The Gaming Den

Prak_Anima wrote:I can't quite think of any accents I find studly with the possible exception of german...

Sexy?

See, for me, the sexiest accent in all the world is a Gaelic-derived one (Scottish to some extent, Irish definitely, and Welsh the most of all). What a girl from Cardiff can do with her vowels... ooh, it makes me tingle all over.

Caliborn wrote:

Prak_Anima wrote:I can't quite think of any accents I find studly with the possible exception of german...

Sexy?

Ick... I retract my previous statement...

Indian accents are pretty hot.. if attached to hot Indian chicks

ckafrica: i was wondering if I should comment on how totally unsexy I find the Indian accent especially on tv as they always give it an annoying British-flavor to it.

I'm guessing that the British accent is easier to combine with the Indian one for the purposes of [American] comprehension. Because a lot of their English is British-based.

What's incomprehensible is the Vietnamese accent combined with a Southern drawl. That was a fun chemistry class!

I don't know that there's any accent that I find particularly charming, with the possible exception of Irish or Welsh, but I am damn sure there are accents that incite an involuntary fury in my brain whenever I hear them. Specifically:

• All rural accents. I grew up in the country; there's nothing, nothing more moronic sounding than the rural Missouri accent. I mean fucking Christ people sound stupid talking like that.
• Australian / New Zealand. This is solely due to Ray Comfort and FFXIII. Garh! WHARRGARRBL!

Pretty much any other accent doesn't bother me, or bothers me very little. I find British, German, Indian, and Russian accents rather comforting, to be honest.

that guy from the tv show Heroes. it's strange because that is most definitely not how Indians speak English. Especially people from the state of Tamil Nadu. I wonder if I know anyone from there. wait, my family. Oh my.

I think Kal Penn is probably the only decent Indian-American actor who can do a good Indian accent without making it 7/11-ese or the queen's english.

Yeah, it's pretty funny to watch the first episode of the series and hear him fluctuate between an approximation of Indian and an approximation of British.

PhoneLobster wrote:We're made of Kath and Kim.

I can't watch more than 10 seconds of that show without feeling violent.

Draco_Argentum wrote:I can't watch more than 10 seconds of that show without feeling violent.

Hah haaaaah!... me too.

It is supposedly insanely popular around here though... which scares me.

But not as much as THIS SHIT.

Yes that moron has his own show. Indeed they gave him TWO shows. Yes thats him pretending to be some sort of troubled minority high school student. What sort of minority is unclear as sometimes it seems like he is trying to be an islander but mostly he sounds like a white south african. And is it just me or is it fucking CREEPY he is doing that (and other STUPID PARTS) around actual high school age actors.

He also plays other parts as a chinese guy (who plays the part of an aboriginal guy in the theatre), a high school girl, carious stupid and annoying teachers and any number of other INSANELY annoying parts in two different dull and painful "comedy" series.

The fact that THAT had some degree of supposed success... it melts my brain.

But apparently it rides to success on the coat tails of some sort of nationalistic "Australiana"... thing.

PhoneLobster wrote:THIS SHIT.

I fucking hate all the shite he produces. Compare with actual good Australian things.

My mom's people have lived in West Virginia for generations, and my Grandmother would pop me upside the head if I used certain words

I've been told I have pretty close to the aforemention "Neutral American Accent", although a bit of both Virginia Tidewater and Appalachian dialect will creep into my vernacular when emotional.

I also have a mild speech impediment, which I have been told makes me sound a little bit like Norm MacDonald.

Someone I work with told me I sounded like I was Norwegian. I only assume he thought that because he had never heard anyone with a Norwegian accent.

A former housemate of mine had this game other people would play, called "guess his accent/where he comes from". Note: he was born and raised in Australia, never left the place. Guesses have included:
[*]American
[*]Canadian
[*]Irish
[*]African
[*]Welsh
[*]English

...and probably a whole lot more.

Koumei: Did they ever guess right?

I've found that a lot of Americans (including me) have a hell of a time placing Italian accents. We expect them to sound like Americans faking Italian accents, and then it turns out that if they're not from Rome or Sicily they probably have some regional accent that doesn't sound "Italian" at all.

Nope. Well, sort of: the "game" is one that people unknowingly play by asking him "Are you American/Canadian/whatever?" So anyone who figures "Australian" wouldn't bother asking him that (because when you live in Australia, chances are you will encounter plenty of Australians).

CatharzGodfoot wrote:Koumei: Did they ever guess right?

I've found that a lot of Americans (including me) have a hell of a time placing Italian accents. We expect them to sound like Americans faking Italian accents, and then it turns out that if they're not from Rome or Sicily they probably have some regional accent that doesn't sound "Italian" at all.

I have found it's accents in general that Americans have problems with, myself not excluded. Although I've become fairly adept at picking out Mexican, Castillan, and Cuban accents out pretty well.

I'd just like to lend my weight to the fact that the Australian accent, especially the goddamn western sydney australian accent, is terrifying and horrible.

I get told by various non-australian people I know or have met that my accent (that I can't hear) is cute, awesome, or amazing. This pisses me off.


Personally, I like british accents. Modern ones. Not ultra pommy, just average british, especially londoner. I have no idea why, it's just soothing listening to them speak.

Christofer Drew Ingle's accent (he's from Missouri) pisses me off. He pronounces the word "let" with an a (lat), and the word it with a short u sound (ut).

Drives me so flipping nuts that I change the channel every time his retarded video comes on MTV.

Maj wrote:Christofer Drew Ingle's accent (he's from Missouri) pisses me off. He pronounces the word "let" with an a (lat), and the word it with a short u sound (ut).

Drives me so flipping nuts that I change the channel every time his retarded video comes on MTV.

Huh. That's weird.

I didn't know they showed videos on MTV...

Neeeek wrote:I didn't know they showed videos on MTV...

I think it's technically MTV Hits. They only play music and commercials for skin care products (Before you ask, the commercial for the Slap-Chop counts as a music video. ). It's my son's favorite channel.

I know it's been awhile since the heyday of this thread, but...

WTF is up with Summer Heights High? Like, I watched PhoneLobster's link and I have to wonder... what the hell did I just watch?!

I have Singlish that would irritate the hell out of you guys if I feel inclined to use it.

As far as American accents go I find the most distinctive accent that we have here in the states is Baltimore. Which is wierd because it's just a city and not a region, but I can tell a person from Baltimore the second they utter the word "on".

You can spot someone from Texas when they say "Big Ol'" which comes out as "beegol" and means large.

Tough to lose a proper Minnie-soda accent.

I'm originally from North Carolina, that vale of humility between two mountains of conciet. However, because I grew up within a mile of, and spent a lot of my time on, the campus of Duke University, myaccent was mellowed somewhat. But it still comes out, especially when I'm talking to others from North Carolina.

A stunningly beautiful girl at work was frustrated the other day because no one was helping her with a multi-person project and started to vent. Normally she has a neutral accent, but being from norther Georgia, she all of the sudden started to sound like Scarlett O'hara. I thought she was going to be overcome by the "vapors" and escorted her to a convinient fainting couch.

It's wierd how accents can come out in extremis.

Clutch

Clutch9800 wrote:Tough to lose a proper Minnie-soda accent.

Yeah, after living there for 10 years I've become pretty well infected. My wife, who live in Minnesota longer than me, thinks I still sound Californian, possibly because I pronounce bagel 'beigul' (begʊɫ) rather than the Minnesotan 'baggul' (bægʊɫ), and milk as melk (mɛɫk).

My wife has very little Minnesotan accent, but it gets extreme whenever she hangs out with her mom. Not sure if that counts as 'in extremis'.

Clutch9800 wrote:I'm originally from North Carolina, that vale of humility between two mountains of conciet. However, because I grew up within a mile of, and spent a lot of my time on, the campus of Duke University, myaccent was mellowed somewhat. But it still comes out, especially when I'm talking to others from North Carolina.

I'm living about a mile from Duke, and it seems like some ambiguous part of the North that the occasional Southerner wanders into. Very bizarre, and not at all what I expected. Even so, I think I'm starting to pick up a very slight NC accent, which embarrasses me. I worry that people will think I'm aping them (London was hell in that respect).

Oh, and tangentially related: Was your LGS the one on Old Chapel Hill Blvd off of University Dr., with the big Batman sign in the window?