[Pasy]

Is this a convincing cockney accent & rhyming slang? Is he American?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSZkS...eature=related

More convincing ....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzs_Vm9mBvk

or ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BV8KfpE3BA

[Civilrecordzz]

ha ha the third one from the fast show is more convincing than the first

[S.T.D.]

I have to look up The Fast Show. I have not seen any decent shows from the UK since Fawlty, Black Adder and Red Dwarf!

The first sounded OK, but off. It would probably fool most non-natives or people that do not come from the area.

The second just did not seem to fit for some reason. It SOUNDED better, but he did not strike me as an englishman....


Question, how were the accents in things like Trainspotting? Snatch? (not all the actors in there were of teh area they were imitating, were they?). Who did the best imitation of an accent you were familiar with in a motion picture?

[Pataacculakp]

gwyneth paltrow in Emma, very good british accent, brad pitt in snatch was really good, doing the irish accent, could not understand him, except "perry winkle blue"

dick van dyke in mary poppins is one of the worst

[acneman]

Ninja, the Fast Show is certainly worth a look, its brilliant - short sketches usually featuring the same cast of comedic characters

[mr.supervideogoodfd]

I agree, used to love the fast show suits you sir

[Solo3uc4]

I agree, used to love the fast show suits you sir

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=m1fMf8CB7jE

[DariushPetresku]

ha ha thanks for that, really enjoyed it,

I have been watching the re-runs of Shooting Stars, do you ever watch that

[Imiweevierm]

I have been watching the re-runs of Shooting Stars, do you ever watch that

Was that the Vic Reeves & Bob Mortimer show?

[KirillAristov]

it was the one with bob mortimer and vic reeve, my son (12) has started watching it with me and is addicted

[averkif]

Did you know that the fast show introduced more 'catch phrases' into popular language than any other programme - i used to love it.

Did anyone ever watch the League of Gentlemen? Very dark humour, but i'm a big fan.

[Gymnfacymoota]

I've actually had occasion to utter the immortal phrase: "This iz lowwcul shop!!...for lowwcul peepul!!". Made my day.

On the 'accent' thing. Despite the tired old cliché of poor Dick van Dyke in Mary Poppins (which is, admittedly, painful), there are many USian actors who have delivered convincing British accents (what with all the period drama) and there are still plenty of Brit actors mauling a simple Midwestern drawl.

One of the many things I really enjoyed in Gangs of New York is that they had researched the NY accent of that time for Bill the Butcher and other characters, though many of the actors spoke with a more 'modern' pronunciation.

One more tidbit (titbit in the UK, hmmmm): they tried playing Shakespeare at the Globe with Elizabethan accents but it was too tough on the audience. I'm always surprised at how few English people realize that 'modern' posh/cockney/souce/whatever is NOT the way people have spoken for hundreds of years. It’s hilarious when they have 18th century London characters speak with a strong cockney accent on the telly.....

[satthackacibe]

love the league of gentlemen, went to see them live at the Apollo in Manchester, they were fantastic, also love little britain and bo selcta

[Kokomoxddcvcv]

^ I went to see 'League of gentlemen are behind you' a couple of years ago too, in Hammersmith. Very funny. Not such a fan of Little Britian though. They have some funny moments but generally it gets a bit repetetive.

Luca - you're from Italy - how are the regional accents there? Do they vary a great deal from place to place like here?

In France i was surpised to find that the accents there don't seem to vary that much (but then i'm only going by what a french friend told me). He said there is a difference between northern france and the south, but not that much else. Of course that could all be Bulls**t, he does come out with some rubbish now and then.

[aaaaaaaabbbby]

[quote=Meerkat;218562Luca - you're from Italy - how are the regional accents there? Do they vary a great deal from place to place like here?[/quote]

Italian regional accents have traditionally been particularly distinct. When I was a child, almost anyone would instantly recognize a person from Western Piedmont, Central/Southern Lombardy, Veneto, Emilia, Liguria, Tuscany, Lazio, Campania, Coastal Puglia and Sicily within hearing a couple of sentences.

TV and somewhat greater personal mobility have eroded this to some extent but most people still have strong regional accents.

This used to be further highlighted by widespread use of “dialects” or, more accurately, dialect-like, regional usage and pronunciation of Italian. In most urban areas, the original dialects are dying out/morphing into something less distinct, but in rural areas and small towns people often still speak to their friends and relatives in a local language that would not necessarily be easily understood by an Italian from across the peninsula.

Milan, where I grew up, is probably the most homogenized (large influx form all over the country). My Grandfather ‘spoke’ fluent Milanese and knew its grammar rules (different from Italian, closer to Catalan-Provencal family of languages). Already, my mom and her brothers only knew a limited vocabulary and sayings/proverbs but could not carry on a proper conversation in it. I know more Spanish and French than Milanese… and so it goes.

How different is the vocabulary?

Fabrizio might refer to a foolish person as a “bischero” (bis-keh-roh), I might say “ciula” (choo-lah) or “pirla”. The Tuscan (and Italian) for “such”/”thus” is “cosi’”. Milanese would be “insci’”, and so on. You can imagine how hard it would be to follow a dialectal conversation… quite foreign sounding even without the accents.

Last note. The bloody Tuscans lucked out because Florentine/Aretian dialect was effectively adopted as “Italian” from the 16th century onward so they typically speak “BBC” Italian no matter what, while others tend to slide into regionalism.

[giftplas]

I think that British accents vary more than US accents, i can kind of see a difference in some accents after hearing them for a good while, the obvious difference being North/South but otherwise I dont see a huge difference.

[jurhoonee]

Thanks for the reply Luca.

I've always been very interested in accents / dialects. Its a shame that these days with greater mobility and mass media (TV etc) dialects and accents in many places seem to be slowly dying out, or at least eroding.

[bUqLfXRI]

I think that British accents vary more than US accents, i can kind of see a difference in some accents after hearing them for a good while, the obvious difference being North/South but otherwise I dont see a huge difference.

Maybe that's true, but it also may be what you're used to. To Americans, most can hardly hear the difference between British, Australian, Scottish, etc...Here a good ear can certainly pick out which southern state you're from, which mid-western state, which city in Texas, which side of the Chesapeake, Philly vs. Pittsburgh, Boston or Maine, north Jersey vs. south Jersey, even which borough you're from (though moreso in the past), etc...

[enrisaabsotte]

^I agree, people can usually guess where a person is from in their own country, but abroad its another matter. Put an Australian or south african in front of me and no matter how strong their regional accent i wouldn't even notice.

For anyone whose interested I found an 'accent' map of the US on a website called city data.



And one for england.