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Daphne Moon's accent is all wrong?

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Daphne Moon's accent is all wrong?

Postby gobrien » Sat Aug 31, 2013 4:04 pm

For someone supposed to be from Manchester (in Lancashire) her accent is actually that of Yorkshire? Sounds like it to me anyway (Frasier still runs here in England on 3 channels - Channel 4, Comedy Central, and on Comedy Central Extra).

(A big faux pax there if so - someone "from Lancashire" speaking with a Yorkshire accent - their Roses rivalry isn't as deadly as it was 6 centuries or so ago but it is still intense!)


2 British people from Manchester (who strongly have its accent) who Americans might know;

Ricky Hatton (boxing)
Michael Bisping (UFC cage-fighting)


2 British people from Yorkshire (who somewhat have its accent) who Americans might know;

William Hague - current Foreign Secretary
Michael Palin - Monty Python


To us those 2 accents sound nothing like each other - and Daphne Moon has the Yorkshire one - though I can't tell which region in Yorkshire - Leeds, Sheffield, Bradford etc.


(In a recent UFC match the US commentator Joe Rogan said that 2 cornermen from Liverpool sounded like Michael Bisping - but Bisping sounds nothing like The Beatles! Then again I can't tell an American from a Canadian until they say the word `about' which Canadians tend to pronounce "aboot").
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Re: Daphne Moon's accent is all wrong?

Postby ProOperaVoter » Sun Sep 22, 2013 9:14 pm

I thought so, yes. Not Yorkshire though, more Chester/weak-Wales.
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Re: Daphne Moon's accent is all wrong?

Postby Patrick » Mon Sep 23, 2013 7:35 am

I am told that saying bumbershoot for umbrella is a rather rare occurrence, most English people don't even use it.
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Re: Daphne Moon's accent is all wrong?

Postby welshben23 » Mon Sep 23, 2013 6:09 pm

ProOperaVoter wrote:I thought so, yes. Not Yorkshire though, more Chester/weak-Wales.


Daphne? Really? Most North Walians sound like Scousers to me, nowhere close to Daphne's accent.
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Re: Daphne Moon's accent is all wrong?

Postby Arnoldo » Wed Sep 25, 2013 2:40 am

I don't think most Americans can even really tell the difference between a Canadian and a U.S. accent. :P

Patrick wrote:I am told that saying bumbershoot for umbrella is a rather rare occurrence, most English people don't even use it.


Bumbershoot is actually American in origin, but derived from a German word. It was made to sound like something that would be said in Britain, kind of joke I suppose. In America, it's also rarely used...although here in Seattle it's quite a bit more commonly known since there's a famous music festival every September called Bumbershoot.
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Re: Daphne Moon's accent is all wrong?

Postby heartofmotion » Wed Jan 01, 2014 8:05 pm

No, I've never heard of a bumbershoot. According to Chambers dictionary, it's of US origin. Daphne would be more likely to call an umbrella a brolly.

I think Daphne's accent (Seasons 1-8 anyway) is just generic 'northern'. Then in seasons 9-11 back to Jane Leeves' RP! As a pure RP speaker, I don't imagine Jane would be aware of the technicalities of northern accents.
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Re: Daphne Moon's accent is all wrong?

Postby Patrick » Wed Jan 01, 2014 9:11 pm

heartofmotion wrote:No, I've never heard of a bumbershoot. According to Chambers dictionary, it's of US origin. Daphne would be more likely to call an umbrella a brolly.
...


What's funny is that it's Frasier that uses the latter in Where Every Bloke Knows Your Name, he says: "Let me just grab me mack and me brolly and Bob's your uncle!"

But it's funny since I was always convinced that "bob's your uncle" was an American expression meaning "you're all set" or the like...
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Re: Daphne Moon's accent is all wrong?

Postby heartofmotion » Fri Jan 03, 2014 10:15 pm

Well, he's trying to fit in with his new English mates in this episode! I don't mind watching Frasier trying to anglicise himself (despite all the English clichés) - culminating in his memorable depiction of the Queen! Of course that wasn't 'realistic'. There's no way he could have lived with Daphne for years and thought it was OK to describe the Queen that way - even if Daphne had been a committed republican!

'Bob's your uncle' is definitely an English expression but I've got no idea about its derivation.
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Re: Daphne Moon's accent is all wrong?

Postby Moon-Crane » Wed Feb 05, 2014 5:36 pm

heartofmotion wrote:Well, he's trying to fit in with his new English mates in this episode! I don't mind watching Frasier trying to anglicise himself (despite all the English clichés) - culminating in his memorable depiction of the Queen! Of course that wasn't 'realistic'. There's no way he could have lived with Daphne for years and thought it was OK to describe the Queen that way - even if Daphne had been a committed republican!

'Bob's your uncle' is definitely an English expression but I've got no idea about its derivation.


He would have thought it one of the tamer descriptions if he'd lived with me. :D
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Re: Daphne Moon's accent is all wrong?

Postby Patrick » Wed Feb 05, 2014 7:28 pm

Moon-Crane wrote:...
He would have thought it one of the tamer descriptions if he'd lived with me. :D

That's comforting. I can't for the life of me understand why people are so fond of a giant parasite that feeds on their tax money. Culture doesn't explain everything. To me it's a variation of the Stockholm syndrome, IE people falling in love with their hostage taker.
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Re: Daphne Moon's accent is all wrong?

Postby Britannia » Tue Apr 29, 2014 8:30 am

I always thought Daphne's accent was a bit "off". As Jane Leeves wasn't from the north of England though, I'm presuming that she was doing her best to imitate a Manchester accent, although I'd have thought a top notch dialect coach in the U.S. could have enabled her to sound more Mancunian. John Mahoney was from Manchester originally but had worked so hard to lose his British accent years before that I'm presuming he couldn't help Jane that much. Either way, I think we Brits notice the difference between a Lancashire or Yorkshire accent but doubt the average American viewer would. As for the "bumbershoot" line, I have to say I thought it was ridiculous as I commented to my Australian husband.He hadn't heard of the expression either despite having taught in the north west of England for a while. If you love the show, I think you have to forgive the writers for the odd slip up when it comes to authenticity.
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Re: Daphne Moon's accent is all wrong?

Postby heartofmotion » Tue Apr 29, 2014 11:22 am

Bumbershoot is a Seattle arts festival! (See bumbershoot.org)
:D :D :D
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