The Best of British: How Do Americans View British Accents?

According to Stephen Fry, a "cut glass English accent can fool unsuspecting Americans". Having said that, does having a British accent, any British accent for that matter, mean success in America?

"I just love your accent. Where are you from?" Here we go again. Any Brit who decides to cross the Atlantic, including me, will have heard this line many times. It can as a nice surprise the first time you hear this, but after the fiftieth time, it can be a little hard to muster up a smile and accept this "compliment"! A British accent can often conjure up the stereotypical image of a polite, well-mannered, race of people, who would go out of their way to please rather than offend anyone.

However, contrary to the popular image among Americans, very few Brits sound like Hugh Grant. Stephen Fry himself admitted: "I shouldn't be saying this, high treason really, but I sometimes wonder if Americans aren't fooled by our accent into detecting a brilliance that may not really be there." Fry, made this suggestion after seeing a "blitz of Brits" win this year's Golden Globes and Oscars. A new generation of British actors are working hard to prove themselves in America, while also staying true to their British roots.

According to Rosina Lippi-Green, an American academic and author of English with an Accent: Language, Ideology and Discrimination "For most Americans, there's no distinction between British accents. For us, there's just one sort of British accent, and it's better than any American accent - more educated, more genteel. It's a way of speaking that is all tied up with the Old Country, the Queen". She said that this view extends to any UK accent, and that does not take into account any regionalism or class distinctions, that another Brit would be able to recognize straightaway.

Parminder Nagra, who starred in Bend it Like Beckham and went on to star in ER with her Midlands accent still intact, is thought to be "Very classy, very Oxbridge". Then there is Simon Cowell, who feeds the stereotype of the stuck-up Englishman. It seems the "British baddie", as he has been dubbed, is a must in Hollywood these days!

Henry Pryor, the founder of primemove.co.uk and the Register of Estate Agents website said: "Our accents added a huge amount to what they thought they were buying into. I suspect it's the flip side of what my mother's generation found during World War II - the English seduced by American accents".

Many UK expatriates in Australia quickly lose their accents, but those in America are less likely to do so, according to Ms Katharine Jones, author of Accent of Privilege: English Identities and Anglophilia in the US. She said: "They don't have as much incentive to change because of the perceived benefits - leaving a message in a 'posh' accent about a sought-after apartment and the landlady rings you straight back; the ripped-up parking tickets..." The list goes on!

But then again, many British people are mistaken for Australian, such as Liverpudlian (a person from Liverpool) Alison Walters, who works as an immigration lawyer in Los Angeles. She said that she felt unique and that people were more friendly towards her, treating her with more respect. She said: ""You do get preferential treatment and more of people's time, but I do think that is also down to our manners - saying please and thank you."

Then there is another misconception about us, that we have more brains, just because of our accents. That is not necessarily true! Many British expatriates are re-locating to America, not to mention the estimated three million British tourists who visit the country each year. So I wonder when the American stereotype about us will disappear? Next time someone tells me I have a nice accent, I think I will just smile back and say "Really? I think yours is just adorable. I'll have to mention your name to the Queen next time I'm in London".

Source:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/6470095.stm