False Pretences
Does adopting a fake accent mean that you’re insecure, because you see the need to hide behind a false persona, or that you’re bolder than average, because a skin-crawlingly accent as ridiculous as that must signal incredible self-assuredness?
maybe you just wanna be understood. one of my yoga teachers slangs like nobody’s business. but when you teach a class full of ppl of difffering nationalities, it could possibly be useful.
I don’t really have a problem with fake accents as long as they sound like ONE accent (instead of adopting various speech sounds of different accents) and as long as they’re relatively credible sounding. HATEMENT the half-brit-half-americano sounding ones. MAKE UP YOUR MIND.
I used to know an English girl who would speak with a Scottish accent when she got drunk. The more she drank the thicker the accent became. Very annoying and pointless.
Living in Asia over the years I found so many Asians, mainly Thais, who tried very hard to sound American. I could never understand this. I think there’s a fine line between sounding cool and sounding like an idiot.
J’s comment: “maybe you just wanna be understood. one of my yoga teachers slangs like nobody’s business. but when you teach a class full of ppl of difffering nationalities, it could possibly be useful”
I COMPLETELY disagree. HOW can it be useful????? Slanging is not useful. I know that if I were in a room with my yoga teacher speaking in Singaporean-American English, (note: schlepping Rs at the end of EVERY WORD isn’t an American accent, by the way…)it would drive me insane….forget about concentrating on yoga. SPEAKING WELL - speaking CLEARLY - is more important than anything else. It doesn’t matter WHAT accent you have at that point. As long as people can understand you. SPEAK LIKE YOU HAVE A BRAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (that functions)
I think that sometimes, the easiest speeches to listen to are those that are accentless. (and yes, there are neutral, accentless accents!)
God, I’ve known SO MANY PEOPLE (oddly, Singaporeans, why is that??) who go away for school or whatever and they adopt a foreign accent. Hey, props to you if you can pull it off convincingly. But if you come home from Australia and you say “Goodday, mate! Ay, you want to go out? Come lah, AY?” then fuck off, you’re retarded.
Jun and Vick…remember the “Emotional Eeeejit?” that’s what i’m talking about. “Helllo, my name is Irene.” NO IT’S NOT. it’s SHIRKLING.
wow i got riled up. Ok. bye.
oh, and by the way, in response to the actual question on your blog, i think these people are insecure, and using an accent to cover it up.
You know who i’m thinking about, don’t you? There are a few….come on.
Stinky Feet?
Ballerina Thighs?
YEAH.
Wow, is this thread getting people worked up or what? LOL. I guess what I’m saying is why do people see the need to have a fake accent, though:
-Rs at the end of everything is annoying, wrong and confusing
-A fake accent is ironically most real to the person faking it—everyone else thinks you’re a jerk
-A slang is a phrase/word, while an accent is pronunciation.
who’s stinky feet?????
Thank you for pointing out the slang vs accent thing.
VICK how does jun not know who stinky feet is?
jun, do you know who ballet thighs is?
Uh, I don’t know who stinky feet is. Though I do know who ballet thighs is.
don’t we all. hahah.