"It's not what you say, it's how you say it"
Lest y'all think it's only an upper-class Oxbridge accent that can get me going, here's a sampling of some other dialects that rawk my sawks.
Irish English. A sizable part of my current marrow-sized man-crush on Irish comic Dara Ó Briain stems from the fact that I could listen to his pronounced Dublin-area accent until the Bailey's-yielding fairy cows march back beneath their tumuli under the silvery moonlight.
Much to the dismay of my Corkonian ancestors, gan dabht, I find a heavy Cork brogue as comic and culchie as most metropolitan Irishmen do, although still more pleasant in the ear than a raspy Ulster accent.
Northern English is a real mixed bag. Brummie and Manchester are no more easy on the ears than direst Cockney, but Yorkshire has some spectacular sonic treats. When I first played the following clip of Wakefield-born Ryan Jarman, monshu wanted to know what was "wrong with his mouth" that makes it all "sound like mush". I, on the other hand, want to know why I can't hear this on BBCAmerica.
(The episode of Buzzcocks it's excerpted from is a wonderful sampler of regional UK English, incidentally. The host is another Yorkshireman, Kaiser Chiefs' frontman Ricky Wilson, and the dark side of Northern English is embodied by Bez of the Happy Mondays, whose Manchester mumble is as impenetrable as his burnt-out brain. Representing Ulster English is Belfast native Colin Murray, and rounding it all out is Chesterian Jeff Green.)
West Country Unfortunately, Buzzcocks regular Bill Bailey has adopted Estuary English and only slips into West Country for the occasional comic bit, such as about 2:48 in this following video where he and fellow Bristolian Russell Howard trade impersonations of Somerset's finest farm folk.
(This episode, incidentally, also features legendary New Wave superstar Midge Ure and his glorious Lallans-inflected English.)
Irish English. A sizable part of my current marrow-sized man-crush on Irish comic Dara Ó Briain stems from the fact that I could listen to his pronounced Dublin-area accent until the Bailey's-yielding fairy cows march back beneath their tumuli under the silvery moonlight.
Click to viewMuch to the dismay of my Corkonian ancestors, gan dabht, I find a heavy Cork brogue as comic and culchie as most metropolitan Irishmen do, although still more pleasant in the ear than a raspy Ulster accent.
Northern English is a real mixed bag. Brummie and Manchester are no more easy on the ears than direst Cockney, but Yorkshire has some spectacular sonic treats. When I first played the following clip of Wakefield-born Ryan Jarman, monshu wanted to know what was "wrong with his mouth" that makes it all "sound like mush". I, on the other hand, want to know why I can't hear this on BBCAmerica.
(The episode of Buzzcocks it's excerpted from is a wonderful sampler of regional UK English, incidentally. The host is another Yorkshireman, Kaiser Chiefs' frontman Ricky Wilson, and the dark side of Northern English is embodied by Bez of the Happy Mondays, whose Manchester mumble is as impenetrable as his burnt-out brain. Representing Ulster English is Belfast native Colin Murray, and rounding it all out is Chesterian Jeff Green.)
West Country Unfortunately, Buzzcocks regular Bill Bailey has adopted Estuary English and only slips into West Country for the occasional comic bit, such as about 2:48 in this following video where he and fellow Bristolian Russell Howard trade impersonations of Somerset's finest farm folk.
(This episode, incidentally, also features legendary New Wave superstar Midge Ure and his glorious Lallans-inflected English.)