The Transatlantic Accent

I always thought of it as sort of a fake English accent that celebrities and yuppies use to make themselves sound smart

Senior: but that is why we huddle around you and listen on in rapt attention!

(Zav ducks, Zav runs, Zav hides)

Haha, a lot of people call the accent in some parts of Dublin "transatlantic" since it's a kind of neutral, not Irish, not American accent. People started speaking like that when they got a bit of money and now their kids speak like that as their normal accent, not as something they're putting on.

I get this accent from watching too much BBC america. But It fades after a day or so.
Of course That happens to me whenever I go to a region that has a strong accent, because I'm from Nebraska and have no accent of my own. accent envy is a horrible affliction.

lewen, you may not have an accent to other Americans, but a Brit will easily hear your American accent.

I've never heard it referred to as transtlantic, only ever midatlantic.

The accents in older movies always kinda made me cringe. I,for one, am glad we say things a little differently now.

There's a radio tyube in my mechanical robit's computor sensoars!

I have to side with point 2. Growing up in Mexico, the USA and Europe, then studying in the USA, working in the UK and Ireland, going back to the USA and then back to Europe has given me a nice accent, but one that is definitely odd. I always get asked "Where are you from?" regardless of where I am, USA, UK or Ireland.

A fourth way is to be raised by one British parent and one American parent. That's how I got mine.

In the eighties, many mulit-national companies put their English language call centers in London, Ontario Canada since a study at the time suggested that Londoners (of the Canadian variety) had the least identifiable English accent... almost the lack of an accent.

Padraig - I am with you. I intentionally revert to it when travelling. Get asked "where are you from?" a lot. And thanks to a similar all-over-the-place upbringing it's easy.

It seems to be easy to pick up this accent if you marry a Brit or vice versa. I was in a department store recently (I live in Dallas), and the Perfume lady commented on my accent and asked where I was from. When I said "Washington, DC", she seemed confused :) That's when she said she thought I was English. My husband and I had a good laugh about that later that evening.

Speaking of confused, care to explain just how an accent can be "legible"? I think you meant either "intelligible" or "comprehensible."

You are all wrong, I'm from New Zealand and have no accent whatsoever. It's all you people who have accents, you, foreigners!

@NightChicken Yes, the rural accent around London (Ontario) trends into midwestern US pronunciation on certain words. It's not that it's a "neutral" accent (no such thing) it's just that the Americans can't spot it very easily. They think it's Minnesota. You know how fidgety they get when they find out we're handling their financial transactions and blackberry messages.

Hmm, cool! I always wondered why they talked differently in those old movies, and I didn't know that there was an actual term for it. But how about shows like "Leave it to Beaver", etc.? They're not exactly "transatlantic", but they talk that way, too?

I just tell people I'm from Bermuda since no one knows any better anyway.

When I lived in the western US briefly, I was constantly asked if I were English, but this was usually by people who thought all Southerns talk like Foghorn Leghorn.

I really do talk like Foghorn Leghorn.

I had always wondered about this.

Lindsay Wagner used this accent in during the 70's. It always sounded pretentious to me.

Not on Cary Grant though, he was the epitomy of suave.

@ tigergal39 - But Cary Grant was no phony. He really was English.

Here's a good clip:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nH2DKZ-2m74

I can see how her accent would be hard to place. Carrie Fisher had a similar accent going in the first Star Wars.

I have an accent similar to this. It comes from being southern and trying to cover,my drawl, mixed with BBC viewing, mixed with lots and lots of elocution/acting lessons. But get me drunk, and I sound like-you guessed it- Foghorn Leghorn( with good grammar). Oddly, I am asked all the time if I am Canadian. ?????

I'd head this "accent" referred to as "Mid-Atlantic" before. I probably speak that way myself, although I never gave it that much thought. My parents grew up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and thus spoke with a Midwestern accent characteristic of that area (Not quite as "O"ey as the Minnesota accent, but pretty close). Fortunately, the Midwestern accents are generally very coherent. Growing up in New Jersey I quickly noticed that some people spoke so unintelligibly that it was nearly impossible for me to guess what they said. I also noticed that many of these people seemed isolated because of communication breakdowns, or were constantly bickering with others who spoke as sloppily as they did. I figured that it would be better for all of us if I made a point of enunciating clearly, taking care not to drop "r"s or move them to where they didn't belong ("idear" or "sherbert") or say the "a" sounds through the nose (always sounds whiney to me!).

On the up-side, I'm easy to understand. People from other countries enjoy talking with me, because they have an easier time understanding what I said than they do with most Americans. Occasionally I'm even asked if I've ever been on radio! On the down-side, I get a lot of teasing from people who feel insecure and have heavy regional accents (I remember wasting 5 minutes' class time trying to understand what I'd thought was a question from a student. It turned out he was saying "Say 'Deptford,'" [a nearby town], and it sounded like a half-mumbled "Sedeffert?" with the "question" sound at the end. He [and the kids who put him up to this] just wanted to hear me say "Deptford" so they could laugh at my pronunciation. After they'd had their laugh, I informed them they'd wasted 5 minutes, and any further questions should be submitted in writing and signed. Stupid questions would be answered with a detention.) I think most of the students at that school thought I was Canadian, British or Osama bin Laden. Sigh... (No, I don't look like bin Laden.)

I was always traying to figure out Niles and Frasier Cranes accent as well as Major Charles Winchester on Mash! Now I know!

Super interesting!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylJ5PP3W9zQ

I have been trying for years trying to figure out Mr. Feeny's accent. Thanks the internet!

Neutral Accent means the language is considered accent-free. Speaking a language accent free can help ease communication with people who didn't grow up speaking the language. ref: http://www.neutralaccent.com