If you're American, one of the signs you're getting older is that

[raccoon]

British accents become increasingly difficult to understand.

On "Masterpiece Theater" last night on ETV, those people were deucedly hard to understand. And a friend of mine said without close captioning she couldn't have understood most of it either. My older sister and her husband gave up on "Masterpiece Theater" and "Sherlock Holmes" (the Jeremy Brett shows) some time ago.

I wonder if the reverse is true...if Brits find it harder to understand American accents. Surely not.
American accents are so much easier to understand. :silly: and LOL.

[LynneSin]

1. I love the movie 'Trainspotting' but they only way I can watch it is with subtitles

Those accents are bad

[raccoon]

2. I just googled and saw that it is set in Edinburgh.

To understand a Scot or Irish person is even more difficult.

I have serious trouble understanding Sgt. Havers on the INSPECTOR LYNLEY shows. The actress is Scottish.

[Rhiannon12866]

11. I've been to England, Ireland and Scotland and I had no trouble

With the Irish or English accents, but the Scottish was really tough. I'd be listening to someone and I'd lose my understanding of what they were saying, then pick it up, then lose it again. But I do find understanding more difficult than when I was younger... :shrug: :hi:

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

6. I could only watch a little of it

When they got to the worst public toilet in Scotland, I shut it down.

:hi:

[Kablooie]

8. Try watching it the way I did in a cheap theater with a loud echo. Mind bending.

[Chan790]

9. You should try reading the book.

Welsh writes in the vernacular, preserving the accent, with a very slangy-dialect which requires the novel to have a 40 page glossary.

[kentauros]

3. I never had a problem with Jeremy Brett's accent.

(He's still the best Holmes!)

The ones that make me wish I'd either turn on the subtitles or that the show would just include them without asking are the Welsh actors in Torchwood. And from what I've heard, even the British have a hard time understanding people that are Welsh ;)

[RedCloud]

4. Also they drive on the wrong side and lived in smashed down apartments called "flats".

I guess they are still reeling from that War of 1812 clobbering.

[grasswire]

5. heh

Although I would have thought that even more amusing a comment before I learned a couple of years ago that I was a British subject in my very young years.

[Maccagirl]

7. LOL! As a DJ said on a local station in an "open letter" to Prince Charles

Hey Chuck, we beat your ass in 2 wars and saved your ass in 2 others. Also, what kind of idiot dumps a babe like Di to go to a Rottweiller like Camilla Parker-Bowles."

To answer the OP's question-yes indeedy. I was watching an episode of "Steptoe and Son" on Youtube over the weekend and couldn't understand a thing. A cute story: when I was in Edinburgh all of the salespeople/clerks would start every sentence with "Do you understand me?" I'd say "Yes" and then they'd ask "What state are you from?" I'd say "Ohio" and they'd say "Oh, I've heard lovely things about Ohio. What state is that next to?" The English were great, both I love the Scots!

[Skittles]

10. I have no problem whatsoever understanding English accents

but.....me mum was a Brit and I spent much of my childhood in England


by the way, when Americans told my mum they loved her accent she replied, "I'm speaking English - YOU have an accent." :D

[PassingFair]

12. I usually don't have a problem. But "The Misfits"!....

Sometimes even I have a problem with "Chav".....

[monmouth]

13. I believe the last few MT shows were from Scotland, not sure though..n/t

[elleng]

14. HAHAHA!

Which ones listening to? Some Irish ones being shown now and yes, a bit more challenging!

[Demoiselle]

15. A friend emailed me yesterday to complain that she couldn't understand...

what was going on in "Gosford Park!" I think part of it is that the movie was directed by Robert Altman
and he loves auditory confusion...ie., actors talking over each other, mumbling, etc.
She upped the volume considerably (she has a slight hearing problem, too) and she was ok.
But even though I have a London-born husband of many years and have a pretty good ear, I, too, have been occasionally stumped by lines uttered in BBC tv shows. The Scottish accents in the latest series, "Case Histories" were occasionally absolutely impenetrable. But then, Jason Isaacs is very very attractive and
they gave him repeated excuses to take off his shirt, so I was content.
American accents might, in fact, be a little easier to understand because we tend to talk more slowly than the Brits.
Maybe.
Oh, and I had no trouble figuring out what was going on in Trainspotting. (To my distress. One of the most depressing movies I have ever seen in my life.)

[Kat45]

16. I have trouble with the working class British accents, like Cockney

But I think I always had trouble with those. I recently watched a couple of British movies and they were hard to follow because I sometimes couldn't understand what characters said. (One was "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels," which I saw a long time ago but didn't remember.)