|
Post by aeromanda on Jul 9, 2010 21:29:00 GMT
Part of the reason that I find James so attractive is his voice. More specifically, his beautiful British accent. (Which I hear because I'm from the US.) So I was wondering, for those of you in England, does he have an accent to your ears (I'm assuming there are different regional accents throughout the country)? And if so is that part of James' appeal for you? And for that matter, does anyone else find accents as appealing as I do? (Especially other UK accents?)
|
|
|
Post by From Afar on Jul 10, 2010 6:30:57 GMT
Hmmm.... James's voice as a whole I find very sexy so I guess you could say his accent is part of that, even though I don't really hear an accent. Personally I think some British accents (dependant on where you are from in the country) are hidious and some are very very sexy I'n not stating my preferences as I don't want to offend anyone! Accents in general I think are fasinating..... living in a community where there is such a vast mix of nationalities I get to hear a lot of different accents all the time, personally my favorites which I find very sexy on a man are South Arfican and New Zealand.
|
|
|
Post by chariset on Jul 10, 2010 6:41:28 GMT
Presumably he'd have a Bristol accent, wouldn't he?
|
|
|
Post by From Afar on Jul 10, 2010 6:48:18 GMT
Presumably he'd have a Bristol accent, wouldn't he? Yeah you'd think right? but he doesn't..... I worked in Bristol for 10 years before emigrating and he really doesn't have one. Now and again the odd thing does sound Bristolian but not much. Not to my ears anyway
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 10, 2010 6:57:53 GMT
Presumably he'd have a Bristol accent, wouldn't he? Yeah you'd think right? but he doesn't..... I worked in Bristol for 10 years before emigrating and he really doesn't have one. Now and again the odd thing does sound Bristolian but not much. Not to my ears anyway When I think of a Bristol accent, I think of Vicky Pollard from Little Britain because that character was based in Bristol Well anyways, James sure doesn't sound like Vicky Pollard. He sounds a bit posh to me in fact. I love his voice though, soooo sexy
|
|
|
Post by chariset on Jul 10, 2010 7:00:14 GMT
I read interviews or articles on him and they sometimes comment on how he says 'wuz' and 'becuz,' but my American ears don't even pick up on that.
Hammond still has a recognizable Brummie accent, and Jeremy apparently doesn't sound Northern at all, but I'm still trying to work out all the Oop North/South/posh stereotypes and a lot of regional-based humor eludes me.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 10, 2010 7:31:29 GMT
Chariset, I am from Australia and the number of different accents in the UK astounds me!! When I was living in the UK for a while, I worked in London and there was a guy there from Manchester and all the guys would take the p*ss out of him for being a dumb and cheap Northerner. I would just put my blank face on!!!
|
|
flyslip
Smutty Mayhemer
Hello...
Posts: 357
|
Post by flyslip on Jul 10, 2010 7:56:35 GMT
Accents are a funny thing. (Trust me. As an Aussie who has a Kiwi for a dad, and has had two American husbands, accents are hilarious! ) But getting back to James, as I was saying to From Afar in another thread, I could listen to that man read the phone book - yes, I find his pronunciation faintly amusing at times, but it's the timbre of that voice - ohhh, I could listen to his dulcet tones all day! (Please don't anyone be offended when I say I find some accents amusing. I find a great deal of amusement in how some Americans, just for instance, perceive my own accent - it's differences that give me a laugh, to be honest, and really only when I have a real connection to, or affection for, people. And if that wasn't a clear enough description, please feel free to harangue me via PM or email. Bless.)
|
|
|
Post by From Afar on Jul 10, 2010 9:01:09 GMT
I'm still trying to work out all the Oop North/South/posh stereotypes and a lot of regional-based humor eludes me. Don't worry Chari some of it eludes me and I'm English!
|
|
|
Post by devil-may-care on Jul 10, 2010 14:27:42 GMT
I loooooove James' voice, as do we all. ;D I've been watching British television since practically birth. Growing up in Northern Maine, we received two Canadian channels. One in English the other in Canadian French. The English version showed a lot of BBC programming. So I grew up watching All Creatures Great & Small, Fawlty Towers & Are You Being Served? just to name a few. I watch almost exclusively British television now. (Thank God for thebox.bz!) With that out of the way, I can't pick out a distinctive regional accent in James' speech. And I've heard plenty. I can spot the Brummy, the Geordi (if that's how it's spelled ), the West Country and so on. James' appears to be a mix. A very nice mix, I must say. I bought the audio version of Car Fever, and I could listen to it every day! ;D His voice has a smooth silkiness to it that relaxes you. Strangely enough, I've had several people ask me where I'm from when they hear me speak. Usually in America, if someone asks where you're from, they tend to think you're from another country to begin with. There is a guy that works at a local donut shop that thinks I'm English. It's probably because I enunciate and don't mumble. I've always believed that if English is your native tongue than speak it properly. Ok, I've rambled enough. Suffice it to say, James has a very sexy voice.
|
|
|
Post by From Afar on Jul 10, 2010 21:42:30 GMT
Suffice it to say, James has a very sexy voice. Yep.... we can ALL agree on that one!
|
|
|
Post by aeromanda on Jul 11, 2010 16:50:57 GMT
Absolutely agree with that one!
An interesting thing about accents is how they sound different to different people. In the summer of 2001 I was lucky enough to spend 4 days in London, then three weeks in France and two weeks in Italy with my mother-in-law (strange I know but we are great friends) and, for the latter part of the trip, with my husband as well. When we were in London, people would ask us where we were from but they would usually phrase it in a way that indicated that we knew we were from America. Usually something like "Where in the states are you from?" But when we were on the continent, people assumed that we were from England and would usually say something like "Are you visiting from England." Then when we said "No, the US." they seemed impressed that we had traveled so far to visit their part of the world. It was a very interesting experience. I guess I just assumed that people from the continent would know the difference between a British accent and an American accent.
|
|
|
Post by Wyvern on Jul 11, 2010 17:08:50 GMT
Presumably he'd have a Bristol accent, wouldn't he? Yeah you'd think right? but he doesn't..... I worked in Bristol for 10 years before emigrating and he really doesn't have one. Now and again the odd thing does sound Bristolian but not much. Not to my ears anyway I'm a Bristolian who spent most of her life in the Westcountry and I have to say I really don't hear much Westcountry at all in James's voice. I can hear the Midlands in Richard (unsurprising, as I did live in Birmingham for a while) and Yorkshire in Jeremy (I have a good friend from Doncaster, where he's from), but then again, I hear Yorkshire in James, too - the funny thing about some Yorkshire accents, especially the parts I'm most familiar with, is that they don't sound like you think they do; they're much softer, and far less 'All Creatures Great And Small'. Mind you, I believe it's over 40 years since he moved from Bristol, and he spent a lot longer up north. Even so, I don't hear much of anywhere specific - his voice has a real blend of influences and it suits him well. The thing I've noticed is the 'waz' and 'becaz' sound that people have often commented on, and for some reason interpreted as Westcountry by people who aren't from that part of the world (it doesn't sound like any Westcountry accent I've heard - it would more likely be more 'wuzz' and 'becuzz' if that's what it is) has become far less pronounced in the time he's been on TG. I think London, and constant media work, is flattening out some of the quirks as a natural consequence of dealing with south east accents.
|
|
flyslip
Smutty Mayhemer
Hello...
Posts: 357
|
Post by flyslip on Jul 12, 2010 1:01:53 GMT
When we were in London, people would ask us where we were from but they would usually phrase it in a way that indicated that we knew we were from America. Usually something like "Where in the states are you from?" But when we were on the continent, people assumed that we were from England and would usually say something like "Are you visiting from England." Then when we said "No, the US." they seemed impressed that we had traveled so far to visit their part of the world. It was a very interesting experience. I guess I just assumed that people from the continent would know the difference between a British accent and an American accent. That might have something to do with who you're speaking to, as well - people who don't live in native English-speaking places might not be able to place accents which native speakers wouldn't have a problem with. (And then there's people who simply have tin ears, like my first husband, who couldn't tell the difference between a South African and a New Zealand accent, and often would be watching BBC News America and say to me, "Oh, that reporter's Australian, right?" when the person in question was unmistakably British. (Then again, where we lived, in the northeast USA, people heard my accent and immediately thought "Brit".) Obviously, location has something to do with it, too. I'm Australian (but with an accent that doesn't give that away immediately!), and lived for a while recently in a historically Irish area of New York City. One lady actually asked me which part of Northern Ireland I was from! I laughed and told her no, I was Australian, and hadn't actually ever been to Ireland. Other people thought maybe I was from Boston... Australia is just so far away, people almost never guessed. (Add to that, I don't sound anything like Steve Irwin, for example, and well, yeah.) Uh, that was longer than I expected it to be. Anyway, the point is, both the person you're speaking to and the location you're in have a lot to do with the perception of accents. As for James... he doesn't sound like he has much of any regional accent. He just sounds pleasingly unique - to me, at any rate.
|
|
|
Post by SonicSophie on Jul 23, 2010 14:38:42 GMT
I bought the audio version of Car Fever, and I could listen to it every day! ;D His voice has a smooth silkiness to it that relaxes you. Ooh, I bought that too and I've been listening to it late at night His voice is just beautiful. His voice is very calming, but last night I was in hysterics after listening to Car Fever! I was trying to be silent, but it was very difficult... But back to his voice/accent ;D I do love his voice... I could probably listen to it all day... !!
|
|
|
Post by lindenchase on Jul 23, 2010 15:13:31 GMT
James was born in Bristol, spent his early childhood in Monmouthshire in Wales and his teenage years in South Yorkshire. Went on to uni in Lancaster and moved to London afterwards.
No wonder James' accent isn't very easy to spot. It's probably a mixture of many. :-)
|
|
|
Post by violetrose on Jul 23, 2010 17:56:20 GMT
Ooh, what an interesting discussion. I agree, Linden - James sounds like he's got a mix of a lot of different influences. I hear a lot of southeast in him, likely because of his job. However, his vowels sound very north...western, to me? To my amusement, my brain sometimes calls up Ringo Starr when hearing James, actually. I keep thinking they sound a little alike (though with James it's a much gentler accent).
DMC, I've found the same thing when talking to people locally. When I lived in New York (where I was born and raised, mind), I had perfect strangers ask me where in the UK I was visiting from. I was so baffled, but I came to realize it's because I'm one of the few New Yorkers who actually enunciate! Now that I'm in Maine, they KNOW I'm not from around here because I don't have the classic New England long-A. ;D
|
|
|
Post by devil-may-care on Jul 23, 2010 18:47:15 GMT
DMC, I've found the same thing when talking to people locally. When I lived in New York (where I was born and raise, mind), I had perfect strangers ask me where in the UK I was visiting from. I was so baffled, but I came to realize it's because I'm one of the few New Yorkers who actually enunciate! Now that I'm in Maine, they KNOW I'm not from around here because I don't have the classic New England long-A. ;D It's odd isn't it. As Americans we all learn English in school, but we all sound so different! When visiting my father's family in Southern Indiana, my sister used to take me around her neighborhood so people could listen to my accent! I was truly baffled by this, as she was the one with the accent to my ears. It was a rather thick Southern US accent. I actually had a customer come in today and ask me where I was from. She's lived in this town in Maine all her life, I've lived in Maine all mine (except for one year when I was one). She actually thought I was from another country but just happened to learn English really well. I haven't any idea what country she thought I was from. I think when she found out I was born and raised in Maine, she felt a little sheepish and didn't want to say what she had been thinking. I suppose we can take all these misinterpretations of our accents as a compliment. As you say, we enunciate. It is apparently an unknown way of speaking these days. ;D
|
|
|
Post by eolise on May 14, 2011 16:29:35 GMT
His accent and voice makes me think of Mr. Darcy ;D
|
|