NeoPlatonist
Deinonychus
Joined: Nov 22, 2006
Age: 27
Posts: 363
Location: Indiana
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 Posted: Tue Jan 23, 2007 7:07 pm Post subject: Using Accents in Social Situations |
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In the last month or so, speaking in a British accent has become the vogue in the theater department here. Everyone whips out their best cockney during work and parties and such. So I go to this Seven Deadly Sins cast party as Pride and I put on this very confident and flirtatious persona British accent and all. I am usually very much a wall flower at parties but that night I was one of the ringleaders, chatting up the girls and shooting the sh** with the guys. I was able to think of snappy come backs and I verbally spared with the best of them (most people there were actors and I was one of the few techs). I hadn't been able to do anything like that in many years because I just don't have the confidence normally.
Do any of you use accents to put on personas in social situations? Granted there aren't many situations where it would be appropriate, but the change it made on me was not subtle.
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hyperbolic
Top Secret Level Ultra
Joined: Aug 15, 2006
Posts: 1943
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| Posted: Tue Jan 23, 2007 7:38 pm Post subject: |
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That's awesome. Wouldn't it be great if the British accent suddenly swept the nation?
Oh, and you know CockneyRebel would be the life of the party as well, especially since this accent is of the cockney variety.
Two r's. |
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Tanz
Snowy Owl
Joined: Jan 19, 2007
Posts: 170
Location: Orlando area
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| Posted: Wed Jan 24, 2007 3:16 pm Post subject: |
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kudos to you. I like hanging out with the theatre department too, it has given me lots of confidence and the ability to play a persona in public. And informal acting lessons have helped me hide those annoying non-smiles NTs pester me about.
I sometimes slip into a Liverpool accent or a Scottish brough (sp?) when I get excited or buzzed, but it's probably all the Doctor Who, Red Dwarf, and other BBC shows I watch, since I am anglo american by birth and location. I sometimes think I spent a past life or 2 in England since I am obsessed with it and genuinely feel more comfortable there than in the US.
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Tequila
Trust the people!
Joined: Feb 26, 2006
Posts: 26043
Location: Lancashire, UK
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| Posted: Wed Jan 24, 2007 3:33 pm Post subject: |
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| There are all sorts of British accents, not just the stereotypical Cockney. There's other London, Estuary English, Cornish, other southern England rural accents, Bristol, Brummie, Black Country, various Welsh accents, Scouse, Manchester, Yorkshire, Lancashire, Geordie, many different Scottish accents, Manx accents and Ulster accents to name but a few. |
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hyperbolic
Top Secret Level Ultra
Joined: Aug 15, 2006
Posts: 1943
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| Posted: Wed Jan 24, 2007 4:18 pm Post subject: |
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Tequila, I have an odd question for you. How do people in England think of the typical American accent, positively, negatively, or somewhere in between? (If there is such a thing as a typical American accent.)
And what do they think of a light American southern accent? (Nothing dramatic or cowboyish or Bush-esque, but just a slight American southern accent, which mostly sounds like the typical American accent.)
Also, would it be advisable for a for a foreigner immigrating to Britain to adapt to an English style of speaking? And if one speaks the Received pronunciation, is that good or bad socially? (Being mistaken for nobility wouldn't be bad, in my opinion, but losing out on friendly conversation due to an apparent uppitiness wouldn't be good.) |
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Tequila
Trust the people!
Joined: Feb 26, 2006
Posts: 26043
Location: Lancashire, UK
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| Posted: Wed Jan 24, 2007 4:46 pm Post subject: |
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| xon wrote: | | Tequila, I have an odd question for you. How do people in England think of the typical American accent, positively, negatively, or somewhere in between? (If there is such a thing as a typical American accent.) |
Definitely negatively. People take the piss (and not always in a kind way) out of American accents all the time. I find quite a few of them irritating, and the "Have a nice day-ness" grates with most English people.
Don't adopt an RP accent - people will tell you're a fake and dislike you even more. Don't be ashamed of being American, but as long as it's not a really awkward accent you should be fine. Avoid politics, though. You're bound to wind someone up discussing wars and such. |
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calibaby
Pileated woodpecker
Joined: Jan 12, 2007
Age: 39
Posts: 179
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| Posted: Wed Jan 24, 2007 7:14 pm Post subject: |
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| what does an american accent sound like??? |
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Starbuline
The Blues Are Brown.
Joined: Sep 26, 2006
Posts: 8231
Location: .....Russia
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| Posted: Wed Jan 24, 2007 9:40 pm Post subject: |
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| I sometimes speak with a Russian accent by accident. I roll my Rs and stuff. |
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CockneyRebel
Mick Avory, Sensitive brown-eyed Sweet Pea
Joined: Jul 18, 2004
Age: 38
Posts: 87188
Location: In a quiet and peaceful garden, where gentle Mick Avory-like Sweet Peas grow.
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| Posted: Fri Jan 26, 2007 9:46 am Post subject: Re: Using Accents in Social Situations |
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| NeoPlatonist wrote: | In the last month or so, speaking in a British accent has become the vogue in the theater department here. Everyone whips out their best cockney during work and parties and such. So I go to this Seven Deadly Sins cast party as Pride and I put on this very confident and flirtatious persona British accent and all. I am usually very much a wall flower at parties but that night I was one of the ringleaders, chatting up the girls and shooting the sh** with the guys. I was able to think of snappy come backs and I verbally spared with the best of them (most people there were actors and I was one of the few techs). I hadn't been able to do anything like that in many years because I just don't have the confidence normally.
Do any of you use accents to put on personas in social situations? Granted there aren't many situations where it would be appropriate, but the change it made on me was not subtle. |
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AnonymousAnonymous
Is Not A Sociopath
Joined: Nov 24, 2006
Age: 22
Posts: 22543
Location: Portland, Oregon
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| Posted: Sun Jan 28, 2007 4:32 pm Post subject: |
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| I sometimes speak in either a British, Irish, or Australian accent but I always catch myself & switch back to my normal Pacific NW accent. |
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onefourninezero
Velociraptor
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Joined: Oct 12, 2006
Posts: 441
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| Posted: Mon Jan 29, 2007 10:37 am Post subject: |
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I remember a few years ago when it became cool to talk like an American... the phase passed quickly  |
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CockneyRebel
Mick Avory, Sensitive brown-eyed Sweet Pea
Joined: Jul 18, 2004
Age: 38
Posts: 87188
Location: In a quiet and peaceful garden, where gentle Mick Avory-like Sweet Peas grow.
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| Posted: Tue Jan 30, 2007 7:52 am Post subject: |
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| I've had a Cockney accent my whole life, and I don't plan on losing it, in a million years. |
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Veresae
succubus bait
Joined: Feb 25, 2006
Age: 25
Posts: 3452
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| Posted: Tue Jan 30, 2007 11:52 pm Post subject: |
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| People around me have faked accents for fun all the time. British ones especially. XD |
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Melantha
Toucan
Joined: Dec 06, 2006
Posts: 260
Location: Idaho
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| Posted: Sun Feb 04, 2007 11:29 pm Post subject: |
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Makes sense to me. It's a persona, it's not YOU (at least by their perception), so the pressure and anxiety eases off and you can just relax and enjoy letting this "character" take over.
I've been known to go out to a bar and put on an accent. That was back in New Zealand, though. Now I'm in the U.S. and I do have an accent! Although I suppose I could still do a different one and the principle would still be the same.
I also tend to start speaking in a Southern U.S. accent after watching a movie with them, such as Laura Dern in "Wild At Heart". |
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Hoorahville
Sea Gull
Joined: Jan 15, 2007
Posts: 236
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| Posted: Sun Feb 04, 2007 11:49 pm Post subject: |
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| How does one "talk like an American" ? lol. There's 300,000,000 of us and none of us speak the same language, much less with the same accent. |
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