Who really has the accent??

18 Comments

OK, do British people have a harder time understanding Americans or do Americans have a harder time understanding British??

What defines an accent? I believe it's in the difficulty of someone of the same language understanding you. Agree?

British have the accent, Americans can't understand them! 15
Americans have it, Brits can't understand y'all. 8
I'm British and I understand both equally. 15
I'm 100% American (born and raised) and I understand both equally. 46
I'm European and I can understand equally if speaking my language. 4
I'm European and Brits speak my language better. 0
I'm European and basically anyone not a native murders my language! 5
I speak English, British, and travel and no one misunderstands me. 5
I speak English, travel, and no one misunderstands me. 5
English is my second language and I understand Brits better than U.S. 0
English is my second language and I understand U.S. better. 11
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Comments ( 18 )
  • howaminotmyself
    13 years ago

    It has nothing to do with how hard it is for others to understand you. It only means they are unfamiliar with the speech patterns. Talking with your mouth full of food can be difficult to understand but it isn't an accent.

    It is the manner in which words are pronounced and often vary by region. The thicker it is, the harder it is to recognize the pattern. You can sometimes tell someones economic or social status based on accent, not just geographical location.

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  • wreckd
    13 years ago

    We all have accents.

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  • ALLoftheabove
    13 years ago

    It's basically the same language, how could you not understand a Brit

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    • dappled
      13 years ago

      The posh ones are okay but there are plenty of city centre accents and slang that even other Brits don't get. If a Glaswegian asks if you want a wee swally down the squanty bradge, it's difficult to know what to say.

      Unless you're teetotal, the correct answer to the above is probably yes.

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      • Lord_Of_All_Cabbage
        13 years ago

        I'm from an area in england with alot of accent's, i'm not posh but i sound like one of those answering machine automated messages.

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  • [Old Memory]
    13 years ago

    Both pronounce many sounds wrong. For instance, Brits often don't pronounce the letter "t" if it is in the middle of a word, and many American accents add or drop "r" at the end of words. Only I speak perfect English.

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  • STEPHEN_____COLBERT
    13 years ago

    When Brits sing they lose the accent.... I THINK THEY'RE FAKING IT

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    • SkullsNRoses
      10 years ago

      Singing in an american accent is easier.

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  • [Old Memory]
    12 years ago

    I really don't like when people say american and then say U.S. because american isn't just the U.S.A. it's all of north america and south! So if you are talking about U.S.A. the say U.S.A. not america because their's more to america then just the U.S.

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  • don't_hate_just_rate_<3
    13 years ago

    brits dont have an accent if u speack propa english (im british)

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  • joybird
    12 years ago

    I'm from N. Ireland which is British and I can understand the Scottish, posh English, Welsh and American but NOT the inner cities of England. I swear I would need sub-titles!

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  • disthing
    12 years ago

    I can understand most British accents and most US American accents fine. That being said, some really strong accents in both countries leave me struggling.

    Scottish, Liverpool, Manchester and Geordie can sometimes be a challenge to wrap my ear around, especially when they use a lot of slang or colloquial grammar. Deep Southern accents, Mexican accents and the Baltimore accent (I learnt this from watching The Wire) are sometimes a challenge to understand.

    A lot of the time it comes down to how slurred the words are and how many slang terms are used.

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  • Girl-vrs-Problem
    12 years ago

    I find maouri english Speakers hard to understand. they don't enouciate some parts of their words.

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  • DhGlory
    12 years ago

    I'm from Wales, so I'm British, I have a strong Welsh accent which is often hard to understand but I can understand Americans and other British accents all the same, however, Americans tend to have a sort of whiney/nasally way of speaking... no offense intended.

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  • F.S
    12 years ago

    I am from england, so im British.. i have an English accent. I understand Americans. Probably because they are always on the tv

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  • Crayshack
    13 years ago

    There's like 15 different American accents.

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  • CruelHeartz
    13 years ago

    I'm Hispanic and i can make a lot of accents it's really funny cause my friends are like wtf are you saying?

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  • jamesmitchell29486
    13 years ago

    why wasn't I'm american but english accent is easier to understanta possible answer?

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