Re: Roger's accent

[salamander@MADNET.COM]

I'm no Proffessor Henry Higgins either, but my mum always says I havea
good ear for accents, and that's almost as good, right?

I think the thick accent Rog was having to control was his own natural
one. Most Americans (including hardcore Anglophiles like myself) find
themselves having to concentrate a bit at times to make out what the
heck Roger is saying when he's speaking in his normal voice. Since
people watching television aren't meant to have to think very hard (how
else would they keep so many horrid programs on the air?), Roger tends
to tone down the accent when he's making guest appearances on American
TV. He still has a very recognizeable English accent, but I think
(although I may be wrong here) that he attempts to make it sound more
like a general sort of accent. Not unlike how American TV newscasters
tend to speak with a general sort of American accent, no matter which
part of the country they're from.

As for the differences between Roger and Pete and John's accents, I
think they were from slightly different regions of London. Not TOO far
apart, since they all went to the same school and all, but far enough to
matter. And then there are always class differences, and the simple fact
that some people don't pick up accents as readily as others. For
example, my mum and her seven siblings were all raised in the same small
town in eastern Texas, but not all of them have the same accent. The
human voice is a mysterious thing...

                                      -Yellow "Linguistics" Ledbetter
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