American accent

dgt

I normally wouldn't bother but this has me baffled. Why so many people speak with a put on american accent, I just can't figure it.... Like yer wan going into a lecture with a suitcase talking to some guy (probably in the friendzone) saying how she was from cork and lives up but in a put on accent

Dravokivich

I don't have an American accent, I'm concentrating on trying to speak clearly. It's annoying having to point out the difference.

mutley18

Them guys really bug me, they are just acting like total jerk-offs.

BMJD

dgt wrote: »

Like yer wan going into a lecture with a suitcase talking to some guy (probably in the friendzone) saying how she was from cork and lives up but in a put on accent

anything is better than a Cork accent, I wouldn't be complaining

Chips Lovell

Where are these people? I haven't encountered them.

whirlpool

This same topic gets a new thread about once a month.

Look, it's time to get the f*ck over it. Accents develop over time. Do you actually believe Irish people have had the same accent for thousands of years?? No. It developed. And it will continue to develop. How it develops will depend on what's influencing it. If that's American tv, then so be it. Who gives a f*ck. If it's not an American influence it'll be some other influence. Deal with it and move on.

Duggy747

I'd prefer it that instead of people using a plain American accent, they started talking like Christopher Walken.

"I.................haven't KILLED anyone since................19.............*whisper* 84................"

Tangatagamadda Chaddabinga Bonga Bungo

BMJD wrote: »

anything is better than a Cork accent, I wouldn't be complaining

Oh yeah totes agree with you here loike cause the north inner city Dublin accent sounds omg amazeballs, sooo classy loike, oh, and we have the wonderful D4 accent too loike of course.

RikkFlair

Duggy747 wrote: »

I'd prefer it that instead of people using a plain American accent, they started talking like Christopher Walken.

"I.................haven't KILLED anyone since................19.............*whisper* 84................"

I'd prefer Jeremy Irons accent in Die Hard 3

Tangatagamadda Chaddabinga Bonga Bungo

whirlpool wrote: »

This same topic gets a new thread about once a month.

Look, it's time to get the f*ck over it. Accents develop over time. Do you actually believe Irish people have had the same accent for thousands of years?? No. It developed. And it will continue to develop. How it develops will depend on what's influencing it. If that's American tv, then so be it. Who gives a f*ck. If it's not an American influence it'll be some other influence. Deal with it and move on.

Accents used to develop 'naturally' over time both here and elsewhere. Provided your family hasn't moved about too much, you probably sound a little similar to your parents, and they to theirs, and they to theirs and so on. What people find interesting about this is that an American twang has sprung up in certain parts of the country in the current generation.

It's a really interesting modern phenomenon and is worthy of discussion and examination in my opinion.

AnonoBoy

dgt wrote: »

... Like yer wan going into a lecture with a suitcase talking to some guy (probably in the friendzone) saying how she was from cork and lives up but in a put on accent

What? Who's yer wan? Is this a scene from an ad or something?

Finton90

Completely agree op, it not just the accent though Irish society in general is becoming more americanised. Go to a college house party and everyone is sitting around drinking out of those red american party cups as if they were steve stifler or van wilder, wearing baseball caps of a team they have never heard of.

Obviously the reason for this is dumb people feeling they have to ape everything they see on tv.

BMJD

Tangatagamadda Chaddabinga Bonga Bungo wrote: »

Oh yeah totes agree with you here loike cause the north inner city Dublin accent sounds omg amazeballs, sooo classy loike, oh, and we have the wonderful D4 accent too loike of course.

shut yer bleedin mou ye sssssssssssssssap

Birneybau

Totes amazeballs.

That's so L.A.

Dravokivich

Finton90 wrote: »

Completely agree op, it not just the accent though Irish society in general is becoming more americanised. Go to a college house party and everyone is sitting around drinking out of those red american party cups as if they were steve stifler or van wilder, wearing baseball caps of a team they have never heard of.

Obviously the reason for this is dumb people feeling they have to ape everything they see on tv.

Not so they don't have to do washing up after no?

Finton90

Dravokivich wrote: »

Not so they don't have to do washing up after no?

Drinking out of the can. The good old fashioned way.:)

Paulie Gualtieri

Dravokivich wrote: »

Not so they don't have to do washing up after no?

Just in case you need to stock up dude

m.ebay.ie/itm/400584390339?nav=SEARCH&sbk=1

Herb Powell

whirlpool wrote: »

This same topic gets a new thread about once a month.

Look, it's time to get the f*ck over it. Accents develop over time. Do you actually believe Irish people have had the same accent for thousands of years?? No. It developed. And it will continue to develop. How it develops will depend on what's influencing it. If that's American tv, then so be it. Who gives a f*ck. If it's not an American influence it'll be some other influence. Deal with it and move on.

Nah, it's fucckin annoying like

cantdecide

Tangatagamadda Chaddabinga Bonga Bungo wrote: »

Oh yeah totes agree with you here loike cause the north inner city Dublin accent sounds omg amazeballs, sooo classy loike, oh, and we have the wonderful D4 accent too loike of course.

Saw a car the other day. A jag iirc. Reg was 08 - D4. A little gawk came out.

duchalla

BMJD wrote: »

anything is better than a Cork accent, I wouldn't be complaining

Have ya heard the Dublin accent latey??? (and I'm not even from Cork boi...)

Davidius

whirlpool wrote: »

This same topic gets a new thread about once a month.

Look, it's time to get the f*ck over it. Accents develop over time. Do you actually believe Irish people have had the same accent for thousands of years?? No. It developed. And it will continue to develop. How it develops will depend on what's influencing it. If that's American tv, then so be it. Who gives a f*ck. If it's not an American influence it'll be some other influence. Deal with it and move on.

I still think it's put on by a lot of people, particularly teenagers and more usually young women. Having been raised with American television and cultural influence there's no doubt my own vocabulary and prosody have been affected. Some people take the piss however, and use very obviously mimicked inflections and turns of phrase. The people I knew who did this the most were usually the "punk rock" types and it was very noticeable when they'd have a sibling only slightly older than them with a normal Irish accent. In college there was a disproportionate number of girls speaking in faux-American accents which would slip when they spoke a bit too fast or got a bit drunk.

hfallada

Im from Dublin and I can understand non-nationals speaking broken english. But I find it never impossible to understand a Louth or some Cork accents. I think people put on the American accent so people can understand them

The Irish accent and American accent just aren't that different. I'm often mistaken for American here in the UK just because I pronounce my r's and don't have a specific regional Irish accent (lived in 4 different counties and spent most of my childhood outside Ireland anyway). Some Nordie accents can sound surprisingly American as well. There was a girl from Belfast on my Masters here in London and everyone was always asking where in the US she was from.

salacious crumb

Birneybau wrote: »

Totes amazeballs.

That's so L.A.M.E

Fixed

salacious crumb

duchalla wrote: »

Have ya heard the Dublin accent latey??? (and I'm not even from Cork boi...)

Which Dublin accent is this then? Balbriggan? Swords? Ballymun? Ballyfermot? Sandyford? Foxrock? Tallaght? Hmm? Hmmmmmm? :pac:

Alun

Lailah Screeching Mouthwash wrote: »

The Irish accent and American accent just aren't that different. I'm often mistaken for American here in the UK just because I pronounce my r's and don't have a specific regional Irish accent (lived in 4 different counties and spent most of my childhood outside Ireland anyway). Some Nordie accents can sound surprisingly American as well. There was a girl from Belfast on my Masters here in London and everyone was always asking where in the US she was from.

That's very true. Many aspects of American accents probably derive from those of the first Irish immigrants anyway.

holystungun9

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gLMSf4afzo

Dravokivich

Finton90 wrote: »

Drinking out of the can. The good old fashioned way.:)

Well, a keg is just a really big can! :pac:

force eleven

I always wondered why UK or Irish mainstream vocals always have an American accent.

pablohoney87

I have spent most of my life travelling between Antrim and Dublin between the 2 halves of my family. As a result the accent has become a little blurred and everyone who meets me first sh1tes on about how I sound american except for people from Antrim and Donegal strangely

The majority of people who speak who tell me I speak with american accent I will as where abouts in America do I sound like I'm from. They cant answer where as the americanised D4 accent does kinda sound like the overly aristocratic west coast american accent.

Rambled on a bit with my point but the blurring of your accent into no noticeable accent happens dopes will often just label it american. The more you travel the more your accent will blur regardless of where you go. People have labelled it the "mid atlantic" accent (another term I hate). Now that I am in a job where I have to talk to people all over the world, speaking in a very clearly with as little an accent as possible has stood to me and I'd much rather it over any of the accents I hear travelling from Neilstown to Sandyford everyday.

cantdecide

force eleven wrote: »

I always wondered why UK or Irish mainstream vocals always have an American accent.

Or when they use words like "side walk" instead of footpath...

cantdecide

One counter argument is that of the fact that a lot of American accent could often be derived from Irish ones.

We are responsible for the big roundy American R!!!

anncoates

Leaving cert forum >

catallus

I was watching some documentary on the telly so I was, and there was this woman:

She was from the heartland of the USA, Kentucky or Alabama or whatever, one of those smaller states: she married an Irish guy and was living for about 30 years in the middle of the Kerry Gaeltacht: and she had an accent that made her sound like a german, and I mean like Alan Rickman in DieHard German. It was freaky and interesting at the same time.

KungPao

It would be more fun if these people imitated a good Texan or North Datokan accent. But no, it has to be that ditzy O.M.G. Californian accent.

Fred Swanson

This post has been deleted.

KungPao

Fred Swanson wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

Most ads on the radio have vaguely (or downright strong) American accents really. And most DJs and those jingle things ha they play like "song from the 80s, 90s, and today. Ninedy 8 FM"

I can't stomach Irish radio anymore.

CatLou

I'm not a native english speaker and I have an american accent, I guess that's because of all the movies and stuff like that.
A few weeks ago I was helping a middle aged Irish couple on the Luas and they thought I was american... The surprise on their faces when I told them where I am really from :P They weren't the only ones though, sometimes on the pub people ask me where I learnt my english because of the way I sound.

Some people probably pick up accents faster than others, the same way some people are better at music, this had even happened before with my own my native language after moving to a different city. Of course there's always some people who have over the top accents to sound more posh or wtv, but these you can spot.

Not my favourite accent but I suppose it beats not being understood...

cantdecide

CatLou wrote: »

I'm not a native english speaker and I have an american accent

Pretty common actually. A good friend is seeing a Romanian girl at the moment and you'd swear blind she was a yank.

Another good friend that I lived with has a Swedish gf and she lived with us for quite a while. When I visited them in Sweden it was hilarious to hear the different versions of the accents depending on where they had been living, studying etc. The funniest was the Swedish/ Yorkshire accent!!

CatLou wrote: »

Not my favourite accent but I suppose it beats not being understood...

Same for language, too. I'd bet you would have said 'I guess' here before you came to Ireland.

knipex

Tangatagamadda Chaddabinga Bonga Bungo wrote: »

It's a really interesting modern phenomenon and is worthy of discussion and examination in my opinion.

TV, cinema, facebook and travel

RDM_83 again

CatLou wrote: »

I'm not a native english speaker and I have an american accent, I guess that's because of all the movies and stuff like that.
A few weeks ago I was helping a middle aged Irish couple on the Luas and they thought I was american... The surprise on their faces when I told them where I am really from :P They weren't the only ones though, sometimes on the pub people ask me where I learnt my english because of the way I sound.

Some people probably pick up accents faster than others, the same way some people are better at music, this had even happened before with my own my native language after moving to a different city. Of course there's always some people who have over the top accents to sound more posh or wtv, but these you can spot.

Not my favourite accent but I suppose it beats not being understood...

This thread isn't really about people like yourself though who have an accent that makes sense in that you were probably taught or were exposed to mainly American English in the initial learning stages.

I don;t really buy the whole Irish people people picking up the American twang, for one people that have emigrated to the states actually have quite a different sounding accent to the Americanized people in Ireland, people do pick up accents fast thats true but the people with Americanised accents don't pick up the other accents of the area they are in. The country girl up to Dublin doesn;t start speaking like she is from any part of Dublin!.

Actually any idea why its (younger) woman that seem to do this more than guys?
(If people think thats being sexist your welcome to go spend a day in TCD or UCD and come back too me!)

CrazyRabbit

I used to speak with an American accent. Though I had a good reason. I worked in a helpdesk at the time supporting American customers.
They either thought I was Australian, Scottish or German (I have no idea why). And some immediately hung up when they learned they were calling Ireland as they thought they were paying international phone rates. So it was less hassle if I just spoke using an American accent.

Saying that, I only used the accent in work. I'm not a complete douchebag!

Femme_Fatale

dgt wrote: »

Like yer wan going into a lecture with a suitcase talking to some guy (probably in the friendzone) saying how she was from cork and lives up but in a put on accent

What the hell are you talking about?

Valentine1

Anyone who doesn't speak with a thick con'hree accent or who doesn't sound like some sort of hardchaw from the Nortside will at some time in this county be accused of getting air and graces and trying to put on an accent when infact they simply don't want to sound like they are an extra in Father Ted.


What is much more important is the question of why posters from Cork actually type the word "Like" when posting here. Its a filler word that is used as a figure of speech, what on earth are you doing typing it at the end of ever sentence?

Wibbs

force eleven wrote: »

I always wondered why UK or Irish mainstream vocals always have an American accent.

Because rock and roll was an American invention would be much of it. The British invasion of the 60's with the Beatles and those that followed took the edge off that so people could sing in their own accents. Though some vary over time. Listen to Bono. Early on it was Irish, then a touch of British, now he sings like he's from Midtown USA.

KungPao wrote: »

It would be more fun if these people imitated a good Texan or North Datokan accent. But no, it has to be that ditzy O.M.G. Californian accent.

Well some of it is defo imitation alright, especially among teenage girls post The Hills and shíte like that, but some of it is an (un)happy accident. People trying to emulate "posh" in Ireland have tended to elongate the vowels and add a nasal twang. Even early versions of the Dort accent had an "American" vibe, even though they were trying to ape received British English at the time. Even the heavy duty working class accent in Dublin is very nasal in tone and elongates the vowels "stoooory buuud". It seems to be part of many Dublin accents. So add in half decent diction and received English with some latter American influence and you get Valley Girl. Then as I've noted with the Dort accent all the way up to today you can get an accent arms race, particularly among teenage girls to magnify these accent flavours, sometimes to near farcical levels. Often as a way to denote their peer and social status and to exclude others that are non U.

Plus some pick up accents way faster than others and some don't. A mate of mine has been living in the US for nearly 25 years, married to a local and is practically a native in culture and outlook and uses local words, yet no way would you mistake him for anything but a south Dubliner(non D4). He even says the American version of "aluminum" with an Irish accent. Which is odd

cantdecide

Valentine1 wrote: »

What is much more important is the question of why posters from Cork actually type the word "Like" when posting here. Its a filler word that is used as a figure of speech, what on earth are you doing typing it at the end of ever sentence?

Oh no you di'n't

Valentine1

cantdecide wrote: »

Oh no you di'n't

Oh yes I did, it drives me crazy like.

dissed doc

dgt wrote: »

I normally wouldn't bother but this has me baffled. Why so many people speak with a put on american accent, I just can't figure it.... Like yer wan going into a lecture with a suitcase talking to some guy (probably in the friendzone) saying how she was from cork and lives up but in a put on accent

Many people in ireland don't sound like a) inner city Dublin or b) from a small village. Someone from e.g., Clare has probably spend much much longer listening to a mix of British, American or Australian accents via English-language music, television, etc., than drinking pints in the Confession Box, etc .,

cantdecide

Valentine1 wrote: »

Oh yes I did, it drives me crazy like.

It's a very very old mannerism. I think it's endearing.

It's not, you know, like a recent, like addition or whatever.

jimgoose

Valentine1 wrote: »

...What is much more important is the question of why posters from Cork actually type the word "Like" when posting here. Its a filler word that is used as a figure of speech, what on earth are you doing typing it at the end of ever sentence?

We're from County Limerick, junowhattimane, and we're inclined to type "like" as well, like.

dd972

OP, Maybe these people are speaking with American accents because they're American :P