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When you ask people what they think about British accents, most of them either love ‘em or find them amusing. While some of us are busy swooning over people speaking like Hugh Grant, some Twitter users have pointed out that far from every Brit speaks like they’re Victorian gentlemen and ladies.

We’ve collected some of the most hilarious times that Twitter users have poked fun at people who speak British English (or Bri-ish as one Twitter user who created a viral thread with over 663k likes joked). Upvote the best tweets and let us know in the comments what you think of the way British people speak. Personally, I absolutely adore the variety of accents in the UK, but to each their own.

While we might call it the Queen’s English, very few people apart from the British royals and nobility employ the British English pronunciation the way that Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II does. In fact, there are more than 37 dialects in the British Isles! Scroll down for Bored Panda's interview with Dr. David Britain, Professor of Modern English Linguistics at the University of Bern in Switzerland.

According to Dr. Britain, the dialect that Americans most closely associate with British people is "almost certainly" Standard British English "with the accent known as Received Pronunciation."

"This is the one they are exposed to the most through the media, and the accent they may know from the Royal family. Some will know Scottish accents, and perhaps also London (the traditional accent of which is known as Cockney)," the professor explained to Bored Panda about the most common stereotypes that foreigners have when it comes to British pronunciation and accents.

Dr. Britain noted that the variety of British accents and dialects has both grown and shrunk in the last few decades! "There is a lot of evidence that many of the traditional, especially rural accents and dialects, are being leveled away with people using accents common to their whole region rather than their locality. But there is also evidence that urban areas continue to diversify, and new accents and dialects are emerging because of immigration and mobility. 

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El Dee
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Whether it's the Hugh Grant accent or the 'Peta Paka' accent these are not 'British' accents as no such accent exists. These are accents of the south of England only. You'll find a plethora of other accents including Welsh, Scots and Irish..

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We also wanted to know just how important British popular culture and media are when it comes to forming stereotypes about the way that Brits speak. Here's what Dr. Britain had to say: "It's very important in Britain certainly—many people's main exposure to different funny accents is through the media, and so the media are very powerful—the way they present these accents has an important effect on how they are perceived."

He continued: "Rural people in southern England are very often represented as all having the same dialect (which they don't actually have) and are often presented as rather traditional, friendly but unintelligent, and unworldly characters, so their accents become tied in people's minds to these attributes."

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"Internationally, it is often the case, for example, that Brits often play clever but evil characters in film, and so their accents can then also (outside Britain) be associated with those traits. We, in Britain, think this is funny of course, as we don't have those associations about ourselves."

According to Dr. Britain, the media are very important in spreading awareness of accents and creating stereotypical links between accents and character traits. "But it wasn't also the case. I can recall my dad (born in 1928) telling me he was 20 before he heard an American accent for the first time. Now that is inconceivable."

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Wottermehlon Doge
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

speaking of British people and youtube. anytime there is an informational video and a British person is talking it automatically means everything is true

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How a Brit speaks depends not only on what part of the country they’re from but also on their social class. One of the best-known dialects worldwide is Cockney which was (and still is) spoken by London’s working class. In fact, some Twitter users who are gently mocking British people are most likely thinking of people speaking Cockney in their minds.

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Another well-known dialect is spoken by people from Yorkshire County. One of the things that sets it apart is that words that end with ‘ee’ sounds are pronounced as ‘eh.’ Want to say that something’s ‘nasty’ in Yorkshire and sound like a local? Try saying ‘nasteh!’

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MomaBear
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Unless you’re not beautiful, then we say - f*k in ell mayt that geezer is well mingin

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MomaBear
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Ha ha ha I say that all the time! Am loving this - also I can hear the different dialects in some of these posts! 😂

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There are two accents that foreigners often mix up: the Northern Irish and Scottish ones. The first one’s very melodic, but people using it tend to miss out on some letters in words.

Meanwhile, there are various Scottish accents that vary from city to city. In parts of the country, the accent becomes incredibly similar to the Northern Irish one and it becomes hard to tell apart. And if you find yourself blushing with embarrassment because you find it difficult to understand a Scotsman speaking, don’t worry—some Scots have problems deciphering how others from Scotland, especially Glasgow, speak.

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Rabbit Carrot
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

What word is that supposed to be? I’ve tried saying it a million different ways. 🤷‍♀️

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Finally, let’s not forget the Scouse dialect spoken by people from Liverpool and made popular by The Beatles. It’s a very nasal dialect, so if you want to sound like John, Paul, Ringo, and George, you’d better start practicing!

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Vanta Black
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3 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Let me correct this one. "British people on holiday are like 'I'm sorry, how much? We're not used to taxes being added on at the checkout. The price displayed is the price we pay, and we don't subsidise minimum wage workers with tips, because we're not neanderthals.'"

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Vanta Black
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

So how many consonants do non-Brits think we actually drop? The correct answer is "we never drop them", because we've all seen Countdown.

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Rabbit Carrot
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

We don’t really have Mountain Dew in the U.K. (lack of the right kind of hill billy I guess).

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Rean Addy
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

well getting to the end of all this bastardisation of the english language all i can assume is americans learn how we english speak from eastenders, corination street and emmerdale, not one is accurate in the slightest.

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JK Rowling
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Ah yes, the iDeer, second only to the technologically advanced iMoose

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Wilf
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Round my way it would be "f**k it"- to rhyme with "bucket". Emphasis on "U".

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Peter Hall
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3 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

That sounds too much Terence and Phillip. Try Pee'a Parkah.

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Rabbit Carrot
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

That’s because it is an aitch (pronounced aitch or haitch depending on your propensity or not for H adding).

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Alan Green
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I say "Aych" no H at the start. Only when on the phone do I say "hayche" to make it sound less like "A" or "8" to help avoid any confusion especially when on a dodgy line which happens a lot at work.

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Lazy Farmer
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I have noticed that many americans have hard time understanding the concept of 'innit' 😂

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Aileen Grist
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

We don't get in wardrobes very often! We're happy to use colloquialisms at times.

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Liam Walsh
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Only ever heard one person say it like that - he also said Fagitas instead of fajitas.

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Liam Walsh
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Ah no! That is hilarious - we definitely put the Rs in mirror. That's another country's weird way of saying it.

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Wilf
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Only people playing cartoon policemen in films though.

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Dilly Millandry
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Um? We heard the movie and listened to how it's pronounced - there's no british spin on how it is said.

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Liam Walsh
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

No. Very, very few people in the UK would ever say r******d and no-one has ever pronounced it abschewlutely - not even one of the stronger accents. Nathan you're missing by a mile here fella.

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Rabbit Carrot
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

No. It’s ‘not everyone’s cup of tea’. We are not a nation of pee drinkers. P**s takers, sure, but not pee drinkers.

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