AIBU to find it odd my children sound English?

[brawst]

Neither of my kids have Scottish accents. Both DH and I have Scottish accents and have never lived outside of Scotland. I have a Glaswegian accent and DH has a very soft Edinburgh accent.

We live and the kids grew up in Fife, but both of them sound English. They both moved to England at 18 for studies (over a decade ago now) and people will ask them if they have Scottish family or links because they’ve very Scottish names, like Angus McLeod etc.

They only used to have a very slight accent, but DD said she put this on so she wouldn’t get teased at School

Fit like?

I’m originally from Glasgow. My husband is from Kent. We moved to NE England about 20 years ago, but always had what was referred to as a Kelvinside accent. My husband has a Home Counties accent. To folk here I sound Scottish, but when I go back to Glasgow they say I’ve lost my accent. My children had very soft Scottish accents when we moved down which they’ve both lost.

Different North East!

I am northern. I have lived in a southern county for longer than I lived at home, and have a southern DP and a southern child. DC's accent is one that my northern working class self and friends would have been agog at 20 years ago. Sometimes I wonder what the hell I'm doing parenting Little Lord Fauntleroy 😂

Mind you, I notice that many of the children who have attended one of the two Catholic high schools in Fife seem to have adopted a pseudo-Weegie accent - they sound as though they've come straight out of "Still Game".

Chavvin awa!

She would have been teased for having an English accent so she put on a "slight" Scottish accent (whatever that is) to blend in.

My dsil says her dc don't really have a scouse accent. They do.

My cousin doesn't think she has a black country accent. She does.

@brawst I guarantee that I would think your dc have a Scottish accent.
It may be softer than most but it will be there.

So what accents do they have? English? Australian?

My husband's three siblings (two older, one younger) both have really broad Leeds accents and his is a generic, soft Yorkshire accent - it's so odd. But they went to different schools and hung around with different people, so I think that must be something to do with it.

Mine doesn’t have a Scottish accent despite growing up here and DH and I both being Scottish. I lost much of my accent though living in England from late teens until my thirties. I can and do sometimes go full on Weege though.

So I put it down to a mix of my accent, and nursery during the early years. Fairly diverse staff and children - few Scottish accents around there.

How old are your children? And do they watch a lot of Peppa Pig?

What school did they go to op?
My DC’s have lived their whole life in fife but compared to their peers they dont have what you would call classic fife accents.
Both myself and DH are Scottish, not fifers tho so that may play a part. I think the fife accent is very difficult to place compared to the obvious Glaswegian, Aberdonian, borders and highland accents

To be fair, my Scottish accent can be turned on and off. I lived in Scotland as a child, but only had the accent at school or with my friends. My parents still think that it's hilarious - I 'catch' a Scottish accent terribly now, even 30+ years later

Lol’ing hard at this

Where I live, everyone thinks I'm a cockney. When I go back to London, everyone thinks I sound like where I live.

An Australian child I knew years ago had a South African accent as a youngster as the teachers at school were south African. They grew out of it but it was a bit weird to hear back then.

I was born in London ,and my Nan gave me "elocution" lessons so that I grew up speaking well.I seem to have a sort of semi posh accent though.No one realises my roots unless I tell them!

It used to be easier to pick out when it was more of a sing-song.

In the '60s, we had primary school teachers trying to train the sing-song out of us and music teachers trying to get rid of the ueeee. At secondary school in the '70s, those who dared to speak Fife Scots were mocked by the teachers.

My accent varies depending on how far north or south I go. Born in England, (to Scottish parents) spoke with a fully English accent till we moved back up when I was 5. Adopted a “teuchter” accent and vernacular when we lived in Aberdeenshire for my entire childhood. Moved back south when I graduated and almost instantly lost my accent, moved back north and now it’s a weird hybrid.

My brother lived down south from the age of 17 and was fully English spoken til he moved back up north when he was in his 50s. He’s been back for about 4 years and his Scottish twang is back.

My husband is from south Scotland and has quite a non-descript Scottish accent, some people think he’s from Inverness although he’s never lived there. My daughter had a strong NL accent until the age of about 5 because she went to nursery there. We live in Forth Valley but she has never picked up that local accent. Her accent is a mix of mine and my husbands. When we visit England, I can hear her slipping into the accent.

This was also the case in the 80s in Aberdeen. Thou shalt not spik Doric!

Sad to say there are still teachers who do this.

@WearyAuldWumman I loved Scotland The What as it was the first time I'd heard comedians who spoke like me.

We had cousins from Dundee who came up to visit. We went to the chipper and she asked for a poke of chips - everybody fell about laughing

@BigYellowBus
Whilst at Uni in Edinburgh I asked a a dinner party group what part of England they came from...
Turned out they were all Scottish. I had no idea, back then, that Scottish people could have English sounding accents...

I genuinely don't understand how you can grow up in Fife and not have a Fife accent. DH is from Fife, and has not lived there for 40 years. He has never lost his accent. He's slowed down a bit, and taken the slang out because he got fed up of people not understanding him but people in England still struggle to follow him at times.

Unless they had 'posh' friends or you lived somewhere like St Andrews it's difficult to understand how they sound English. DH is from Kirkcaldy and it's a pretty strong accent.

Foo’s yer doos?

Ballater is my old stomping ground, went to school in Aboyne.