Irish with American accents

newmug

dlofnep wrote: »

Whether or not the south-Dublin accent is naturally acquired or consciously exaggerated, most people still view it as an effort to distance yourself from Irish culture. But most importantly, it's just plain irritating to listen to.

+1,000,000. Thats exactly what it is. I remember when this accent started surfacing in the late 90's, Pat Kenny interviewed a girl who had it specifically to speak about her unusual accent. I think her name was Orla O'Donnell, or Urlaw ew Dunnell as she pronounced it. She used to read the traffic repots on one of the radio stations. Rynd-a-bite.

Abdul Abulbul Amir

So, a lot of you in this thread judge people by their accents one way or another, but your own accents are great.

You must have some seriously small cocks.

Helix

irishbarb wrote: »

Well it's certainly not an Irish accent.

it is though

Ellis Dee

An uncle of mine worked in the forge at Ford's in Dagenham for forty years or so. I was with him in a pub in London one day in the 70s when a Cockney asked him: 'Ere Paddy, 'ow come you never lost your accent?" To which he replied in his best Laois accent: "Shure I never found a better one.":D:D

There are some nice cultured American accents, but Irish people smart enough to learn them are likewise too intelligent to feel a need to adopt a shell of phoniness.:rolleyes::rolleyes::)

newmug

Helix wrote: »

it is though

Except, its not. Its an American accent.

Helix

dlofnep wrote: »

Yeah, that's not elitist at all. I'd rather speak like a hick, than like a prick.

i dont see how pronouncing things properly, in a way that people can understand, is elitist. surely it would be more elitist to speak in a way that a select few could understand?

where im from, my generation all spoke with very neutral accents, completely naturally, because it's far from an upmarket area. these days the kids speak like they're from the inner city. i don't understand it all to be honest - just like typing in txt spk, it costs nothing to pronounce things properly in a way that everyone can understand

but hey, if you think that's elitist, thats your problem

Helix

newmug wrote: »

Except, its not. Its an American accent.

have you never heard an american accent or something?

actually, based on some of your responses in this thread i doubt you've been too far out of your home town

irishbarb

Helix wrote: »

have you never heard an american accent or something?

actually, based on some of your responses in this thread i doubt you've been too far out of your home town

The accent of that child is not a full blown American accent, but it's also not an Irish accent either. He says things with an American twang that he picked up again, from watching too much telly and Youtube. I've actually heard more American-y accents on Irish people then that young fella.

Mr Whirly

Helix wrote: »

have you never heard an american accent or something?

actually, based on some of your responses in this thread i doubt you've been too far out of your home town

have you never heard an Irish accent or what?

Hopefully Canada entices you to stay for a long time.

newmug

Helix wrote: »

have you never heard an american accent or something?

actually, based on some of your responses in this thread i doubt you've been too far out of your home town

I dont live in a town, I live in the country. The vast majority of my family have had to emigrate, nearly all to America, so I know a thing or two about American accents. I've worked in places around the world where you would be kidnapped or shot if they thought you were American, the world is full of arseholes, I've met my fill of them, I dont need you to prove it.

Killer Wench

Let's not forget that there are multiple American accents like there are multiple Irish accents. I was born in CA, raised throughout the midwest, and my parents are of southern heritage, so my natural accent is rather southern and country. However, now that I'm back on the west coast, I have adopted a rather flat midwestern accent.

Some of my fondest memories of living in Dublin was when I met people who would ask me where I'm from (because I'm black) and then say that I have "kinda an American accent". It wasn't "kinda"; it was "totally".

Mr_Spaceman

eth0 wrote: »

he was a proper Starbucks-drinking San Francisco nerdhead.

:pac: :pac:

These people are insufferable!

Killer Wench

Wow... People associate Starbucks with San Francisco?:eek:

Helix

Mr Whirly wrote: »

have you never heard an Irish accent or what?

Hopefully Canada entices you to stay for a long time.

I've heard too many of them. And don't worry, I have no intention of ever moving back to that corrupt, backwards dive

dlofnep

Helix wrote: »

i dont see how pronouncing things properly, in a way that people can understand, is elitist.

Er no, it's elitist to equate those with an authentic Irish accent as 'inbred hicks'. We live in Ireland, Irish people can understand us just fine. We have no need to alter our accents.

If you go abroad and naturally neutralise your accent over a period of a few years, nobody would have any qualms with that. But making up some faux-accent that has never existed on this island up until about 20 years ago, is just vomit-inducing. The general population can hear the fakeness of it, and that's why it's the most detested accent in Ireland.

phasers

I've had an American accent my entire life. Nobody else in my family does and nobody knows why I have one. I've spent my whole life being asked "Are you American?" and "Where are you from?" only to get a disappointed look when I say Clondalkin :pac:

omgitsthelazor

Most stuff people watch on tv are american so it isn't surprising. Better than the britisms some pick up from soaps.

Brokentime

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/2300395.stm

Anybody?

MaxSteele

My father moved to Dublin in the late seventies from the bog, living in the liberties, Pearse street, Northside etc before I was brought up in Clondalkin. He never adopted a dub accent and even remembers when the pretentious D4 accent didn't exist up to 20 years ago. Still has a thick Mayo accent to this day after more than 35 years living here.

Most of everywhere south of Terenure might as well be considered another US state at this stage.

SolarFlash

The Irish accent sounds dreadful so I don't blame anyone for wanting to change it. American accent sounds far better and should be taught in schools to all Irish children.

zenno

SolarFlash wrote: »

The Irish accent sounds dreadful so I don't blame anyone for wanting to change it. American accent sounds far better and should be taught in schools to all Irish children.

You are obviously not Irish as there are a fare few different accents in all counties of Ireland. American accent is not far better because listening to an american accent gives most people a headache.

Arpa

Killer Wench wrote: »

Wow... People associate Starbucks with San Francisco?:eek:

This is exactly the type we should be trying to eradicate. Somebody who picks up on somebody not knowing that Starbucks originated in Seattle. Give me a sucky titty knob gobblin break.

The problem is a lot of people who develop these Americanisms cannot see the wood through the trees. It is pumped through a screen at them everyday as the promised land...the cool place where lots of tanned girls in bikinis lay on sandy beaches with buff blonde lifeguards sipping gatorade or dr pepper.

Give me a dark, dingy snug in any Irish pub of a winter night. It may be depressing, but it's real.

If you want to speak like an American and act like you belong to the most stupid nation on the planet, go on, we need the job vacancies here.

Arpa

CatFromHue wrote: »

Sometimes when I'm talking to someone with a strong Dublin accent my Dublin accent gets stronger....so OP what's your accent like?

Or when a junkie asks you for money at the bus stop and you reply with your hardest Dublin..."Nah sorry bood, ony got me bus fare"

Downlinz

Just out of sheer curiosity where do you guys think my accent is from?

http://yourlisten.com/channel/content/16904464/Accent

dlofnep

Downlinz wrote: »

Just out of sheer curiosity where do you guys think my accent is from?

http://yourlisten.com/channel/content/16904464/Accent

I dunno - somewhere in the general vicinity of Ireland.

dlofnep

SolarFlash wrote: »

The Irish accent sounds dreadful so I don't blame anyone for wanting to change it. American accent sounds far better and should be taught in schools to all Irish children.

You don't teach someone an accent, accents are naturally acquired. One benefit of the Irish accent is you stand out from the crowd, in a good way. Give me an Irish accent in America, over an American one any day of the week. Pulling in America with an Irish accent is like fishing with the flying lure.

It's no great surprise then when the Irish accent always top most appealing accent polls, time and time again.

SolarFlash

I'm Irish myself and sorry but the Irish accent sounds rubbish. It holds Irish people back and makes us lacking in confidence. We should go back to being an Irish speaking country (my choice) or at least teach children to speak English properly.

RikkFlair

SolarFlash wrote: »

I'm Irish myself and sorry but the Irish accent sounds rubbish. It holds Irish people back and makes us lacking in confidence. We should go back to being an Irish speaking country (my choice) or at least teach children to speak English properly.

Great, my confidence needs a bit of a boost. Which accent will should I use? Boston? Mid west? Minnesota? Southern drawl?

dlofnep

SolarFlash wrote: »

I'm Irish myself and sorry but the Irish accent sounds rubbish.

Maybe you just sound rubbish? I don't know about you, but I sound like a champion.

SolarFlash wrote: »

It holds Irish people back and makes us lacking in confidence.

Perhaps that's a reflection of your own insecurities. I'm perfectly confident.

eth0

SolarFlash wrote: »

I'm Irish myself and sorry but the Irish accent sounds rubbish. It holds Irish people back and makes us lacking in confidence. We should go back to being an Irish speaking country (my choice) or at least teach children to speak English properly.

Holds us back from what? maybe from sounding like a cultureless pseudo intellectual gobsh1te but thats only a good thing

wendell borton

The real problem is americans (well new foundlanders) who speak with irish accents trying to be cool, who do they think they are fooling.:rolleyes::pac:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Xmqb4W2T0M

dlofnep

wendell borton wrote: »

The real problem is americans (well new foundlanders) who speak with irish accents trying to be cool, who do they think they are fooling.:rolleyes::pac:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Xmqb4W2T0M

That's their actual accent. It's because a heap of people from Waterford and Wexford emigrated there around the time of the famine, and they are the direct descendants from them. It's actually a remarkable story that their accent remained. Probably due to the fact that the area is sparsely populated, and didn't have the pressure/influences from mainland Canada.

Some Scottish migrants went there aswell, who at the time spoke Scottish Gaelic. Their descendants still to this day speak Scottish Gaelic in Newfoundland (albeit in smaller numbers). Irish was also spoken there, and had it's own dialect, but has since died out.

sink

My mothers family is from Blackrock, she grew up there and moved to London after college. My dad was born in England to a Scottish father and Irish mother, he moved around a lot growing up as my granddad was a RAF pilot and so they moved wherever he was stationed, mainly Africa. It wasn't until my dad was 13 that my granddad joined Aer Lingus and they settled in Dublin permanently, and when he graduated college he too went to work in London. Neither of them have an identifiable Irish accent, even my grandparents from Blackrock had what was closer to a posh English accent than your typical Dublin accent. This talk of the posh south Dublin accent only surfacing in the last 20 years is complete rubbish, it's been around since at least my grandparents generation who were born in Dublin nearly a hundred years ago. I would imagine it's a remnant of Ireland's British heritage.

shoos

I've been told by a few people that I speak with a slight American accent (I've also been told Northern accent and Polish ) but personally I don't think I have much of an identifiable accent at all - no idea why or how.

What has always really got to me though are people who yell in my face "Are you a yank?!?" and when I say I'm Irish refuse to believe me and continue berating me on why I'm talking "****in weird and all'.

Why is it any of their business? I've come to find it seriously rude when someone approaches me in that way and it's getting harder and harder to hold my tongue when it happens. Just because I don't speak with an overtly Irish accent doesn't mean I wasn't born and bred here or are any less Irish than the next person..... so feck off!

RikkFlair

dlofnep wrote: »

That's their actual accent. It's because a heap of people from Waterford and Wexford emigrated there around the time of the famine, and they are the direct descendants from them. It's actually a remarkable story that their accent remained. Probably due to the fact that the area is sparsely populated, and didn't have the pressure/influences from mainland Canada.

Some Scottish migrants went there aswell, who at the time spoke Scottish Gaelic. Their descendants still to this day speak Scottish Gaelic in Newfoundland (albeit in smaller numbers). Irish was also spoken there, and had it's own dialect, but has since died out.

There was a programme on RTE maybe about 6 months back about a small island called Tilting off the north coast of Newfoundland. Theres only about 7 or 8 surnames on the island, all Irish of course, and the accent has to be heard to be believed...practically a 95% irish accent from people who have never even been here. I say 95% because you would hear the odd word that they would pronounce in the usual north american way.

Fascinating though how the accent remains to this day from their ancestors, a very self contained community with little interactions with outsiders.

That said, there was a teenage girl, by far the youngest of the community and her accent was FAR more in line with the current american/canadians of her age. Just goes to show how this mass media age is contributing toward their accent to die out eventually.

Rothko

SolarFlash wrote: »

I'm Irish myself and sorry but the Irish accent sounds rubbish. It holds Irish people back and makes us lacking in confidence.

Please explain how a person's accent can hold them back and affect their confidence in any way.

narddog

I lived in Germany during the early '90's and used to run into a lot of Eastern Europeans who spoke English with a distinctive American accent. I finally asked one of the lads from Romania why and was told they picked up English by listening to the American Armed Forces Radio Network, which broadcast over Europe. As for Irish people who speak in US tones, cop yourselves on. Nothing wrong at all with the Irish accent. TBH, it's one of the handiest things an Irish person brings with them, when they travel abroad.

newmug

sink wrote: »

This talk of the posh south Dublin accent only surfacing in the last 20 years is complete rubbish, it's been around since at least my grandparents generation who were born in Dublin nearly a hundred years ago. I would imagine it's a remnant of Ireland's British heritage.

We're talking about American accents surfacing recently, not english ones.

Killer Wench

Arpa wrote: »

This is exactly the type we should be trying to eradicate. Somebody who picks up on somebody not knowing that Starbucks originated in Seattle. Give me a sucky titty knob gobblin break.

The problem is a lot of people who develop these Americanisms cannot see the wood through the trees. It is pumped through a screen at them everyday as the promised land...the cool place where lots of tanned girls in bikinis lay on sandy beaches with buff blonde lifeguards sipping gatorade or dr pepper.

Give me a dark, dingy snug in any Irish pub of a winter night. It may be depressing, but it's real.

If you want to speak like an American and act like you belong to the most stupid nation on the planet, go on, we need the job vacancies here.

Snarky post is snarky. I imagine that I know that Starbucks started in Seattle, because I am in Seattle. I also have "Americanisms" because I am American. All in all, sometimes there are people on this board who come off like they suffer from acute penis envy, and this particular post is a grand example of it.

Feisar

American popular culture has invaded the world so it's not surprising people go on like this.

I do think it's a bit sad to be putting on accents but sure off with them, it's hardly the biggest character flaw ever now is it?

foxyboxer

It's the generic american accent that's annoying. Like a "Begorrah, where's me pot o gold", nobody in Ireland talks like that. If you're going to affect an american twang then at least pick a proper dialect.

I recommend a New Jersey one.

"Hey, get outta my friggin face you baaaasturrrrd!"