Scottish and Irish accents top list of favourites
Sunday, 13 May 2007
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To get ahead, get an accent. The lilt of Scottish and southern Irish voices are much more attractive than the Queen's finest English.
In a boost to Gordon Brown and the Scottish and Irish diaspora, new research to find out what accents people like - and dislike - most has found that the English are losers.
English spoken with southern Irish, Scottish and New Zealand accents are the most popular, while English spoken with Black Country, German, Asian and Liverpool accents were the least popular.
Birmingham is Britain's least-liked accent and comes bottom of a table of 34 accents compiled from research based on more than 5,000 people. The research also shows that English spoken with a German accent is one of the most unattractive sounds.
Reactions to Queen's English showed strong regional differences. The Scots and the Northern Irish found it unattractive. English southerners, on the other hand, were the only people to find it attractive.
The survey also checked what people thought of their own regional voices. Scottish people were significantly prouder of their accent than all other groups.
