It's like some people think just cause ya have an ENGLISH ACCENT or AUSTRALIAN ACCENT youare BETTER THAN such as MADONNA with that PUT ON BRITISH ACCENT. Or if ya have a BROOKLYN or BRONX accent then you must be TOUGH, A RAPPER, Blacl OR DUMB or a CUSINE. It really sucks because people should just be and Party and have Fun and forget the DRAMA CRAP. I Hate all that. I'm Totally into REAL and PEOPLE and FEELINGS!

One feels persecuted or...

people think an Australian accent is good?

ZombieKitten said:

I do

MarySharon said:

ZombieKitten said:

Australian accent is hot. Well, when I'm not trying to listen to WHAT they say, because I can't understand a word.

People should not judge anyone by their accent.

Dayclear said:

Unfortunately...some ppl are quick to say West Indians (especially Jamaicans) are dumb because of their accent.

I'm amazed by the number of TV and radio commercials that air here in Tennessee that feature spokespeople with (probably fake) European accents.

Apparently, this part of the American South pays a lot of attention to accents and values European ones very highly.

Regional accents absolutely are assigned value.

When I was in journalism school, there was an unspoken -- and even occasionally spoken -- expectation that we would perform broadcasts with a Midwestern American accent. With the exception of, say, a Chicagoan or Dakotan/Minnesotan accent, Midwestern pronunciations, cadences, etc. are received as "Middle American" (i.e. WASPy), with other regional accents invoking associations with places more sordid along ethnic, political or socioeconomic lines.

But it's not just an American thing. I suspect 1) that there is a global linguistic bias in favor of people from former British Commonwealth (or long English-speaking) countries; and 2) that said bias is leveraged with the race/ethnicity/class/nationality of a given person. Where I am now, for example, a large number of black people are of immediate African or working-class Caribbean distraction -- and, unfortunately, the latter group is over-represented in reports of crime. In my experience, Africans here are most often received warmly, but not altogether seriously. They're "cute," exotic, amusing, especially when their English is poor. Caribbeans (specifically Jamaicans), on the other hand, though they speak often clearer English, are received as not-so-bright... and kinda scary. ) There is sometimes a visibly detectable relaxation in people I encounter when I speak and they discover I am audibly American, not Jamaican ; from the northern U.S., not the southern U.S.; suburban, not "inner city."
[Edited 2/28/09 20:40pm]

ArielB said:

You can't understand anyone.

ZombieKitten said:

The more neutral ones, like mine , are good but the crocodile dundee type ones

purplesweat said:

omg I can't believe it

Over here in the UK there are loads of very different accents depending on where abouts you come from. I'm from the south-west, people will joke and take the piss because they think everyone drinks cider and drives a tractor and are thick! Its just so not true except the cider bit! I do think people do generalize depending on what your accent is but I certainly wouldn't judge someone because of it.

http://www.youtube.com/wa...tEpF334Rtc

ZombieKitten said:

Don't get me wrong, give me an American (preferably AFRICAN American) accent any day but there are some Aussie accents I can stand.

MRGee said:

ZombieKitten said:

I'm surprised @ that myself.

JayJai said:

I love accents from the Caribbean.....really accents in general. They add character to a person.

I'm from the South in the U.S. I hope people don't expect me to sound like Cletus. lol

TyphoonTip said:

I'm AMAZED actually!

Dayclear said:

Accents betrays, wheter you want it or not

ZombieKitten said:

I wouldn't say it gives the same impression as an English accent. It's much more laid back (even though some people can't tell them apart).

NDRU said:

I always cringe at the "ocker" factor, it happens when we are abroad, and we broaden our accents to be even MORE aussie if that is possible
the young kids in urban areas in this country seem to be abandoning their ocker roots, they have a totally different accent to their parents, no longer Strine!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ocker
which basically equates to "uncultured"

ZombieKitten said:

I think it's hot as hell.

ZombieKitten said:

I loooove Australian accents.

Accents are cool, I think. For instance, here in Ohio, the accents in Southern Ohio are different that people in Northeastern Ohio, where I live. People in Southern Ohio seem to have a southern accent, which is not the case with folks living in Northeastern Ohio. It's interesting how accents change, depending on where you go.