they sure do, i lived there for over 6 months a few years ago, great people, the people from bay bulls Nl have a deeper irish accent than us irish.

Hauk

The Asian guy that works in Army Bargains in town has a real thick Dublin accent. I went in to get some stuff, and was greeted by a "What's the story?" and the upwards flick of the chin.

I was completely taken back, but returned the upwards flick.

Latchy

Originally Posted by Jeremiah 16:1
Some people from Newfoundland speak with Irish accents and they've never been to Ireland.

Very much like Limerick accents

netwhizkid

Has Jason Sherlock (the Dublin footballer and RTE Personality) got an Asian parent? he speaks with a true Dub accent.

Snowie

my mates got a girl friend who has an American accent tho she was a 90210 fan

I dont look irish or sound irish apparently slightly south african and a bit of uk coming from an irish person

nitrogen

Jeremiah 16:1 wrote: »

Some people from Newfoundland speak with Irish accents and they've never been to Ireland.

I met a Newfie who had a waterford accent and has never crossed the Atlantic. Couldn't say a bad thing about people from Newfoundland, mighty craic.

randylonghorn

realcam wrote: »

I'm one of them. I'm not doing it because I want to please anyone or because I want to sound Irish. It's just something that happens to you over time.
I would have had fairly solid English before I came to Ireland but I really learned to speak English as an every day language here. And these little expressions and idiosyncrasies just creep into your own lingo when this is what you hear every day. Can't help it and rarely even aware of it unless someone points it out to me.

Yeah, that sounds right. I think with a second language you tend to pick up the local idiom / accent of where you learn it (or regularly speak it) very easily.

I have an Estonian friend who is especially gifted with languages. She speaks almost flawless English with an American Ivy League accent ... yet she has never been to America, or even lived in an English speaking country for more than a couple of weeks holiday. Her teacher, however, was an American Ivy League graduate.

Similarly, I knew an American who lived in the Kerry gaeltacht for a couple of years and learned Irish while he was there. He could easily pass for a native to most people when speaking Irish ... I have seen people who don't know him literally jump when he reverts to English, at which point his extremely strong Texan drawl suddenly reappears!

wyk

While in Ireland I have to adapt a more 'Irish-like' version of my own Texas accent simply so people can understand me, and to prevent myself from endlessly having to repeat everything. I am sure some foreigners also simply pick it up. Now here in Texas, there are a LOT of foreigners with Irish accents

WYK

Terry wrote: »

I was out in Liffey valley tonight and had to ask a security guard for directions.

We called him over and he said "Alright, bud. What's the story" in a Dublin accent.
So we start asking him for directions and then his accent slowly began sounding more and more foreign until we could barely understand what he was saying.

He looked European, but I'd be hard pressed to say which part of Europe because he could very easily (and did) pass as Irish at first glance (you know the sallow skin that some Dublin people have).

Has anyone else encountered this?

I know you get the odd knob coming back after three months abroad with a strange put on accent, but this dude did actually sound like he was from Dublin at the start.

xOxSinéadxOx

I remember some one who won the rose of tralee before had an italian/irish bogger accent. it was hilarious

hoser expat

nitrogen wrote: »

I met a Newfie who had a waterford accent and has never crossed the Atlantic. Couldn't say a bad thing about people from Newfoundland, mighty craic.

must have been my father in law....Newfie who's never been to Ireland but would fit right in down in Waterford.

omyatari

I am one of those people aswell i guess,
my boyfriend is a Dublinner and we have been living together for a good while now, think its inevitable to pick an accent up that way.

apparently i sounded somewhat American when i came over, but its hard to judge yourself what you sound like.

alot of people i talk to sometimes be in shock if they find out im not Irish.

Rented Mule

Damn immigrants coming over here and taking all of our accents.

omyatari

Rented Mule wrote: »

Damn immigrants coming over here and taking all of our accents.

'dey took rrrr' accents' (angry south park redneck mob)

Fratton Fred

whaaas der staaary bud is my favourite saying. for some reason it makes Irish people laugh to here me say it

I also like to add in the odd "How's she cuttin", "I will in me shoite" and "Ask me hole" just to add to the effect.

I can't do it in an Irish accent thoguh, I sound like a Pakistani if i do:eek:

EdgarAllenPoo

Rented Mule wrote: »

Damn immigrants coming over here and taking all of our accents.

:pac: Brilliant.

I think it's a good thing, a lot of the lithuanian and chinese kids here in Dunshaughlin have picked up the Irish accent. I saw a kid on the news who won some art award, he had a half Lituanian half Roscommon accent. Made him easier to understand than your average person from Ros:D.

Gone Drinking

I remember some oul fellas telling me a story outside a pub once..

They said they were down at a festival in cork, drinking like fishes and just partying in general. A few of them were trying to toss 20 pence coins into a tin can a few meters away.. the first person to get a 20 pence coin in, won everything that had been thrown. Obviously they were all pished so no one was doing all that well, but there was quite a few pound on the ground!

So they notice this indian guy standing there watching them, and they turn around and ask him slowly and clearly if he wants a go, they then spell out the rules, giving him all the hand gestures etc so he'd understand what they were saying.

The indian guy throws his 20 pence coin, it lands in the tin and he turns to the lads and says "Thanks alot bai" in a heavy cork accent.

They laughed and he took their money

AnonoBoy

My grandparents used to rent holiday homes up in Donegal years ago and once this couple from Cork with really heavy Cork accents were staying there. They were in having a cup of tea with my grandparents and my Great-grandmother was sitting there listening to them talk, not saying a word.

When they left the room she turned to my grandmother and asked "Are those two from Jamaica?"


Also - used to know a Scandanavian girl who I taught some Dublin slang to. Being described as 'an eejit' in a heavy Norwegian accent is hilarious.

Rented Mule

AnonoBoy wrote: »

My grandparents used to rent holiday homes up in Donegal years ago and once this couple from Cork with really heavy Cork accents were staying there. They were in having a cup of tea with my grandparents and my Great-grandmother was sitting there listening to them talk, not saying a word.

When they left the room she turned to my grandmother and asked "Are those two from Jamaica?"
.

My wife is from Wicklow and when I take her home to see some friends from Mayo she just nods and stares.

No idea what anyone is saying until she can tune her ear into their accent.

As a barman of many years in the States, when the phone would ring, I would have to tune my ear into 'which county' someone was from and then start elimintaing people until I figured out who was at the other end of the phone.

Terry

Latchy wrote: »

She did sould like she was from D4 ... a bit


Remember seeing the documentry about the Irish troops in lebanon and they had a ' mingy ' shop .The young lebanese girl grew up surrounded by dublin accents and spoke with a kinda inner city type dublin accent

ie ' young wans...there's younfelliss '' .

Mairt will confirm this ...were are you Mairt .?

Mairt is no longer here.
Look away.

MikeyCdublin wrote: »

Was coming home from town one night and got in a taxi the driver was nigerian and you could hear he was starting to pick up the dubllin accent he was sayn stuf like 'No Bother' and its ****in rappit and a guy walked infront of the car and he says 'fuking Mauritian get outta the way' Picking up the habits aswel ha

I was wondering who the Nigerians hated.

Zzippy

I meet lots of Polish fishermen when I'm out fishing, a few of them are here long enough to have picked up the accent. Funniest is hearing "Ah jaysus, the fishing's ****e" in a Galway accent from one of them...

Hazys

My Dad is from a generation where he's used to people of different races in Ireland having poor english or english with a strong foreign accent, which generally leads to my Dad speaking in broken english everytime we go to a chinese restaurant (even if the waiter has clearly understood every1else's order in the family without broken english).

But it gets worse when he comes to America, where theres people of different races who would be 3rd/4th generation who have perfect american accents he still does it out of habit, its pretty funny to see the confused/awkward faces on the waiters and waitress'.

A couple a of weeks, we were in Little Italy in Boston and as we're walking into a restaurant, we see a sign seeing "Apologies, American Express or cash only", my dad didnt have either, so when the hostess asked for a table of how many in a perfect american accent, my dad pulls out his wallet and starts pointing into it, waving his hands saying "No Cash, No Cash"...all you can do is just laugh...my dad is crazy

Kintarō Hattori

I have a few polish friends who learnt their english in Dublin and their accent is fantastic. It's a strange thing to hear a dublin accent from a pole. Brilliant but strange.

Xiney

Nothing is as funny/frustrating as calling up a Chinese Takeaway in Montreal, and trying to understand the accent of someone who's first language is Cantonese, and who's second language is Quebecois French, and you're trying to order something in English 'cause you don't know what it's called in French.

prinz

I know a Romanian lad, and he still has a fairly stong accent when he speaks english, except for when he curses...then it's pure dub. Picked it up on the building sites.hilarious.hard to keep a straight face when he's complaing about someone/something. And then it annoys him even more.

Fratton Fred

Xiney wrote: »

Nothing is as funny/frustrating as calling up a Chinese Takeaway in Montreal, and trying to understand the accent of someone who's first language is Cantonese, and who's second language is Quebecois French, and you're trying to order something in English 'cause you don't know what it's called in French.

Les Noodles avec poulet curry et frits sil vous plait.

no problem

DubDani

I am living with my wife in the North, and my (asian) wife has picked up a very strong Northern Irish accent.

A few weeks back she was back home and met up with some of her (native) english speaking ex-colleagues, and she had them on the floor with her accent. One could hardly understand her, and one of the scots had to translate. Very funny...

Bottle_of_Smoke

Find eastern european girls and middle eastern men sound very dublin sometimes,and the ones up north pick up that accent quickly too