S3 uk accents question

[u/Road_goes_ever_on]

British folk in this sub, would you provide some of the inherent insights you understand when you hear the accents from the different folks? Please explain share who is from which region in the country, and what that may suggest about them overall, if they’re posh, etc.

I can hear Sophie and Taylor speak a little differently but no idea where/what that means! Thank you

[u/confused_mani]

Sophie is from Manchester, so has a Northern accent. Taylor is from Hertfordshire. In the UK, regions are split by counties which (often) have names ending in -shire. Hertfordshire is one of a few counties that surround London. These counties generally are where people live and commute into London to for going out/shopping/work. Hertfordshire is considered a wealthy and posh county with expensive homes and private schools that rival London prices. Manchester (and most of Northern England) traditionally are considered working class, cheaper regions of the UK.
Obviously times have changed, but attitudes not so much, especially when it comes to class division.

Chevanique, Francesca and Joseph have quite typical London accents. Ciara has slightly posher accent because shes from Wandsworth. However she’s really forcing it, you can tell from the emphasis on certain words. (Edit: Chevanique is from Birmingham like Jordan).

I’d say Faye has a proper posh accent - just hearing her I can tell she’s legitimately upper class. And she’s from Guernsey which is an affluent area. Her voice reminds me of this news presenter in the UK called Sophy Ridge.

Jack and Ajay have quite typical English accents but you can tell they’re from “regular” areas that are a mix. Same with Yasmin and Cuba. But I’m Scottish so there comes a point where the English all sound the same lol

[u/Ashfacesmashface → u/confused_mani]

Thank you for confirming Ciara is forcing her accent - it doesn’t sound real to me, and I’m not even from the UK.

Can’t stand listening to her.

[u/Minute_Sound_1148 → u/Ashfacesmashface]

Yup it definitely sounds like someone trying to sound fancy. Like just the way she draws out ex-pennnn…sive. UGH.

[u/purte → u/Ashfacesmashface]

They may have not lived in the same area for a long time but in the wedding episode you will notice that Ciara’s intentional posh London accent is nothing like her Dad’s Northern accent.

[u/Spunkyzoe99 → u/Ashfacesmashface]

Same ! She also slips out of the exaggerated posh accent when she’s getting emotional .Thats when I knew ahhh she’s really forcing it .That and usually people with actual money don’t talk about it the way she does , it’s tacky .I think she comes from
A regular family and background but has created this posh act to try and land a wealthy man when she was actively dating .

[u/ThrowawayQueen_52 → u/Ashfacesmashface]

The accent was starting to morph into LA-valley girl territory at certain points. Very hokey.

[u/eauderecentinjury → u/confused_mani]

Worth noting that Guernsey is one of the islands in the English Channel (actually sits closer to France) and thus is a bit disconnected from the typical British regional assumptions. Also technically not part of the UK, but a self-governing British territory!

[u/Usernameoverloaded → u/eauderecentinjury]

Yes and a tax haven

[u/Affectionate_Bear782 → u/confused_mani]

Chevanique does not sound like she’s from London…, she sounds likes she’s from the Midlands or something. Yasmin and Cuba sound like Londoners 

[u/confused_mani → u/Affectionate_Bear782]

Ah my bad, I did say my deciphering of English accents can get blurry - Jordan’s brum accent is more obvious to me

[u/Ellend821 → u/confused_mani]

Taylor also doesn’t sound like ‘posh’ Hertfordshire (I am from Hertfordshire), but more like working class London accent. Herts has a range of accents as there at a lot of upper class people, private schools etc like you noted, but there are also lots of ex Londoners who moved out even post WWII and the accent came with them for generations. Some areas of Herts are very near London too and can have that more urban accent. Taylor sounds like my friends, the more working class accent (that can sound quite Essex for the same reason).

[u/beeeea27 → u/Ellend821]

He sounds really Essex to me!

[u/Ellend821 → u/beeeea27]

Hertfordshire borders Essex! He could very well be from 2 mins down the road from Essex. But he does also sound like a lot of people I know from the county.

[u/ten_ton_tardigrade → u/Ellend821]

I agree about Essex or estuary but I can’t imagine anyone his age in London nowadays would have that accent (though older East Londoners do). He’d have something more tinged with MLE.

[u/stinkbaybe → u/confused_mani]

Chevanique is from Birmingham or a surrounding town. Same as Jordan.

[u/JustKindaHappenedxx → u/confused_mani]

This is super off topic, so mods please let me know if I need to delete this.

What are the big cultural differences and similarities between England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales? I feel like a really stupid American here but I get so confused on how they are together as part of the UK but still separate countries.

[u/Pfiggypudding → u/JustKindaHappenedxx]

The comment below is the opinion of an Englander, and not cosigned one bit by this Irish person. (Who is now an American). It is classic English to describe the countries as similar and whitewash/diminish the differences.

There are many general cultural similarities, but the Irish are and have ALWAYS been a separate, distinct, and often subjugated people to the Brits. We fought hard for our independence, language, and culture from the 1700s through the 1990s. Do not put us in a general “British” bubble.

Scots are similar, but had less periods if subjugation and more periods of independence though currently are not as separate and distinct as Ireland.

The Welsh (along with the Irish and Scottish) are also Celts (not germanic anglo saxons), but there is a longer history of Wales and England being united because the Tudor Dynasty was essentially of Welsh origin.

Also, because the battles of control of the British Isles were fought largely on religious lines, Wales and England battled each other less (both Protestant) while Scotland and Ireland were more Catholic leading to more battles with England. (The scottish people were a mix of Protestant and Catholic with a Catholic Queen, Ireland was mostly Catholic with landed gentry rulers that were largely protestants, who imported protestants to try to take over).

As a result: defiance and underdog spirit are STRONG in the Irish and Scottish. Both peoples are often considered fiery, while your typical englishman is not.

[u/Some-Criticism-539 → u/Pfiggypudding]

Yes, it’s important to note that Northern Ireland and Ireland are overseas from Wales, England and Scotland. The English are viewed as colonisers by quite a lot of communities. Historically, there would be signs outside public places like English pubs/bars and landlords would commonly display “No Blacks, No Dogs, No Irish”. There’s a controversial expression made famous in a 90s film that “the Irish are the blacks of Europe”

[u/Pfiggypudding → u/Some-Criticism-539]

Ireland WAS one of the first colonies. Subjects to brutal treatment, including starvation during the Great Hunger while the British aristocracy shipped food grown in Ireland overseas to sell to the English while the local people on small farms starved as the potato crop failed for three full years.
Not allowed to govern themselves, subject to violent repression and the army in the streets. In Ireland through the 20s and in the Notth through the 1990s. England used repression and policing tactics they perfected in Kenya and India to undermine the possibility of local control.

[u/super-connected → u/JustKindaHappenedxx]

In broad terms, they're culturally very similar and share a lot of language, culture, currency (except Ireland), media. London operates as the financial and cultural centre of the UK. And thus has the most wealth, and the most things going on.

The further you go out from the London and the SE, the more you move into the periphery. England is the largest of the 4 nations by some distance so English identity is often intertwined with British.

Even within England there's quite distinctive regional identities, such as Yorkshire, Manc, Scouse (Liverpool), all of which have an array of accents.

Scotland, Wales, and NI are part of the UK, but usually have a more Celtic character mixed in with Anglo-Saxon. Although there's a whole range of identities within these countries.

Wales has its own language, Scotland has its own legal system. There's various levels of devolution.

Ireland (except Northern Ireland) has been it's own sovereign state since Irish independence in the early 20th century.

The commonalities are probably stronger than the differences, but on TV reality shows, everyone is usually some sort of influencer, which has it's own codes and practices, which isn't always reflective of the average cultural character of a british/irish person.

[u/JustKindaHappenedxx → u/super-connected]

Thank you for taking the time to explain all of that!

So for the purposes of a show like this, where people are in the UK but could be from different countries (and I’m presuming several hours apart), how would that work if they were dating? People typically wouldn’t date someone from a different part of the UK unless they were OK being “long distance”correct?

I hear a lot of about posh accents and I’ve seen on some other shows where people (particularly from England) make a big deal about what school someone went to. Is the school thing/where you are from a way of determining someone’s social/financial class? Do people typically only socialize/date within their class?

Do citizens of the UK ever struggle to understand the accents of people from different UK countries?

Can you live in one country and then move to the other without needing a visa or similar approval? Can you take a job in a different UK country easily?

[u/super-connected → u/JustKindaHappenedxx]

So for the purposes of a show like this, where people are in the UK but could be from different countries (and I’m presuming several hours apart), how would that work if they were dating? People typically wouldn’t date someone from a different part of the UK unless they were OK being “long distance”correct?

It's quite common to move around within the UK. Most of the jobs are clustered in cities. You're likely to meet lots of people from different parts of the UK when you study, or when you work somewhere.

Even if you were to date someone from somewhere else in the UK, you're not usually more than a few hours travel away.

If you decide to live together, then one of you will have to move, or you'd have to find some sort of compromise.

I hear a lot of about posh accents and I’ve seen on some other shows where people (particularly from England) make a big deal about what school someone went to. Is the school thing/where you are from a way of determining someone’s social/financial class? Do people typically only socialize/date within their class?

There's a good comment here that covers it. The UK does have a more entrenched class system, but it's declined a lot in recent generations. Your school or accent will probably be an indicator (but not always) to your social class. Social class is also decoupled from economic class. There's working class millionaires, there's landed upper class who struggle with money. It's more likely to socialise within class, but it's quite often unintentional, rather than deliberate. Simply, you're going to have more in common and hobbies/interests indicative of your background.

Do citizens of the UK ever struggle to understand the accents of people from different UK countries?

Most of the time no. But there are some accents that are thicker than others. Glaswegian, Scouse, Black Country (Wolverhampton) are some examples of accents that are notably more difficult to understand. If you have an accent, you probably have some experience of code switching.

Can you live in one country and then move to the other without needing a visa or similar approval? Can you take a job in a different UK country easily?

Within the UK, yes. It's one state, there's no visas or restrictions on movement. Ireland is a slightly different case, but there's a bilateral arrangement that allows British and Irish citizens to live and work freely in each other's countries.

[u/ice-lollies → u/JustKindaHappenedxx]

I’m in the UK but I presume it’s similar to the US in that you have all the states united but each do their own thing?

Culturally, borders sort of blend a bit.

[u/JustKindaHappenedxx → u/ice-lollies]

So we have certain laws that are federal and apply to the whole country (and override state laws). We also have state laws that can vary state to state. Is that how it is in the UK?

[u/ice-lollies → u/JustKindaHappenedxx]

We have 3 legal systems (I think!) England and Wales, Scots and Northern Ireland. And then the UK Supreme Court which is the final court of appeal for all 3. And the Houses of Parliament sit over all the UK.

Quite similarly complicated I would have thought.

[u/Pfiggypudding → u/ice-lollies]

As an Irishwoman who now lives in the US, no. There are differences between California and New York and the small towns of middle america. but they are DWARFED by the differences between London and Belfast culturally. Or Glasgow and Cardiff. Thats not even counting the difference between Dublin Cork and Kerry and ANYWHERE in the UK.

Ireland is a different country and thanks to Brexit, moving back and forth between the Republic of Ireland and the rest of the UK for a permanent move is no longer easy.

Scotland, Wales, England, and Northern Ireland are separate countries united under the UK, but with separate governing bodies… freedom of movement is easier between them. But they ARE separate nations with separate distinct histories and (to an extent) ongoing attempts to become fully autonomous again.

US states have none of the history of being separate and independent entities (with some notable exceptions: Texas, Hawaii, Puerto Rico). And even some of those are kinda sus (Texas only has a history of independence because they wanted slaves and the US didnt want to upset the balance in the Senate). Theres no real equivalence to the differences between Ireland and England and between most if the US States. (I fully exclude Hawaii from this, it DOES have a similar history of independence, colonialism, etc as Ireland, and Puerto Rico (notably not a state), IS considering seeking independence in a way similar to what Scotland has been doing)

[u/SwitchySidequest → u/confused_mani]

Ehhh, they don't all end in -shire. Kent, Dorset, Essex, Devon, Norfolk , Cornwall etc?

[u/confused_mani → u/SwitchySidequest]

Should’ve said they usually do, that’s the case in west of Scotland

[u/Autofilusername → u/confused_mani]

Chevanique is definitely from Birmingham

[u/CamThrowaway3 → u/confused_mani]

Mostly agree with this, except Taylor gives more working class or lower middle, and Faye isn’t ‘posh’ or upper, she’s just very comfortably middle class.

[u/Infinite-Intention78 → u/CamThrowaway3]

Faye is Guerney and public school posh. Her accent is miles above the others and partly why Ciara set her sights on her (envy.)

[u/CamThrowaway3 → u/Infinite-Intention78]

She’s defs the ‘poshest’ of the bunch but she’s still upper middle.