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Who has a lovely speaking voice, and why?

(220 Posts)
MissAdventure Wed 30-Sept-20 17:59:10

Have you been told you have a nice or unpleasant voice?

paddyanne Thu 01-Oct-20 14:15:26

Amazed at the snobbery about accents on here and the way so many think you have to sound like a BBC presenter to be "educated" etc etc .I love the variation of accents ,from the Doric to the borders ,each unique and warm and friendly...yes even the Glaswegian which can sound harsh and gruff ,though Kelvinside folk have a quite different ...not better sound.I would hate to live in a world where everyone sounded like Joanna Lumley who seems to be the "ideal" voice for many .No thanks ,I like my West of Scotland /Glaswegian accent and I love throwing local words into the mix and keeping them alive .
My Granny although born in Scotland was raised in Ireland and had her lovely soft Donegal twang all her life .I wont change my accent to suit anyone ,if you dont like a normal Scottish voice the problem is yours not mine .

varian Thu 01-Oct-20 14:26:45

Growing up in another part of Glasgow we all thought a Kelvinside accent was very funny. "Sex is what the coal comes in". It was also known as a "pan loaf" accent in the days when most folk ate "plain loaves"

varian Thu 01-Oct-20 14:27:59

Having said that, I believe Kirsty Wark lives in Kelvinside and I rather like her voice.

Lancslass1 Thu 01-Oct-20 14:37:33

I love accents usually.
I have an accent but my voice is dreadful.
I only realised how bad it was after listening to an answerphone message I had left on our house phone.
My step GD speaks beautifully so hers is the voice one hears if a message has to be left on the answerphone.

Sloegin Thu 01-Oct-20 14:43:18

I'm from N.ireland and, when I lived in England people commented on my 'lovely Irish accent '. Since returning to live in N.ireland people often ask me if I'm English. In fact my accent never changed and I have what my husband calls a 'standard Ulster ' accent ( kind of BBC Northern Irish '.

Jillybird Thu 01-Oct-20 15:01:18

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

TerriBull Thu 01-Oct-20 15:08:26

My grandfather arrived in London aged about 30 or so having lived in various parts of southern Europe developed one of those accents that wander about he picked up a lot of London vowels, my grandmother was forever correcting him grin I think I remember Aldo Zilli the chef talking once and thought he sounded just like him. He spent quite a bit of time in France and one of my French cousins mentioned to me a while back when we were talking about him "grandad's French isn't very elegant" I had to stifle a snort and replied "neither is his English" but in retrospect I'm full of admiration he spoke 3 languages badly, that's more than I can do !!!

TerriBull Thu 01-Oct-20 15:20:39

I can tell the difference between a New Zealand accent, which I think is quite clipped and the broader Australian accent, but struggle with Canadians and Americans, I know they don't like it if you can't make the distinction. We have some Canadian neighbours and they sound very American to me blush

Callistemon Thu 01-Oct-20 15:24:57

varian

Growing up in another part of Glasgow we all thought a Kelvinside accent was very funny. "Sex is what the coal comes in". It was also known as a "pan loaf" accent in the days when most folk ate "plain loaves"

I know and have met a few people from Glasgow and the accent has varied tremendously.
One friendly acquaintance (who left Scotland years ago) has what I'd call 'a posh Glasgow accent'. Perhaps she's from Kelvinside.

Nightsky2 Thu 01-Oct-20 15:28:13

I think Simon Coveney, Irish Fine Gael Policition has a lovely soft Cork accent. Can’t stand Joanna Lumley’s accent, far too effected and much prefer Moira Stewart’s lovely soft voice. Also can’t stand Stacey Dooley or Alex Jones and not too keen on Scottish accents as I find some of them difficult to understand.

TerriBull Thu 01-Oct-20 15:32:56

I had the same problem Nighsky when I worked in the London office of a Scottish life assurance society, often had to ring head office in Glasgow, would come off the phone after the conversation with "I didn't understand any of that" shock Maybe my Surrey tones had the same effect the other end!

ReadyMeals Thu 01-Oct-20 15:36:24

Steve Allen on LBC Radio. Lovely voice, very comforting when you wake in the night.

TerriBull Thu 01-Oct-20 15:44:01

My favourite regional accent is probably the Welsh, I agree with others, Richard Burton had a truly memorable quality about his voice. I also loved Ruth Jones' accent in "Stella" there was less of the Welsh parody than her comic turn "Nessa" in Gavin and Stacey. I think Welsh is a beautiful accent at it's best it has a lilt and musicality about it.

Bodach Thu 01-Oct-20 16:00:37

I spent my childhood in the (then Gaelic speaking) far north west of Scotland and my teens in the Inverness area, followed by 4 years at Glasgow University, and since then have lived mostly in England and Germany. My career has involved a fair bit of public speaking. People often tell me I speak particularly clearly, and they then go on to say how much they enjoy my Canadian/Northern Irish/even New Zealand accent...

varian Thu 01-Oct-20 16:46:05

I have heard it said that the purest and clearest English is spoken in Inverness.

Kate1949 Thu 01-Oct-20 16:52:12

I could listen to Penelope Keith all day. I also love a Southern Irish accent. My own accent is broad Brummie and I sound as though I've got a constant cold. Not attractive.

NanKate Thu 01-Oct-20 17:40:29

Giles Brandreth, Judi Dench and Fiona Bruce.

I love Susan Colman’s Scottish accent.

I like Chris Mason’s northern accent (political correspondent).

NanKate Thu 01-Oct-20 17:41:02

Calman not Coleman ?

varian Thu 01-Oct-20 18:08:49

Susan Calman is Glaswegian. She is a former solicitor, Her father is Sir Kenneth Coleman, Chancellor of Glasgow University.

Rosina Thu 01-Oct-20 18:10:49

I love a Geordie accent; my voice sounds quite dull but several people have commented that they could listen to my OH for hours.

varian Thu 01-Oct-20 19:09:30

Sir Kenneth Calman, not Coleman

Why do these gizmos do these things/

varian Thu 01-Oct-20 19:13:13

Geordie accents always come across as very warm and authentic.

MissAdventure Thu 01-Oct-20 19:13:54

My phone does it too.
I even check, just before I post, and at the very last nanosecond it changes the word.
My last phone never did it, and i was sceptical.

Chewbacca Thu 01-Oct-20 19:24:03

Many on here have said that they find the Welsh, Geordie & Scottish voice/accent very pleasant (and I'd have to agree!), but is their any regional accent that you find less attractive? I'm not too fond of the Birmingham accent because I struggle to understand it's intonations. grovelling apologies to any Brummies.

Kate1949 Thu 01-Oct-20 19:43:42

Well Chewbacca as a Brummie, I'm used to people not being too fond of my accent! It's not very popular. I understand why. I've lived in Brum all my life but after we got married we moved nearer to the Black Country. I had no idea what anyone was saying. I think sometimes in TV dramas, they confuse Birmingham and Black Country accents.