Sunday, September 24, 2006

Accent

On Friday, my friend V and me were talking about an upcoming opera performance. V and his friends were planning to go for it and he had invited me to join them.V was verbally going over the list of people who would be coming. I was simultaneously looking up something on my computer and was paying only half attention. The conversation between us went something like this:

V: And oh, I really hope J is able to make it.

Me (paying minimal attention): Um..

V:
He's a great guy.

Me
(automatically): Really?

V:
He's very funny, you know! He has an awesome sense of humor!

Me
(again, automatically): Um ..cool!

V:
He's British right, so...

Me
(perking my ears immediately): British?? Did you say BRITISH?

V:
Yup!

Me
(with shining eyes): Does he speak with a British accent?

V:
Oh yeah, he does! In fact...

Me
(interrupting excitedly): Oh, I really, really hope J turns up! I simply love listening to guys who speak with a British accent *drool*!

Why do I find men speaking with British accents so attractive? I have no clue! All I can think of is one of the Dilbert comic strips which has a female character going something like "That guy is fat, bald and ugly. But he speaks with a British accent - I find him so attractive"! I can so totally identify with that.

In fact, I remember actually having listened to a fat, bald and old* guy speaking with a British accent and thinking blissfully about how good he sounded! Mercifully, frequent reality checks consisting of looking at him brought me back to my senses. I think I am not alone in this - I know of other females having the same affliction when listening to British-accented guys!

Anyways, V then told me that he had no idea why I was so crazy about men who speak with a British accent. Apparently, it had no effect on him whatsoever. Then he added, "But yeah, women speaking with a British accent sound so incredibly sexy. You know Liz Hurley - she sounds so super sexy *drool*".

I have never consciously observed Liz Hurley speak, so I could not comment upon that. But I thought a bit and added "You know what, guys speaking with a British accent sound good. Women with British accents simply sound snooty"! V, of course, did not concur. After some more argument, we just agreed to disagree and moved on to other topics.

Then, on Saturday, while I was hiking with another friend D, out of the blue, this topic about accents popped into my head and I decided to take a opinion poll. I asked D what he thought about British accents. D said "Ohhh, I just love it when women speak with British accents. They sound so sexy!". Then he added, "But guys with British accents simply sound obnoxious"! LOL :-D! So I guess it is all a matter of perception!

So, how many of you find British accents attractive? And does it matter whether it is a male or a female using it?

Sign off comic - this wasn't the Dilbert comic-strip I had in mind but this one is close enough :-)!

* I have nothing against fat/bald/old/ugly men. Its just that, no matter how good they are otherwise, they usually do not fall into the eye-candy/drool-at-first-sight category.

21 comments:

The Kid said...

Bonjour Mademoiselle,

A french accented girl, punctuated with grammar slips, words substituted with the almost romantic french replacement, is more of my taste. A more perfect melody could not be asked for.

In lieu of my more common soubriquet
-Pratap

Inder said...

british accent does sound attractive. no matter who speaks it - man or woman.

Prasanna said...

hhmmm, never occured to me...now I know why I drooled over Hugh Grant in Bridget Jones's Diary.

Floridora said...

Pratap has the right idea. A French gal, preferably a cafe singer, can hold me spellbound. "I love Paris in the spring time".

Archana said...

Pratap - LOL :-D! Hmm, have never observed that - will do so in future (if and when I get the opportunity)! Come to think of it, I like listening to anyone speak French (even though I can't follow it much) - the language just sounds so nice!

Inder - okay :-D!

Prasanna - ah, now you know :-D!

Floridora - LOL :-D! You must have had a great time when you lived in Paris :-P!

dinesh said...

I think it is pretty different/intriguing. Not necessarily attractive to me. Doesn't matter who speaks it. A guy or a girl. Liz Hurley in Austin powers was pretty sexy with her accent. I don't know if you've seen the Geico Ad where the gecko speaks with a heavy british accent. It goes like

"It's Pie....and chips....for freee"

I thought it was incredible !

Prabhu said...

I have not thought on these lines - now that you made me think, women speaking british accent sounds sexy, I recollect the GF Ross had in Friends who speaks British...

As to men speaking brit-english, I dont see why they would be attractive :)

Thanu said...

I so agree with you, I love to hear a guy speak in british accent, where as when I hear a girl/women speaking I'm what did she say again?

dinesh said...

Here's the video of what I was talking about.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmiK7cIx-pU

kuttichuvaru said...

IMO, its more individual-specific than being generic!! I liked Liz Hurley's accent but at the same time, Emily in FRIENDS, I hated her accent.... kind of give emphasis in wrong places!!

rads said...

I *LOVE* brit accent. Love it even better on a guy than a girl.

..but it HAS to be Brit - not Irish, not Scottish. I don't get a word of all that wind and fluff while the sounds come out.

Shilpa said...

I agree with you...I think guys with a british accent sound super cool !

Women with british accent...hmm havent really paid attention to them :P

BZ said...

Gee, I love british accent too! :--)
>>Me (with shining eyes): Does he speak with a British accent?
LOL!! ;--)

I think its because it sounds very aristocratic. And I think only men can pull it off ;--D

Archana Bahuguna said...

British accent is cool! I think both men and women talking in british accent sound cool! In fact, the only ENglish accent should be British. Except that sometimes I find it difficult to understand. And now I am remembering an episode in Friends where Phoebes is making fun of some woman who tries to fake British accent.

Archana said...

Dinesh - oh I saw the ad! I am not sure if the gecko has complete Brit accent - some bits sounded Brit! But yeah, the ad is cute :-)!

Prabhu - ah, looks like I made people think too :-)! I guess you need to be female to see that :-P!

Thanu - atta girl! LOL :-))!

Kuttichuvaru - I know what you mean - I don't like some of the faux-British accents that they use for ads sometimes (remember the TV voiceover for "Harry Potter and the Goblet of fire" trailers? I felt like strangling that guy). Emily - I did not observe her accent much - I just thought her snooty :-P!

Rads - :-D! LOL - I don't know if I will be able to distinguish the Irish/scottish accents. Or maybe I will!

Shilpa - :-D! Totally agree!

Saranya - Ah, one more :-)! Great to know I am not alone :-D!See, my point exactly! Aristocratic sounding women just sound snooty :-D!

Archana - ah, then probably it won't feel so special :-P! Hmm, isn't it Ross who puts on a fake Brit accent when teaching some class and everyone else makes fun of him?

Archana Bahuguna said...

Yeah its Ross trying to fake Brit accent, but I was talking about the thing when Phoebes refers to Emily (or maybe somebody else) and says how flashy these Britishers sounds etc. Anyways, great post!

Thanu said...

u have been tagged

Archana said...

Archana - hmm, now I remember, Phoebe does say something about Emily's accent :-)! Thank you :-)!

Thanu - done!

Anonymous said...

the reason u probly find british accents soooo sexwy is b/c their so different. u probly talk with guys everyday that talk in an american accent and that just becomes something uv become used to and think nothing of it. people always like things that r different from their everyday life cuz its new and exciting. iv been to england and they lovvved it there when i spoke in a american accent(for the most part). i mean dont get me wrong i even enjoy accents as i kind find them sexy also. ;]

Archana said...

Anon - Welcome aboard! Hmm - quite possible! Though, even while in India, I used to find guys speaking with an American accent merely "interesting" while British accent was totally some other thing :-D!

Anonymous said...

As someone with an English accent I find this interesting. I think here in England we're used to hearing a huge variety of accents in everyday life whereas maybe it's more of a novelty over there.