Re: American accent in England(Regional Dialect Debate)

Yesterday, I had to call several UK companies to get some information, and was treated rather brusquely, almost rudely, over the phone by the first few people I talked to. I wondered if it had anything to do with my accent. So I put on an English accent with the next person I spoke to (I'm pretty good at it, having grown up listening to BBC radio on NPR), and what a difference! I made about five more phone calls with my faux accent and found that everyone was much, much friendlier when they didn't know I was American.

Coincidence? 

(hmm...somehow those pumpkin emoticons aren't quite as convincing as the regular ones...)

Yesterday, I had to call several UK companies to get some information, and was treated rather brusquely, almost rudely, over the phone by the first few people I talked to. I wondered if it had anything to do with my accent. So I put on an English accent with the next person I spoke to (I'm pretty good at it, having grown up listening to BBC radio on NPR), and what a difference! I made about five more phone calls with my faux accent and found that everyone was much, much friendlier when they didn't know I was American.

Coincidence? 

I just spoke to Mrs C about this - she is a Southern Belle.
She says she has had totally the opposite experience. In fact we have people call her, rather than me or others , just to hear her accent.

This experiment would only work if you called the exact same companies and got the exact same people, which maybe you did.... I think people that are rude to Americans will be rude to anyone with an accent.  How did they know you were not Canadian?  Most people like Canadians....

 I personally have called and spoken to lots of people and while some companies customer service could use a good old kick up the rear, most have been quite nice.  I find most simply do not comment at all.....

 I did have have one nice guy from IKea personally escort me when I asked directions and said he just loved asking what part of American people were from and then listed about 20 states he had met people from. 

I have also worked quiet a few jobs here answering phones and basic customer service and have not run into any jerks yet... not that I won't at some stage...

Thing is there are butt heads everywhere you go.  No matter where you live or what you do. 

I've never had a problem.  Maybe because I'm in Surrey where there's loads of Americans or more probably because Britain is so multi-cultural anyway. 
The only time(s) I find that my American way of speaking is a problem is more related to my directness than the actual accent.  This has come up a time or two at work and when dealing with the children's schools. 

Lexie
Given the generally good experiences posted here, maybe you have just been unlucky ? Or maybe it is more than just accent ?

Just another observation.
I am not English, but I live in England and have done so for over 30 years.
I have not once had any negative feedback about my non-English accent.

I think we have to make a distinction here - people in and around London in my experience tend to be oversaturated with American accents, so they don't necessarily warm to the accent as such or think it is "cute" or attractive. That has been my experience.

Some people, like a taxi driver I recently came across, have spent a lot of time in the US, or worked there, or like going there on holiday or what have you. There are plenty of very America-friendly British people, and they associate the accent with their positive memories of America. I have found this effect to be the strongest with those who have worked there; the taxi driver had worked about 10 years ago in New York and loves the US.

That being said, there is still accent snobbery in England, and those who believe it does not exist must be engaging in a little (understandable) denial. I mean this in the nicest possible way, but there is no point in pretending that some people don't have negative reactions to American accents... The American accent is not a "high prestige" form of English in the UK.

I think one thing to remember too, is that some of the regional accents- American and British, are easier on the ear than others.  I've never had a really bad experience regarding my accent, but I've been blessed by the grace of God to be born and bred in Texas, so the southern drawl definitely is a plus here for me  

I often wondered exactly why I was selected for a receptionist position given I expected my accent to be more a hinderance. Outside of a couple of people who thought they hit the speed dial for the US office..lol. As a matter of fact, I have been hired for 2 positions so far, because I was an American, accent not withstanding!!! As was stated earlier, we Americans are known for a strong work ethic.....something that lacks a bit here.

Perhaps it isn't the accent they are put off of after all??

In terms of regional accents and dialects my observation is that the diversity in UK is much greater than in USA. This, despite UK being so much smaller geographically.
And many Brits would have difficulty in determining from accent whether someome was From the US or Canada.

In terms of regional accents and dialects my observation is that the diversity in UK is much greater than in USA. This, despite UK being so much smaller geographically.

Nah.  I wouldn't agree with that at all.  Just the diversity in Northeast PA is pretty great-and if you go to the whole of PA you'd probably equal the whole of the UK.  Times that by 50!  You wouldn't even come close. 

Nah.  I wouldn't agree with that at all.  Just the diversity in Northeast PA is pretty great-and if you go to the whole of PA you'd probably equal the whole of the UK.  Times that by 50!  You wouldn't even come close. 

Listen to a Welshman, a Scot, a Geordie, and a Cockny. Add a mix of west country accent, and a Yorkie.

No competition. It is MUCH more diverse in UK   

Even just Virginia, where I grew up, has very distinct dialect regions. We could distinguish people from just 30 m. away and particularly people to the SW of us by the quality of the letter "I" - whether it was pronounced "Oi" or "Ah", although they belonged to the same dialect region.

People to the east of us (east of the piedmont) sounded like they were central casting line ups for Gone with the Wind Part II (much better accents than from Hollywood, though). And they had that weird "ou" that sounds like nothing you've ever heard before.

Cascode, I'm afraid that's another British linguistic myth that only Britain has diverse dialects. Of course, they are probably somewhat more so than North America, but North America is the oldest British colony (early 17th c.) and so has had several centuries to develop very strong regional accents. Particularly along the eastern seaboard, there are many subtle and less subtle regional dialects. We are perhaps the only other English-speaking nation with strong regional distinctions like that, in fact. Anybody else, are there regional accents in Canada? South Africa, Australia? I don't believe so, but I may be wrong...

However, I think the post-60s generation is more or less strongly influenced by TV, so that "Sououuuuuthside Vahginnya" accent I alluded to earlier is dying out. Sadly.

Please note: There is no one "Southern" accent, but rather many. Central North Carolina has glottal stops (almost like a Cockney), Mississippi sounds entirely different from Texas, Ozark Arkansan and other parts of Arkansas are distinct, East Tennessee and West Tennessee are very different, etc.

I had a blind law professor from rural Alabama - his accent was so posh southern it almost sounded English...

Even just Virginia, where I grew up, has very distinct dialect regions. We could distinguish people from just 30 m. away

YOU could.
ALL of the world can tell the difference between a Welsh and Scots accent.

Listen to a Welshman, a Scot, a Geordie, and a Cockny. Add a mix of west country accent, and a Yorkie.

No competition. It is MUCH more diverse in UK

Say what?  How does that prove your point?  Listen to a person from New Jersey.  A person from Alabama.  A person from Minnesota.  A person from Texas.  Widely diverse.  And anyone could tell .   You can't possibly argue that the UK has more diverse accents than the US. 

And no, all the world can't tell the difference between a Welshman and a Scots accent.   All of the UK maybe, but someone from the US might not even hear all that much of a difference if they didn't have much experience. 

You can't possibly argue that the UK has more diverse accents than the US. 

I can. I do. It is fact.