Posted by Guy C. on October 19, 2003 at 17:27:10 from 68.0.144.168 user Astronomer_Guy.
In Reply to: Re: This has got too far from Ransome-so what's new posted by Dave Thewlis on October 19, 2003 at 15:57:03:
Actually, this is all very illuminating, as it illustrates well for us "furriners" the context in which Ransome has his characters comment on local accents.
As one of those Americans who has appeared (if that's the right word for radio) on BBC4 Radio, in an astronomy series that ran last January, I was amused to get a "fan letter" from a woman in the Lake District who thought I must be Canadian--not a bad guess, as I am actually from Detroit. But North American accents in general are not nearly as strongly differentiated as those in the UK. Few Americans would have a hard time understanding any other accent from North America, whereas the first time I heard Geordie I thought I was listening to someone speaking Norwegian or some other foreign tongue!
Of course, when it comes to "proper", I have a colleague from India (by way of Wales!) who reminds me that the vast majority of English speakers sound like he does. Oh, my goodness gracious, yes, isn't it?
(For those of you not familiar with Geordie, the native tongue of Newcastle, check out: