Local Pronunciation

[Pajama Girl]

What are the major "local accents" in the British Isles and what do they sound like? Are some accents "better" than others, and by that I mean more acceptable. Are some accents "made fun of"? Well, I guess all accents can be made fun of, but which accent brands the speaker in a negative way?

[Quizmonster]

Until relatively recently, there was a way of speech in Britain described as 'received pronunciation'. This was generally taken to be the least regional form of English...basically, the normal speech of the educated population of southern England, particularly as spoken at Oxford and Cambridge as well as by announcers on the BBC. (BBC radio newsreaders, for example, were obliged to wear evening-dress as a social marker - despite being quite invisible to listeners - when doing their reading!)
The notion of there being only one �received' - ie acceptable - accent has quite disappeared in the greater (supposed) social equality that exists today. As a result, the idea of being 'ashamed' of one's accent has pretty well gone. There are far too many individual accents and pronunciations to list, some more pleasant to listen to than others. Some experts apparently claim to be able to allocate a speaker to within a few streets in some cases! If accurate, that gives you some idea of the breadth of variation.
Any view as to a 'worst' regional accent will inevitably be a personal choice rather than an absolute one. It seems to be generally taken, however, that the Birmingham accent is one of the least likely to be found 'acceptable' to others as far as awarding jobs goes.
Pease note: I, personally, am not decrying the Birmingham accent! Do not accuse me of racism or districtism or whatever. I am simply passing on what is often stated in newspaper articles etc on this topic, particularly with reference to people finding it difficult to get work.

[GruntFuttock]

This:-

http://www.collectbritain.co.uk/collections/dialects/

should help.

But in case the site doesn't mention it, the Yorkshire accent is by far the most beautiful.

[rogerthomas]

By far and away the worst accent in Britain has to be that from north Wales.

[Ouisch]

Why is the Brummie accent so hard to understand? I have two friends that were originally pen-pals and whom I would see once a year in England at a convention. They're both the nicest people, but I feel guilty constantly asking them to repeat themselves. I have better luck deciphering Liverpool and Glasgow accents, which I thought were difficult enough.

(This is from an American perspective, BTW. Your mileage may vary.)

[waimarie]

When I did my National Service in the 1950's I was naive as well as young. This was the first time I had met or heard a Brummie, Scouse and Glaswegian accent. I was a amazed at them all, and the Brummie fascinated me at how he could speak without moving his lips. Strange though, they all turned out to be a pretty good bunch!!!