WTF accent do you have?

**Corvettian** · 7th September 2013, 17:06

I think it's interesting how accents can be so different from one region to another, even those a short distance apart. I work with Danes a lot (the company I work for is Danish) and people from Copenhagen tell me that they have a hard time understanding people from the north end of the mainland.

**D-Type** · 7th September 2013, 17:18

Originally Posted by Corvettian

Where are you from? I'm from Glasgow, but two people have told me recently that I sound like I'm from Edinburgh (or thereabouts). I think my accent must have "softened" over years of working abroad.
(for those not familiar with Scottish geography, Glasgow and Edinburgh are about 85km apart)

And culturally a lot further! For example they say that if you knock on the door, in one city they will say "Come on in and have some tea" while in the other they'll say "Come on in - you've had your tea haven't you. The national Rugby ground, Murrayfield, is in Edinburgh while the national football ground, Hampden Park, is in Glagow. Nearly all Scotland's beer is brewed in Edinburgh while nearly all the whisky is bottled in Glasgow (even if it has been distilled and matured elsewhere).

On a different tack, how does the Italian/French border thing work? You can't switch off "French" and switch on "Italian" because you cross an artificial border. Presumably in San Remo you speak italian and watch Italian TV while in Nice they speak french and watch French TV. But if two of you meet you can communicate without having to switch to a third language like English or German. Do you each speak your own language? Or do you each speak the other's language (or try to)? Or do you speak in a mixture of the two?

**tfp** · 7th September 2013, 18:59

Originally Posted by Brown, Jon Brow

My girlfriends sister is married to a fella from County Durham but to us he just sounds like a Geordie.

That is my back yard

to be fair it is the most recognisable accent of the north east (most people from the south couldn't tell the difference between a Geordie and Mackem accent) and its usually fine to say someone from Durham has a Geordie accent.

But for gods sake, what ever you do, make sure you get the football team right

**pino** · 7th September 2013, 19:01

Originally Posted by Mintexmemory

Genuine Piedmont or genuine Calabrian?
sorry just realised it's almost a French accent given your location

Just pure Italian accent, French accent only when I speak French 😜

**pino** · 7th September 2013, 19:11

D-Type, 75% of people living in Nice have Italian roots, still due to French arrogance influence, they only speak French, even when they travel to Italy to buy cheap foods, clothes, shoes, etc...

**pino** · 7th September 2013, 19:17

That's why people from my area do almost speak perfect French.

**Brown, Jon Brow** · 7th September 2013, 22:33

Originally Posted by tfp

That is my back yard

to be fair it is the most recognisable accent of the north east (most people from the south couldn't tell the difference between a Geordie and Mackem accent) and its usually fine to say someone from Durham has a Geordie accent.

But for gods sake, what ever you do, make sure you get the football team right

Doesn't have to be people from the south. The rest of us in the north have no idea what you lot are on about too!

**steveaki13** · 7th September 2013, 23:19

Originally Posted by Corvettian

I think it's interesting how accents can be so different from one region to another, even those a short distance apart. I work with Danes a lot (the company I work for is Danish) and people from Copenhagen tell me that they have a hard time understanding people from the north end of the mainland.

Thats an interesting point. (This may only mean anything to Brits) Take where I live, the county of Essex is not very large and yet the accent can change massively north to south. I am from mid Essex and along with the South. We speak the standard Essex almost east london sounding. Alright mate, haw ya doin. But go to North Essex and people speak with a Norfolk and Suffolk twang. So in a short space the accent completely changes.

**steveaki13** · 7th September 2013, 23:21

Strange thing really. I like most I suspect cant believe how common and horrid I sound on any recording of my voice.

**Brown, Jon Brow** · 8th September 2013, 00:10

Originally Posted by steveaki13

Thats an interesting point. (This may only mean anything to Brits) Take where I live, the county of Essex is not very large and yet the accent can change massively north to south. I am from mid Essex and along with the South. We speak the standard Essex almost east london sounding. Alright mate, haw ya doin. But go to North Essex and people speak with a Norfolk and Suffolk twang. So in a short space the accent completely changes.

It is said that in some parts of the UK that the accent changes in as 5 miles!

I remember as a 8 year old when I moved from Cumbria to Lancashire (about 50 miles) and I was endlessly mocked for my accent on certain words.