Wish I had a regional accent?

[turnyourmattress]

I don't know why, but I don't have a strong regional accent. There are occasional hints of it, and it comes out when I'm really angry. Most people think I am southern, or sound a bit RP (not really imo).

I am from Liverpool. Went to an inner city state comp, lived around people with strong scouse accents. My parents don't have strong ones, but do have accents. My grandparents were near unintelligible to outsiders 🐲

I think my accent softened a bit at uni. Or in other words, any accent I did have, disappeared. I never ever made a conscious effort to change it.

People are always surprised when I tell them I'm from Liverpool. They don't believe me, or ask if I went to boarding school/grew up down here. Ask when I changed it. I've had other people from Liverpool claim that I am pretending to be someone I am not. Some people think I am a huge snob, others think I am trying to hide where I am from.

AIBU to wish I had a regional accent, just so that I could conform to what people expect from people from Liverpool?

[PrettyMaybug]

LOL! grabs popcorn...

[housemaus]

I was half-expecting this to be someone complaining that their RP accent wasn't 'interesting' enough and had my back up before I read it, haha!

But no, I don't think you're unreasonable - accents are a big part of how you're perceived by other people, and some places (Liverpool especially) there's a strong sense of identity that's very tied in with the accent.

[rnsaslkih]

Just ignore the fuckwits

[CottonPyjamas]

I feel exactly the same OP. I've moved about a bit and never really developed one, despite most people thinking my mum sounds like she comes from Cornwall. When we moved north, I was bullied for being 'posh', but then laughed at at home if I started to pick up a northern twang. I only spent three years in the city of my birth, and find it difficult to answer the question, where are you from, because I've lived more than thirty years elsewhere. I find these things are all linked to our personal identity

[eddiemairswife]

I loathe the Liverpool accent.

[SpaghettiNotCourgetti]

I'm similar - I'm from Manchester but don't sound particularly Mancunian, or even very northern (the only giveaway is my flat 'a' sounds in words like 'grass', and the odd bit of glottal reinforcement in words like 'kitchen'). I did my MA at Manchester University and there were local people on my course who either didn't believe I was from Manchester or who decided I thought I was better than they were because they had strong accents and I didn't.

I can't say it bothers me, though - we don't all have to sound like a stereotype. Are you a proud scouser? I guess that must make a difference. I'm not that arsed about having been born in a certain place - it's not like it was a choice I made so I don't see how I can be proud of it!

[BobbinThreadbare123]

I am Scouse. It has become more gentle over time as I haven't lived in that area for many years. I have met other Liverpudlians who don't have any real trace of it, but it comes back when they speak with someone from "home"! Don't worry about it, OP. Do you want to conform to the expectations of what a Scouser is perceived to be by others?
We don't care if people loathe the accent though.

[Alovelydayatlast]

Accents are strange ime.. Apparently I am obviously from Newcastle even though I haven't actually lived there for 30 years..y dc aren't even Geordie and still call people Pet!! Ingrained I guess!

[newnamethanks]

People who critique others accents should shut up. Ridiculous.

[AllThingsServeTheBeam]

@eddiemairswife

I loathe the Liverpool accent.

Nice.

[orwellwasright]

Wild suggestion here but have you thought about simply speaking with a stronger accent?

[standoctor]

"I loathe the Liverpool accent."
You mean you do not subscribe to "Scousers are speciallllllllllllllllllllll"

[PearlclutchersInc]

A polite or educated accent is nice - and that's what you probably have. People are so used to hearing the extremes via the media which is why they think you don't have one.

Broad Scouse accents are like nails down a blackboard to me.

[daisyjgrey]

My partner is Liverpudlian, both sides of his family, except a bit of Irish (his mum was adopted in Liverpool but born to an Irish woman). He was born there and was there until he was about 7 until he moved. His accent is very very faint, like only detectable on the ends of certain words. It does get a bit more pronounced when we're there for a while, or if he spends a decent amount pf time around his immediate family. Most people wouldn't guess he was scouse unless they were told.

[daisyjgrey]

@PearlclutchersInc

A polite or educated accent is nice - and that's what you probably have. People are so used to hearing the extremes via the media which is why they think you don't have one.

Broad Scouse accents are like nails down a blackboard to me.

That's nice of you. Your profile name suits you.

[TheWayTheLightFalls]

I really like the Scouse accent; I associate it with warmth and friendliness. We’re on holiday at the moment and the woman on the plane next to me offered to hold my whingy son and then said “So where is youse from then?” - which I know enforces 100 shit stereotypes on MN but was lovely in the moment.

I’m foreign and sound like a mix of things. I think people in the UK should be proud of their distinctive regional accents, and I can understand why you might develop a complex if you feel you don’t fit in.

[moomintrolls]

I think inherent conformity is what got you where you are.

I've come across people who adopt other people's accents, I find it really strange but I think it's involuntary.

I sound like where I'm from 20 years after moving to the other side of the country. People always ask 'how come you don't have a XXX accent then?'

Why would I? This is how I speak? Why would it change?

What do you think makes people adopt others' accents involuntarily?

[secretllama]

I agree with @TheWayTheLightFalls . I love any of the UK "working class city" accents (geordie, scouse, weegie etc) as to me they remind me of warm friendly people. But the scouse accent in particular I love !

[covilha]

OP, I could have written this post. I have a north east accent , and like you,in my area regional accents are very much associated with identity and belonging. But I had speech and language therapy when young and never developed it. When I was younger, it would on occasion(ie frequently) result in some unpleasantness unfortunately. I did try to develop the accent but was laughed at.

Then when I moved south everybody couldn’t get over how northern I sounded! At least when I returned home I could tell people that I sounded the way I did because I had been living in the south for a number of years.
Anyway, I totally get this.

[jamoncrumpets]

I grew up in Norfolk but never had the accent as my family are all from Kent. I was posh then. Then I went to uni with mostly privately educated peers. I definitely wasn't posh then. Married a privately educated Oxbridge grad, and over the years think I have assimilated some of his pronunciation, we also moved to Kent a few years ago, where all my family are. I have moments where I sound veh naice and moments where I sound like I'm flogging ice creams on the beach at Margate. I don't really care, it's patchwork like me.

[Abhannmor]

@eddiemairswife

I loathe the Liverpool accent.

Awright our kid?

[yellowsuninthesky]

My mum is from Liverpool but has lived away from the city for about 2/3 of her life. Any Liverpudlian instantly knows that's where she's from, though. I don't think she has much of an accent (north-west but that's it) but there are certain things Liverpudlians say.

Not sure why EddieMair'sWife thinks it's worth posting. Did you ever hear if you can't say anything nice, don't bother saying anything at all?

[BananaShrimp]

Autistic people often lack a strong accent. Their voices can be very flat with unusual pronunciation and stress on the wrong syllables. I’m autistic and I don’t have a strong regional accent, which is something I was bullied for as a child.

[Handyweatherstation]

@orwellwasright

Wild suggestion here but have you thought about simply speaking with a stronger accent?

That's what I thought too. I grew up in Birmingham and having the wrong accent could get you into trouble, so learning to speak like everyone else helped a lot.

[Hbh17]

Goodness me, no. An educated accent will get you a long way in life. Strong regional accents are often not appealing - I don't like them on the radio, for instance, as it can be too distracting.