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European places seem really cool. British Accents. I have met a decent number of people originally from Europe this past year. Some live there now but grew up in the US. Napkins on laps. Any Europeans here?
British people aren’t Europeans!
We succesfully prevented that from happening many times in the last 800 years!
Shana Tova
I love how Americans think Europe is one place, and there is one british accent!
Which places in Europe seem cool, Milton Keynes? Newcastle-under-Lyme? or do you mean the more classic Paris, London and Milano etc?
While from a geological perspective, the British Isles are part of Europe, they are culturally, legally, politically, socially and linguisitically different. Note that in most of Europe you are visiting places in which Jews used to live before they were killed or driven off, and where most Jewish communities are debating where to emigrate to (and importation of perhaps millions of anti-Semitic Muslims will probably speed that up), whereas in Britian while there are some historic places for the most part one speaks of British Jewry in a present and future tense.
Geordie: First tell me how to tell apart the supposedly different accents between British and Australians (let alone Irish and South Africans) before you tell about differences between accents in different parts of the British Isles.
You cant understand Geordie accents without subtitles (Ive heard that accent its tough to comprehend)
They dont sound at all like The “Queens English” or Cockney which are the 2 british accents most americans are familiar with.
I agree with the OP though, I think Europe is cool and ive been to a decent chunk of Western and Central Europe (Italy is my favorite)
Americans cant usually tell British accent apart and Britains cant usually tell different American and Canadian accents apart (American can easily tell a Canadian Accent , Eh)
Joseph: I had to laugh. “British, Australian, Irish and South African”, each one is sooooo different to each other.
Zahavasdad, you’re right, we struggle with US and Canadian. I don’t know if this is funny or not, but I once asked – sorry, as you would say – one time I asked someone from Detroit if he was from Montreal. Are they similar, at all?
Now, geordie, (which anyone who has spent time in Gateshead will be familiar with) does sound very different from any other ‘British’ accent.
I dont think the jews of Gateshead speak Geordie, I think they speak more the Queens English (Rav Matisyahu Solomon does not speak Geordie, but more towards the Queens English)
Geordie, once your laughter has died down, please do describe those differences between the accents of the British, Irish, Australians and South Africans.
akuperma, you seem to have forgotten than England had Jews at one time and they were expelled from the land.
Joseph
There are over 300,000 jews currently in England and it has one of the largest and most prestigious Yeshivas in the world in Gateshead
Jews were also kicked out of France and today there are over 600,000 jews in france making it the 3rd largest community in the world after Israel and the US
There’s also a Brooklyn Bridge that Jews use.
zahavasdad, you’re right. The Jews of Gateshead, including The mashgiach shlit”a, don’t speak geordie. Neither do they speak Queen’s English. It’s more of a middle class northern english accent and quite different to how Jews in London speak.
Joseph, I have to apologise, I don’t know how to describe accents. Anyone else here that can do it? (How do you describe the difference between East coast and Midwest accents?)
Re zahavadad’s first post: “Queens English” is what is spoken in Forest Hills, Kew Gardens, Jackson Heights, Elmhurst, Flushing and Long Island City. “The Queen’s English” is what is spoken by the upper class in Great Britain.
Apostrophes matter in any English.
If you want to see a city with jewish History and get a real European feel go to Prague. Its as pretty as any European City and has lots of jewish History (It has one of the only intact Jewish Quarters in Europe)
Regarding accents
Listen to a video of the Queen of England Speak and then listen to Eliza Doolittle from my Fair Lady speak, you will hear the difference.
If you are from England , find a video of Rudolph Giuliani who has a NY Accent and listen to him and then find a video of former president Jimmy Carter who has a southern drawl. You should heard the difference
It’s great to hear some positivity towards the United Kingdom on the CR for once. And now that I’m here, I suppose T’d better attempt to clear some of the apparent the confusion.
What most people would consider a typical ‘British’ accent is officially termed ‘Received Pronunciation’, or RP. This is common amongst the middle and upper classes, and is generally, but not specifically, found in the South of the country. I would love to go into greater depths about the incredible variety of British regional accents, but since the UK has more distinct regional accents, relative to population, than any other country worldwide, I’ll give it a miss for now. And I don’t think it would be fair to expect anybody not from these fair Isles to be able to distinguish between them easily, any more than a Briton could be to distinguish between New York and California, for instance. Although some differences, such as between Scottish, Northern Irish, Geordie, Manc or RP are pretty obvious. But to suggest the same leniencies apply when talking about the British accents relative to South Africa or Australia is laughable.
Interestingly, I’ve noticed that whilst the Yidden in England tend to conform to their respective local accents, the accents tend to be much less obvious, and similarities in accent can be detected across the different kehillos.
I would still like to know how to tell apart a Brit from an Australian, based upon his accent.
And how about those Irish?
By listening.
If you walk up to someone calling them a Brit and they sock you one, they are Irish (They Irish Hate the British)
DaasYochid:
Hear, hear!
Do the Northern Irish have an accent more similar to the British or to the Irish (from the Republic)?
The Northern Irish accent is distinct from, but very similar to, the Irish accent. And even within NI there are two main variations, as well as numerous other less obvious differences within the country. As I have already said above, the UK has a remarkable range of accents. For example, Salford, in Greater Manchester (Where, incidentally, many yidden live) has a slightly different local accent to Central Manchester, as do many of the nearby districts, despite ostensibly being part of the same city and only several miles apart. This incredible variety was bought into greater focus when there was a manhunt on for a serial killer. They had one tape from somebody claiming to be responsible, and analysts were able to narrow it down to an area a few streets wide in one area of a particular city.
How about the Yiddish-British accent. Are their accents more similar to their Yiddish speaking cousins in Williamsburg or to their native British contemporaries?
NeutiquamErro, Thank you for taking up the task of explaining this fascinating subject to our transatlantic cousins. You have done so most eloquently.
I had no idea that the range of accents in England was unique. But it always did fascinate me that the 15/20 sq mile area which includes Newcastle, Gateshead, Sunderland, Ashington and Hexham, contains four distinctly different accents. Although even Americans may not call Geordie a ‘British accent’, it would probably confuse most southerners.
Is there no upwards mobility in England? People don’t move from one part of the country to another, let alone one part of London to another such that the accents are static for such small areas?
The US, especially east of the Mississippi River, has considerable diversity in regional dialects as well, well beyond the New York vs. Southern vs. Midwest which was mentioned previously in this thread.
An Alabama “Southern accent” is different than a typical Georgia accent (the “drawl” is much more apparent), and South Carolina, Tidewater VA, etc. are also distinct from each other. Rural southern Appalachian (y’all becomes you’uns) accents are very different from other “Southern” accents, and can be difficult for outsiders to understand. Baltimore residents have a distinct dialect (Bawlmerese, hon!), which is similar to Philadelphia (their NFL team is properly known as the Iggles). In Boston (Bahstin), you pahk yaw cah neah da Dunkin Donuts to get a drink at the bubbly.
“pahk yaw cah neah”?? That sounds English!
I hear they like tea parties in Boston, just like in England.
Famously, Brooklyn’s got its own accent.
Or accents.
The famous BROOKLYN ACCENT is officially Italian. Just like boston is british – as mentioned above.
But if your that curious, and it’s that important to you, your only option is to go and speak to them individually.
If a Londonite attempts to move to another section of The City where he has the wrong accent, do bobbies from the MI5 forcibly return him to his accents native borough?
No tuition vouchers in the U.S. covers yeshivas or schools with religious studies.
Joseph:
There are a mixture of state aided and independent schools serving the heimeshe community. All are fee-paying, and it is a significant expense.
And London, as a cosmopolitan City, is more international than local, with a few local accents, the most easily recognizable of which are Cockney and RP, and a varied and curious mixture of foreign accents and languages, of which the most common include Portuguese, French, Polish and Arabic. These vary across London.
Generally worldwide, most countries have a wide range of accents, including in the US. The UK simply has the greatest variety, perhaps due to its reasonably stable and longstanding indigenous population, which leads to specific areas having distinct and established identities, cultures and, naturally, accents. There are also a variety of local languages, including Celt, Welsh, Cornish and Gaelic (In parts of NI).
I hear the Scots might try again to calling it quits with you Englishmen.
What will the new name be? The United Kingdom of England, Wales and Northern Ireland? Then again, Wales itself is part of England.
With regards to Joseph’s post re the name of the country, the current name is The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, which just happens to be the longest country name in the world. Were they to leave I doubt the name, or the flag, would change. I believe there is a separate thread concerning Scottish independence.
I was in London once and Kosher Food seemed more expensive than NY, however that could partially be because of the Dollar-Pound conversion. When i went a Pound was $1.65.
In my experience Kosher food was more expensive in Europe than it was the US and the portions smaller. I got very small portions in London and Amsterdam. Rome gave me decent sized portions
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