re: why do british people speak so weird

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Actually, we sound today like what the British sounded like in the 17th and 18th century. It was during the 19th century that the British accent changed as it became fashionable to talk that way. People even took lessons to learn how to speak that way. So it was the British that changed, not the Americans.


When you say "we", do you mean those of a southern persuasion and twang?

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I've heard this before (on here I believe) but didn't know if it was actually true or not.

u fokin wut m8!? You wanna 'ave a go huh? i'll knock the knickers off ya

You are stupider than the poster who asked how deaf people think.

I've read a few actual academic articles besides on here, confirming what he's saying about the accents. Interesting stuff.

I posted this in another thread before, but a fun fact is that cavemen actually had very short vocal cords and high pitched voices, not gruff deep voices as one would imagine.

:themoreyouknow:

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South Africa is in Africa. And mostly British.

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There's actually a really large percentage of Afrikaans (who are German/Dutch descendants) and they all sound really British as well. I know a guy here who is one.

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Actually, we sound today like what the British sounded like in the 17th and 18th century.

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Who is this WE you speak of, That chick from New Orleans don't sound nothing like my girl from Breaux Bridge.

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Why do people in other former British Colonies (i.e., Australia and South Africa) sound so much more British than Americans and Canadians?

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Canada was colonized by the French around the same time America was colonized. Then the British took it in the 1750's during the French and Indian War.

Australia and South Africa were settled about 150 to 200 years after The New World was and saw large influxes of British emigrants after the accent had begun to change back home.

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Just a guess but could be that these places saw most of their settlement of British expats in the 19th century when the current British accent had already developed?

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Would be my suggestion.

They are all more recent colonies.

The accents of New Orleans, New York City and Boston are curiously similar.

Anyone know why? (Past the obvious)

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What ever caused us to lose ours? When and how did settlers and later early Americans stop speaking with an accent? Or START speaking with an American one?

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One of you scholars answer me this. Why is it when someone is singing in English, no matter whether they're from the United Kingdom, Australia, or America, their singing voice sounds American. It doesn't matter if it's Mick Jagger or Elvis Costello or Adele. I first noticed it when I was about 4 or 5 and saw the Beatles singing on TV in a replay of one of their Ed Sullivan performances. I remember being floored when they were interviewed and spoke English with an accent I'd never heard before even though Paul's and John's singing sounded American. I always took it to mean that speaking with an American accent meant speaking in highly enunciated English or really the lack of an accent altogether.