People 'doing' your accent

[Topofthemornintoya]

If you live outside Ireland, do people do your accent after you speak?

I live abroad and work with expats from many English speaking countries. From time to time, I will be speaking and the other, non Irish, person will repeat what I said in my accent. Maybe I'll say 'do you know if there's paper in the photocopier?' And someone will imitate me and put on my accent saying 'paper in the photocopier!' like it's hilarious.

I never know how to respond because my first thought is 'oh, you've noticed I speak differently to you and you think its comical. Right' but I never really know how to articulate this. I always feel like our conversation is pretty much over when this happens. I can't explain why.

It never feels like a compliment and I normally respond with blank silence as I don't know how I'm supposed to say. The other person will then note the lead balloon and say 'ooh I just love your accent!'.

I spoke to another expat (but not Irish) friend about this. She hasn't done it to me but said that everyone has an accent and a bit of teasing about accents is ok and nobody means any harm.

I couldn't put my finger on why it annoyed me so much. It used to happen a lot when I lived in Emlngland and it always felt very 'othering' so maybe I am overreacting and it's my issue.

Does it happen to you and do you mind? Am I being very over sensitive? It always makes me feel self conscious. As I said, I've worked with a lot of people from other countries. Scottish, Welsh, English, Kiwis, Australians, Americans, Canadians, Indian people and people from African countries. I would never dream of parroting something back to them in their accent because I found it funny. It's rude, isn't it? What do you think?

When I was living in England, it was often reinforced with mention of 'your lot', the IRA, potatoes, having no electricity, leprechauns etc etc. I now relate it to a broader anti-Irish setiment and find it difficult to see the funny side when my experience in the past was that the kinds of people who did it, also tried to imply that I was a backward, stupid terrorist. I don't know if other Irish people feel that the accent mocking is tied into a greater sense of being insulted.

Not my experience but my friend's. She moved to the UK in her early teens, and to my ear lost her accent & picked up some of a local English accent.
Early twenties, working in an office, her colleagues used to continually tease her about her Irish accent & gave her the nick name "Semtex"!!!
I was shocked. This was back in the mid-late nineties

Does my head in when people try to imitate a scouse accent

When people talk about being a northerner or southerner, are you Irish or talking about the North/South of England? As its craicnet I was automatically assuming posters referring to themselves as Northerners meant Northern Irish but now I read the comment a out bus/bath/glass I'm thinking they're English?

Yeah Ive lived north and south of Newcastle and it always happens. It makes me almost embarrassed when I'm trying to be serious about something. I don't mind when it's close friends etc but waiters and strangers and taxi drivers etc

Sorry I am English. With a northern English accent. This came up on active so didn’t notice is was craicnet.

No worries, I'm interested in everyone's experience but just wanted to be clear on what the accent was.

I have a North Down accent and when people in England where I now live do my accent I either piss myself laughing because it's SO bad and inaccurate or am impressed as occasionally someone nails it.

Don't find it offensive tbh but I'm sure someone would

Yeah I kind of feel like teasing belongs in a certain type of relationship; a close friendship or romantic relationship. There is a time and place for a bit of banter but with a random colleague in work, it feels like a line has been crossed. I find it embarrassing and I just don't know what to say. I feel all my joviality being sucked out of the room!

Yeah happened all the time. I just did it back to them because I loved their accent too. Subject of much hilarity on both sides 🤣🤣

They loved taking the piss out how I said column which as an engineer happens a lot. Pain in the hole silenced an entire room apparently it is not used outside of Ireland.

Lolling at this!

People 'doing' a Birmingham accent almost inevitably sound closer to Scouse.

OP I think there will be a mixture of genuine affection for the Irish accent, amusement or curiosity, and snobbery. But generally, mimicking someone's accent back to them out of context is like when they ask tall people what the weather's like up there. Rude, and lacking imagination to think it's an original joke.

A look of confusion sounds like a good response, followed up if necessary with a bemused voicing or your thought 'oh, you've realise I speak differently...'

It's xenophobia. The people who do it are usually monoglot english.

I don’t think it’s just the English, @GogLais , sadly that type of xenophobia exists everywhere.

I’m English currently living in America and people mimic me here. It’s for a laugh in their eyes, but sometimes there’s a touch of unpleasantness underneath.

It’s ironic, because somehow it’s acceptable here to make fun of my accent (and also Irish or Welsh accents) but totally unacceptable to make fun of some other accents. No one works mimic a strong Indian accent, for example.

*would

I agree - rude and offensive. People seems to think that some nationalities are fair game - Irish & Australian being two of them.

I hail from the latter and it annoys the shit out of me that the first time I meet someone they will always comment on my accent - possibly because it isn’t very strong and not always noticed first off, and it’s always accompanied by a question as to which of the Southern colonies it comes from.

I’m probably being over sensitive about it as people are just interested/being friendly, but I just want to shout ‘there’s more to me than my accent!!’. After 20 years of it it’s just boring.

You think it doesn't happen to Brummies? Scousers? Geordies? Cockney Londoners when they go to live in Scotland or Yorkshire?

In fact if you think you have it tough, try being a person who speaks with Received Pronunciation. Absolutely EVERYWHERE they go, working class people with regional accents think it's hilarious to take the piss relentlessly, call them poshos and toffs and mimic them mercilessly.

It is interesting OP that this still happens, especially in the workplace since these days we we are more aware about inclusivity and things that could constitute racism. There is absolutely no way that someone would get away with mocking an Indian accent for example. Is it because the Irish are seen as fun loving, full of the craic etc that this is more acceptable. I do think that in the majority of cases it is done with affection and most people will comment that they love the accent.

Actually @RadishAndTwiglet , I was originally addressing fellow Irish posters about their unique experience as Irish expats with Irish accents. There are other layers of the Irish expat experience which adds another level of interest to my query, which is why I posted on Craicnet, which is a board primarily for Irish people.

I am definitely interested in everyone's experience of having one's accent mocked (thank you to everyone who contributed btw!) but my OP was directed to other Irish people. I am definitely aware that people everywhere experience this and have valid experiences, and they are very interesting too, but please don't berate me for singling out the Irish experience on an Irish board.

I'm sorry you have also experienced people making fun of your accent, by the way.

I don't find it offensive if a friend does it, but if I've just met someone I find it offensive. I think because mimicking the Irish accent is often done with the subtext that Irish people are stupid. So even if it's done in good faith it gets to me.

I never know how to respond because my first thought is 'oh, you've noticed I speak differently to you and you think its comical. Right' but I never really know how to articulate this.

I think I'd be inclined to say it exactly as you wrote it. But I have a much lower tolerance for this sort of BS these days and would never even consider taking off someone's accent. If they don't deploy a filter when talking to you, I'd have no conscience about returning the favour. (And bullies' everlasting parrot cry is 'can't you take a joke?', the usual response you can expect when you take this behaviour to task).

Imagine if someone were to do this to, for example, someone from the Middle East? Not okay. In any circumstance.

I appreciate that you’re primarily aiming this post at fellow Irish posters. I only chimed in because I know the Irish accents would be imitated in America in a similar way to my own accent.

Most Americans wouldn’t realize that it can be irritating/offensive and they’d do it in a lighthearted way-but it can get irritating after a while, plus the people who claim that they can’t understand you!

Sorry - I've just seen which board this is on. It came up in trending threads. Hope you don't mind my posting.

I sometimes get the same as a southerner living in the north. I have met a few people (I live very rurally) where we genuinely struggle to understand each other. When this happens everyone, including me, always blame themselves and our hearing.
The most comical (horrendous) comment was someone from the village I grew up in when I was back visiting family asking me how I coped being so far from anywhere important 🤣🤣.

For the record, I really don't mind people from other nationalities or regions sharing their experience at all! I just wanted to clarify that there was a specific slant to my enquiry, in case anyone thought I was bringing my situation to a general forum and elevating the Irish experience above that of others.