"That's not an Irish Accent!"

maudgonner

bodice ripper wrote: »

A little patronising surely? I get to have that conversation at least twice a day with customers. At the very least, I feel it would be reasonable for people to not argue with me when I say I am Irish.

It wasn't meant to be patronising.

blinding

If you want to stay on the country then the least you can do is put on a fake Irish accent , maybe a few Straws of corn on your hair and at least one wellington on at all times:eek:

bodice ripper

maudgonner wrote: »

It wasn't meant to be patronising.

Apologies.

jmayo

Andy From Sligo wrote: »

the well used term "that's not an Irish Accent!" - is that a Ireland countrywide term or is it only used in Rural areas of Ireland?

Is it A.) Stating the obvious?

B.) as if to say "what the feck are you doing in Ireland?" - with animosity?


And I would like to set the record straight, I was not in charge of anything when the famine was'nt around I wasnt even born and I dont agree with how the Irish were treated, I was never ever part of the British army either

Next time tell them your ancestor was an agent for an absentee landlord but was shot for evicting familes during the famine.
They won't know whether they celebrate or commiserate.

Then tell them you were in BA but got kicked out for some shyte you did letting some lads off in South Armagh.
Again confusion will be the result.

Del2005 wrote: »

It's just a bogger issue. Once you don't speak with the local accent they think you are a foreigner, even worse if you are a local but spend time outside the townland and dared to get a bit of a Jakeen accent.

In some parts foreigners are preferable to insufferable jackeens.

...And Justice wrote: »

Yep there's 70 million of us out there claiming to be Irish. Most of my friends are Polish and English, I'm descended from a WW2 veteran that wanted to keep his family safe during the bombing of England in the second world war, he moved his whole family to Ireland in early 1940 before the Blitz.

Any port in a storm ehh.

darkpagandeath wrote: »

I get mistaken for Canadian.

Ehh, what are you on aboat ?

Lt Dan

bodice ripper wrote: »

This is the story of my goddamned life. Every new person I meet - "so how long are you over for?" If I say I am Irish - "Ah, but you are not are you?" (which is mad rude btw). If I say I am American - "Go on out of that, you have been here forever." I get accused of watching too much tv, of being D4, of putting on an accent to seem cool etc.

To which I say **** yous. Poxy mononationals.

That is why one should join a Private Members Club, get away from the commoners and dredges of society

Andy From Sligo

I am trying to pick up the shligo accent, the other day I tried asking for "any chiken' fillit rol ' no? " .... but failed miserably with my posh english accent , it just come out sounding silly and put on .... :-D

Nobody thinks I've an Irish accent because of a past speech impediment, which required a lot of speech therapy to fix, so now I pronounce all the words fully and properly.

Apparently doing this doesn't sound Irish.

blinding

Deleted User wrote: »

Nobody thinks I've an Irish accent because of a past speech impediment, which required a lot of speech therapy to fix, so now I pronounce all the words fully and properly.

Apparently doing this doesn't sound Irish.

You have just made that up to cover up for you being a TOFF....we might be daft but very few Toffs get past us:)

Speedwell

I'm in Sligo as well. I married an Irish man and moved here from America. Here's the full patter.

"That's not an Irish accent, sure."
"Yeah," I say, "I'm not an Irish woman just yet. Maybe in a couple years when I apply for citizenship."
"Well then where in America are ye from so?"
"Oh, I moved here from Texas. You can tell from my Texas accent. (wink)"
(beat)
"That's not a Texas accent."
"No, no, I know, it's not a Texas accent. I know I sound like a CNN News anchor. We moved around a lot when I was a kid."
(beat)
"So how do you like Ireland? Are ye used to the rain yet?"
"If I minded rain I certainly wouldn't have moved here. So, any idea how I can pick up some Irish so I don't feel like such a dumb American?"
(beat)
"And what would you be wanting to learn that for?"
(beat)
"This is Ireland, right?"

Optional extra lines, depending on who I'm talking to:

"You can't be an American. You're too nice."
"So what made you decide to marry an Irishman?"
"I'm surprised you didn't go live in Dublin."

maudgonner

Andy From Sligo wrote: »

I am trying to pick up the shligo accent, the other day I tried asking for "any chiken' fillit rol ' no? " .... but failed miserably with my posh english accent , it just come out sounding silly and put on .... :-D

If it makes you feel any better I used to work in London. Colleagues thought it was great fun to ring me up and put on an Irish accent when they talked to me (a bad one ) and then make me do a London accent before they would answer my questions.

I was in an open plan office with dozens of people within earshot. My attempts at the accent were horrible. But the people all around me could only hear my side of the conversation, so thought I was putting on a really shít London accent for no good reason.

melissak

jmayo wrote: »

Next time tell them your ancestor was an agent for an absentee landlord but was shot for evicting familes during the famine.
They won't know whether they celebrate or commiserate.

Then tell them you were in BA but got kicked out for some shyte you did letting some lads off in South Armagh.
Again confusion will be the result.



In some parts foreigners are preferable to insufferable jackeens.



Any port in a storm ehh.



Ehh, what are you on aboat ?

Aboot, if from newfoundland.

DanielODonnell

There is no single example of a British accent or Irish accent, Dubliners like to act like they are a walking symbol of Irishness with their Hollywood Irish brogues but for all we know there grandfather was named Arthur Smith from an England heritage.

Something which confuses me is how Catholics and Protestants have the same accents in Ulster even though they rarely spent any time with each other in the past and they probably didn't even speak the same language in the early days after the plantation.
The brogues in Ulster would still have sounded different even if the planters never arrived due to the Scots speaking similar Gaelic and the amount of mixing going on.

blinding

blinding wrote: »

You have just made that up to cover up for you being a TOFF....we might be daft but very few Toffs get past us:)

If you ever met me, you'd see I'm about as far away as being a toff as you can possibly get.

Idjit

Andy From Sligo wrote: »

the well used term "that's not an Irish Accent!" - is that a Ireland countrywide term or is it only used in Rural areas of Ireland?

Is it A.) Stating the obvious?

B.) as if to say "what the feck are you doing in Ireland?" - with animosity?

Don't worry about it too much OP. I'm born and bred in Dublin and spent some of my life in Kerry with a smattering of bogger relatives...and I still get this said to me.

And no, it's not neccesarily just a rural-folk question either. Recently, a fellow Dubliner on the phone to me in work commented that I didn't sound Irish.

At the end of the call I had to give my name (my surname starts with an O apostrophe so it's generically Irish) and I think he realised how his earlier remarks must have sounded as he told me he's 'not racist' and he never meant anything by it but that he simply couldn't trace where I was from.

Andy From Sligo

I was in touch once with dell technical support once in India call centre and this Indian chap even said to me ironically that is not an Irish accent sir! He was like "is that an English address sir?" Couldn't grasp the fact why or how any British person ended up in ireland I reckon

Brendan Bendar

Andy From Sligo wrote: »

I was in touch once with dell technical support once in India call centre and this Indian chap even said to me ironically that is not an Irish accent sir! He was like "is that an English address sir?" Couldn't grasp the fact why or how any British person ended up in ireland I reckon

The lad was in India, Andy.

I think you are a wee bit 'over excited' about this issue, pal.

Doesn't really over extend the day to day life of this country ?

Andy From Sligo

Brendan Bendar wrote:

The lad was in India, Andy.

Brendan Bendar wrote:

I think you are a wee bit 'over excited' about this issue, pal.

Brendan Bendar wrote:

Doesn't really over extend the day to day life of this country ?

Eh? Oh well what I was getting at is that I normally have Irish people say to me that's not an Irish accent, it was a refreshing change to have an Indian fella tell me it wasn't an Irish accenr

Antar Bolaeisk

Eurgh, this came up again the other day at a meal. One of my work colleagues asked me where I was from and when I replied Donegal the guy beside me, a cockney accented Irish man (not Andy and not from Sligo), nearly fell off the chair in disbelief.

I've really got to start working on my Irish accent.

blinding wrote: »

Thats a bit suspect alright . That Tree...Three thing is Kriptonite to normal Irish people:P

I think that's probably what went wrong, I used to have problems pronouncing certain letters (f and v I think) when I was a child and I certainly was on the receiving end of some bullying for being unable to properly pronounce th (by Irish people nonetheless!) so now I just sound "posh" because I know how to correctly enunciate my words.

The Masculinist

99% of the time it is a mixture here of people being curious and remotely ignorant. Not necessarily in a malicious way.

I was guilty of making the same mistake myself in my younger days, asked an elderly gentleman with an English accent where he was from, to be informed he had lived in Ireland since the 70s.

I would not ask the same question now having lived abroad for many years.

I wouldn't take it too personally, even though it is very annoying I am sure.

Of course, there is also the issue of Irish people in the UK being asked to constantly repeat themselves because they are "difficult to understand". I have had this myself, but other Europeans I have lived with/dated all agreed that they had absolutely no difficultly understanding me.

Riders Of Rohan

Everywhere Ive travelled its been said to me, its like people think dublin and northern Ireland are the only accents we have

Andy From Sligo

why do i feel guilty to the stage where I have to mention that my wife is Irish ... and my grandmother was Irish and that I like the odd pint of Guinness and that we came over on holidays to Ireland and decided to settle down and have children here when they say "what are you doing over here" - I mean it shouldnt really matter I suppose , but I feel guilty sometimes - maybe I should have let the Irish stay in Ireland? ... how dare I come over here and dare to live in this beautiful country!

Brendan Bendar

Andy From Sligo wrote: »

why do i feel guilty to the stage where I have to mention that my wife is Irish ... and my grandmother was Irish and that I like the odd pint of Guinness and that we came over on holidays to Ireland and decided to settle down and have children here when they say "what are you doing over here" - I mean it shouldnt really matter I suppose , but I feel guilty sometimes - maybe I should have let the Irish stay in Ireland? ... how dare I come over here and dare to live in this beautiful country!

Aaah lookit Andy, you're more than welcome here, more than welcome.











Feeling any better?:D

Andy From Sligo

Brendan Bendar wrote: »

Aaah lookit Andy, you're more than welcome here, more than welcome.

Feeling any better?:D

ah lots better tanks ... think I will stay ah sure why not?

Brendan Bendar

Andy From Sligo wrote: »

ah lots better tanks ... think I will stay ah sure why not?

Grand, knew that would sort things out.

You can stay as long as you like, so you can.

Sh1tbag OToole

I love the way everyday mainstream mundane Americans think they don't have an accent

Speedwell

Sh1tbag OToole wrote: »

I love the way everyday mainstream mundane Americans think they don't have an accent

I actually have the "no accent" accent. It is not exactly the "mainstream" American accent, but a semi-synthetic accent called "Standard American English". It corresponds to the British "Received Pronunciation". It's the accent they teach you if you are a TV announcer or actor. I have it because my parents/grandparents were immigrants to America from non-English-speaking countries, and they were taught this pronunciation when they learned to speak English. Also, my father was always on the lookout for a career-furthering position, and switched jobs on the order of a couple times a year while I was growing up, so I never settled into any regional accent. Apparently this makes me sound Canadian to people from certain areas in the UK, for example a couple of nice Plymouth fishermen with whom I once shared a table in a crowded curry restaurant. (I don't sound Canadian, trust me.)

Last night I told my Irish husband that I felt self-conscious using Irish and British words and phrases in my American accent. But I'm also getting tired of his family laughing good-naturedly when I use American diction or pronunciation. I have been known to refer vaguely to "seasonings" to get around the problem pronunciation of "herbs", and to say I'm going to "fill up the car" to prevent hilarity when I accidentally say I'm going to "get gas" instead of "petrol". It's driving me crazy.

Andy From Sligo

Speedwell wrote: »

I actually have the "no accent" accent. It is not exactly the "mainstream" American accent, but a semi-synthetic accent called "Standard American English". It corresponds to the British "Received Pronunciation". It's the accent they teach you if you are a TV announcer or actor. I have it because my parents/grandparents were immigrants to America from non-English-speaking countries, and they were taught this pronunciation when they learned to speak English. Also, my father was always on the lookout for a career-furthering position, and switched jobs on the order of a couple times a year while I was growing up, so I never settled into any regional accent. Apparently this makes me sound Canadian to people from certain areas in the UK, for example a couple of nice Plymouth fishermen with whom I once shared a table in a crowded curry restaurant. (I don't sound Canadian, trust me.)

Last night I told my Irish husband that I felt self-conscious using Irish and British words and phrases in my American accent. But I'm also getting tired of his family laughing good-naturedly when I use American diction or pronunciation. I have been known to refer vaguely to "seasonings" to get around the problem pronunciation of "herbs", and to say I'm going to "fill up the car" to prevent hilarity when I accidentally say I'm going to "get gas" instead of "petrol". It's driving me crazy.

haha - thats gas!!

Andy From Sligo

I feel sorry for inadvertently 'forcing' my cockney accent on my Irish born lad to the point that people think he is British and ask him when he moved to Ireland and where was he born in England and 'does he like living in Ireland - he's Sligo stock ... poor lad

cactusgal

I get so, so sick of people commenting on my accent. I'm American, but have lived in Dublin for many years. My accent has not changed, nor do I want it to. This is how I talk, and what is natural to me. The amount of times I've been asked how long I've lived here, I say the number of years, and then 98% of people say, "Well, you haven't lost your accent!" Is. So . F*cking. Annoying.

I often wonder if the same people would say that to a Chinese or Indian person who speaks English with a strong accent? My guess is no, because that's rude. So please don't comment on my accent, either.

Rant over.

cactusgal

cactusgal wrote: »

I get so, so sick of people commenting on my accent. I'm American, but have lived in Dublin for many years. My accent has not changed, nor do I want it to. This is how I talk, and what is natural to me. The amount of times I've been asked how long I've lived here, I say the number of years, and then 98% of people say, "Well, you haven't lost your accent!" Is. So . F*cking. Annoying.

I often wonder if the same people would say that to a Chinese or Indian person who speaks English with a strong accent? My guess is no, because that's rude. So please don't comment on my accent, either.

Rant over.

Ah seriously?
No big deal, I grew up in Yorkshire until I was 11, people still say, you don't have the accent !
So what, it's just chatting!