Accent - Why?

[Tonearm Terrorwrist]

That's because most of you Poms talk like you have a swollen tongue or a mouth full of food and most of you speak illiterate English.

 

[Didgi]

Mate has the worst Spanish accent ever... but it's fun to mock

 

[Brutus]

Nah mate, it's people like you lot who are so determined to hear an accent that you convince yourself there is one when there is not. Obviously people have different pronounciations, but it's more a culture thing than a geographical thing. Trust me, I speak to people all over the country a lot and if you have a phone hookup with one person from each state I assure you, you wouldn't pick where they are from.

As I said though earlier, people that are determined enough on this subject, and for some reason some people are, will never learn.

An ex-girlfriend of mine came from Adelaide and I went there a lot.

If you can't pick an Adelaide person from within about 30 seconds of hearing them speak, then you are brain dead.

Have a listen to Greg Blewett commentate the cricket on Fox Sports.

I do agree with your point that it's hard to pick up where someone is from in Aus in many cases, but that doesn't appy to Adelaide and to a lesser degree Malbourne.

 

[Parra]

In Sydney we call devon devon

In Melbourne they call it strasbourg

In Adelaide they call it circle meat

 

[Brutus]

QLD- peanut paste

 

[IanG]

Australia - Woolworths
New Zealand - Countdown

 

[Brutus]

QLD - Port
All other states - Bag

QLD - Cheerios
NSW - Cocktail Sausages
The Parrot - "I Love Sausages".

 

[lturner]

A 10oz beer:

Qld - pot
NSW - middy

 

[Poul]

QLD - Port
All other states - Bag

QLD - Cheerios
NSW - Cocktail Sausages
The Parrot - "I Love Sausages".

I grew up on the Far North Coast of New South Wales, and even though my mother was a Queenslander, this was the term used by myself and all my comtemporaries. We carried a school port , not a school bag.

"Garage" is another word that I used to pronounce differently as a Far North Coaster - something like g'rahzhe ( with a "clipped" first syllable, and a long second syllable, like in the French word menage.
Perhaps this is a "Queensland" pronunciation.
I now tend to the pronounce the word like gar'raj (I'm now an assimilated Sydneysider ;-) ), with almost equal emphasis on both syllables.

 

[deluded pom?]

That's because most of you Poms talk like you have a swollen tongue or a mouth full of food and most of you speak illiterate English.

Another witty and inciteful post from your good self. :roll:

 

[Paullyboy]

Just felt the need to point out that almost all the references made on this page are different terminologies, and have nothing to do with accents.

One of my best mates is from Adelaide, been here for a while, but I guarantee you he has no different accent. As I said earlier, there are differences between class, but not geographical differences (other than on a terminology level).

 

[Brutus]

Not with Adelaide.

A bogan Adelaide voice (Ryan Fitzgerald) still falls into the same 'Adelaide accent traps' as a regular Adelaide voice (Steve Price). Even the toffy sounding Christopher Pine says cawwl instead of call.

 

[Poul]

Just felt the need to point out that almost all the references made on this page are different terminologies, and have nothing to do with accents.

One of my best mates is from Adelaide, been here for a while, but I guarantee you he has no different accent. As I said earlier, there are differences between class, but not geographical differences (other than on a terminology level).

It's my impression that there are regional variations in accent across Australia, but they just aren't as pronounced as they may be in other countries (i.e., England, USA). I think this has to do with Australia being settled by Europeans only relatively recently, with a more mobile population, therefore major regional differences did not have time to develop. And now with modern telecommunications, I think there is less likelihood for these regional differences to develop or persist.
Nonetheless, I do not believe the existence of regional accents can be dismissed. Ask a South Australian to say a word with the diphthong "oo" in it, like school, or pool. It sounds quite different from the way I would say it, and distinctly "South Australian"

 

[Nuke]

I think you've nailed it on the head there, Poul. One Aussie accent across the entire country, but slight variations on it from state to state.

As a New South Welshmen who's pretty much been brought up in WA, I can usually tell a person from NSW from a person from WA. Using the 'pool' example, West Aussies say it like 'pull' except for a slight exaggeration on the 'oo' sound - somewhere between 'pull' and 'pool' (if that makes sense). New South Welshmen tend to say it with almost two syllables (poo-ol). Words like 'no', 'show', 'you', 'pool', ect, are the ones that I pick up straight away.

As for words, WA has polony (devon) and bathers (swimmers, togs, ect).

This is definately a reflection on the way the yank culture is creeping into our society. Also the use of z where there should be an s, but thats a whole other topic.

I hate that! I'm not a fan of the yanks influence on the younger generations at the best of times, but this, AlwaysGreen's example below, calling biscuits 'cookies', calling mobile phones 'cells' just irritate the f**k outta me!

Pronoucing Z Zee instead of Zed really sticks in my craw.

 

[deluded pom?]

I'm not a fan of the yanks influence on the younger generations at the best of times, but this, AlwaysGreen's example below, calling biscuits 'cookies', calling mobile phones 'cells' just irritate the f**k outta me!

Welcome to my world.

 

[jbl31649]

In additon to this, she refers to swimmers as bathers. Having spent the first ten years of my life as a Sydneysider, I told her that I usually swim in swimmers, but generally bathe without clothing - I followed this statement by labeling her a "stupid Victorian" - sadly she didn't appreciate this! :lol: After moving from New South Wales to Queensland, I noted that they call them togs - arguably an even more geniused word.:crazy:

What happen to "Cozy" or has Jenny Hawkins got the copyright on that. Swimmers is very americiana.

A scallop in Vicoland is called a potato cake.

While I ask for a scallop, hoping for a fat potato thingy, scallop is actual a fishy substance.

Can a genuine Aussie tell what part of England a Pom is from? I remember being over in Australia and I was talking to some Poms who were working over there and they, like me , often had to repeat what they had said to Australians whereas the Yanks don't have any problem with my accent.

More north you go the thicker the accent.

And in Oz, the more north or west you go the slower the rate of speech and decidedly less words too.

But, seriously if we all sounded the same what a drab old world this would be.

 

[IanG]

It's blended ones that can be confusing too. eg Mike Haysman Australian born lived in South Africa for a long time. But I guess it would change if you live overseas for a long period of time

 

[deluded pom?]

It's blended ones that can be confusing too. eg Mike Haysman Australian born lived in South Africa for a long time. But I guess it would change if you live overseas for a long period of time

Are you familiar with Lloyd Grossman in Australia? He has a mangled mid Atlantic accent which sound like a cat being strangled.

 

[Tonearm Terrorwrist]

While I ask for a scallop, hoping for a fat potato thingy, scallop is actual a fishy substance.

That's why it is called a potato scallop

 

[IanG]

Are you familiar with Lloyd Grossman in Australia? He has a mangled mid Atlantic accent which sound like a cat being strangled.

No I can't say that I am