Which accent you find the hardest to understand/follow?

Pardon?

What did you say?

:D

I have a friend who lives in Anglesey who we visit quite often, I have terrible trouble understanding people from North Wales. Having said that I used to work for a company that had branches all over the country, the only one I ever had trouble understanding was the guy I had to talk to who was from Leeds. He had the broadest yorkshire accent I've ever come across.

I still have traces of my native Lower Erewash Valley accent (think DH Lawrence country). My Dad's a Geordie - well now bairns, don't you just love that accent? - but find it easy to follow.

I find the Hindu Kush accent quite difficult, also the Australian accent, followed by Brummies.

It depends how broad it is.

When I first moved to Sheffield as a student I worked behind the bar at a pub near Bramall Lane on match days. At first I had real trouble understanding the accent and regional perculiarities. I was asked to work from 7 while 11:30. I couldn't understand, still can't why people say while instead of until. Quite like the accent though

I poured a pint of water for someone who wanted Wards or wads once. He looked at me as though he wanted to hit me. On the whole the clientle were polite and well manned, unlike the pre clubbers going to Bed / Music Factory / Generation etc etc. Bunch of ignorant thossers, same with the people who worked as DFS.

Hardest accent to follow and the one that makes me reach for the remote control is the Geordie accent. That makes me shudder thinking about it

Err, probably scouse :blush:

I've been away too long. It's not the accent. It's the fact that everything is described and the speech is fast. I can't keep up anymore :(

It does depend very much on the broadness of the accent, of course, but in terms of regional British accents, I find Geordie VERY hard to follow. I don't mind the sound of it - I just can't follow it!

But the Brummie accent sounds the worst - apologies to the citizens of Birmingham, but anyone speaking with that accent just sounds like they're really thick!

StarSparkle :)

Originally posted by StarSparkle
It does depend very much on the broadness of the accent, of course, but in terms of regional British accents, I find Geordie VERY hard to follow. I don't mind the sound of it - I just can't follow it!

But the Brummie accent sounds the worst - apologies to the citizens of Birmingham, but anyone speaking with that accent just sounds like they're really thick!

StarSparkle :)

i often refer to birmingham citizens as dummie brummies nothing nasty but that accent is bad not as bad as the wolverhampton one thats well annoying:loopy:

A really broad accent coupled with terrible diction makes anybody sound thick :confused:

Poor diction abounds in South Yorkshire BTW - so people who live in glass houses.....

For me it is the Patois (patwah) of the Jamaicans!!

I am trying to learn it at the moment as my mate can understand it....but they talk so so fast!!

Another mate of mine has also got me looking into gay polari....:hihi:

I struggle with Glaswegian but am generally ok with the softer accents of the Scots!!

Originally posted by Strix
A really broad accent coupled with terrible diction makes anybody sound thick :confused:

Poor diction abounds in South Yorkshire BTW - so people who live in glass houses.....

is that aimed at me then?

Originally posted by Shiesh
I struggle with Glaswegian but am generally ok with the softer accents of the Scots!!

Glasgow.... Where the men speak like dogs barking. :D

Oh the memories :)

Now the problems I had there were the slang words. Sanies in Glasgow is pronounced the same way as sarnies in Liverpool. In Glasgow they are footwear for PE, in Liverpool it's your packed lunch.

I struggled with the language up there for a couple of months ;)

Originally posted by panda79
is that aimed at me then?

No, the bandwaggoners I expect to follow on with something more offensive. There are loads of people on here who don't have a yorkshire accent, and some people forget they are real people too ;)

Originally posted by Strix
A really broad accent coupled with terrible diction makes anybody sound thick :confused:

Poor diction abounds in South Yorkshire BTW - so people who live in glass houses.....

Oooh, you really know how to make yourself popular :D

I don't know whether your comment was aimed at me or not, Strix, but as I am not originally from South Yorkshire, I personally do not have a Sheffield accent.

I hail from the south of Edinburgh, and my understanding is that THAT accent is one of the most, if not the most, well-liked and trusted accents in the UK.

Maybe it's because I've lived here for a number of years, but I find the Sheffield accent very friendly and reassuring.

StarSparkle

Hear hear from the South of Edinburgh accent! (I'm from Loanhead originally)

I've heard some really strong Black Country accents that were difficult to follow, more so than Brum, and some Northern Irish can be tricky. Not had too many problems with Yorkshire, Scouse or Geordie. Glaswegians, maybe...?

Originally posted by StarSparkle
Oooh, you really know how to make yourself popular :D

I don't know whether your comment was aimed at me or not, Strix, but as I am not originally from South Yorkshire, I personally do not have a Sheffield accent.

StarSparkle

Good grief! NO!
See my post just above yours.

And I don't hate you either, so give over!

Originally posted by garydickson
Hear hear from the South of Edinburgh accent! (I'm from Loanhead originally)

I've heard some really strong Black Country accents that were difficult to follow, more so than Brum, and some Northern Irish can be tricky. Not had too many problems with Yorkshire, Scouse or Geordie. Glaswegians, maybe...?

Hello there! :) I think there's quite a few of us originally from Edinburgh on the Sheffield Forum!

Small world - a girl in my class at school was from Loanhead.

I don't think I've really heard the Black Country accent, so I can't comment on that. But certainly I used to have trouble following a Belfast accent - I'm finding it a lot easier though now I'm listening to Colin Murray on Radio 1 most days!

Glaswegians, now who are they?! :gag: :D

StarSparkle :thumbsup:

Originally posted by StarSparkle
Glaswegians, now who are they?! :gag: :D

Real Scots who haven't been watered down by the English? :D

As you asked :hihi:

Originally posted by garydickson
Hear hear from the South of Edinburgh accent! (I'm from Loanhead originally)

I've heard some really strong Black Country accents that were difficult to follow, more so than Brum, and some Northern Irish can be tricky. Not had too many problems with Yorkshire, Scouse or Geordie. Glaswegians, maybe...?

Its not just the Black Country accent which is difficult to follow. There are a huge number of dialect words also which don't seem to be used anywhere else. Someone even translated the bible into Black Country dialect some years ago and to outsiders it could almost appear like a foreign language.

Some information on the Black Country.

Location: between Birmingham and Wolverhampton (including Wolverhampton);

Black Country towns: Tipton, Dudley, West Bromwich, Oldbury, Bilston, Wednesbury, Walsall, Sedgley, Cradley, Brierley Hill, Darlaston, Halesowen, Wolverhampton, Blackheath, part of Smethwick.

Traditional industries: metalbashing in all its forms

Famous Black Country people: Robert Plant, Noddy Holder, Lenny Henry, Frank Skinner, Sam Allerdyce, Josie Lawrence, Christine McVie, Julie Walters, Jerome K. Jerome, Ford Maddox Ford, Abraham Darby ('father of the industrial revolution'), Dud Dudley (iron smelting pioneer), some of the 1605 gunpowder plotters, Billy Wright, Enoch Powell, the Tipton Slasher (William Perry, champion prize fighter), Aynuk and Eli

Famous Black country animals: Black Country Bulldog (Staffordshire bull terrier); ferrets; various animals in Dudley zoo;

Black Country cuisine: grorty pudding (beef and oat groats); faggots and pays; pigs pudding; scratchins; Desperate Dan cow pie (from the Pie Factory);

Black Country Dialect: a huge number of words (e.g. ‘ar’ for yes; ‘bay’ for am not; ‘caw’ for can’t and many others just too numerous to list) and distinctive vowel sounds (e.g. yo for you; fower for four; foive for five; noin for nine; babby for baby etc)

Football teams: the Baggies, Wolves, Walsall

Papers: Express and Star; the Black Country Bugle

Black Country sights: Dudley Castle and zoo; Dudley priory, the Wrens Nest, Netherton tunnel, the Black Country museum; the Venice of the Midlands (Tipton’s canal network);

Black Country masochists: season ticket holders at The Hawthornes and Molineaux

Disloiks: being taken for Brummies; Brummies (sorry Ozzie).

Originally posted by Strix
Real Scots who haven't been watered down by the English? :D


"Glasgow - where the men speak like dogs barking" - I think that was what you said earlier, Strix.

Your charm knows no bounds.

StarSparkle

Originally posted by StarSparkle
"Glasgow - where the men speak like dogs barking" - I think that was what you said earlier, Strix.

Your charm knows no bounds.

StarSparkle

It's a Billy Connolly quote :rolleyes:

And I refuse to be drawn into your slaging off of other groups of forumers, darling

OK you 2...i'll hold your coats.

Originally posted by Strix
It's a Billy Connolly quote :rolleyes:

And I refuse to be drawn into your slaging off of other groups of forumers, darling

Billy Connolly - well, enough said, dear.

StarSparkle

Originally posted by AJ sheffield
OK you 2...i'll hold your coats.
No need AJ.

Starsparkle is just having another of those 'popularity' contests to measure her self-worth by :rolleyes:

Originally posted by Strix
No need AJ.

Starsparkle is just having another of those 'popularity' contests to measure her self-worth by :rolleyes:

You really can't bear not to get the last word in, can you?

StarSparkle

Mod. Note

Now then, folks, let's play nice.

If you want to have a slanging match, take it to PM land, please.

Joe

I find the Black Country accent very confusing. I have two close mates form the Black Country, and one is much broader than the other. You should see them when they get together; it's like watching an old episode of Crossroads played at 2x speed! :D

I love accents generally. I have been know to fancy certain men because of their accent. In particular, I'm referring to Geordies, Scousers and Scots. Hmmm... Scottish men! :D

Originally posted by Kristian
I find the Black Country accent very confusing. I have two close mates form the Black Country, and one is much broader than the other. You should see them when they get together; it's like watching an old episode of Crossroads played at 2x speed! :D

I love accents generally. I have been know to fancy certain men because of their accent. In particular, I'm referring to Geordies, Scousers and Scots. Hmmm... Scottish men! :D

One of the first things Black Country people tend to do when they leave the area is to soften their accent, not least to make themselves more intelligible but also because the accent tends to be one of the least favoured, or even least understood, by outsiders. You will notice that none of the famous people from the Black Country mentioned above speak with strong Black Country accents. I don't myself, but tend to revert back to it when I go 'home'.

Originally posted by LordChaverly
One of the first things Black Country people tend to do when they leave the area is to soften their accent, not least to make themselves more intelligible but also because the accent tends to be one of the least favoured, or even least understood, by outsiders. You will notice that none of the famous people from the Black Country mentioned above speak with strong Black Country accents. I don't myself, but tend to revert back to it when I go 'home'.

I also kind of watered my accent down so that people could understand me here and I had to slow down. Now people quite often get confused with my accent. People have thought that I'm from Ireland, Sctotland, Wales, Birmingham, Australia and South Africa. Then again, some people think that I'm scouse. It makes an interesting conversation point sometimes.

When I lived in Peterborough yorkshire people would ask what part of yorkshire I was from.

Scousers would ask what part of Bootle I was from :P

Says it all really ;)

well i never Peterborough and Bootle lmao i have seen it all now ! :o or should i say heard..............most difficult accent has to be my own (scouse) followed by chinese ? (dont mean to offend)

Originally posted by Kezza1
well i never Peterborough and Bootle lmao i have seen it all now ! :o or should i say heard..............

:hihi: Neither! :hihi:

Originally posted by Kezza1
well i never Peterborough and Bootle lmao i have seen it all now ! :o or should i say heard..............most difficult accent has to be my own (scouse) followed by chinese ? (dont mean to offend)

Welcome to the Forum Kezza1. It's always nice to have another scouser on board. Wel it is for the scousers amongst us anyway. :P

:wave:

And don't you just love what playing for Liverpool does to some players' accents :hihi:

(not picking out Jan Molby or anybody in particular :D )

He's Scouse
He's not
He's Scouse
He's not
He's Scouse
He's not

:hihi:

There was a time in England when a person was judged more by the way they spoke than how much money they had in their pocket. Hyacinth Bucket was very much alive and living in Totley.
what appealed to me about North America was the very opposite. Nobody gave a damn how you spoke, or even how you dressed, as long as you had a buck or two to spend. I get the feeling today, though I haven't visited my native land for some time, that regional accents have become less pronounced than they were, perhaps because of the increased travel that is available today.

As an Aussie who's lived in Sheffield for just under 5 months (in the UK for 8 months), I still struggle with Yorkshire accents every now and then. When I first moved here it was almost like being in a foreign country, I had so much trouble understanding people!

And just when I thought I was getting the hang of it...last week at work I had to transcribe a Leeds focus group from audio and got so lost...ppl with broad Yorkshire accents all talking over the top of one another!!

Accents are a funny thing. To the people I work with I have a strong Aussie accent, but when I call home they say I'm getting an English accent. In the meantime I've been called an Aussie, a Kiwi, an American and a South African. Talk about an identity crisis :)

I always find an Ulster accent difficult. Not just difficult to understand, but with its often harsh tones, generally difficult to listen to.

Please don't take this at a dig at Northern Ireland people in any way. It is not meant in that way and certainly not intended.

Someone mentioned North Wales. No probs with the accent there at all.

But has anyone noticed that you can hear someone talking English (say inside a shop) but when they see you (ie a stranger) they switch to Welsh?

I wonder why that happens?

Originally posted by Shiesh
For me it is the Patois (patwah) of the Jamaicans!!


I bet you cannot say the following two words without sounding Jamacan.

Beer Can

Originally posted by dishwasher

But has anyone noticed that you can hear someone talking English (say inside a shop) but when they see you (ie a stranger) they switch to Welsh?



I lived in North Wales for several years and picked up quite a bit of the language. The local convenience shop was strictly Welsh speaking and the old biddies spent hours in there discussing local scandals but I never let on I could understand them. One day the shop owner was relating a hilarious bit of local gossip and I couldn't help but join in the laughter, - after that they would always clam up when I walked in :P

Originally posted by John
Which accent you find the hardest to understand/follow?

Chinese : Japanese : Russian : South Yorkshire :loopy: :loopy: Chinese : Japanese : Russian : South Yorkshire :loopy: :loopy:

Originally posted by Andy78
I also kind of watered my accent down so that people could understand me here and I had to slow down. Now people quite often get confused with my accent. People have thought that I'm from Ireland, Sctotland, Wales, Birmingham, Australia and South Africa. Then again, some people think that I'm scouse. It makes an interesting conversation point sometimes.

Andy,

I hold my hand up and admit that when I spoke to you at the meet the first time we met, I thought your accent had a "tinge" of the Irish.

However, considering that the Liverpool accent is supposed to be an amalgamation, that includes Irish, then I think (I hope ) I can be excused for thinking that?

I do struggle with any accent when there is a lot of background noise, or if the person rushes what they are saying.

I work with a lovely young lad, who has a mild speech impediment, but what compounds the difficulty I have with comprehension, he rushes what he says, and I cannot deciper what he is saying.

PT

Originally posted by Plain Talker
Andy,

I hold my hand up and admit that when I spoke to you at the meet the first time we met, I thought your accent had a "tinge" of the Irish.

However, considering that the Liverpool accent is supposed to be an amalgamation, that includes Irish, then I think (I hope ) I can be excused for thinking that?

I do struggle with any accent when there is a lot of background noise, or if the person rushes what they are saying.

I work with a lovely young lad, who has a mild speech impediment, but what compounds the difficulty I have with comprehension, he rushes what he says, and I cannot deciper what he is saying.

PT

Heehee, I don't mind at all because I like Irish accents.

I do struggle with the speed thing. I naturally talk really fast, but have to slow it down because no one can understand me. The problem is that when i slow down, I tend to trip over my words more.

It's complicated being me sometimes. :rolleyes:

Originally posted by Andy78
It's complicated being me sometimes. :rolleyes:
Nah, you just need to get home more :thumbsup:
They all talk like that there :D

I cannot keep up anymore :(

Originally posted by Strix
Nah, you just need to get home more :thumbsup:
They all talk like that there :D

I cannot keep up anymore :(

Heehee. Actually even my friends at home can't keep up. After a couple of hours they get used to it again though. It's like my own little language that people have to learn.

I do have one friend that speaks as fast as me. It's the only person that I can talk full speed with. If we're engaged in conversation, no one around us has a clue what we're going on about. It's quite fun really.

When Kenny Dalgliesh used to be interviewed I always thought they should have used subtitles so anyone not familiar with broad Glasgow could understand what he was on about.

Always found Geordie easy by comparison, perhaps because I used to watch Bill and Ben the Flowerpot Men as a kid.

Originally posted by Longcol
When Kenny Dalgliesh used to be interviewed I always thought they should have used subtitles so anyone not familiar with broad Glasgow could understand what he was on about.

Kenny Dalgliesh's accent is virtually unintelligible!

Lovely, lovely man, but I'm a fellow Scot and I'd need an interpreter to understand him!

StarSparkle :D

The Welsh accent is pretty hard to comprehend.

Originally posted by mitziwillow
The Welsh accent is pretty hard to comprehend.

I love the Welsh accent - if it's spoken by a bloke, that is! :D

I could listen to Nicky Wire talk all day, he's got a gorgeous, soft, lilting voice. :)

StarSparkle

Originally posted by StarSparkle
Kenny Dalgliesh's accent is virtually unintelligible!

Lovely, lovely man, but I'm a fellow Scot and I'd need an interpreter to understand him!

StarSparkle :D

'mebbesayemebbesnaw' :D I love Kenny Dalgliesh but he is a mumbler I think his own family must have difficulty deciphering what he is saying :confused:
I am east coast with west coast parents so a hybrid :o accent doesn't fit in either Edinburgh or Glasgow. I was surprised to find that the movie "Sweet 16" was shown on BBC2 a couple weeks back with subtitles???? Is the accent really that hard to comprehend? :confused:

Jamaican!

We had a temp guy come to work at our place a few months ago.
He's called Derrick and as far as i'm aware, he works at the 'Big Tree' as a doorman now.
Not a single person could understand him when he came to our place. We were all intimidated by his size (about 6'4") and no-one would try and talk to him.
After a few weeks i could understand him and i'm pleased to say he is one of the friendliest people i've ever met :)

I love the Jamaican accent :D It's like the joke Viking made :D It still makes me laugh - Beer can sandwiches!!!

Originally posted by cobaltblue
I love the Jamaican accent :D It's like the joke Viking made :D It still makes me laugh - Beer can sandwiches!!!

Ohh no......It's a lot stronger than that :o Believe me, you have no chance of understanding him the first time you meet him :suspect:

Originally posted by vidster
Ohh no......It's a lot stronger than that :o Believe me, you have no chance of understanding him the first time you meet him :suspect:

LMAO Vidster :D Thats what I love though! The unknown .. you have no idea really what they are talking about and they have no comprehension of what you are saying in return :P Being half deaf I even get this with people with the exact same accent!!!!

No-one has yet mentioned the East Anglian accent. I had an uncle from Norfolk, and through him learned to comprehend the accent.

I once admitted a patient to a psychiatric hospital, where he was to be assessed by a Sri Lankan doctor. The patient, who hailed from Norfolk, spoke a broad dialect, which I could understand. The patient audibly complained to me that he didn't think he would be able to understand a word that the foreign looking doctor would speak. The Sri Lankan doctor was unruffled, but then speaking in immaculate English, explained that he hadn't understood a single word the patient had said I ended up interpreting the patient's broad Norfolk dialect into English!

Some Cumbrian accents are difficult to follow, if one is unfamiliar with them. The West Cumbrian accent [Whitehaven, Maryport etc] is a strange mixture of rural Cumberland, Irish and possibly Geordie. The latter two influences possibly brought by incomers to 19th century mining and farming. At any rate, the people have some strange phrases, such as 'marra' for friend, and 'creamo' for excellent. The speech patterns, intonation and timbre sound strange too to the ears of the unfamiliar. Without wishing to cause offence, to me they sound like Geordies with speech impediments.

There are so many accents, and so many variations of accents too. Regarding the Sheffield accent [or accents?], there are many varieties, but each have that unmistakeable 'tang' which I conjecture comes from the Northumbrian Angles. There are geographical variants, and not just between 'classes'. A working class Sheffield accent found in the east of Sheffield does seem to sound a little different to that found in areas bordering Derbyshire. To illustrate my point, listen to the voice of Sean Bean, which is near to the 'eastern' Sheffield accent. Contrast it , with the voice of the actor who played the 'fat one', if you will excuse my phrase, and my ignorance re the actor's name, on the 'Full Monty' film. The latter is typical of the accent found in areas nearer to Chesterfield. Both, however, are Sheffield accents.

Originally posted by timo
each have that unmistakeable 'tang'
Only if you suck them ;)
I think it's 'twang' here :thumbsup:

foreign... especially on the phone, it can be really quite difficult sometimes.

Strix,
LOL. Very good. No, I actually meant 'tang'. I know what I mean, even if nobody else does! I mean, almost a taste. Do you follow me?

:thumbsup: Gotcha now, Timo :thumbsup:

The fat one's name in Full Monty was Mark Addy. He is currently playing in an American sitcom whose name I can't remember it's that bad. He has assumed an American accent for the show which is appalling. We have accents too over here. NYC, Boston, Philly, and Chicago have quite distinct accents, though you would probably think them the same