american accent - that sound almost english...

[joko]

certain american accents - such as frasier and niles crane, have a distinctive american accent in that it could almost be an english one.

where is this from? is it regional?
or just a certain type of ''posh'' american, that is akin to a british person who adopts a 1950s cut glass accent?

[mibn2cweus]

A speculative appraisal:

I find my accent quickly evolves to emulated that of someone I am seeking to befriend or whom I admire. I suspect that the British accent is influenced by proximity to nobility whereas Americans, perhaps more in a historical perspective, had a tendency to skew away from an accent perceived as British giving it a somewhat unpleasant unwelcoming rebellious tone to the British especially among Americans that are more retentive of their culturally ingrained predisposition?

[Romeo]

The Boston accent is so English as to be called 'Boston English'. A good example of this would be Lloyd Grossman.

Parts of New England, unsurprisingly, have an English influence in the accent, and the accent of New Bedford has a Cornish or West Country influence due to the West Country fisherfolk who settled there.

Posh Americans like Frasier and Niles are also anglified, though that is a class thing rather than a regional thing.