YouGov reshared a 2014 poll on the best and worst accents in the British Isles and it’s sparked debate.
Responding to a tweet asking what the worst accent is, YouGov shared a poll that found the Birmingham accent to be the least attractive, and the “Southern Irish” accent to be the most appealing.
The Scouse, Mancunian, Cockney, and Glaswegian accents ranked low on the list, while received pronunciation, Welsh, Yorkshire, West Country, and Geordie accents placed highly.
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The poll sparked debate from people who called out the term “Southern Irish” and objected to Ireland falling under the umbrella of “the British Isles”.
‘British Isles’ is a colonial term anyway, it’s not even a neutral geographical term
— Saoirse del Tufo #BLM 🌹🇮🇪🏳️🌈 (@SaoirsedT) January 6, 2022
1. British Isles is incorrect
— Irish Spurs 🇮🇪 (@SpursIrish) January 6, 2022
2. There’s is no such place called Southern Ireland
agh. That country on the left there in burgundy is called "Ireland" or "Eire", not "Southern Ireland". And it has a lot of different accents 😑 Yay that UK peeps like those accents and all but still... 😬
— Catherine Nicholson (@ACatInParis) January 6, 2022
Responding to the poll, John Ruddy created a video showcasing the diversity of accents across Ireland, highlighting that even within Dublin a variety of dialects can be heard:
Good to know the “Southern Irish” accent is one solid accent there folks… pic.twitter.com/pgueWthkaa
— John D Ruddy (@JohnDRuddy) January 6, 2022
Similar criticism was levelled at the Welsh category too given its range of accents:
Fascinating how "Welsh" is defined here as one accent. There are so many Welsh accents! https://t.co/EvldAsbFfz
— Joe Davies (@joedaviesnews) January 6, 2022
yes because me in swansea has the same accent as someone from Prestatyn, top notch survey as usual from yougov
— Jenko 🏴 (@llyrswans) January 6, 2022
Some questioned where the rest of the Scottish accents are:
So there's only one accent in Scotland??? 🤔
— Eilidh Mackay (@onthecliffedge) January 6, 2022
Others were surprised by the results, and some were confused by how areas with different accents were placed under the same umbrella:
There are, in fact, massive regional differences within the areas defined in this survey so it’s completely flawed and hardly valid or to be taken seriously. Do your research ! Major blunder concerning the Irish Republic for starters.
— Christopher Lowe (@struttyb1956) January 6, 2022
I was thinking the exact same thing. I grew up in the far west of Hertfordshire, right on the border with Buckinghamshire, and even that accent is different to what you hear in Oxfordshire, which is less than 20 miles away. Is there a specific area for RP? I've yet to find it.
— WrongStar (@WrongStar) January 6, 2022
Thanks for pointing this out! People here in the Hampshire sound nothing like people in Kent, Surrey etc. We seem to have more of a West Country slur to our accents at times. In Portsmouth we put “s” on the end of things all the time “ I wants that “ or “ I likes that”
— Reece Finnigan (@Reecejf95) January 6, 2022
ah, but which Glaswegian though? There are two main strains, and one of them gets targeted for call centre work because it sounds so good.
— Mason Cross (@MasonCrossBooks) January 6, 2022
Map shows not Brmmie but West Mids. I am not sure people of the Black Country and Coventry are loving that..
— Darren B (@DarrenBagley2) January 6, 2022
That "RP" area on the map covers a huge range of accents - many of them not RP at all. I'm pretty surprised that RP scored so well, too, so would be interested to know how they actually did this survey. (Disclosure: as a scouser, my native accent did not do well in the survey!)
— John Pettigrew (@John_Pettigrew) January 6, 2022
Cornwall has no accent?
— Fully Automated Luxury Queer Space Communist (@Invigilatrix) January 6, 2022
Scotland has no accent outside of Glasgow?
And no, you can't just annex and rename Ireland.
Most people don't know what a real Brummie accent sounds like, so I suspect they are judging us by poor imitations
— Bill Heywood (@heywoodbill) January 6, 2022
Also, your map shows the West Midlands metro area, most of which have different accents. Show Birmingham, accuracy matters
Maybe it's a case of a silent majority but people are often complimentary of my Scouse accent and of the accent itself! This is why I'm always surprised by these poll results
— Tom Beattie (@ThomasRBeattie) January 6, 2022
One Twitter user had a lighter take on the poll, asking: “Which one is Henry Cavill? I could listen to him read the dictionary.”
Honestly, so could we.
