The Conversation (0)
Elaine McCallig
Jan 06, 2022
YouGov reshared a 2014 poll on the best and worst accents in the British Isles and it’s sparked debate.
Responding to a tweet asking what the worst accent is, YouGov shared a poll that found the Birmingham accent to be the least attractive, and the “Southern Irish” accent to be the most appealing.
The Scouse, Mancunian, Cockney, and Glaswegian accents ranked low on the list, while received pronunciation, Welsh, Yorkshire, West Country, and Geordie accents placed highly.
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The poll sparked debate from people who called out the term “Southern Irish” and objected to Ireland falling under the umbrella of “the British Isles”.
@gbrading @YouGov ‘British Isles’ is a colonial term anyway, it’s not even a neutral geographical term— Saoirse del Tufo #BLM 🌹🇮🇪🏳️🌈 (@Saoirse del Tufo #BLM 🌹🇮🇪🏳️🌈) 1641473773
@YouGov 1. British Isles is incorrect 2. There’s is no such place called Southern Ireland— Irish Spurs 🇮🇪 (@Irish Spurs 🇮🇪) 1641473104
@YouGov agh. That country on the left there in burgundy is called "Ireland" or "Eire", not "Southern Ireland". And… https://t.co/gBPuIOzhzB— Catherine Nicholson (@Catherine Nicholson) 1641480926
Responding to the poll, John Ruddy created a video showcasing the diversity of accents across Ireland, highlighting that even within Dublin a variety of dialects can be heard:
@YouGov Good to know the “Southern Irish” accent is one solid accent there folks… https://t.co/pgueWthkaa— John D Ruddy (@John D Ruddy) 1641476936
Similar criticism was levelled at the Welsh category too given its range of accents:
Fascinating how "Welsh" is defined here as one accent. There are so many Welsh accents! https://t.co/EvldAsbFfz— Joe Davies (@Joe Davies) 1641485140
@YouGov yes because me in swansea has the same accent as someone from Prestatyn, top notch survey as usual from yougov— Jenko 🏴 (@Jenko 🏴) 1641474222
Some questioned where the rest of the Scottish accents are:
@YouGov So there's only one accent in Scotland??? 🤔— Eilidh Mackay (@Eilidh Mackay) 1641486993
Others were surprised by the results, and some were confused by how areas with different accents were placed under the same umbrella:
@YouGov There are, in fact, massive regional differences within the areas defined in this survey so it’s completely… https://t.co/pIiuADtydy— Christopher Lowe (@Christopher Lowe) 1641485500
@thatmonokid @YouGov I was thinking the exact same thing. I grew up in the far west of Hertfordshire, right on the… https://t.co/6rdQ035kZh— WrongStar (@WrongStar) 1641476465
@lexiconmistress @YouGov Thanks for pointing this out! People here in the Hampshire sound nothing like people in Ke… https://t.co/sl0j5ZYyna— Reece Finnigan (@Reece Finnigan) 1641479717
@YouGov ah, but which Glaswegian though? There are two main strains, and one of them gets targeted for call centre… https://t.co/FKPwclgFf4— Mason Cross (@Mason Cross) 1641475965
@YouGov Map shows not Brmmie but West Mids. I am not sure people of the Black Country and Coventry are loving that..— Darren B (@Darren B) 1641468255
@YouGov That "RP" area on the map covers a huge range of accents - many of them not RP at all. I'm pretty surprised… https://t.co/viAQHz9CHk— John Pettigrew (@John Pettigrew) 1641473876
@YouGov Cornwall has no accent? Scotland has no accent outside of Glasgow? And no, you can't just annex and rename Ireland.— 🏳️⚧️🦖Fully Automated Luxury Queer Space Commie (@🏳️⚧️🦖Fully Automated Luxury Queer Space Commie) 1641475166
@YouGov Most people don't know what a real Brummie accent sounds like, so I suspect they are judging us by poor imi… https://t.co/8Ml4OFnup7— Bill Heywood (@Bill Heywood) 1641485828
One Twitter user had a lighter take on the poll, asking: “Which one is Henry Cavill? I could listen to him read the dictionary.”
Honestly, so could we.
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