It’s a form of avoidance, part the broader expression of politeness. Saying “you and I” rather than “me and you” is another instance of this. We avoid direct reference to ourselves as a way expressing deference. We do this also with titles and nicknames.
Why do UK people say us?
It’s just an old English way of speaking. Many people say “us” but if they are writing will use the word “me”. I was born in Sunderland and I use it some times, depends who I am talking to. “us” meaning you and me sounds like “uss”.
Why do Geordies say us instead of me?
Probably the most noticeable feature of Geordie grammar is a confusing difference in pronoun forms. The term us is used to indicate a singular “me”, while the plural form for “us” is wu or even wuz. So give us it means ‘give me it’ and give wu it means ‘give us it’. wor fatha ‘father’, etc.
Which British accent is closest to American?
As other people have said, the closest we have to a ‘standard’ accent is RP – Received Pronunciation.
What part of England has a posh accent?
southeastern
The standard British accent is something called received pronunciation, or RP. Geographically, people who speak with this accent live in the southeastern part of England. This is traditionally a “posh” part of England, so this accent is considered to be upper/middle class.
Why do British always say bloody?
Bloody. Don’t worry, it’s not a violent word… it has nothing to do with “blood”.”Bloody” is a common word to give more emphasis to the sentence, mostly used as an exclamation of surprise. Something may be “bloody marvellous” or “bloody awful“. Having said that, British people do sometimes use it when expressing anger…
Why do British people say Zed?
The primary exception, of course, is in the United States where “z” is pronounced “zee”. The British and others pronounce “z”, “zed”, owing to the origin of the letter “z”, the Greek letter “Zeta”. This gave rise to the Old French “zede”, which resulted in the English “zed” around the 15th century.
What is the best accent in the UK?
So, want to know which region came top? It was the ‘Welsh accent‘, whatever that is, with 20 points. This was closely followed by the Yorkshire accent, with a total of 15. The top five was rounded out by the West Country (13), Newcastle (10) and Northern Ireland (five).
What is the nicest American accent?
Overwhelmingly, people like the Southern accent best, followed by British and Australian accents. Southern accents tend to be thought of as friendly and welcoming, while British and Australian accents are more exotic.
When did us lose British accent?
Most scholars have roughly located “split off” point between American and British English as the mid-18th-Century. There are some clear exceptions.
Why did American lose British accent?
The first is isolation; early colonists had only sporadic contact with the mother country. The second is exposure to other languages, and the colonists came into contact with Native American languages, mariners’ Indian English pidgin and other settlers, who spoke Dutch, Swedish, French and Spanish.
What is the friendliest British accent?
the Yorkshire accent
That’s because the Yorkshire accent was ranked the friendliest of all British Isles accents in a poll commissioned by Betfair Casinos. It topped the friendly poll above the Geordie, Scottish, Welsh and Irish accents.
What is the hardest UK accent?
Which UK accents are harder to transcribe than others? This is our list of the top ten areas of difficult regional UK accents:
- Scouse (Merseyside)
- Black Country (Wolverhampton, Dudley and Walsall areas)
- West and South Yorkshire.
- Leicestershire.
- Cockney (Greater London)
- Essex.
- Somerset.
- Brummie (Birmingham)
What is the least attractive accent in the UK?
A survey of 2,000 Brits gave us insight into what accents are considered the sexiest from across the UK. While Scottish has been ranked as the sexiest, Scouse has officially been named the least attractive accent.
How do you cuss like a Brit?
Brit Language: Ten tips to swear like a Brit
- If something goes wrong and you need a handy profanity, try “oh blast it!”, “fiddlesticks”, or “bloody hell” instead of the predictable.
- Mild vexation could call for “oh botheration”, “bloomin’ heck”, “bottoms”, “pants” or “chuffing heck!”.
Why do Brits say oy?
“Oi” has been particularly associated with working class and Cockney speech. It is effectively a local pronunciation of “hoy” (see H-dropping), an older expression. A study of the Cockney dialect in the 1950s found that whether it was being used to call attention or as a challenge depended on its tone and abruptness.
What does the C word mean in England?
As a broader derogatory term, it is comparable to prick and means “a fool, a dolt, an unpleasant person – of either sex”. This sense is common in New Zealand, British, and Australian English, where it is usually applied to men or as referring specifically to “a despicable, contemptible or foolish” man.
Why do British say pants?
The use of the term pants is regional in the UK. ‘Pants’ comes from the term ‘pantaloons’. Underpants were the garment worn beneath the pantaloons. Over time, American English shortened the name from pantaloons to pants.
Why do British people say mum?
What you are hearing is not mum as in mother, but ma’am, contraction of madam, with a strongly reduced vowel. In British English, it is mostly used as a sign of repect for a woman of superior rank, say, in the military or police.
Why do British people add R?
Linguists have called this phenomenon the “linking r.” Because of the tendency to pronounce an “r” when it occurs between vowel sounds, many of these same speakers go a step more and add an “r” where it doesn’t belong, once again between two vowel sounds.
What is the hottest English accent?
The British accent
#1 The British accent
1 on the list. It was crowned the sexiest accent in the world with 25 percent of the total votes. The accent proved particularly popular in countries like China, Sweden, India and the USA.