Celebrities who dont speak their local accent.



I've only been in London 6/7 years and my accent has changed quite a bit. Fellow northerners will recognise it but anyone from anywhere south of Leeds thinks I'm Irish, for some reason

I get mistaken for being Welsh regularly.

Most people's accent does dilute when they move from home. When I first moved south when I was 18 a lot of people couldn't understand a word I said but now 30 years later that rarely happens. It helps when you pick up southern terms and drop northern slang - so I now talk in terms of lunch and dinner rather than dinner and tea.
 
I get mistaken for being Welsh regularly.

Most people's accent does dilute when they move from home. When I first moved south when I was 18 a lot of people couldn't understand a word I said but now 30 years later that rarely happens. It helps when you pick up southern terms and drop northern slang - so I now talk in terms of lunch and dinner rather than dinner and tea.
I was waiting for a cab with my dog outside a hotel in London when a girl from Boro came over and - I assume- started trying to chat me up.

Talking to her made me realise how much I'd dropped all of that. "So have you got a lass then" is the equivalent of something I'd have said 6 years ago but not now
 
This also applies to singers/bands... some adapt and use an Americanized vocal while a few (Proclaimers and Futureheads spring to mind) sing in their own accents.
When it comes to actors the Brits seem good at playing a role with a different accent if required, while majority of American actors don't seem to be able to put on a British accent?
As for famous people or so called celebs no longer speaking in their local accent, in a lot of cases (pre the 1990's) they wouldn't have got the work back then if they hadn't adapted.
 
I'm guilty of this myself, having lived away from the North East for most of my life since leaving home at 16. However, my friends and colleagues think my accent is very strong. On the other hand my mother thinks I'm "talking posh" when I get on the phone to her. When I get back home among my mates and having a bit crack then my accent reverts back to the original within a few minutes. I don't even realise I'm doing it, but it's nice not having to repeat myself for the benefit of others.

Same. Left the North East when I was 21. My accent reverts back to proper Mackem when in the company of my mates back home. I teach English and my lass is Italian so can't really talk to them with my Pennywell twang otherwise I'm forever repeating mesel.
 
Can’t imagine Kate Adie saying
“Am in Beruit and there’s hell on… bombs fleein arl ower man!!”

I demand to see more of this Kate Adie.

My accent has been watered down massively.
I'm from Bishop but raised by 2 teachers so I don't think I was ever going to have a strong accent.
I did public speaking from a young age (as y'do)
I went to Uni in Hull - now there's an accent - I lived with lads from Leeds, Nottingham, Manchester, and a prick from Boro
I moved to Manchester in 2006
I moved to Westhoughton (Bolton) and have been here since 2012 with Mrs K.

I'm sure I'll have picked up loads of different bits, however, if I speak to anyone from up home or when I go home, my accent - such as it is - gets more pronounced.
I believe the linguistic term is "code switching"
 
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I don’t speak with my original NW County Durham accent. People often don’t put a particular effort into speaking with or without an accent. It just happens. It depends, often, on the accent of the people you most mix with.

My Auntie was born and bred in Consett but, to my ears, spoke with a Louisiana accent. Her neighbours in the states thought she was Scottish.
When we moved down to Yorkshire 28 years ago, the local kids asked my two sons “ Is your dad Russian “.
Cheeky bastards.
 
Same. Left the North East when I was 21. My accent reverts back to proper Mackem when in the company of my mates back home. I teach English and my lass is Italian so can't really talk to them with my Pennywell twang otherwise I'm forever repeating mesel.
Our lass is Chinese. She speaks canny English (better than my Chinese) but her accent is terrible. Example. "It's rinning big rin so your plan can't fly" (It's raining heavily so your plane can't fly) When we're out in a group of foreigners and Chinese I just switch off. What with Russians, Serbs, South Africans.. it's nigh on impossible. Going back and sitting with my mates is like slipping into a warm bath. Being able to convey a range of emotions with the word "aye" is much underrated.
 
Nee one ‘loses’ their accent like, bairns aside. They make a concerted effort to change it. Maggots.

Nothing wrong with making an effort so that other people can understand you. Just from those I speak to every day we have people from Greece, Italy, Spain, France, Portugal, Denmark and all over the UK and US so if I spoke like I did when I was 16 in Bishop, we'd never get anywhere.
 
Our lass is Chinese. She speaks canny English (better than my Chinese) but her accent is terrible. Example. "It's rinning big rin so your plan can't fly" (It's raining heavily so your plane can't fly) When we're out in a group of foreigners and Chinese I just switch off. What with Russians, Serbs, South Africans.. it's nigh on impossible. Going back and sitting with my mates is like slipping into a warm bath. Being able to convey a range of emotions with the word "aye" is much underrated.

I still have a mate who hasn't grasped that "canny" doesn't mean "can't", been knocking about with him for about 7 years. Boils my f***ing piss.

I do not envy you.
 
Nee one ‘loses’ their accent like, bairns aside. They make a concerted effort to change it. Maggots.

I can categorically say that's bollocks.
English Language A -Level will tell you that's bollocks.

There will be people who's accents will change the more they are around other people. It's just what happens.
I still have a mate who hasn't grasped that "canny" doesn't mean "can't", been knocking about with him for about 7 years. Boils my f***ing piss.

I do not envy you.

Potential Scots influence there
 
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