Do you think you have an accent?

bobcat

bobcat

Well-known Member
Location
Northern Calif
Being from California, I've never thought I had an accent, but perhaps that's just what I grew up around. However, it wasn't hard to detect those from other regions (Deep south, or east coast, or other English-speaking countries). I guess I have always thought that surely they must know they have an accent, but perhaps it's just relative to where you live. Maybe individuals from those places don't think they have an accent at all.

Obviously if English isn't their primary language (Like Russia, Mexico, or countries in Asia), then it seems logical it would influence any conversation in English. I think many accents are charming, but I guess I've often wondered if people felt they had one. Maybe Canadians think I have one, and they don't. I don't know, and I don't think I've ever asked.
 
I am from Canada but do not think I have an accent. I lived in Ontario, Canada most of my life but was born in England. I DID have a very strong English accent when we moved here. We moved to Canada šŸ‡ØšŸ‡¦ in 1965. When I was a teenager in my late teens I moved to Alberta for a couple of years and have lived here in Nova Scotia for 5 years, making the total number of years in Ontario 54. I know my inlaws from Newfoundland have a very strong accent. When my husband is with them his accent comes back. Cape Bretoners have an accent for sure but NO , I donā€™t have an accent.
 
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When I first returned home from the Marines and being in Vietnam, I did. My best buddy at the time was from Arkansas. My mom asked me almost right away, why was I talking like I was a southerner. I told her I didnā€™t know what she meant. She said I sounded like Andy Griffith. Later, my friends noticed it, but I donā€™t think it lasted very long.
 
My hubby and I hosted a fellow online teammate over to the U.S. from England to see the states and do
some interviews for welding jobs here. He was so funny. It didn't matter where we were if ladies his age heard
him they just had to come to him.
He lived in the northern area and had that much deeper accent, not the refined ones we hear so much in movies.
He got such a kick of it it because he said "This is (f-bomb) fabulous! At home if I go south, they'd ignore me hearing
from I am from by the way I talk".
I am not exaggerating, he got such a thrill, he'd purposely make a trip up to the
bar or counter so people could hear him and sure enough, here come the young ladies following him.
 
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Yep I have an accent... firstly I have a Scottish accent... further to that to a Non brit... I have an ''English or British accent''... however when i go back to Scotland, they can't detect any Scottish accent and say that I sound like a Southerner now... but here in the south they can hear my accent.

oddly tho' because I've been away from Scotland for over 50 years.. my accent has become much more ''smooth'.. so altho' everyone here in the South of England can hear I have an accent, they never guess that it's Scottish... I've had them guess Australian, South African.. new Zealand.. and even the north of England...only once or twice has anyone guessed correctly...
 
That Lady in PA said:
i believe everyone has an accent.
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I think you're probably right.

Calif has a number of regional accents, including ones known as Valley Girl, Surfer Dude, and Sierra Man.

When I owned mini-marts in Chico and then Paradise, both in northern Calif, customers frequently asked if I was from Missouri. And despite my coloring, one couple asked me if I was Swedish. :oops:
 
hollydolly said:
Yep I have an accent... firstly I have a Scottish accent... further to that to a Non brit... I have an ''English or British accent''... however when i go back to Scotland, they can't detect any Scottish accent and say that I sound like a Southerner now... but here in the south they can hear my accent.

oddly tho' because I've been away from Scotland for over 50 years.. my accent has become much more ''smooth'.. so altho' everyone here in the South of England can hear I have an accent, they never guess that it's Scottish... I've had them guess Australian, South African.. new Zealand.. and even the north of England...only once or twice has anyone guessed correctly...
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Years ago, different location, I knew a family that was from Scotland, had lived in the U.S. for a few years.. I never noticed any accent at all.
 
bobcat said:
Being from California, I've never thought I had an accent, but perhaps that's just what I grew up around. However, it wasn't hard to detect those from other regions (Deep south, or east coast, or other English-speaking countries). I guess I have always thought that surely they must know they have an accent, but perhaps it's just relative to where you live. Maybe individuals from those places don't think they have an accent at all.

Obviously if English isn't their primary language (Like Russia, Mexico, or countries in Asia), then it seems logical it would influence any conversation in English. I think many accents are charming, but I guess I've often wondered if people felt they had one. Maybe Canadians think I have one, and they don't. I don't know, and I don't think I've ever asked.
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I don't think I do, either.
Maybe because I'd been in so many places over the years/decades, that any I had disappeared.
 
Currently, I have an Old People accent.

It's common for our teeth to move a bit and even grow a bit longer as we age, causing a lisp or slight whistle when we say certain words and sounds. I had to have some teeth replaced after a very serious fall about 30yrs ago, and subsequent refittings and replacements of the replacements, and that's probably exacerbated the development of the lisp and whistle part of my Old People accent.
 
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MACKTEXAS said:
What I hear more is "slow down, you're going too fast."
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I get that a lot, too. And now I say it to my older daughter, who speaks even faster than I do!

I don't think I have an accent. I think I sound just like everyone else here in ND, but I clearly do have some sort of accent, because I have heard time and time again, on the first time meeting someone, "You're not from here, are you?"

My daughters' friends, back when they were in middle school, said they would even call to just to listen to our answering machine message, which had been recorded by me. You'd think I had some sort of cut-it-with-a-knife Bronx or Brooklyn accent, or something. I honestly don't hear it. But it's clearly there. šŸ¤·šŸ»ā€ā™€ļø
 
Sunkist said:
Years ago, different location, I knew a family that was from Scotland, had lived in the U.S. for a few years.. I never noticed any accent at all.
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Scottish and some American accents are very similar, unlike American and English.... Americans use a lot of Scottish words as well... that English speakers in the UK don't use...
 
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Murrmurr said:
Currently, I have an Old People accent.

It's common for our teeth to move a bit and even grow a bit longer as we age, causing a lisp or slight whistle when we say certain words and sounds. I had to have some teeth replaced after a very serious fall about 30yrs ago, and subsequent refittings and replacements of the replacements, and that's probably exacerbated the development of the lisp and whistle part of my Old People accent.
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I bet it's pretty cute, not to say adorable.
 
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