My main reaction to this show was: "huh...what did he say?" Seriously, maybe it was me, but while 40 percent of this show was hilarious, the other 60% was spent in deep analysis trying to decipher the incomprehensible "cockney accent". And I'm from the Bronx for Christ's sake! The english language doesn't get much more screwed up than that!
Next time I watch BBC America, I'll have to turn the volume up to max and plug in my headphones.
I'm from Massachusetts. I have to say, it takes time, and maybe subtitles to understand but you'll get it eventually!
And maybe its the fact that in Mass we don't pronounce our "r's" makes it easier for me to under stand the British accent.
And maybe it's the fact I watch BBC America obsessively.
I find the only way I can understand Vicky Pollard is to engage the subtitle feature on my television. That works just fine.
Dale
So apparently an American version of Little Britian is going to be made. Does that mean all the characters will talk really slow and nasally, just like Americans do???
Sometimes, when I'm talking to an American, I feel like going and making a cup of coffee or something while they are mid-sentence because I know when I get back, they would probably still be on the same sentence!
You must not speak to anyone on the east coast - especially Boston or New York. We speak more quickly than most britons, I dare say. You are probably speaking to midwesterners or southerners. And as far as the nasally thing goes - one can't get more nasally than a cream tea English - I mean in order for me to do a proper british accent I have to pinch my nose and not speak at all from my diaphragm.
It depends on the region of this country as it does with England.
THAT WAS IN RESPONSE TO A MESSAGE LEFT ABOUT ALL AMERICANS SPEAKING PAINFULLY SLOWLY.
I feel I must add: I adore british humour. I personally find it superior to American humor, for the most part - it's just my personal taste.
I also find most British accents incredibly sexy - whether posh or something provincial and more "street" as it were.
AND I NEVER HAVE TROUBLE UNDERSTANDING ANY BRIT ACCENTS.
LITTLE BRITAIN is hilarious and one of my favorite shows. I love the character and myriad interesting accents of the UK and Ireland.
Respect to all,
A yank who loves bbc america and ab fab, lb, and is a life long anglophile.
Very well said. My wife is from New York. When she gets together with her family, I miss a lot of what they are saying. They speak so fast.
shareWhy do Americans like you always kiss British ass after your countrymen get insulted? You're not speaking to the Queen there, he's just a pompous ass is all.
shareYou must not talk to a lot of people from NY then :) I speak faster than a LOT of people, especially people in the Midwest.
lol, I am from northern Minnesota, and a lot of people in my area talk very fast (I've been to Washington state, Oklahoma, New York City, Chicago, Boston, Florida, California, etc. and I talk to lots of English and Scottish people [Stevenage, York, Chippenham, etc.]) So, I have heard quite a plethora of different accents.
From what I have heard so far, New Yorkers and Bostonians talk faster than Britons, but it seems like (oddly) northern Minnesotans (and people from Fargo, ND) talk somewhat faster than the Easterners.
The Midwest stereotype that most of us talk slow is not true; people from Chicago do not talk slow at all, while people in Oklahoma and Nebraska talk slower.
I would say that people in Florida talk very slow, compared to the Midwestern people.
I like some kinds of British comedy, especially if it's quirky like Little Britain or the Mighty Boosh. I like some bits of Monty Python, but it gets to be too dry for me at times.
It was also easy for me to understand a lot of the words without having to use subtitles in the show. I have only seen the first few episodes of the first season on Netflix, but I love the "Valley Girl" "yeah, but no, but yeah, but no" Briton. xD Hillarious.
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Sometimes, when I'm talking to an American, I feel like going and making a cup of coffee or something while they are mid-sentence because I know when I get back, they would probably still be on the same sentence!
I know what you mean. On American tv shows, I will often forward through dialogue because they take too long to say it! Although, on American shows it's sometimes people cast for their looks, trying to remember lines they may not understand, during the hectic pace to make crap-American-tv (fortunately, not all American tv is like this)
Actually, I'm not sure you're *supposed* to understand Vicky Pollard. That's part of the joke, I think!
shareThe trick is to watch the show with a Brit, and allow them to translate. My boyfriend and I have watched almost every episode, and the sketches are a constant running joke between us. No one else gets it and we are constantly annoying our american friends with them.
"ya, I know!"
I am Indian & I do find understanding UK accent difficult. I can understand about 70-80% of it but I can barely understand 40 % of what Vicky pollard is saying. I can understand the American accent much better though (about 95%, except the southern accent) but I guess thats because I have watched much more american movies & shows than UK ones.
sharehrs I'm so obsess with BBC America its not even funny. I guess like Hrs I've been watching British comedies ( which are SOOOOO much better than most of the stuff they put on the telly over here in America) since I discover Keeping Up Appearances on PBS when I was like 8 so I almost never have a problem and I love a good British accent.
As Time Goes By--Kick ASS!!
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I think you'll find that the English language decended from England (didn't you guess?!) so no, the accents in little britain aren't 'screwed up'. And no offence, but its the Americans who have twisted the language around, not the English. I mean what the hell is 'Aluminum'?!
shareExactly! We have to decifer American accents on TV all the time and when I went over there no-one could understand me. I can't stand ignorant yanks.
shareYou cant understand a standard (Californian for instance) American accent? What the hell is wrong with you?
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I couldn't agree more. I'm a half-Swiss-half-Canadian raised in an international community, and I've been told that I talk with quite a mixed accent, slightly Canadian, slightly American, slightly English, and even slightly South-African and Scottish! So, thus coming from a neutral point of view, I've got to say that "English" English is "proper" English. I'm not discrediting American English, but it's the truth, Americans didn't "invent" English (contrary to the ideas of many an ignorant American).
I mean, just look at how American English is a mutilated English language:
Color (instead of Colour)
"Speak English Good" (instead of "Speak English Well", what's up with that?
"I dove off the rock" (instead of "I dived off the rock")
Period (instead of Full Stop)
Tempest in a Teapot (instead of "Storm in a Teacup")
And the list goes on......
Also, I found every word audible on Little Britain, I even understood Daffyd perfectly.
Quite frankly, if Americans can't understand what they are saying in Little Britain, they can go watch "War at Home", or "Joey", or any other rubbish show they have, whilst true lovers of comedy can watch Little Britain, Blackadder, The Office (UK), and laugh. MWAHAHAHA.
Agreed with most of your points, but "Speak English Good" is incorrect in American English, as well; and "storm in a teacup" is just from people misremembering the quotation (this happens with American quotations, as well; and unfortunately the phenomenon will increase in frequency, as our education is not as good as it was, despite the efforts of many hard-working teachers)
And, to put in my own two cents on the thread, I can understand almost all of the show, except for some of Vicky Pollard or some really quiet lines (not too common in this show); and I love the Welsh accents in the Davyd sketches.
EDIT: I don't know of a good American remake of a UK production, but I hope to be proven wrong in my expectations some day.
"Exactly! We have to decifer American accents on TV all the time and when I went over there no-one could understand me. I can't stand ignorant yanks."
God, I can't believe how ignorant some people are for having trouble understanding accents they aren't used to hearing. How dare they!!!
http://www.youtube.com/chaztr0n
Let me get this straight...Americans are "ignorant yanks" because you went to America and they didn't understand you while you spoke in an accent/ dialect we aren't use to? That would mean you were an ignorant limey the next time I go to England and you don't understand me...
shareI was going to say that! (except for the aluminum part)
PS.Scones are scones, not biscuits. Biscuits are biscuits, not cookies.
It had bad direction and no character development - Every wanna-be movie critic on the planet.
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Can I be the "yank" acception? I'm American and I love the British accent! I'd use it all the time and say "aluminium" but I'd probably get strange looks.
shareme too if ppl wouldn't think I was weird for using a british acent I'd do it all the time. Though I can only talk like rose in Doctor Who.
The Doctor: Fantastic!
Correctamundo...a word I hope never to use again.
davywap: "Scones are scones, not biscuits. Biscuits are biscuits, not cookies."
----------------------------------------------------------------------
My mother is English. Many years ago, there was a series of Fig Newton commercial that sought to have two people debating if a Fig Newton was a cookie or a cracker.
One of these commercials had two guards at Buckingham Palace doing the bit.
"Its a cookie."
"No, its a cracker."
Turning away from the tv, mum muttered to herself, "we don't call them cookies, you nut. We call them biscuits."
only because you unfortunate bastards are forced to live without the utterly delicious object that Americans refer to as a Biscuit.
I mean, I like fish and chips as much as the next guy, but its no chicken and biscuits.
Bloody nationalists. When you aren't so up your own ass you're enjoying the smell of your farts, you're dissing America because it's too far removed from Britain.
No one has screwed the language up. They've simply made their own take on it. A lot of the words used in the UK are, by your standards screwed up. Although I'd agree there, to be honest - we're destroying our own language and culture by glorifying chavs. But enouth of that.
To be honest, the Americans have taken the language in their direction, and the British have taken it in theirs. We've ended up in two different places, but because the British are still in Britain, they seem to think that their language is the right one.
If you can't understand many American accents by now, I'm guessing you don't watch much TV or many movies. Because there are more Americans in British TV than vice versa, and I wouldn't really blame many Americans for having trouble with our accents, where as the majority of the British public should be accustomed tot he American.
Rant over.
---sig---
My Good Guys Are The Stereotypical Bad Guys
i love the standard american accent!!! i speak it all the time even though i'm hungarian and i live in britain. i don;t know why i love it, but its just so cool. i have lots of words i cant pronounce in that accent but its a lot of fun trying to say it!
shareActually, it is spelled "descended". Perhaps you have problems with your own language, regardless of accent.
share[deleted]
It depends on what you are used to hearing. "Aluminium" looks and sounds very odd to me and to most Americans.
Also, it's OFFENSE, not OFFENCE. :)
First of all not all accents on Little Britain are English. The Welsh and Scott accents are a major part of the show as well.
shareBy "screwed up", the poster was referring to his/her own Bronx accent, not any English ones.
shareno actually i found it quite easy to understand them but maybe that's because my boyfriend's from north london
share[deleted]
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English is not my native tongue, so for me it's even harder to understand. If I don't get it, I always go to ceefax 888. It's the english subtitles. BBC has most of their programmes subtitled, which in my opinion is great for people like me who don't always get the accents. I don't know if you can get them in the US as well. I live in Holland, and can get them fortunately.
You do have to know a bit about Britain and British culture to get the humour sometimes as well. Still I truly love LB and whenever it's on, I watch it. I don't watch it on Dutch networks, though. The Dutch subtitles distract terribly, because most of the jokes cannot be translated properly without some loss of the humour in them. For some words and expressions there is no Dutch equivalent, so the subtitlers come up with the most hilarious (read: bad) translations.
Spike: Can we talk?
Buffy: Vocal cord-wise, yes. With each other, no.
i dont think alot of the skeches have cockney accents anyway and im from yorkshire living in suffolk and most suffolk people cant understand me and where from the same country so i think its understandable is americans cant decifer it
shareI'm a Canadian who watches a lot of British programming, so I generally don't have a problem with what is being said. It's mostly the slang words that throw me off, or sometimes when Michael Palin would start talking 100 MPH on Monty Python. :P And I can understand how Brits would have a problem with American accents, especially "drawls", which can get quite lazy and/or mumbly. Another would be the Newfoundland accent, which, like the entire province, is unlike anything else on Earth.
When I saw the "aluminum" thing up there, my first thought was that Jeremy Clarkson was posting here for some reason. Heh!
Haha I'm Canadian too and I've always maintained that if you can understand my grandmothers (Irish) accent then you can understand anything but still good point with Newfoundland. Although on the other hand I watch more British t.v. these days and I have a bit of a leftover Irish accent myself so I guess I'm coming from a somewhat unique perspective there
sharelol! I'm a 13 yr old brit and i think its well mint (good) that all u guys think its hard to understand us!
p.s, it rly gets on my nerves wen on all the american tv shows or films hav all english people down as either very very posh or very very cockney
Simpsons, Friends, get over it (the film) and many others do it. I'm not saying its racist, its just easy for u guys to relate to, but not so much for us, it makes it less realistic
LDD man, the only British characters on Friends were played by British actors...Helen Baxendale, Jennifer Saunders, Paxton Whitehead just to name a few. Any other time there was a British accent it was supposed to be bad...such as when Ross teaches at NYU and talks in the fake British accent or season 10 when Jennifer Coolidge's character Amanda moved to England and picked up a horrible and incorrect British accent. I'm not sure how much more realistic you would like that to get.
shareAgree, LDD man. They should try hearing the Birmingham, or Cornish or Welsh accents. They would think it was a completely foreign language then.
share'it rly gets on my nerves wen on all the american tv shows or films hav all english people down as either very very posh or very very cockney'
i have always said the same thing. thank you for pointing that out
It's no worse than the way americans are portrayed on British tv. Have you considered that they are television show and need to rely on stock commedic characters?
share[deleted]
I am a huge fan of British Comedy and Britain in general. I had to watch the Vicky Pollard sketches with the subtitles, but once I got used to her "Yeah, but no, but yeah" type of accent, I had it down. I personally love the cockney slang. But what do I know? I have a Southern accent. :)
shareI'm Australian and love 'little britain.' I can't see how anyone would have a problem understanding the characters accents, how about just paying attention that might work.
share[deleted]
Yeah Vicky's pretty much the only character I have a problem understanding as a Midwestern American, but it's supposed to be difficult. That's part of the joke.
I would imagine some Brits have trouble understanding her completely, no?
This thread makes me laugh so hard. It's just so *beep* typical. It's such a shame that Americans (in general) are so insular.
I'm from New Zealand and I understand British accents clearly. Even if I didn't I wouldn't make a thread whining about it. Admittedly, the first time I watched Trainspotting I left the subtitles on for a bit.
And I'm in agreement with the others: America has absolutely butchered the English language. Yes, I understand that you need a simplified, watered down, bastardised version of speaking, but my god. What you've done is abominable. I don't know how you can live knowing that nearly everything you read and write is spelled incorrectly.
Don't be bitter at American Little Britain fans because our government is ruining the world.
I just have to occasionally rewind to completely understand when Vicky explains who's fingerin' who. She's a fast talker, that one. As an intelligent American, I want to soak up every detail of this clever show. I like to come online to discuss it with fellow fans, but I don't like to be insulted as some simpleton that needs a watered-down language. But, hey, no sweat really.
Don't be a frowny-cat, Cheshire......
Sorry. I know that all Americans aren't like that. But so many are, and unfortunately they are seen as representing the country.
share[deleted]
*cheshire_cat00*
=Admittedly, the first time I watched Trainspotting I left the subtitles on for a bit.=
WTF? I'm an American and I didn't need subtitles for Trainspotting. Accents or not, it's still in English, dude. I've never needed subtitles for Little Britain. I understood Vicky Pollard from the start and I've laughed at nearly every joke.
Maybe *you* need to open your brain a little. Americans have enriched language/brought down language on an equal level with any other culture/country through the ages. Launguage moves, changes, and evolves.
Why do you feel the pathetic need for linguistic dick measuring?
...
No, don't answer that. I doubt that I want to know the answer.
Just want to comment on some of the various topics hit upon in this interesting conversation.
I've always loved British humor and watched British shows that were available on PBS, plus have worked with a good number of people from the UK, so the accents on Little Britain were easy for me to follow (though Vicky's was a bit tricky at first). If I do find one that's harder to follow, I take it as a challenge - how much of it can I pick up? Sometimes something funny might be lost on us in the US since it uses a slang term or references a celebrity that we are not familiar with. I recently started watching the Catherine Tate show and the range of accents her characters use can sometimes keep me on my toes, but it's fun. I've watched her show with other in the room that are not used to Brit humor/accents and I'll be almost falling out of my chair laughing and nobody else is responding, because they can't follow what's being said.
I have a question about a particular pronunciation I've noticed and I haven't seen it addressed here. Maybe someone in the UK can elaborate. I've noticed while watching shows with actors that are British (this includes both British shows and American shows that use British actors) that many times the "th" in a word is substituted with an "f". For example, "something" becomes sumfin'", "with" becomes "wif", "strength" becomes "strengf", etc. Two examples of this in American TV that immediately come to mind are the character of Charlie in "Lost" and the gecko from the Geiko commercials, though there are many more. My question is, is this common in the UK? I've only noticed this in the last couple of years, and it is seemingly becoming more common both here and there (similar to how more people here are picking up the habit of substituting "aks" for "ask"). Ideas/comments?
As for the aluminum/aluminium debate...English chemist Sir Humphry Davy actually gave this metal THREE different spellings: first it was alumium, then aluminum, then aluminium. The latter stuck in the UK since it followed the way other metals were named, e.g., potassium, sodium, and magnesium. (A quick recap here: BOTH spellings originated in England, so no one can say the US screwed it up.) Both spellings were used about equally here until the metal became more easy to extract from its ore and thus more commercially available in the late 1800's. The American public over the next 30 years tipped the scales widely toward the use of "aluminum" and so it has been here ever since.
One writer mentioned that British English is the "proper" English and American English is some sort of abominable devolution of it. In truth, current British English is itself descended from and very different than the English of Henry VIII, which is in turn descended from even older English which came from other languages entirely. Should British English be considered an abominable devolution of those other languages? Of course not. English is a living language, adaptable to the people who use it and the times they live in. New technologies, slang terms, borrowing from other languages - it's all been a part of our language since it began, and will continue to be. Spellings will change, pronunciations will change, some words or concepts will drop out of the language entirely because they have been replaced or are obsolete. It's all par for the course. English is the most widely spoken language in the world, by people from all countries. We shouldn't expect that we'd all use it exactly the same. The very fact that I can travel to almost any country in the world and find people I can converse with in English is amazing. What a great language we have!
It's not cockney. Vicky Pollard has got a Bristol accent, which is a West Country accent. Nothing at all to do with cockney.
shareI'm an American (from Connecticut) and I watch the Vicky Pollard sketches with close captioning (only the VP ones, though). You know, it's not like we're not paying attention, like somebody said earlier in this post. For someone who's not used to the slang and pronunciation, it can be pretty difficult to understand, and I don't see why that makes me an "ignorant yank".
Other countries have the same difficulties understanding each others' versions of the same language (i.e. Spanish-speaking countries), and nobody is accused of ignorance because of that. They're just cultural differences.
I agree. And its hardly modern Americans' fault if some 1700's bastard screwed up the English language.
I was watching an episode of Family Guy with Spanish subtitles and Peters said something like, "FYI Abe Licoln had jungle fever."(Meaning a preference for Black women I believe)And in Spanish it said, "Abe Licoln had malaria."
So some humor is lost everywhere.
[deleted]
The faster the better!
Blog
http://making-me-thirsty.blogspot.com
*cheshire_cat00*
=Admittedly, the first time I watched Trainspotting I left the subtitles on for a bit.=
WTF? I'm an American and I didn't need subtitles for Trainspotting. Accents or not, it's still in English, dude. I've never needed subtitles for Little Britain. I understood Vicky Pollard from the start and I've laughed at nearly every joke.
Maybe *you* need to open your brain a little. Americans have enriched language/brought down language on an equal level with any other culture/country through the ages. Launguage moves, changes, and evolves.
Why do you feel the pathetic need for linguistic dick measuring?
...
No, don't answer that. I doubt that I want to know the answer.
I found it interesting that Lock Stock (I think it was that one, maybe it was Snatch) had subtitles for Americans so they could understand some of it, yet did we get subtitles in the insane movie that was the Miami Vice remake? I'm English, and therefore presumably well-qualified to understand dialogue written and performed in the English language, but that film was just incomprehensible.
Skabnoze
Dark Lord of Young Children's Education
[deleted]
Yes, I call that the "Miami Vice Exception".
sharecheshire_cat00:
=I find it interesting that I'm the only one you're going mental at here.=
First of all, I'm not going mental. Posting a criticism of your statement does not equal going mental. I posted a critique of your statement because you were hypocritical in your criticisms.
You said that Americans bastardized the English language. I basically stated that language is fluid and that every variation in human expression which migrates has a geographic impact. Electronic communication strengthens and speeds up the impact of linguistic changes. With all change people whine, b!tch, moan, and complain.
This is not unique to Americans. I see Brits, Aussies, and other nationalities carrying on about it as well.
I'm tired of seeing comments bashing Americans simply because they are Americans. (Yes, we have the highest number of dipsh!ts on the Interwebs. Absolutely. Thank you, AOL. I don't dispute this at all.) But it isn't just happening with people, however. It happens with *everything* American. It's very trendy now to bash all things American. Including movies.
I wrote a much longer response to this, but, I'm afraid it's just not appropriate to this venue. Too long and wanky by far. I liked your measured response on the other message, but I felt it only fair to explain why I did this.
First of all, I'm not going mental. Posting a criticism of your statement does not equal going mental.
I posted a critique of your statement because you were hypocritical in your criticisms.
You said that Americans bastardized the English language. I basically stated that language is fluid and that every variation in human expression which migrates has a geographic impact. Electronic communication strengthens and speeds up the impact of linguistic changes. With all change people whine, b!tch, moan, and complain.
I'm tired of seeing comments bashing Americans simply because they are Americans. (Yes, we have the highest number of dipsh!ts on the Interwebs. Absolutely. Thank you, AOL. I don't dispute this at all.) But it isn't just happening with people, however. It happens with *everything* American. It's very trendy now to bash all things American. Including movies.
Nowhere did the previous poster imply that American English was superior to any other variation of the language. In fact, he was saying that no version could be better or worse than another because language is fluid and there is no set definition or conceptualization of the "perfect English". And anyway, I don't understand how you could get angry at Americans for saying that their dialect is the best, when you were just doing the exact same thing from the other perspective. It's just as silly to say that the only real English is the Queen's English.
As to your second grievance with Americans, my problem with people complaining about "cultural imperialism" is that there is no political or military force pounding American shows or movies into your nation. The only factor involved is an economic one, and mostly on the part of your country. U.S. movies and television would not be shown in foreign markets if there wasn't a demand for it, and so the mere fact that these products are available and popular in your nation is a tacit acceptance of all those negative aspects you enumerated. Your argument that American TV has such a high demand because "they're designed to pull as many viewers as possible for the advertisers" just proves that the people of your nation are as culturally bankrupt and intellectually deprived as the American masses you dislike. Trust me, if Miami Vice wasn't expected to make any money in New Zealand, Hollywood wouldn't have distributed it there, so please don't try and play it off like the United States is shoving things down your collective throats. The unfortunate fact is that your countrymen are sucking down this drivel greedily, and are as much to blame for its continued production as your average American. So if you want more national programming, why don't you blame your own government or creative community rather than a nation thousands of miles away. There has been no evidence that the international market demands high-brow fare any more than the domestic U.S. market does. And please try not to judge a country by how it's portrayed in the media. I don't believe that hobbits and wizards inhabit your country, so try to avoid making silly assumptions about mine.
o0 I'm from California and I totally get any type of British accent. Even cockney accents.
Death: I shall leave your room exactly as you left it...
D: A *mess*
Susan: Sorry :(
Hey i am british, sometimes i cannot understand other Brits LOL
"Viktor's more of a Physical being" - Hermione 'hotty' Granger
My own uncle is from Glasgow and I quite often have to ask him to repeat what he's saying. But I agree, there arent many british accents that are difficult to understand
share[deleted]
I'm from britain and I sometimes find some american twangs a bit hard to understand especially the texas one. So I think it works both ways!
P.H.F.O.T.W (Paris Hilton Fans of the World)
"I'm an American who lives in the South and *gasp* actually has a fully functional brain."
Don't even bother trying. You're only giving credence to the stupidity when you feel the need to defend yourself. Bigots will be bigots regardless of how you try to reason with them. Small-minded people hate it when you bust their stereotypes. Abandoning stereotypes means one has to think. It's not your brain that's the problem here. That said, if some of the posters on here don't like American entertainment, I'm so sorry that you're tied to your televisions and cinema seats and forced to watch.