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Child Item

The D4 Accent - And how it gets around

Red_Marauder

Now before people say this belongs in a Dublin forum, one of my biggest issues with this accent is that it actually doesn't. It's becoming a nationwide thing in all cities (less so in rural Ireland) and I really wonder sometimes where this ridiculous accent ever came from because it isn't related to geography.

The accent itself doesn't bother me as such, though it can be hard to listen to when users insist on taking it to extremes and at an unnecessarily high volume (buses, shopping centres and starbucks are the biggest offenders). It's just so obviously new and invented, where on earth was this accent in the 1980's or previous? I'm 23 and I'd reckon that I am older than it.

My own theory is that the traditional 'RTE' accent was a hybrid of the old 'valid' Dublin accent and a vaguely Anglo-Irish accent. This itself was an artificial construct that was widely copied and as such, with the advent of American TV, became easily replaced, or more accurately 'aggravated'. It is less of an accent and more of a terrible social marking that some people desperately wish to tag themselves with, assuming it gives them some desirabe social characteristic.

Like most people my accent reflects the places I grew up in and how my parents speak. The old 'Dublin 4 accent' was largely anglo-Irish and far more valid in terms of its origin than the current model. How that new model came to be used in Limerick, Galway and Cork is itself amusing.

Are there any people out there with this accent, particularly outside of Dublin, whose accent differs to their parents and neighbours, who could shed some light on this? I'm not being critical by the way, just interested.

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gulf

tommyhaas wrote: »

So what your saying is that with a bit of effort and attention, D4 heads could sound like us normal Dubs??

What's a "normal Dub"? Do you have to have a "passion" for GAA to qualify?

tommyhaas

mars bar wrote: »

Sheesh, selective quoting much?!

Have a look back there pal, that was the full quote at the time, been edited since.

I lol'd when I read it, took it as a joke and I assume duckysauce took me reply as a joke too...

gulf

What's worse? Those who mix in a social group of people who speak in the so-called "D4 accent", or those (typically disenfranchised urban/rural persons) who sneer at people for not being a "salt of the earth" type and for not conforming to their egalitarian ideology rooted in ignorance.

It's funny how a man can walk around with tattoos on his forehead or cloth himself in ladies apparel, but woe-be-tied any man who sets foot in a "salt of the earth" public house and orders a pint of Heineken.

tommyhaas

gulf wrote: »

"The fact is that, given the laws of thermodynamics, it takes no effort to look like a slob; to be smart calls for care and attention, not only to one's clothes but to how one behaves. It also means that one must try to imagine what one appears in the eyes of others. Slobbery is the sartorial manifestation of solipsistic egotism; smartness is simultaneously self-respect and respect for others."

So what your saying is that with a bit of effort and attention, D4 heads could sound like us normal Dubs??

Mars Bar

tommyhaas wrote: »

See what I mean??, the D4 accent has given Ringsend a bad name...

Sheesh, selective quoting much?!

The accent is fair annoying. It sounds like the person is suffering from a head cold constantly. It's so...nasal-y.

My sister is going moving to the D4 area for college in September and it's not going to be good because she picks up accents quickly.

gulf

Accents are reflective of your social positioning. If you position yourself alongside people who frequent Dublin's boardwalk and have a habit of smoking on public transport, don't be surprised if a bit of that rubs off on you when being percieved by other members of society.

I'm reminded of a choice quote from Theodore Dalrymple on appearance; but could equally well be extended to accents:

"The fact is that, given the laws of thermodynamics, it takes no effort to look like a slob; to be smart calls for care and attention, not only to one's clothes but to how one behaves. It also means that one must try to imagine what one appears in the eyes of others. Slobbery is the sartorial manifestation of solipsistic egotism; smartness is simultaneously self-respect and respect for others."

Full article:
http://incharacter.org/features/outward-and-visible-signs/

Aside: this thread really just demonstrates how class conscious the Irish multitudes really are, as well as the illusion that "there is no class system in Ireland".

jmbkay

It's all over Malahide. Haw Haw. Guys.

tommyhaas

Lando Griffin wrote: »

I myself have perfected the regional neutral accent, when i talk to normal people they think what a snob and when I speak to D4s they think im a knacker.

Is that you Bertie??

Lando Griffin

I myself have perfected the regional neutral accent, when i talk to normal people they think what a snob and when I speak to D4s they think im a knacker.

tommyhaas

duckysauce wrote: »

theres no good people in ringsend

See what I mean??, the D4 accent has given Ringsend a bad name...

duckysauce

tommyhaas wrote: »

The d4 accent, its a cancer on the city that gives a bad name to the good people of Ringsend

theres no good people in ringsend:D joke

tommyhaas

The d4 accent, its a cancer on the city that gives a bad name to the good people of Ringsend

Nulty

The OP asked why the accent wasn't around in the '80s...well it was. Its just been refined some more since then

The D4 accent is just the evolved yuppy accent. It serves a purpose for every one to identify those who believe they are better than someone else.

Yuppies, not Puppies....

duckysauce

Latchy wrote: »

Is there really a helluva difference between a nice dublin 4 accent or say a
' Noice ' ( excuse the Sarcasm ) Whitehall , Rathfarnham, Fairview Leixlip ,Malahide one ? .

It's the same on Merseyside were you have what some might say is the harsh scouse accent , the mildly pleasent one and then you spread out into the suburbs or over into parts of the Wirral were you have your well spoken 'midle class ' ones, remembering that many of the residents would have originally come from across the water in Liverpool themselfs ( and in the main proud of it to) .

So in many ways it's a case of the accent evolving to whatever your surrounding /envoirment is. Look at Irish people who move abroad to America ,Australia or Europe , they adapt and pick up on the local accent ok just as some non Irish person moving to Dublin /Ireland does to .

I do recall meeting a girl in Liverpool and on hearing her Dublin accent asked how long she was living in England ? . '' I'm not from Dublin she replied , I'm from here Liverpool and worked in the bank of Ireland in Dublin for 5 years were I picked up on the local dilect ''

Regardless of what part of a citys one is from there's nothing wrong with speaking or wanting to speak fluently and as pleasently as possible even if some have to work at it .

work at it ????, thats sad to say the least

ricman

I regard it as a generic southside posh accent ,one doesnt have to be from d4 to have it .it seems to be popular in upper class areas.Its like a mid atlantic slightly english accent . Some djs
have a neutral accent as if it was programmed in a computer ,its not irish its like someone who was thought english by watching american tv.
ITS like the irish equivalent of bbc english.
At one time no one with a regional accent was allowed to present on bbc radio 4.

and i,m not trying to criticise america in anyway, i just find it annoying when someone uses american slang all the time, eg you guys etc when speaking to a group of girls.
A GIRL OR WOMAN is not a guy .ITS not as if the irish do not have a wide range of slang ,we dont need to import american slang.

Latchy

Is there really a helluva difference between a nice dublin 4 accent or say a
' Noice ' ( excuse the Sarcasm ) Whitehall , Rathfarnham, Fairview Leixlip ,Malahide one ? .

It's the same on Merseyside were you have what some might say is the harsh scouse accent , the mildly pleasent one and then you spread out into the suburbs or over into parts of the Wirral were you have your well spoken 'midle class ' ones, remembering that many of the residents would have originally come from across the water in Liverpool themselfs ( and in the main proud of it to) .

So in many ways it's a case of the accent evolving to whatever your surrounding /envoirment is. Look at Irish people who move abroad to America ,Australia or Europe , they adapt and pick up on the local accent ok just as some non Irish person moving to Dublin /Ireland does to .

I do recall meeting a girl in Liverpool and on hearing her Dublin accent asked how long she was living in England ? . '' I'm not from Dublin she replied , I'm from here Liverpool and worked in the bank of Ireland in Dublin for 5 years were I picked up on the local dilect ''

Regardless of what part of a citys one is from there's nothing wrong with speaking or wanting to speak fluently and as pleasently as possible even if some have to work at it .

shinikins

owenc wrote: »

eh, dublin people do not have a snobby accent they can't even say three right..

That just shows how much of Dublin you've been exposed to, theres pelnty of regions in Ireland where the word three is mispronounced, Athlone is one major town where most people don't enunciate, Laois, Offaly, Kerry, Cork, Clare, Galway, Sligo....I could go on. My point being that just because you speak with a particular accent, doesn't neccesarily mean your from a certain background.

John_Rambo

Red_Marauder wrote: »

It's just so obviously new and invented, where on earth was this accent in the 1980's or previous? I'm 23 and I'd reckon that I am older than it.

Bob Geldoff is older than you. So are generations before him. It's an irish regional accent, always has been, always will be. If people want to copy it, so be it, you will just have to deal with it.

Deus Ex Machina

Isn't talking about D4s and their accents acient history now? Christ how I wished that phase was over, how tiresome it is.

topper75

ricman wrote: »

i suppose the greed and materialism of the celtic tiger was similar to american pure capitalism so anything american was percieved as good and modern.

Careful now!

Vacuous rich Californian teens on MTV are in no way representative of the USA. America has indeed provided quite a lot of good.

Much of it is ignored here and sadly we import their frivolities instead.

Their classless, what-you-know, can-do, positive style of capitalism is sadly lacking here at times. They also guard republican principles a little more closely. The "golden cirlce" revelations in Ireland have exposed ours as a sham (but I have to concede such cartels are easier to organise on a small island the size of one of their states). In the U.S., the white collar crims are hauled out in cuffs.

Killer Pigeon

ricman wrote: »

THE up inflection comes from oz soap operas , ie so an ordinary sentence sounds like a question.I think the d4 accent is now more mid atlantic because so many young teens watch mtv, and loads of american programs , ie now sky tv has dozens of american channels.IF you watch old rte programs middle class
people in dublin had a more upper class english accent.
The thing that annoys me is teens that use lots of american slang like cool,awesome ,its like they are pretending to live in beverly hills.
I think theres alot of teens who mainly watch just american tv .
i suppose the greed and materialism of the celtic tiger was similar to american pure capitalism so anything american was percieved as good and modern.

yeah duuuuuuude.

ricman

THE up inflection comes from oz soap operas , ie so an ordinary sentence sounds like a question.I think the d4 accent is now more mid atlantic because so many young teens watch mtv, and loads of american programs , ie now sky tv has dozens of american channels.IF you watch old rte programs middle class
people in dublin had a more upper class english accent.
The thing that annoys me is teens that use lots of american slang like cool,awesome ,its like they are pretending to live in beverly hills.
I think theres alot of teens who mainly watch just american tv .
i suppose the greed and materialism of the celtic tiger was similar to american pure capitalism so anything american was percieved as good and modern.

Dublin4Life

Chewbacca. wrote: »

Ballymun is a place its not an accent, not everyone from there speaks like a skanger, it depends who people associate with, and how they live that develops their accent

Anyway I don't find the D4 accent that bad, those fcuking culchies from the midlands piss me off

:eek:No ballymun is a way of life ...hahaha.............Dont get me started on those ****ing culchies they put an S on everything if I had a gun I would shot them all

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3T54TU8bsj8

Chewbacca.

Killer Pigeon wrote: »

Ballymun isn't organic now in fairness.

Ballymun is a place its not an accent, not everyone from there speaks like a skanger, it depends who people associate with, and how they live that develops their accent

Anyway I don't find the D4 accent that bad, those fcuking culchies from the midlands piss me off

ordinary_girl

ynwa_17 wrote: »

I've lived in Cork for the past 10 years and have a cork accent with a slight hint of Northern Irish but if a relative phones me my voice automatically changes to a strong northern irish one. I actually have no idea why, it just comes on naturally

If I'm London for even a week I pick up the accent really quickly, same thing happens whenever I talk to anyone from Manchester - saying things like "that", pronouncing it like "'at". It's ridiculously embarrassing when people point it out as it's wholly unintentional!

D4 accents do annoy me, I have more of a neutal-ish Dublin accent though I veer more of the side of the "howaya" Dub at times. When I get really angry I sound like a complete scanger (it's because of where I'm from!) and get slagged for that too. I don't mind if it's someone's actual accent, but a lot of the time it's put on. That Laura Whitmore one isn't helping things, I'm sure she's lovely but her accent is very irritating.

The_Kew_Tour

Poll should be done of which accent they rather, D4 or typical dublin accent.

That solve it.

maxxie

owenc wrote: »

eh, dublin people do not have a snobby accent they can't even say three right..

at least when we talk it doesnt sound like we are singing

maxxie

Dublin4Life wrote: »

You might think the D4's are gay but I would not f*k with them after watching these video's I know this is in another thread but I think the mods will agree that it belongs here

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hiyakyVX9c4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ayndgvqnBqU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhgP0qEjNn8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HO_DWRsn0d4

but i bet they wud definately be trying to **** you though! rugger homos

ntlbell

Dublin4Life wrote: »

You might think the D4's are gay but I would not f*k with them after watching these video's I know this is in another thread but I think the mods will agree that it belongs here

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hiyakyVX9c4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ayndgvqnBqU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhgP0qEjNn8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HO_DWRsn0d4

wouldn't f*ck with them?

lulz

get a bang of a dube?

Cheap Thrills!

owenc wrote: »

aw right your from croyden, well then, you should know were your placed then.. (croyden accent is awful)

Yeh, that's right...I'm from Croydon......swooooooosh