Whilst trying to study, the inevitability of procrastination crept in and I found myself browsing YouTube, where I stumbled across a clip of Jimmy Fallon and Jamie Donan performing a variety of accents. This unsurprisingly lead to me watching professionals, such as Amy Walker share their chameleon-like talents. I was intrigued by the way these actors personified the accents, through their body language and the subject matter they choose when performing. It got me thinking about the connotations that accents can emanate.
Since arriving on this side of the Atlantic, from Southern England, my accent has been topic of conversation on more than one occasion. Before this year I was completely unaware of the power an accent can have, and the assumptions that can be made about you, even before conversing. I was also (naïvely) oblivious to the attraction of a British accent and how many people rate it. However, I was sure this was a fluke and that these acquaintances had just been complimentary. So after some more ‘educational’ procrastination, I found that the Independent had published a study of 11,000 people from 24 cities world wide, who had voted the British accent as the ‘most attractive’, with American coming second and Irish making an inevitable appearance in third place. However, categorising these countries into one classification is questionable in itself, you only have to hear a New Yorker and a Californian in the same room and the differences are undeniable (I am mainly basing that off the Godfather and 90210, so no offence intended).
Sadly, Canadian didn’t make it onto this particular list, but with my Canadian friends informing me that they are regularly are mistaken for American’s when abroad, you could kind of say it’s a joint second? (That was intended as a compliment, but may have just been offensive, terribly sorry). I personally don’t think that American and Canadian accents are the same. After spending the summer in New York, where the native accent is so unique, albeit a little harsh, the Canadian accent seems much softer on the ear. In fact, to me, the Canadian accent shares some qualities heard at home, to the point where on two separate occasions I have asked innocent Canadians if they’re Scottish, mid conversation. Which I’ll admit, if you aren’t familiar with the Scottish accent, this question can be slightly bemusing.
Conclusively, I think finding someone’s accent attractive probably stems more from a novelty aspect; rarely is my accent commented on when amongst other Brits. But I can’t deny, convincing people that Kate Middelton is my distant cousin and that Downton Abbey is a reality series rather than a period drama, never gets old.