Nessie's a good hider. You know, I think I have only ever been to Edinburgh once in my life, a school trip to the castle, I think.

I can only apologise for our accents

Listen, I know the whole "cab driver with an unintelligible accent" thing is a tired cliche, but seriously.

I love LOVE LOVE Edinburgh. Someday I will be rich enough to pick up and move the entire city - climate and all - to where ever I'm living at the moment.

I can name and place all fifty. Well, I could in tenth grade. Could probably still do pretty well now.

Could also probably do 40 capitols.

BECAUSE AMERICA RULES

.....

I just tried to name from memory and only missed Kansas and Nebraska. That must've been when the stewardess was handing out drinks. Ba dum bum.

Enthusiastic nomination for Edinburgh as the best place.

I recommend moving it to Kentucky. Kentucky needs a big city; it's gorgeous, has about the right terrain, and mild weather. I've long said the only thing wrong with it is that it's filled with Kentuckians.

However, I want to make clear that while I fully support your plan, I will not be present when James Bond comes to stop you.

It's actually happened to me twice.  It's one of those strange abilities which, just when you think you're getting the hang of it, something comes along to prove you dead wrong.

I did find this video demonstrating a number of British accents.  I recognize a few, then there were a few I'd never heard before.

Oh we have that to, we call 'em Rednecks.  Just look up Jeff Foxworthy, he's made a comedy career out of being a Redneck.  For that matter look up The Blue Collar Comedy Tour, hilarious stuff.  Back to the accent, Boomhauer from King of the Hill is a fair example of an accent I can just barely follow (he's supposed to be Texan).  Then there's the Louisiana Cajun, which has as much if not more to do with French as is does with English.

Fair enough; I say if you can pull it off, go for it.  In fact I'd try and see how long I could pull it off before I got busted!  On that note, check out the preshow for episode 4 of Geekza at about 22:30.  I would think the tough part of faking an accent isn't so much the accent itself, but the vernacular.  Even if your American accent is perfect, if you order chips at McDonalds the gig is up.

I'm an avid Top Gear fan, so I've had to educate myself on a fair bit of British lingo; yes I'm a petrolhead as well as a boffin, but not so far as to be an anorak.  (I think I got that right).  Still, there's no way I'd try to pass myself off as a Brit.

Which brings me to my last point: actors.  I know of a number of British / Australian performers who regularly don an American accent, and I can't think of any right now that bother me (subject to change).  I'm curious how our British members feel about, say, Natalie Portman's English in V for Vendetta.  For some reason it didn't feel right to me, but then again I'm not used to hearing her like that.

Wow, hatred is a strong word.  I'm a bit in the dark as to how other people feel about Clarkson, as I don't really know anyone else who watches the show.  I like him just fine, but I can certainly see why he might not appeal to everyone.

I'm a bit embarrassed to admit it, but I had no idea Hugh Laurie was British for the longest time, so I guess I have to say that one's fine by me.

There are a couple others that have surprised me.  I remember commenting once while staying with Teague that I didn't care for Amanda Tapping's accent in Sanctuary, to which Cloe informed me "You know she's English."  Sure enough, born in Essex, moved to Canada when she was 3.

The other was Gordon Ramsay.  My sister watches all kinds of cooking shows, and I've recently become a fan of his, so I was surprised one day when we were talking to learn he's actually a Scotsman, born in Johnstone, and raised in Stratford-upon-Avon after his family moved when he was 5.

This particular identity has always confused me.  Does one refer to them according to where they were born, or where they grew up and have spent most of their lives?  How do they refer to themselves? I suppose it depends on the person.

Hatred was said jokingly Clarkson has a reputation in the U.K for being a bit of a prick, saying things he probably really shouldn't. He's an acquired taste. I like Richard Hammond though.

This has always puzzled me too. Take Henry Ian Cusick who played Desmond in Lost, he has a Scottish accent but was born in Peru. Now, he moved to Scotland when he was 15 after living there briefly before when he was a child (he lived in Trinidad in between) and he supports Glasgow Celtic (the wise man). But, is he Scottish or Peruvian? I assume he'd say Scottish but I always thought it is where you were born that counts.

Oh, and Bruce Willis was born in Germany.....

Last edited by Jimmy B (2010-09-27 17:55:06)

She may be English but she doesn't have an accent, and the one in sanctuary (like the show itself) is rubbish.

Portman did an alright 'put on accent' it doesn't sound like an English accent (some of the reviews I recall wondered why she sounded South African) but it doesn't grate on you like the worst offender - Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins.

I was pleasantly suprised by Maggie Gyllenhaal's accent in Nanny McPhee (I work in a cinema)

I don't buy into the notion that where you're born dictates who you are. A white guy born in Japan is still white. An Englishman born in Hong Kong is still English.

So what does make you of a particular nationality? Generational history and language fluency.

A little on Scandinavia

Scandinavia includes Denmark and two of the Scandinavian Peninsula's countries, Norway and Sweden. The other Nordic countries, Finland and Iceland are often incorrectly grouped with the Scandinavian region.

This confuses a lot of people and I've even heard this mistake made by people from all of those countries (Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Iceland) who couldn't keep this straight.