There are hundreds of accents total within the United Kingdom, but they generally fall under the branches of the largest eight. These accents are Scouse, Geordie, Cockney, Welsh, Yorkshire, Derby, Scottish and Received Pronunciation (Davies). Without properly researching some of these larger accent groups, it can be difficult to venture into the United Kingdom and have a truly fulfilling conversation with someone there.
The Scouse accent is noted to have a very nasally sound, making the pronunciation of “T” sound similar to that of an “R.” (Davies). This accent varies a lot as well because Liverpool has a large metropolitan hub as well as many suburbs, making it difficult to tie it to one specific way of speaking, but nonetheless is still extremely recognizable. A few people who use this famous accent include actor Jason Isaacs, known best as Lucius Malfoy in the Harry Potter franchise and actor Joe Dempsie from the United Kingdom’s hit television show Skins along with the cult-favorite Game of Thrones. The most famous people to use this accent though, are the four men that made up the pop supergroup The Beatles. All four members, Ringo Starr, John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison have Scouse accents (“Born in Liverpool, England”).
The main characteristics of the Geordie accent include the dropping of the “R” sound when an “R” is at the end of a word and the next word begins with a vowel. This accent is also known to under stress a lot of its vowels. For example, if there is an adjective and then the word “one,” the word “one” is under prononced to sound like “un” (“Geordie Accent”). There are many famous people who have come from this section of the United Kingdom over the years including actor Rowan Atkinson, lead-singer of the rock band the Animals, Eric Burdon, lead singer of the rock band The Police, Sting, and singer-songwriter James Arthur (“Hall Of Fame : B – England’s North East”).
The most iconic part of this accent is known as Cockney Rhyming Slang. This is when a cockney term such as “Uncle Ned” meaning bed is used in a sentence. They get the term “Uncle Ned” to mean bed because the phrase rhymes with the word. The slang portion comes in because when using the phrase “Uncle Ned” in a sentence, the speaker drops the second word. So saying “I got in my uncle” is the same as saying “I got in my bed” (Hudson). There are multiple famous people who use a Cockney accent. Soccer star David Beckham uses this accent along with the late singer Amy Winehouse. The most notable cockney accent-user today though, would be actress Helena Bonham Carter (“Famous Cockneys”).
The majority of people who speak with a Welsh accent speak with a tapped “R,” which is formed when the speaker taps their tongue on the roof of their mouth quickly when making the “R” sound (“Bethesda”). Famous people with a Welsh or English accent include actors Anthony Hopkins, Luke Evans and Catherine Zeta-Jones. The most famous person with this accent is one that most people do not even realize does not have an American accent, actor Christian Bale (“8 Famous Welsh Actors”).
The main calling card of the Yorkshire accent is how the speaker pronounces the “A” sound. In a Yorkshire accent, any word with an “A” is pronounced as if there is an “R” immediately following. For example, instead of saying the word “hallow” a person with a Yorkshire accent would pronounce it as “harlow.” Today there are multiple famous people who speak with Yorkshire accents (Sumner). These include the pop superstar Ed Sheeran along with two members of one of the biggest boy bands of all time, One Direction; Louis Tomlinson and Zayn Malik (“30 Celebrities You Probably Wouldn’t Guess Were From Yorkshire”).
The Derby/Derbyshire accent is similar to the harsh West Yorkshire accent because of the hard vowels and consonants. It often uses the bare infinitive, meaning that they often omit the “to” in phrases such as “used to” and “have to” (“Derby”). Many people think this accent sounds uneducated in comparison to the Received Pronunciation of the upper class in the United Kingdom. This accent is recognizable to non-British people due in part to the famous persons who speak with it. These people include designer Vivienne Westwood who brought punk to the fashion scene, former James Bond, Timothy Dalton and a breakout actor known for roles in projects such as the infamous British television show Skins and the blockbuster movie Unbroken, Jack O’Connell (McCorgary).
The Scottish accent as a whole has mini dialects inside it so no Scottish accent is the same. They all have different vocabularies making it difficult to piece together a coherent language for outsiders to easily understand. The main calling cards of this language though are found in the very short pronunciation of vowels when speaking along with the vowels also being neutralized (Knudsen). Famous people who use a Scottish accent include Fargo actor Ewan McGregor, Narnia actor James Mcavoy, Celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay and Brave actress Kelly MacDonald (Mercedes Lara).
Received Pronunciation (RP) is the most recognizable British accent. This is an interesting one because it is not formed based on the location in which the speaker was raised but rather their social status. This accent is one that is given to people as they move up social and political ranks. It was once even called Public School Pronunciation due to the fact only the educated used it (“Received Pronunciation”). RP is best known as being the sound of a cool, British villain in any movie or television show. It is that crisp strong pronunciation of all letters that sounds stately and important. The most famous people who speak with RP are the royal family. The Queen herself speaks with modified RP as she has almost made a new accent with her mixing of RP with other accents. Other RP speakers include Harry Potter franchise actor Alan Rickman (Paige) and Sherlock actor Benedict Cumberbatch (Palmer).
The United Kingdom is home to hundreds of accents, each as unique as its speaker. These accents give a sense of security and comrade within the United Kingdom because though they are different, all of the accents make their speaker distinctly British. Check out some of the most popular slang terms used within each of the mentioned accents below!
Popular Slang Terms:
Scouse
| Term | Meaning |
| “Bevvy” | “Drink” |
| “It’s absolutely baltic in here” | “It’s very cold in here” |
| “Boss tha” | “Great” |
| “Last night was proper west” | “Last night was crazy” |
Geordie
| Term | Meaning |
| “Areet marra” | “Hello” / “Hello friend” |
| “How’s it gan?” | “How are you?” |
| “Broon” | “Brown beer” |
| “Hyem” | “Home” |
Cockney – best known for its rhyming slang
| Term | Meaning |
| “Uncle Ned” / “Uncle” | “Bed” |
| “Apples and Pears” / “Apples” | “Stairs” |
| “Adam and Eve” / “Adam” | “Believe” |
| “Baked Bean” / “Baked” | “Queen” |
Welsh
| Term | Meaning |
| “Tidy” | “Great” |
| “Mitching” | “Skipping school” |
| “Chopsing” | “Arguing” |
| “Iechyd Da” | “Cheers” |
Yorkshire
| Term | Meaning |
| “Chuffed” | “Proud” |
| “Put wood in’t the hole” | “Close the door” |
| “Back end” | “Autumn” |
| “Beefin” | “Crying” |
Derby
| Term | Meaning |
| “Ahs” | “House” |
| “Chunter” | To complain |
| “Ey up mi duck” | “Hello friend” |
| “Teggies” | “Teeth” |
Scottish
| Term | Meaning |
| “Black as the Earl of Hell’s Waistcoat” | “It’s dark out” |
| “Keep the heid” | “Stay calm” |
| “Dinnea teach yer granny tae suck eggs” | “Don’t try to teach someone something they already know |
| “Is the cat deid” | “Your pants are too short” |
Works Cited:
“30 Celebrities You Probably Wouldn’t Guess Were From Yorkshire”. Hallam FM, https://planetradio.co.uk/hallam/entertainment/celebrity/celebrities-from-yorkshire-surprise/. Accessed 16 Mar 2019.
“8 Famous Welsh Actors”. Cinemovie.Tv, https://cinemovie.tv/Blogs/8-famous-welsh-actors. Accessed 16 Mar 2019.
“Bethesda”. Bl.Uk, http://www.bl.uk/learning/langlit/sounds/text-only/wales/bethesda/. Accessed 16 Mar 2019.
“Born In Liverpool, England”. Famousbirthdays.Com, https://www.famousbirthdays.com/city/liverpool-england.html. Accessed 16 Mar 2019.
Davies, Ben. “The School Of British Accents — Learn The Scouse Accent”. The Babbel Magazine, 2016, https://www.babbel.com/en/magazine/british-accents-scouse/. Accessed 16 Mar 2019.
Davies, Ben. “The Royal Family Of British Accents — The Amazing Variety Of Accents Across The British Isles”. The Babbel Magazine, 2016, https://www.babbel.com/en/magazine/royal-family-of-british-accents-7-regional-variants-british-english/. Accessed 16 Mar 2019.
“Derby”. Bbc.Co.Uk, 2019, http://www.bbc.co.uk/derby/content/articles/2005/08/18/voices05_derbyshire_accent_feature.shtml. Accessed 16 Mar 2019.
“Famous Cockneys”. Thebrits.Com, http://www.thebrits.com/famous-cockneys/. Accessed 16 Mar 2019.
“Geordie Accent”. Bl.Uk, http://www.bl.uk/learning/langlit/sounds/case-studies/geordie/connected-speech/. Accessed 16 Mar 2019.
“Geordie Dialect”. Bl.Uk, http://www.bl.uk/learning/langlit/sounds/case-studies/geordie/. Accessed 16 Mar 2019.
“Hall Of Fame : B – England’s North East”. England’s North East, https://englandsnortheast.co.uk/north-east-hall-fame-2/. Accessed 16 Mar 2019.
Hudson, Joseph. “Cockney – England’s Most Famous Accent?”. Pronunciation Studio, https://pronunciationstudio.com/cockney-englands-most-famous-accent/. Accessed 16 Mar 2019.
Knudsen, Sarah. Cedar.Wwu.Edu, 2012, https://cedar.wwu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1021&context=wwu_honors. Accessed 16 Mar 2019.
“Local Dialect”. Bbc.Co.Uk, http://www.bbc.co.uk/liverpool/content/articles/2005/01/11/voices_liverpoolaccent_feature.shtml. Accessed 16 Mar 2019.
McCorgray, Daisy. “12 Celebrities You Probably Didn’T Know Are From Derbyshire”. Derbyshire Life And Countryside, https://www.derbyshirelife.co.uk/people/12-celebrities-you-probably-didn-t-know-are-from-derbyshire-1-3943974. Accessed 16 Mar 2019.
Mercedes Lara, Maria. “Great Scot! Our Favorite Famous Scottish People”. POPSUGAR Celebrity, 2015, https://www.popsugar.com/celebrity/photo-gallery/35747260/. Accessed 16 Mar 2019.
Paige, Jonathan. “Cut-Glass Accent Is Perfect For Villains”. Thetimes.Co.Uk, 2017, https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/cut-glass-accent-is-perfect-for-villains-lx25c29zp. Accessed 16 Mar 2019.
Palmer, Bobby. “There’s Nothing More Attractive Than A Posh Accent”. The Tab, 2016, https://thetab.com/2016/05/18/theres-nothing-attractive-posh-accent-90544. Accessed 16 Mar 2019.
“Received Pronunciation”. Bl.Uk, http://www.bl.uk/learning/langlit/sounds/find-out-more/received-pronunciation/. Accessed 16 Mar 2019.
“Scottish Dialects”. News.Bbc.Co.Uk, 2019, http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/northeastscotlandnorthernisles/hi/people_and_places/newsid_8790000/8790315.stm. Accessed 16 Mar 2019.
Sumner, David. “The School Of British Accents – Learn The Yorkshire Accent”. The Babbel Magazine, 2016, https://www.babbel.com/en/magazine/british-accents-yorkshire/. Accessed 16 Mar 2019.
“Voices”. Bbc.Co.Uk, http://www.bbc.co.uk/northyorkshire/voices2005/glossary/dialects.shtml. Accessed 16 Mar 2019.