Why do Americans love British accents?

Murphy, who's American and teaches linguistics at the University of Sussex, thinks some Americans are besotted with the British accent because it sounds wealthy and intelligent, bringing to mind boarding schools, country manners and spies.


Is American or British accent sexier?

The British accent in general was the favorite across those who identified as men and women, and was also ranked among the sexiest and most trustworthy.

Why do British accents sound good?

It sounds so good for several reasons. Minor ones being that historically it is associated with wealth, class and (as a result) well-cultured intelligence and because it is centuries old - including kings, noblemen and, of course, Shakespeare.


Which American accent is closest to British?

While the accent of the American South might be difficult to comprehend for many students of the English language, its original form was actually much closer to British English, albeit with a playful inflection.

What is the prettiest American accent?

Bostonian. One of America's most imitated and parodied accents, Boston almost comes out on top of the country's sexiest accents.


🇺🇸 Why Americans LOVE British People! 🇬🇧



What is the nicest American accent?

Overwhelmingly, people like the Southern accent best, followed by British and Australian accents. Southern accents tend to be thought of as friendly and welcoming, while British and Australian accents are more exotic.

Which accent sounds the most intelligent?

And Swedish accents are thought to be the most “intelligent” and “trustworthy” (24 percent and 15 percent, respectively).

Why do people find accents attractive?

Evolutionary theory suggests we find foreign accents attractive because they suggest a more exotic gene pool. Anyone who has travelled will know that simply being foreign makes you an object of interest in many places.


What do Americans think of British?

What do Americans really think about Britons? If a recent survey is to be believed, Yanks have the impression that British people are proper, friendly, uptight and obsessed with the Royal Family. The poll of 1,000 Americans suggests Britons are also reserved and witty – when visitors can understand what they're saying.

What is the least attractive English accent?

The Birmingham accent is considered the least attractive accent in the British Isles – and Southern Irish the most appealing. A quick analysis of English dialects shows that there are roughly as many in the British Isles as there are in the whole of North America – including Canada, Bermuda and Native American dialects ...

What is the hottest English accent?

Here are the top ten sexiest accents according to that survey:
  • Geordie.
  • Welsh.
  • Received Pronunciation, Queen's English.
  • Yorkshire.
  • Glaswegian.
  • Cockney.
  • Brummie.
  • Cornish.


What is the coolest British accent?

So, want to know which region came top? It was the 'Welsh accent', whatever that is, with 20 points. This was closely followed by the Yorkshire accent, with a total of 15. The top five was rounded out by the West Country (13), Newcastle (10) and Northern Ireland (five).

What is the sexist American accent?

We looked to our audience to find out which are the sexiest – and least sexy – accents in the USA for 2020. Last year, our annual poll of the sexiest American accents revealed that Southern accents were most popular, with Long Island coming in last.

What is the hottest American accent?

This Is The Sexiest American Accent, According To Europeans
  1. Deep South (20%)
  2. New Yorker (18%)
  3. Bostonian (17%)
  4. Southern Californian (16%)
  5. Texan (14%)
  6. Midwestern (10%)
  7. Minnesotan (5%) That's right. Europeans find the accent of Americans who live in the Deep South the sexiest, followed closely by the New York accent.


What is the most neutral American accent?

The idea that there is one accent that is the most neutrally American has been around for a long time, and it is usually called “General American.” The term was coined in 1925 by the descriptive linguist George Philip Krapp as a way to describe the accent he thought was becoming the norm in the United States.

What are the top 5 most attractive accents?

Here are five of the sexiest accents in the world revealed in the survey:
  • #1 The British accent. Image: Courtesy IMDb. ...
  • #3 The Italian accent. Image: Courtesy donatella_versace/Instagram. ...
  • #4 The Spanish accent. Image: Courtesy ricky_martin/Instagram. ...
  • #5 The Irish accent. Image: Courtesy peakyblindersofficial/Instagram.


What are the top 10 most attractive accents?

The Accents Favoured By Women
  • Italian – 68%
  • French – 61%
  • Spanish – 56%
  • Brazilian Portuguese – 48%
  • Queen's English – 47%
  • Australian – 35%
  • South African – 29%
  • Mexican – 23%


Are accents born or learned?

How Do Accents Develop? Put simply, accents are born when speakers of the same language become isolated and, through evolution, unwittingly agree on new names or pronunciations for words. Dozens of these small changes result in a local 'code' that's not easily understood by outsiders.

Which accent is hardest to imitate?

The British Accent

The Great British accent proved to be the most difficult of all the accents to imitate – along with the regional Yorkshire and Cockney pronunciations, in particular.

Which is the toughest English accent?

People from Newcastle speak a dialect called Geordie, which is one of the strongest and most distinctive accents in England.


Can British understand American accent?

However, generally American English and British English speakers can understand each other unless someone is using a really strong accent, and maybe a lot of slang. Even an educated American English speaker might not be familiar with British English slang and the opposite is true, too.

What is the weirdest American accent?

Below are the most prominent examples, with some links to video samples.
  • 1.) The Newfoundland Accent. Newfoundland, a rugged island off the coast of far Eastern Canada, was a separate dominion of the British Empire until 1949. ...
  • 2.) Gullah. This is technically a creole language, not a dialect. ...
  • 3.) Ocracoke Brogue.


Where is the strongest American accent?

Americans say Boston has the strongest accent in the country . . . and among the most attractive - The Boston Globe.


What is the cutest English accent?

According to a recent poll in the Independent, the British accent has been chosen as being the most attractive accent in the world, beating the French accent which was once know as the loveliest accent.