Och Aye The Noo - Hoots Mon - See You Jummy

[MacLowlife]

Does anybody remember "Bubble" from Absolutely Fabulous? I see her name is Jane Horrocks and she had a fairly pronounced one- I will depend on others to judge whether it was good or bad.

To my ear, the trick (for a Scots' accent) is turning the "short" i into an e in words like "distillery" and, of course, the comic air leak of Rowan Atkinson's crazy people, who seem to be hissing while they build up sufficient pressure to actually speak.

I believe Robert DuVall's southern (US) accent is convincing and Chris Cooper generally does a good job. There was a minor actor in a minor film called DREAM LOVER ( which starred James Spader and Madchen Amick) who managed a quick Texas accent that sounded authentic, but soft and genteel. I think he says "Mister, she did things to me I couldn't even pronounce" but maybe that is what I would like Madchen Amick to do to me...

Christopher Guest manages a nice inoffensive southern accent in BEST IN SHOW. I think he does well with accents generally, too.

Peter Capaldi's accent in LOCAL HERO may be authentic based on his having grown up in Glasgow.

[thescot]

Lachlan09, you did OK unitl you stepped on the 39 Steps. You just can't be dissing a classic like that!

I, like OC Richards, have a real tender spot for the likes of Archie Bunker trying to do a Mississippi accent. I rememer trying to watch In the Heat of the Night, and Carroll O'Conner called the other guy, "Voigil." I never watched it again. I'd have been OK if they just hadn't tried to sound Southern.

Of course, my own attempts at other accents are perfect, but, well, there you are. When I affect a Scottish sccent to read Burns on the 16th next, I feel certain that all will find it terrific. ("Tha'ts a joke, son, don't you know a joke when you hear it?" Foghorn Leghorn)

And, Todd, having graduated from high school in New Orleans, I can verify exactly what you say. My girl friend in high school (whose family was made up mostly of attorneys and such) had an almost refined Southern speech, more akin to Jimmy Carter's than to anyone in the 9th Ward. And the real, sure enough Cajun friend of mine, Francis Lange, from Thibidoux, sounded like Hercule Poirot to my unaccustomed ear. ( I know Poirot is Belgian, not French, but that's another issue.)

Fact is, I like Mike Myers's Scottish accent better than most, but since his father was from Scotland, I guess he had a head start.

Being such a nomadic hybrid, I, of course, have no accent. oop: But I suspect that all of us are OK with fake accents unless it comes from someone trying to sound like us!

One last annecdote: when I was in England in 1988 for a conference, a couple of the locals asked us if we could sound "British," so we tried. (There folks there from Ireland, Scotland, all parts of England, Waled, etc.) After giving it by best, one fellow from the Potteries (is that right?) asked me, "Why do all Americans try to sound like bloody Londoners? And posh Londoners at that." Guess my attemtp was a stinker as well.

[macwilkin]

Lachlan09, you did OK unitl you stepped on the 39 Steps. You just can't be dissing a classic like that!

I, like OC Richards, have a real tender spot for the likes of Archie Bunker trying to do a Mississippi accent. I rememer trying to watch In the Heat of the Night, and Carroll O'Conner called the other guy, "Voigil." I never watched it again. I'd have been OK if they just hadn't tried to sound Southern.

Of course, my own attempts at other accents are perfect, but, well, there you are. When I affect a Scottish sccent to read Burns on the 16th next, I feel certain that all will find it terrific. ("Tha'ts a joke, son, don't you know a joke when you hear it?" Foghorn Leghorn)

And, Todd, having graduated from high school in New Orleans, I can verify exactly what you say. My girl friend in high school (whose family was made up mostly of attorneys and such) had an almost refined Southern speech, more akin to Jimmy Carter's than to anyone in the 9th Ward. And the real, sure enough Cajun friend of mine, Francis Lange, from Thibidoux, sounded like Hercule Poirot to my unaccustomed ear. ( I know Poirot is Belgian, not French, but that's another issue.)

Fact is, I like Mike Myers's Scottish accent better than most, but since his father was from Scotland, I guess he had a head start.

Being such a nomadic hybrid, I, of course, have no accent. oop: But I suspect that all of us are OK with fake accents unless it comes from someone trying to sound like us!

One last annecdote: when I was in England in 1988 for a conference, a couple of the locals asked us if we could sound "British," so we tried. (There folks there from Ireland, Scotland, all parts of England, Waled, etc.) After giving it by best, one fellow from the Potteries (is that right?) asked me, "Why do all Americans try to sound like bloody Londoners? And posh Londoners at that." Guess my attemtp was a stinker as well.

Sort of like my friend Alex, who was from Leith -- he always said that Americans attempting a Scottish accent always sound like "weegies". He also would mention Andy Stewart's "The Rumour" as a good way to learn the different accents of Scotland.

Where did you go to high school in New Orleans? My mother-in-law went to Warren Easton.

T.

[Tony]

Does anybody remember "Bubble" from Absolutely Fabulous? I see her name is Jane Horrocks and she had a fairly pronounced one- I will depend on others to judge whether it was good or bad.

It was a really bad Scottish accent. But a very very good Lancashire one