Accents

So who’s watching The Fall with Gillian Anderson?

I’m so loving the Irish accent in the show. The Irish intonation makes everybody sound slightly befuddled no matter what they say. I’d so love to speak with this accent. I’d actually love to speak with any accent that is not my Russian one. That’s the ugliest accent in English.

20 responses to “Accents”

  1. Stringer Bell Avatar
    Stringer Bell

    I knew you’d like the show. I love the accents, too.

    Another recommendation after you’re done with this: Borgen. It’s not streaming anywhere so you’ll have to find alternate sources, but I promise you it’ll be worth it. The lead actress is unbelievably good.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borgen_%28TV_series%29

    Borgen is a Danish one-hour political drama television series. It tells the story of charismatic politician Birgitte Nyborg who unexpectedly becomes the first female Prime Minister of Denmark. “Borgen” (“the Castle”) is the nickname of Christiansborg Palace, which houses all three of Denmark’s branches of government: the Parliament, the Prime Minister’s Office and the Supreme Court.

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    1. cliff arroyo Avatar

      Second (and third and fourth) the Borgen recommendation.

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  2. Lear Avatar

    Oh, I miss agent Scully!

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  3. Lear Avatar

    Oh,I miss agent Scully!

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    1. Clarissa Avatar

      My husband thought she was Patricia Arquette because of the different hair color. I wonder what he’ll say when he sees my new hair color.

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    2. Ol. Avatar
      Ol.

      Borgen is good.

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  4. shadowofashade Avatar
    shadowofashade

    I think you’re selling your accent short, Clarissa.

    I personally find a female Eastern European accent rather sexy, but that’s me.

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    1. Clarissa Avatar

      This is very kind. But I still don’t like my accent. 🙂

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  5. DWeird Avatar
    DWeird

    Heh. Perhaps it will relieve you to know that I am currently participating in a united effort of the nations of the world to create a worse English accent.

    Before I came to England, my English was excellent if not exquisite. Nau I spik wairhouz inglish.

    I will notify you when the preparations are complete and our group is ready to unleash this grave menace on the world. No one will notice your deep l’s and v’s in place of w’s then!

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    1. Clarissa Avatar

      Thank you, man! You are doing a huge service to the world in general and me in particular. 🙂

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    2. cliff arroyo Avatar

      I think Birmingham and Manchester already have you beat… they certain set the bar very, very high.

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      1. Jones Avatar
        Jones

        I’ll see your Brummie and raise you Cornish … 🙂

        [oh, you thought the “pirate accent” was a total put-on, did you …] 🙂

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      2. Clarissa Avatar

        Back when I visited Birmingham, I met a person from Wales there. Didn’t understand a single word he said. It was very embarrassing.

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        1. Jones Avatar
          Jones

          Ar ôl gwrando ar Cymraeg am gyfnod you simply think you’re hallucinating those words anyway …

          🙂

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    3. Jones Avatar
      Jones

      NUHBUDDY EXPECTZ THUH AMURRIKIN ENGLIZH INQUIZITION 🙂

      I find it somewhat strange though that things that need to be “poshed up” a bit sometimes have an American appellation attached to them, in addition to some other things that tend to be “levelled down”.

      But of course we here can’t be bovvered with this impending disaster because the kids are already speaking some of it anyway …

      “NO MUM, IT’S SODA!”

      “IT’S FIZZY DRINK!”

      🙂

      I rode past a “bike CENTER” a few days ago in Somerset and was momentarily stunned by the presence of American English in the shop’s name …

      [has much fun here putting emphasis on all of those Zeds, BTW] 🙂

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      1. Clarissa Avatar

        “I find it somewhat strange though that things that need to be “poshed up” a bit sometimes have an American appellation attached to them”

        • This is so funny because it used to be the other way around.

        And I think fizzy drink sounds so much better than soda because soda means sodium bicarbonate in my language and is decidedly unappetizing.

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  6. Ol. Avatar
    Ol.

    Does this happen to you too? One day you hear yourself speaking English and you think your accent is not that bad, and the next day you can only hear your native language when spaking English?

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    1. Clarissa Avatar

      All the time! I never know what will come out every time I open my mouth. It’s always a surprise to hear myself speak because sometimes it would be this beautiful, “clean” English but then sometimes it would be a horrible heavy Russian accent that many people don’t even understand.

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      1. Ol Avatar
        Ol

        Exactly. I wonder whether on some days my pronunciation is better or I am only more self-aware. Ohhh… I hope it is the pronunciation. Otherwise I shall keep my mouth shut.

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        1. cliff arroyo Avatar

          As far as I can tell that’s just an occupational hazard of living in a foreign language environment, some days the brain and/or brain to mouth systems that support pronunciation or syntax just work better than others.

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A conservative literary critic and college professor