Why do I not have a Scottish accent?

[The_Kincardine]

34 minutes ago, welshbairn said:

I used to know near twins who left Bridge of Allan for London at around 14, by 25 one of them sounded like a Cockney and the other like they'd never left. The first was female and the latter male, but that's probably nothing to do with it.

My eldest was in P2 when we moved from Tory Deeside to Tory South Bucks and she went from 'fit like' to 'gor blimey' in a matter of weeks.  Her wee brother - 18 months junior - still has an identifiably Scottish twang on certain words.  

[johnnydun]

2 hours ago, The_Kincardine said:

My eldest was in P2 when we moved from Tory Deeside to Tory South Bucks and she went from 'fit like' to 'gor blimey' in a matter of weeks.  Her wee brother - 18 months junior - still has an identifiably Scottish twang on certain words.  

I'm calling shite on this.

There's not one person in Tory Deeside that says 'fit like'. It's all 'rather, wot, wot' down that way.

[Melanius Mullarkey]

11 hours ago, Crawford Bridge said:

Had you not washed for a few days? 

Well I live in Dundee now so I need to blend in with the local yokels. 

[gannonball]

10 hours ago, welshbairn said:

I used to know near twins who left Bridge of Allan for London at around 14, by 25 one of them sounded like a Cockney and the other like they'd never left. The first was female and the latter male, but that's probably nothing to do with it.

They probably already had English accents if they lived in Bridge of Allan to be fair.

[Molotov]

10 hours ago, The_Kincardine said:

My eldest was in P2 when we moved from Tory Deeside to Tory South Bucks and she went from 'fit like' to 'gor blimey' in a matter of weeks.  Her wee brother - 18 months junior - still has an identifiably Scottish twang on certain words.  

Are those “Hello Hello”?

ETA that should actually be “Hullo Hullo”!  

Edited March 26, 2023 by Molotov

[AmericanFan]

On 25/03/2023 at 11:46, Melanius Mullarkay said:

I got asked if I was a weegie once. 
 

Fackin cant.

You'll have to explain that.

[Satoshi]

Due to globalisation and the commodification of mass entertainment, regional accents / dialects have been declining for decades and may well cease to exist as anything but a throwback (or very watered down) within 30/40 years.

Which will be a bit of a shame really 

[Hillonearth]

On 25/03/2023 at 11:20, s_dog said:

There might be something in making an effort to fit in but isn't it a lot to do with what age you are? If you move elsewhere as an adult you'll probably never lose your accent completely, but as kids you adopt the accent of where you are staying and are surrounded with pretty quickly. I was most disappointed that within six months of moving south a friends wee yin could no longer pronounce dreich. 

There seems to be a sweet spot age-wise for sure. I used to go out with a girl whose family had lived in Canada for about ten years...they'd moved there when she was maybe six or seven.

They'd eventually moved back to Edinburgh and both her older and younger sisters had reverted to a Scottish accent almost immediately, whereas the one I was going out with still sounded like she'd just stepped off a plane from Vancouver...it was almost like the younger one was still at a malleable age in terms of accent and the older one's accent was perhaps more fixed by the time they went there.

[Steve_Wilkos]

Both of my parents and all of my extended family are Scottish, but having been born and raised in Teesside I am the proud owner of the Boro accent.

[Ross.]

My son speaks English with an identifiably Scottish accent, though thanks to his maternal grandmother there is the odd bit of East coast amongst the obvious weeg that he has picked up from me. His Swiss German is a bit more easy to identify, if you know the dialects here.

As for the general theme, I listened to a few podcasts a year or so back on this subject. it covered the development of cockney as a dialect, and included what I guess can be described as impressions of previous versions of the dialect. Some of the early ones sounded distinctly Scottish.

ETA: i have read in the past that people with low self esteem and/or a poor self image are more likely to pick up a new dialect/accent and speak with it quickly, probably as a means of fitting in and not standing out. Sounded plausible but not sure if it is absolutely correct.

Edited March 27, 2023 by Ross.

[hk blues]

My young lad (10 y.o.)  doesn't really have a discernible accent.  Where I am there isn't really a strong local accent due to their efforts to Americanise themselves.  Our son makes a lot of effort to be British and drops 't' sounds i.e. Bri'ish and wa'er.  Annoys the f**k out of me but less so than his mates with their 'Bro' nonsense and other Americanisations.  

[Cosmic Joe]

2 minutes ago, hk blues said:

My young lad (10 y.o.)  doesn't really have a discernible accent.  Where I am there isn't really a strong local accent due to their efforts to Americanise themselves.  Our son makes a lot of effort to be British and drops 't' sounds i.e. Bri'ish and wa'er.  Annoys the f**k out of me but less so than his mates with their 'Bro' nonsense and other Americanisations.  

Does he speak the local lingo?

[Shotgun]

For me, it was less about "fitting in" and more just being understood. I have a tendancy to speak quickly anyway and it got wearisome having to constantly repeat myself or explain the expression I'd just used. In time, I just got used to using the American pronunciation or expression.

[Musketeer Gripweed]

My niece was taking the trash out and using the restroom within a year of moving to the States. It grinds my fucking gears.

[Tight minge]

1 hour ago, hk blues said:

My young lad (10 y.o.)  doesn't really have a discernible accent.  Where I am there isn't really a strong local accent due to their efforts to Americanise themselves.  Our son makes a lot of effort to be British and drops 't' sounds i.e. Bri'ish and wa'er.  Annoys the f**k out of me but less so than his mates with their 'Bro' nonsense and other Americanisations.  

My 6 year daughters accent is pretty neutral, but I am constantly correcting the Americanisms from school.

I get frustrated with some of the locals exaggarating American accents here, it's not natural, especially compared to Singlish.

When I was 3 I lived in Canada and on returning home had a heavy North American accent, but it only took a few months for that to go away. Now been incerseas for 20 years and still got my Scottish accent, maybe a little slower in the way I speak now, which is a necessity to be understood.

[gannonball]

I lived in Ireland,Scotland and America as a kid and my accent would often change to suit. I have had a boring monotone Andy Murray type accent since adulthood though and when I hear Kevin Bridges do his in posh Scot type sketches I laugh and hate myself at the same time.

[carpetmonster]

5 hours ago, Musketeer Gripweed said:

My niece was taking the trash out and using the restroom within a year of moving to the States. It grinds my fucking gears.

You kinda have to use Americanisms with kids so they don't get looked at like they have 3 heads at school. The only one I can't really get is 'pants' for 'trousers'. 

[The_Kincardine]

On 25/03/2023 at 23:06, johnnydun said:

I'm calling shite on this.

There's not one person in Tory Deeside that says 'fit like'. It's all 'rather, wot, wot' down that way.

Ooooft.  Surprised none of the Rowie-munchers have picked up on this outrageous slur...

 

[johnnydun]

2 minutes ago, The_Kincardine said:

Ooooft.  Surprised none of the Rowie-munchers have picked up on this outrageous slur...

 

I can't get on at you after using 'rowie'.

[Jacksgranda]

On 25/03/2023 at 11:20, s_dog said:

There might be something in making an effort to fit in but isn't it a lot to do with what age you are? If you move elsewhere as an adult you'll probably never lose your accent completely, but as kids you adopt the accent of where you are staying and are surrounded with pretty quickly. I was most disappointed that within six months of moving south a friends wee yin could no longer pronounce dreich. 

Probably because it wasn't.