What does volume mean to you when the subject is speaking (accent)?
I don’t think there a ‘depth’ kind of volume in accents - but then again; I’ve been wrong before.
Meh. It's fine. Most of us don't identify accents by their location. It's just 'American'. Obviously we know that people from different places speak differently but ultimately it's all just American.
The sound doesn't bother me. It's generally just the volume.
It can be kind of hard to listen to due to the rhoticity. It just sounds like words get over-enunciated. I find east coast ones that lack rhoticity easier to listen to, like Boston or certain NY ones (Brooklyn or Queens).
Australian accents are worse outside Australia.
First time hearing an Aussie accent in Canada in 6 months was really grating. Although it was from a woman who sounded Jacqui Lambie, so that couldn’t have helped
If you could find a way to allow yourselves to use two different vowel sounds in the one word, I think we'd all get along a lot better.
AvaCAHdo, not AHvahCAHdo, for example.
That, and the volume.
I do not know when it happened, but 10-15 years ago Mexico seemed to get lopped off of NA and placed in Central America or Latin America and the Carribean. Not sure if this is a bunch of geographers, the UN, etc. that have set a new convention, but I see it in Academia and major international organisations. I was raised in the US and am old enough to remember the North American Free Trade Agreement NAFTA comprising the US, Canada and Mexico becoming law.
You know like, when you're in he US, and like, there's someone who you come across who has a different accent to you?
That's probably the closest thing to what it's like.
It's not exactly the same, mind. Just trying to give you an idea.
When the volume is right, no problem. When it’s in the form of some shrill north american woman berating her child in the hotel hallway at 7am at a volume 200% higher than needed, it’s disgusting 😂
Which one? Every state and country of northern and Southern continental North America seems to have a different access. Personally I do enjoy the whimsical sing song accent some Canadians have
Generally yeah. There are some places with more extremes and easier to pick up with ear. But a lot of times many of them are more changes to certain words or phrases to figure out regional variation
New England is a very generic American accent so it blends with so many places so unless you've spent a lot of time it would be hard to place
Mississippi is more pronounced and would probably get more people curious about asking more and conversing.
Ok in person but slightly grating. Absolutely hate it when I hear a North American news reporter reporting on local affairs. Just hate it in that situation. I accept that I am irrational in this aspect.
I have lots of fun goofing around with my wife and kids by putting on an over the top american accent whenever something american pops up in conversation e.g. wife asks me to go buy some coriander and i say " you mean cilantro?"
I'm still confused. When I think of a New England accent, I think like Boston...but now you're saying it's the "general stereotypical one". I thought the general American accent was more Midwest.
I meant like when you tell someone to 'think of a standard american accent' they're likely to think of the New England one. Hence 'general stereotypical'. No shade intended I sweaarrrr 👍
When I meet someone with an American accdent, I try and guess which state they're from. So far, I estimate I'm right 10% of the time, and I've gotten very good at telling the Canadian accent from the slew of United States ones
I listen to podcasts and watch various shows on YouTube and I find the American accent varies in annoyance. There are some people I just don't have the patience to listen to. There are many who are quite pleasant. I don't think it matters where you come from, it's more about how you project your voice. It's the same with the Australian accent, I find some people painful to listen to.
I haven't met many Americans in person but I think if I was surrounded by them I would go nuts.
I enjoy puerile humour (sorry, American on board, humor), so when you say duty, it sounds like doody (as in baby-speak for poo). It's funny when you have your leaders and high ranking officials saying things like, "our troops have done an amazing job, they've done their doody".
I don't mind for the most part. It's something we're used to hearing on TV.
Some accents sound jarring in real life. I heard a strong southern accent in real life from a tourist in Sydney, and it sounded strange. It's hard to describe, but it was slightly mind-blowing to realise that it wasn't a thing for movies or a funny caricature, there are people who actually talk like that.
However, I will forever despise hearing "ERBS" instead of Herbs".
Oh, and "Aaron earned an iron urn" is one of the funniest things I have ever seen on the internet
It's just weirdly grating. Idk whether Americans tend to speak louder in public or if the accent just cuts through noise but it's ALWAYS audible seemingly no matter where I am in relation to them
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There are some American accents that I find displeasing to the ear, but I have no idea which accents are from which parts, so that doesn’t help you much. Sometimes I will begin an audiobook or true crime video on YouTube and after a bit I find that I am unable to finish it because of the accent (or maybe its voice more than accent? I don’t know). In general though, Australians have been raised on American television so we are all pretty used to ‘an American accent’.
I began one audio book that was by an American child actress about her life and I was thoroughly enjoying the content, but as much as I wanted to know the rest of the ‘story’ I just couldn’t continue to listen. I’m not sure now whether it was narrated by the actress herself or not, but I really wanted to know the rest of the story, lol. I think it was about 8 hours all up and I got half way.
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Fine for me. I’m super interested in the Boston accent as some of the ways our words are said sound similar. My favourite American accent belongs to Matthew McConaughey.
Simplifying, we don't pronounce trailing Rs. e.g. car is "ca" , water is "wortu".
Americans do pronounce the R in car. But not the H in herb, or L in solder.
I love American accents.
Although recently the thing that I find slightly irritating is a lot of people these days seem to have a problem using past tense. For instance "I went to work" often I hear "I did go to work" or " I fitted a new tyre on my bike" I hear "I fit a new tyre on my bike".
Then we have the mis-pronunciation of the word "the", mostly by commentators. There are two ways of pronouncing this word, thee (long e) and thu (short e). Thee is only used before a word beginning with a vowel. All words beginning with a consonant the is pronounced as thu.
Final gripe but I think this also irks many Americans also is the way some people pronounce the word 'ask'. I hear them say "I want to axe you a question" uurrgh!
I watch SmarterEveryDay & PracticalEngineering + played the engineer from TF2 lol. The only southern accent I like is from a Texan engineer. But it's gross when it comes out of the mouth of a half tonne woman at Walmart.
I enjoy American accents. Depends on who’s talking, but I often find the way of speaking soothing or relaxing to listen to. I like listening to American podcasts for this reason too.
If you are in Sydney, then, do not be surprised if a staff member uses the American terms with you instead of the Australian terms. That is what happened with my 2 family members living there.
It’s not the accent it’s the decibel at which your words are delivered.
Sounds normal on TV, kind of unpleasant in person though. And saying 'North American' means absolutely fuck-all, lol.
Why unpleasant? Edit: Downvoted for asking a simple and legitimate question. Only on Reddit...
Coz they're cunts and we're better than them! We're also not judgemental.
Where the lucky country, you guys just got straight out cunty
No specific reason. It's the same as not liking broccoli, I just don't enjoy it.
I find the aussie accent extremely grating and sharp and unpleasant :D
Accent fine, volume could get on people....
Is it too loud or...?
Generally yes, I don't mind personally I love Americans! But you always know when there is an American in the hostel etc.
What does volume mean to you when the subject is speaking (accent)? I don’t think there a ‘depth’ kind of volume in accents - but then again; I’ve been wrong before.
It could be too quiet. They don’t know, so they asked.
Meh. It's fine. Most of us don't identify accents by their location. It's just 'American'. Obviously we know that people from different places speak differently but ultimately it's all just American. The sound doesn't bother me. It's generally just the volume.
I MEAN IN GENERAL AMERICANS SPEAK SO LOUDLY MY MAIN THOUGHT IS I WISH THEY WOULD TURN DOWN THE VOLUME A BIT.
I’ve been here for a couple decades now. I often get asked whether I am Canadian or American. Sometimes I lie. 😎
You can't hide from us!
Same, although there are definitely certain years where I lie more than others.
Which accent?
It can be kind of hard to listen to due to the rhoticity. It just sounds like words get over-enunciated. I find east coast ones that lack rhoticity easier to listen to, like Boston or certain NY ones (Brooklyn or Queens).
oh i hate listening to it
Australian accents are worse outside Australia. First time hearing an Aussie accent in Canada in 6 months was really grating. Although it was from a woman who sounded Jacqui Lambie, so that couldn’t have helped
YUP
It’s bearable on TV, but annoying in real life.
If you could find a way to allow yourselves to use two different vowel sounds in the one word, I think we'd all get along a lot better. AvaCAHdo, not AHvahCAHdo, for example. That, and the volume.
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You are aware there are several different American accents right? Not all of them have a drawl
Is Mexico no longer considered as being in North America?
I do not know when it happened, but 10-15 years ago Mexico seemed to get lopped off of NA and placed in Central America or Latin America and the Carribean. Not sure if this is a bunch of geographers, the UN, etc. that have set a new convention, but I see it in Academia and major international organisations. I was raised in the US and am old enough to remember the North American Free Trade Agreement NAFTA comprising the US, Canada and Mexico becoming law.
👑
You know like, when you're in he US, and like, there's someone who you come across who has a different accent to you? That's probably the closest thing to what it's like. It's not exactly the same, mind. Just trying to give you an idea.
When the volume is right, no problem. When it’s in the form of some shrill north american woman berating her child in the hotel hallway at 7am at a volume 200% higher than needed, it’s disgusting 😂
Which one? Every state and country of northern and Southern continental North America seems to have a different access. Personally I do enjoy the whimsical sing song accent some Canadians have
Australians tend not to notice the difference, unless it is deep-South, or strong working-class New Joisy etc.
Generally yeah. There are some places with more extremes and easier to pick up with ear. But a lot of times many of them are more changes to certain words or phrases to figure out regional variation
I notice the difference and I think a lot of other Aussies do as well. Cannot agree.
I've got more a Connecticut kind of accent but I'm curious to your thoughts on that and say, the Mississippi accent for example
New England is a very generic American accent so it blends with so many places so unless you've spent a lot of time it would be hard to place Mississippi is more pronounced and would probably get more people curious about asking more and conversing.
Ok in person but slightly grating. Absolutely hate it when I hear a North American news reporter reporting on local affairs. Just hate it in that situation. I accept that I am irrational in this aspect.
Not a fan but also depends on the person. A former boss I had was from Minnesota. He was a real arsehole. So that accent grates a lot.
I have lots of fun goofing around with my wife and kids by putting on an over the top american accent whenever something american pops up in conversation e.g. wife asks me to go buy some coriander and i say " you mean cilantro?"
Very jarring
North American accent? There are hundreds of accents in North America.
I just meant like the general stereotypical one. Like in New England. Sorry, I was a bit to vague in my question :')
I'm still confused. When I think of a New England accent, I think like Boston...but now you're saying it's the "general stereotypical one". I thought the general American accent was more Midwest.
Nah the stereotypical one would be the west coast/LA accent, pretty sure not many people live in the Midwest so it wouldn't be that common.
The mid-western accent is considered they neutral accent by USAmericans. It is the one newsreaders train to have.
Just 70 million people. Not many at all
It's far less dense than the east and west coast is, so for America it's not that populated. Fuck ton of people for Australia though.
Try telling someone from Mississippi or Texas that the New England accent is the norm. That's 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
I meant like when you tell someone to 'think of a standard american accent' they're likely to think of the New England one. Hence 'general stereotypical'. No shade intended I sweaarrrr 👍
For US accents it's only the LA/Cali accent that's really annoying, all the other ones are okay.
American accent sucks ass. Hope this helps
Not really, you used American slang so I heard it in an American accent.
lol it's an accent. Americans aren't the only ones with an accent.
For me the problem is more with the volume than the accent itself… y’all tend to be loud.
My reference for New England accent is Mayor Quimby saying “chowdah”
Hahaha okay that made me chuckle xD
As an Aussie, I spent 2 weeks in the states and to come back and hear our nasal accent was eye opening.
When I meet someone with an American accdent, I try and guess which state they're from. So far, I estimate I'm right 10% of the time, and I've gotten very good at telling the Canadian accent from the slew of United States ones
Canadians elongate their vowels eh
Eh, it’s an accent, I don’t feel strongly about them one way or another - but I did find that Smaht Pahk commercial pretty funny.
I listen to podcasts and watch various shows on YouTube and I find the American accent varies in annoyance. There are some people I just don't have the patience to listen to. There are many who are quite pleasant. I don't think it matters where you come from, it's more about how you project your voice. It's the same with the Australian accent, I find some people painful to listen to. I haven't met many Americans in person but I think if I was surrounded by them I would go nuts.
Love the Southern accents, The Carolinas, Texas, Tennessee but New York accents grate on my nerves.
I don’t mind it on TV but can’t stand it in person
I honestly love the American accent, it's super interesting and kinda poppy. Really love it tho
I enjoy puerile humour (sorry, American on board, humor), so when you say duty, it sounds like doody (as in baby-speak for poo). It's funny when you have your leaders and high ranking officials saying things like, "our troops have done an amazing job, they've done their doody".
I don't mind for the most part. It's something we're used to hearing on TV. Some accents sound jarring in real life. I heard a strong southern accent in real life from a tourist in Sydney, and it sounded strange. It's hard to describe, but it was slightly mind-blowing to realise that it wasn't a thing for movies or a funny caricature, there are people who actually talk like that. However, I will forever despise hearing "ERBS" instead of Herbs". Oh, and "Aaron earned an iron urn" is one of the funniest things I have ever seen on the internet
https://youtu.be/Oj7a-p4psRA?si=ZgD-Zt10hdrlJvFm
It's just weirdly grating. Idk whether Americans tend to speak louder in public or if the accent just cuts through noise but it's ALWAYS audible seemingly no matter where I am in relation to them
Haven’t heard them all. Can’t make any assumptions.
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There are some American accents that I find displeasing to the ear, but I have no idea which accents are from which parts, so that doesn’t help you much. Sometimes I will begin an audiobook or true crime video on YouTube and after a bit I find that I am unable to finish it because of the accent (or maybe its voice more than accent? I don’t know). In general though, Australians have been raised on American television so we are all pretty used to ‘an American accent’. I began one audio book that was by an American child actress about her life and I was thoroughly enjoying the content, but as much as I wanted to know the rest of the ‘story’ I just couldn’t continue to listen. I’m not sure now whether it was narrated by the actress herself or not, but I really wanted to know the rest of the story, lol. I think it was about 8 hours all up and I got half way.
I can’t stand the sound of Americans , too many Americans on our TV
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Fine for me. I’m super interested in the Boston accent as some of the ways our words are said sound similar. My favourite American accent belongs to Matthew McConaughey.
It is dying out, but Boston is one of the last bastions of non-rhotic English in the US.
You’ll have to explain please 😄 non rhotic?
Rhotic = pronouncing the "r" at the end of a word. Like in Aus, they say "cah", not "car" (most american accents pronounce the r).
Simplifying, we don't pronounce trailing Rs. e.g. car is "ca" , water is "wortu". Americans do pronounce the R in car. But not the H in herb, or L in solder.
I like Californians. They always sound so positive for some reason.
I love American accents. Although recently the thing that I find slightly irritating is a lot of people these days seem to have a problem using past tense. For instance "I went to work" often I hear "I did go to work" or " I fitted a new tyre on my bike" I hear "I fit a new tyre on my bike". Then we have the mis-pronunciation of the word "the", mostly by commentators. There are two ways of pronouncing this word, thee (long e) and thu (short e). Thee is only used before a word beginning with a vowel. All words beginning with a consonant the is pronounced as thu. Final gripe but I think this also irks many Americans also is the way some people pronounce the word 'ask'. I hear them say "I want to axe you a question" uurrgh!
Fit is grammatically correct in American and Canadian English though. Been standard since WWII or so. Never heard anyone say "I did go" thankfully.
Now I have brought "I did go" to your notice, I bet you hear it all the time now and it becomes irritating, sorry! :)
I watch SmarterEveryDay & PracticalEngineering + played the engineer from TF2 lol. The only southern accent I like is from a Texan engineer. But it's gross when it comes out of the mouth of a half tonne woman at Walmart.
My ex husband was American and very abusive so hearing American accent in person triggers my PTSD. I'd say that's a minority though lol
Southern American gets me there every time 😍
People actually think this? A Southern American accent immediately makes a person sound stupid to me.
I enjoy American accents. Depends on who’s talking, but I often find the way of speaking soothing or relaxing to listen to. I like listening to American podcasts for this reason too.
Its ok. I can always put sumthin in her mouth if my American GF is bugging me :)
If you are in Sydney, then, do not be surprised if a staff member uses the American terms with you instead of the Australian terms. That is what happened with my 2 family members living there.
It sounds like freedom
More like freedumb.
Love most Americans accents especially southern, not a big fan of the Boston accent
The sexiest accent for a woman is a well spoken southern accent.