On Sun, 25 Jan 2004 11:39:15 GMT, Frogleg wrote:


We're not *all* hopeless, you know. Nor are all of you. :-) When I
was in London (glorious!) some people sought to 'compliment' me by
remarking "you don't *sound* American." I had no clue what they meant.
That I didn't sound Texan or Georgian or Bostonian or as if I were
from da Bronx? How can people from a an area half the size of
California with more regional accents than France has cheeses believe
there's such a thing as an 'American' mode of speech?

Having met USians while working in a USian company and met some when
travelling, I am aware that the 'American' accent varies a great deal
more than those we hear on TV or in the movies. It seems a very
limited range of USian accents are considered acceptable for British
consumption. I cannot tell whether this arises at the production end
of the process, or if buyers/distributors of TV programmes and films
act as a filter. It should also be said that British accents in 'real
life' vary much more and are often much stronger than heard via the
'meeja' .

Regards, VivienB

With a West country accent flavoured with Irish.