It seems that we get judged on our values and characteristics based on our accent. Apparently a Liverpool accent suggests you are more likely to steal something. I know I don’t have a Sunderland/NE accent even though I grew up there but whatever accent I do have I don’t think has prevented me from doing what I wanted to in life. Anyway, here’s the report from the BBC. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cwyjdyj729ro
To be honest, if a doctor with a broad Scouse or Brummie accent told me I only had hours to live I'd ask for a second opinion ... ... not because I'd doubt his diagnosis, just wouldn't want that to be the last voice I ever heard
I must admit my Horden accent hindered me when I was trying to chat up a lass from Leicester when I was about 17. She kept saying " What?" every time i was talking to her!
I think I've lost my Tyneside accent (won't call it geordie) until you meet someone not from the NE. Straight away its highlighted your from the North. When my eldest brother was alive, (he worked down the pit,) my wife (Teessider)couldn't understand a word he said to her on their first meeting 50+ years ago. His accent was much broader than mine. I can't bear to hear the scouse accent.
nor its alreet man, Bobby thomson was the best when tarkin to Churchill or the queen. love to hear Scottish, French women talking
Got a mixture of Scottish and mile North Eastern accents. Wouldn't say it's hindered me in any way, although a colleague I work with who lives in London says I sound like Ant and Dec
Yes in short. Why do people change or soften their accent when away from home? Whether it's conscious or subconscious, people do it because it's easier to have less obvious markers for being different, not because you're ashamed or think worse of your roots, like some assume.
Reminds me of the Not The Nine O' Clock News sketch with Pamela Stephenson impersonating Janet Street Porter interviewing Billy Connolly. "Tell me Biwwee, do pea pool have twabbel andurstending yo eccent? "
My accent is not helping me at all here in South Africa. They looked at me like I was from another planet. I have had to adopt a neutral accent and my kids back in the UK think I've become a posh old git......just can't win.
I've been lucky enough to have worked in the USA and all across Europe, and I even had a stint in Moscow (awful place). The only place where my accent has been a problem has been when working with clients in the City of London, and I mean old boys who have historical wealth and have been sent to Eton or some other private school. I've worked with amazing CEOs in big companies who don't give a damn about my accent. look at me
My accent is quite neutral now, because I have spent most of my life down south, but people down here can still tell that I am from the North East. I have found that I do get judged because of my tattoos though, which is why I am going through the painful process of having them removed by laser. It's like a blow torch on my arm, far more painful than I thought it was going to be!
My Mam n Dad moved away from Durham with the pits in the 60's and both still have broad NE accents. Unfortunately this decision left me with a Stoke accent which surely has to be up there with the worst in the UK
I went to work in the south of France and didn't speak a word of French. I learned quickly and became fluent through sheer determination. At Christmas I was driving home and stopped the night in Paris where I proudly ordered in French and chatted to the waiter who was a decent lad. I could see a slight smirk across his face so I asked what was tickling him. He says, 'Well it's obvious you learned French in Nice, you sound like a Hillbilly'
Not personally but my work friends ask me to translate when someone from the NE comes into my office or if we are out. mine is basic Hampshire.
I worked on summer camps in the US in my youth and they couldn’t understand a word I said coming from an East Durham pit village. At times I had to put on an American accent just so they could understand me!
I hate my Essex accent, I've been judged on it numerous times through work and a couple of times at games. My mam and dad still have their accent, although when they were working they had a "work" voice and a normal voice.
