Do you think you have an accent?

With the exception of Ct, once I leave New England, I get so many thinking I'm English because of my accent. NY, Penn, DC, Fl etc so many think I speak with an English accent. I even had an English woman at a cosmetics counter in Florida, smile and hold out her arms to me and say where are you from? When I told her Boston, she looked confused then laughed and said she thought I was from England but we had a chat and she realized my accent was American but she said it was closer to her English. Maybe the elocution lessons but I've even gotten the same here from people who've lived in the US. I don't think so at all. New England yes, old England, no.
 
IrishEyes said:
surely it has to mean a few things in different situations? I use it all the time when someone tells me about a good deed they
tried to do that backfired especially. Maybe I better pick a different reply:oops:
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It's about locations. In some areas, it's considered a positive comment.

Similar with "Peachy." In some areas it means 'couldn't be much worse,' in others it means 'couldn't be better! 🤣😁
 
I was curious as to how to define what an accent is, and it seems to be any pronunciation or diction that varies from the "norm". However, where does that baseline come from. Most countries are such a melting pot of people who have moved several times, and in almost any city, variations of speech are everywhere. I'm not sure how one decides what the "norm" is. Maybe it is stereotypes that just take root in our brain. IDK

I haven't tried it, but I understand that there are AI type apps where you just speak a couple phrases, and it will tell you if you have an accent and what type. It could be an interesting experiment.
 
I always joke around that everyone else has an accent & that I talk without one. Of course that's not true, as I grew up in NY/NJ & say some words differently than others. It has always fascinated me the within the USA, there are very distinct accents depending where people live. There is a NY accent (mine perhaps), a Northeast (Boston type) accent, a southern drawl accent, a Midwestern accent, a Californian accent,....and so on.
 
When I hear a fast talker, it’s usually a woman. Yesterday I got out of the shower to turn off two women who were talking at high speed on a podcast. I then deleted it so I wouldn’t accidentally hear them again.

Sometimes it’s a man and I delete that discussion too.

I suspect when I’m nervous I’m speaking too quickly too. I can’t delete myself so need to shut up.
 
Niceguy said:
I always joke around that everyone else has an accent & that I talk without one. Of course that's not true, as I grew up in NY/NJ & say some words differently than others. It has always fascinated me the within the USA, there are very distinct accents depending where people live. There is a NY accent (mine perhaps), a Northeast (Boston type) accent, a southern drawl accent, a Midwestern accent, a Californian accent,....and so on.
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There's more than one NY accent.. depends on the parts of the state.
 
No, I don’t think I do. I like speaking to people from NYC and parts of Joisy (New Jersey). I had 2 friends that lived in the Bronx and the Queens. The Italian friend from the Bronx sounded like an Italian you would expect to hear. The fellow from Queens sounded like a lifer from the Big Apple. He had a hard NYC accent.

It’s the accent that people have from New England that I have difficulty hearing at times. I have to go What? What?
 
I think I speak without an accent (I.e., with what Google calls "General American"). When I went to Wales I couldn't understand the English the bus driver was talking in, and he repeated himself a few times, then he suddenly said it very clearly (to my ears), and I realized after I sat down that he must have repeated it with an American accent. It was both embarrassing and funny that I needed it in my own accent.

After I had lived some years in a country that pronounced 'ink' with a throat sound like 'ingk' I came home with that sound coloring my accent, and my sister was really annoyed by it, ha ha.

Here's google's explanation of the accent I think I speak with:

The generic, non-regional American accent often described as "accentless" or "standard" is called General American (GenAm). It is characterized by its neutrality, high intelligibility, and lack of strong regional markers, making it the dominant accent used in national broadcasting, film, and media.

Key details about General American include:
  • Broadcast English/Network English: Because this accent is favored by television newscasters and media professionals, it is often referred to as "broadcast English" or "network English".
  • Regional Origins: While considered "non-regional," it is historically derived from the American Midland accent (roughly Ohio, Iowa, Nebraska). However, it is now common throughout the Western US and in urban areas nationwide.
  • Characteristics: It is a "rhotic" accent, meaning the 'r' is pronounced at the end of words (e.g., "car" and "mother"). It also features T-flapping, where the 't' in words like "water" sounds more like a soft 'd'.
  • Perception: To many Americans, it is perceived as lacking distinct characteristics, often described as "sounding like nowhere and everywhere".
 
Pinky said:
I don't think I have an accent, though, when I lived in Australia, I was told that I did.

Accents vary across Canada, as they most likely do, across the U.S.
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I know I can usually tell when a Canadian is from Ontario, and often I'm told it's the Ottawa Valley area of Ontario they're from. If I'm not at home when they ask me where, they'll say I sound like someone from BC.
 
I will point out that a number of Canadian TV and movie personalities spent decades working in the USA. Peter Jennings, Morley Safer, Howie Mandel, Lorne Green, William Shatner, Donald Sutherland, Dan Ackroyd, more recently, Ryan Reynolds, Mike Myers. Did any of them have a Canadian accent, to your ears? JIMB>
 
Delia said:
A southern associate once told me that "Bless you heart" was actually meant as an insult in the south.
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Oh no, you’ve hit on one of my pet peeves 🙂 I don’t know how the idea of Bless Your Heart is always an insult has spread. While it can occasionally be used as an insult (and you’ll know it when you hear it that way), it is often used sincerely. I personally never use it as an insult. I use it if someone has done something to help me or to commensurate if they have trouble of some kind.

I definitely have an accent . I enjoy hearing other’s accents and phrasing.
 
oldman said:
No, I don’t think I do. I like speaking to people from NYC and parts of Joisy (New Jersey). I had 2 friends that lived in the Bronx and the Queens. The Italian friend from the Bronx sounded like an Italian you would expect to hear. The fellow from Queens sounded like a lifer from the Big Apple. He had a hard NYC accent.

It’s the accent that people have from New England that I have difficulty hearing at times. I have to go What? What?
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Haha. Then you wouldn't understand me.
 
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