I just have the generic american accent. Turn on the TV to an American show, and just about everyone there will have the same accent as me. It's not southern, nor is it any of the north-eastern ones.

Suona, its really close to a California accent. Very basic - moldable. I can do southern and midwestern if I'm around people with that kind of accent though. And I can kind of do a Jersey accent if I'm around Melissa after she comes back from vacations and stuff xD

What exactly would you call a midwestern accent?
Aside from saying weird things like "warsh" instead of "wash," I don't really hear an accent here.

I get asked semi-frequently if I'm from England, but I don't think I actually have a British accent. ;p I just have a very generalized accent which may not be entirely American. Having lived most of my life in the South US by now, I do have the occasional slip into Southern.

Off to take forever to judge entries. :B

I have just the basic, plain american accent.
I live in Cali, and not in the city or the boondocks, so I dont have anything special when it comes to accents. And none of my heritage stands out enough to show up in my accent.

When I'm around my grand parents and my cousins my hickness comes out and I have a country drawl. Other than that I don't really have an accent, though my friends say I sound british when talking to fast. Not sure how exactly but eh.

Originally Posted by Cherry Flavored Antacid

What exactly would you call a midwestern accent?
Aside from saying weird things like "warsh" instead of "wash," I don't really hear an accent here.

I don't know. Like Oklahoma/Kansas accents. Sort of southern, but more diluted?

Originally Posted by CK

I get asked semi-frequently if I'm from England, but I don't think I actually have a British accent. ;p I just have a very generalized accent which may not be entirely American. Having lived most of my life in the South US by now, I do have the occasional slip into Southern.

Off to take forever to judge entries. :B

How do you not have a southern accent? xD

I have no clue what accent I have. People just say I have one. I know sometimes I pronounce things with a brooklyn/queens accent, and I have never been to new york. I have family from there, but the ones that still carry the accent heavy that live here I do not see enough to have that developed into my voice, so I dunno.

CK: I'm also always told that I have a British accent. Specifically, a lot of people seem to think that I'm from South Africa.

It's really quite humorous. No one ever thinks I'm from America. No one. They're always asking what country I'm from. My favorite was when I was working at a Barnes and Noble in New York, and someone (who knew I worked there) asked, "How long are you in the country for?"

XD @ Cami. That would have been the most amazing thing to see if I knew you personally. I think I would have died laughing xD

lol I feel like an odd ball. xP
I have no accent.

Ugh, I hate New York accents.
My bus driver for the college is from New York, and he has a really bad one. And he is also latino, so its a weird mix of accents. It drives me nuts, though. I dont like listening to him talk, and he never shuts up.

Seiki: I had a teacher last year who was certain I was from England. (It was my own darned fault. On one of the first days, he asked a question, I answered it, and he said, "You're from England," as a statement, not a question. I was taken completely of guard and said, hesitantly, "So I'm told?"

So, then, he spent the rest of the semester making British jokes that somehow involved me and bringing me into conversations about the difference between British and American English (it was a copyediting class). I probably should have said something, but it seemed easier to just go with it. <<,,

The best part was the class only had ten people in it, and most of them did know me personally, so they spent much of the class trying not to laugh.

Funny thing is my best friend is actually British, and everyone thinks she's either Southern, or Australian.

I dont think that people really understand accents.

lulz
aussies and brits have similar accents
so thats understandable

I think you're right on that, Suona. I'm certain I don't actually sound like I'm from any of these places people think I'm from.

You think so Es? I can tell them apart so easily its not even funny. I'm always confused when I see people get them mixed up.

):
yeah i think so
lulz
i also think that all the asians sound the same
so that could be my fault too
XD
all my asian friends take that as an insult

I have noticed that most asains to find it very insulting to be considere any other asain race. But that shows up in just about every race.

And I think that most people are very naive about accents. I'm certainly one. I have no idea what accents are from where.

Originally Posted by Seiki Nova

How do you not have a southern accent? xD

XD I'm a second-generation military brat. Not only have I lived all over, but so have both my parents. XD My mom has the strongest "accent" out of all of us, and I don't know that you'd necessarily listen to her talk and go, "Oh, she must be from the South." XD

I've been exposed to so many different accents (both from people I've met and from all the different television I watch) that mine became generic. XD;

Originally Posted by Cami

CK: I'm also always told that I have a British accent. Specifically, a lot of people seem to think that I'm from South Africa.

It's really quite humorous. No one ever thinks I'm from America. No one. They're always asking what country I'm from. My favorite was when I was working at a Barnes and Noble in New York, and someone (who knew I worked there) asked, "How long are you in the country for?"

::laughs:: XD I've had people drive up to the drive-thru (when I worked a drive-thru ice cream parlor, anyway), stop me in stores, and ask me about it in lines or in class. I think your reactions are probably a touch more outrageous than mine have been, though. XD

---

EDIT:

Forgot to mention that part of the confusion with accents probably comes from television and movies. Where a character is meant to have a certain accent, but their actor can't pull it off authentically. And with so much cross-pollination with accents thanks to the fluidity of entertainment, accents in larger populations are becoming more homogenized and international. Those who live in the boonies and aren't as exposed to different accents will still largely have little contamination/homogenization, but... *rattles on*

Originally Posted by Seiki Nova

I don't know. Like Oklahoma/Kansas accents. Sort of southern, but more diluted?

Ah, I get what you're saying now.
I live in Missouri, but most people I know don't talk like that. Most people have the generic American accent (or "no accent") that I have. But some people around here do sound like that. It just sounds hickish to me, since only the hicks have accents here. :P
Well, or old people. It's fine when old people have gentle accents, since then it's like... they're going to make you some cookies because they think you're too thin, and oh, you look just like their grandkid and so on and so forth.



Oh, on accents...
My boyfriend is from Virginia. He doesn't have a Virginia accent (thank GOD), nor does he have a Tennessee accent (he lives on the border), but he does have a very soft, gentle accent. It doesn't sound stupid or hickish (and this is coming from someone who is irritated by just about every southern american accent. xD), it just makes everything he says sound softer. No real twang or anything.
But the very first time I heard him on the phone for some reason I swore he sounded Australian. Only for a few moments, not even the entire conversation. But he sounded vaguely Australian. I think it was just because he was nervous and talking fast. xD I've still yet to figure out how he did that, though... He hasn't sounded a bit like that since.

I swear that it would not be hard for me to pick up a British accent if I lived in England for any amount of time. If I just watch British programming for as little as an hour, I'll be thinking in a British accent for the rest of the night. If I lived there... it'd start to show in how I talk, for sure. xD

lol, British and Aussie accents are so completely different ^^
I'm Australian and I've spent so long trying to put on a good British accent, it's fun, plus it annoys my brother xD

EDIT: I almost permanently think in a British accent, getting a British accent is one of the reasons I'm desperate to go there

Awe, that makes sense then CK. I have a few army brat friends that have off-accents because growing up they didn't stay in one place long enough to develop theirs properly. Its kind of funny sometimes because they play jokes on people with it.

Cherry, like I said, its more diluted. And it depends on which region of the state you're in that the accents are more noticeable.

And Australian accents are easy. I tease Louise all the time whenever people think she's Australian and I start talking all Aussie and stuff haha. Funny though, I can't do a New Zealand accent though.

I'll admit that I do have some problems telling British and Aussie accents apart.
There are so many variations of the British accent (and the Aussie accent is one, really) that to someone who doesn't live in either place, Aussies (unless greatly exaggerated) generally sound as if they could be british...

I also have problems telling the difference between Irish and Scottish. That's really horrible because I'm a quarter Scottish, and there's a good amount of Irish in there too.
If the accents are very, very strong or exaggerated I can tell the difference. But otherwise, I can only guess. My guesses do tend to be correct, but I'm not sure of them.

EDIT: Seiki - Yeah, I know you mean diluted. Most people with accents near me don't have super strong, heavy ones.

If I indeed end up moving down south soon... whoo, that's going to be an experience since I don't like those accents. xD;

I love accents. Most anyways. Give me a good British, Irish, Scottish, Southern, Midwestern, Jersey, New York, Mexican....accent any day and I'll be happy! xD
My old old boss was Russian and I secretly loved his accent. >> <<
Even though I couldn't understand a word he said.
I'd say I don't have an accent, but in a sense, everyone does.