On Sun, 25 Jan 2004 15:43:01 +0000, VivienB
wrote:

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."

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.

Thanks. This is interesting. I've long been a devotee of Brit books,
films, and TV, and can sort out a fair number of the stronger accents.
Not like Professor Higgens, but more in the line of north, south, and
west. And BBC. :-) I think US media *does* present a kind of
LA-generic picture. (Los Angeles, not Louisiana) Strong regional
accents are usually relegated to 'character' parts. But there *are*
distinctly regional accents here, too. Various southern ones can be
quite pronounced. The Maine 'down-easter' is distinctive, as is the
Scandinavian influence in the upper (northern) midwest. Etc., etc.