this post was submitted on 05 Aug 2026
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[–] YeahIgotskills2@lemmy.world 34 points 2 weeks ago (42 children)

Funny thing is, there are thousands of UK accents that are as different from each other as they are from the generic American accent. Granted, there's variety in the US as well, but the concentration is higher in the UK, as we've had towns and villages for thousands of years within 20 miles of each other that had their own unique way of speaking that often only locals can understand without effort.

So yeah, when you say 'British accent' that means basically nothing to anyone in the UK.

[–] foggy@lemmy.world 4 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (14 children)

UK accents that are as different from each other as they are the generic American accent.

So yeah, when you say 'British accent' that means basically nothing to anyone in the UK.

It's akin to saying "the generic American accent," Which means absolutely nothing to anyone in the US.

[–] Septimaeus@infosec.pub 3 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (8 children)

There is a generic American accent though. News anchors began using it heavily in the 80s because focus groups said it sounded the most neutral and hard to place. ~~I think it’s an older Northern California accent.~~ I must have misremembered

[–] foggy@lemmy.world 2 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Go tell that to any linguist and get laughed at.

[–] wieson@feddit.org 3 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)
[–] foggy@lemmy.world 1 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

The precise definition and usefulness of the term continue to be debated,[8][9][10] and the scholars who use it today admittedly do so as a convenient basis for comparison rather than for exactness

Thank you for agreeing with me, and providing sources to back up my point.

To repeat my point,

Stating that there exists a generic UK accent is as useless as suggesting there exists a generic US accent. The wikipedia article suggests that linguists by and large agree with me. So again, thanks.

[–] Septimaeus@infosec.pub 0 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

You and your point maybe ought to take a little break from internet stranger fight time

[–] foggy@lemmy.world 1 points 2 weeks ago

That's so sweet of you to care so much 😘

[–] HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world 1 points 2 weeks ago

please don't hug them to death, but https://www.dialectsarchive.com/ is a very valuable resource for actors and linguists. if you want to contribute to the archive, i haven't looked in a while but they were accepting submissions

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