Quote: DaButt @ September 21 2008, 2:13 AM BSTNever heard the term.
I moved to Florida in 1973 when I was 10. The first thing a kid at school asked me was "Are you a yankee or a rebel?"
that's funny man. You gotta love those old red necks who still have a rebel flag on their arm with the slogan 'the south will ride again'.
No my friend it won't. But they are still in some way endearing...even though most of those people are blatant racists. >_<
Quote: Curt @ September 21 2008, 2:28 PM BST
No my friend it won't. But they are still in some way endearing...even though most of those people are blatant racists. >_<
Um. What's a rebel? (In that context I mean. I know what a rebel is, thankee very much)
Someone who opposes Vader.
Quote: Timbo @ September 21 2008, 10:13 AM BSTWouldn't those be actual languages rather than accents? That is a rather a higher level of diversity.
Generally speaking linguistic diversity is a function of how the long a population has been speaking the language. For instance the Niger-Congo group of languages spoken in West Africa is highly diverse, but the Bantu languages of sub-equatorial Africa are rather similar, reflecting the relatively recent expansion of the Bantu out of their West African homeland.
English has been spoken in mainland Britain for around 1,500 years, and there was some imported diversity, as proto-English tribes originated on different parts of the North Sea coast and settled different parts of England. This has given some time for the language to diversify, though this effect has perhaps been reversed in recent decades by the impact of mass communication. North America has only been settled by English speakers for around 300 years, so accents are less diversified. One would have expected some imported diversity, but it seems as settlers from different parts of England mixed, a single accent predominated, possibly with its roots in the West Country, where many early settlers originated. Settlement by non-native speakers seems to have little impact on accent, except where there is a high concentration and a degree of isolation, such as the Scandinavians of Minnesota. More typical is the Pakistani with a thick Brummie accent.
Perhaps the most striking example is Australia, where the rich diversity of aboriginal languages has been replaced by the homogenous sub-Cockney Strine.
Bugger, I could have sworn I posted more then just "Indonesia"... must have somehow deleted it. Yep, Indonesia has hundreds of language groups, but also numerous regional dialects. Travelling around Java is incredible; the diversity in both is pretty ashtonishing. Similarly PNG, where tribes lived in close geographical proximity to one another, yet remained linguistically isolated. 3000 language groups in Papua, 700 Aboriginal languages, I've heard 300 in Indonesia. In each case, linguistic evolution can be observed - new "accents" emerge, which eventually become so different that entirely new languages are born. Globalisation and modernisation appears to be reversing this process, though.
There are some minor regional differences in Australia, mainly along the urban/rural divide. Though people from South Australia speak differently (probably because it was a free settlement, not a convict destination).
Quote: Charly @ September 21 2008, 2:30 PM BSTUm. What's a rebel?
In U.S. Civil War terms:
Yankees: People from northern (Union Army) states
Rebels: People from southern (Confederate Army) states
I managed to slide into the society of 10-year-olds by telling them that Nevada was not a state at the time of the war, hence I was born neither Rebel nor Yankee.
(It actually became a state near the end of the war and was aligned with the Union side.)
Quote: Charly @ September 21 2008, 2:30 PM BSTUm. What's a rebel? (In that context I mean. I know what a rebel is, thankee very much)
During the American Civil War the south (those part of the Confederate) were called Rebels and the North (those part of the Union) were called Yankees. Hope that helps.
EDIT: Opps, DaButt beat me to it with a better explanation. 
Aaaah. I knew about yankees, but not rebels. Taaaarr.
I like any accent as long as it's not an extreme, hard variation.
Quote: Winterlight @ September 21 2008, 7:15 PM BSTI like any accent as long as it's not an extreme, hard variation.
Same here...
I find African accents rather sexy on women, but if it's very strong it just annoying... Same for Scottish and Irish accents (Partly cause you can't understand a f**king thing they're saying).
can't believe I missed 13 pages of this thread 
I tell you a male accent I really like: David Chapman's.
He's such a geezer!
I don't remember his voice. 
I have a recording of it (I think) from a reading of Gavin's script. He does have a pretty cool accent. And Charley's sounds pretty sexy.
Was it like 'cor blimey govenor, apples and pairs in me Lionel Blairs don't ya know me old china'?
Quote: ian_w @ September 21 2008, 7:33 PM BSTWas it like 'cor blimey govenor, apples and pairs in me Lionel Blairs don't ya know me old china'?
Who? Charley, Gavin or Chapman?
The Chapman. Apparently Charley's very well spoken and Gavin's, well, Gavin's just Gavin!