back to article Irish brogue voted world's sexiest accent

There's some good news this morning for our readers from the Emerald Isle: their Irish brogue has topped a poll of 5,000 women worldwide to emerge as the world's sexiest accent. The result of the www.OnePoll.com survey demonstrated that our sweet-talking Irish cousins boast the most mellifluous tones, pipping the smooth- …

COMMENTS

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  1. Psmiffy

    You BASTARDS

    you BASTARDS slandering us south africans like that. Mind you I would also prefer a different accent to the Souff Efriken we hear all around us.

    Is there a similar poll for men? Cos I for one would also welcome our Irish lilting female overlords.

  2. Anonymous Coward
    WTF?

    The Irish accent?

    Which one? We've a lot of different accents here. From the snot nosed brats in Dublin 4, to the muck savage in the back end of Cork.

  3. irish donkey
    Thumb Up

    Top of the morning to ya!

    I've know this for years as does my English wife and numerous ex girlfriends 'spread' around the UK

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Megaphone

    But vot about ze Germans?

    Surley zey have a sexy accent?

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    ger in der boyo

    people find the welsh accent sexy? oO ... web footed norfolkians?

  6. Niall 1

    5,000 deaf women

    There fixed that for you

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Australian?

    Seriously?

  8. GrahamT
    Headmaster

    Presumably this is the English speaking world

    I'm not sure the French would recognise the difference between English, Irish and Australian accents, but the French (sometimes) do find the "English" accent cute, when speaking French.

  9. blackworx
    WTF?

    Scots

    Christ, bad day for us. First we have inaccurate national stereotypes waved in our face by German shopkeepers, now we're pipped to second place in the sexy accent contest by a bunch of spaghetti-munching soap dodgers. Pah.

  10. The Original Ash
    Heart

    Important question!

    Is "Brummie" (actually Black Country) still the least popular?

    Yam yam yam yam yam yam yam yam yam yam yam yam yam yam.

  11. jvincuk
    Alert

    As a South African man myself..

    ... I can say that woman preferring men with a nice accent (rather than a harsh South African accent) is complete and utter.. truth :-) Why wasn't I born in Australia?? Damn!

  12. Bassey

    Depends where abouts in Ireland

    I've worked with people from Cork where, after five years, I could still only make out every third word - usually "feck".

    And what's an "English" accent? Brummy, scouse, geordie, cockerney, manky-union, norfolk, cornwall....

  13. Pretz1
    Headmaster

    Which part of Ireland?

    For example:

    Northside Dublin = terrible

    Northern Irish = meh

    Cork = mostly pleasant

    Kerry = so-so

  14. Admiral Grace Hopper

    The exception that proves the rule

    Cavan.

  15. Richard 81

    Scottish?

    Presumably they mean the lyrical highland accent, as (poorly) portrayed by Mr Gibson at one point. Rather than the gruff, aggressive, used to say f**k at least once in every sentence, 'only able to open my mouth about half an inch to talk' Glaswegian accent.

    Also, I doubt they mean Cockney, Scouse, Brummie, Georgie, Yorkshire, Essex, West country etc. They probably mean something a bit Hugh Grant.

    In fact this whole thing is bunk.

  16. William Towle
    Pint

    Re: The Irish accent?

    AC> Which one? We've a lot of different accents here. From the snot nosed brats in Dublin 4, to the muck savage in the back end of Cork.

    Indeed: as Patrick Kielty said on Top Gear, when asked where he's from (Belfast, IIRC) he commonly gets "Top o' the mornin' to ya" in a Cork accent in return - and this annoys him so much he's tempted to react "why aye man" if the questioner turns out to be from London. 'Twas nicely put ... better than rewritten here, but then again I don't tell jokes for a living ;)

    @Lee: having crushed on Kylie quite a bit when I was younger, I for one can appreciate the relative success of the "Australian" vote.

    // pint should be black (well, ruby-brown) obviously

  17. Anonymous Coward
    FAIL

    Survey Fail

    I have a fairly neutral British accent (nothing regional). When I spent time in Canada most of the women thought I was Australian, and when I was in Australia quite a few people thought I was American.

    And I personally have no idea how to tell a Kiwi from an Aussie, or a Yank from a Canuck...

    So is this about which accent those surveyed found sexy, or which accent they *thought* they found sexy...?

  18. crypt
    Thumb Up

    :D

    Feck me !

  19. Anonymous Coward
    Coat

    Oiright mate

    IIRC the 'Brummie' accent (most usually portrayed as the harsher 'yamyam' black country accent within the UK) is deeply unpopular within Britain, and quite popular with folks from the rest of the world whenever they've been asked.

    Sorry, I meant "yam yam yam kipper tie bostin ayit" (hits computer with lump hammer, because I'm deeply stupid)

  20. Anonymous Coward
    Happy

    That's grand...

    ...so it is.

  21. David Evans

    I don't think they'd have voted for Irish...

    ...if they'd heard the two stoned skangers I had to sit next to on the LUAS this morning.

  22. Chris Miller
    Thumb Down

    "English" accent

    I expect that's the one popularised by Dick Van Dyke.

  23. Gordon is not a Moron

    @Andy Towler

    'And I personally have no idea how to tell a Kiwi from an Aussie, or a Yank from a Canuck'

    Telling USAians from Canadians is easy, if they use words like please and are generally polite you've got yourself a Canuck. Also ending every sentence with 'eh' is a pretty good indicator for those from north of the border.

    Not that I'm sterotyping or anything, honest guv.

  24. John70
    Thumb Up

    Don't care which...

    ...part of Ireland

    Irish female accents are just sexy.

  25. Graham Marsden

    English third...?

    Yeah, right, innit...

  26. Steen Hive
    WTF?

    Limerick?

    Not so many candidates from Knackeragua in that survey, then? Must be like being chatted-up by a dentist's drill with failing bearings.

  27. andy gibson
    Happy

    seduced by someone purely because of their accent

    "three fifths of women admitted they had been seduced by someone purely because of their accent"

    As a Yorkshireman (with Sean Bean accent) living in Lancashire I can confirm this! :-)

  28. Anonymous Coward
    Coat

    @ Andy Towler (Kiwi vs Aussie)

    If you get this - then you'll understand at least part of the difference in the accents!

    "A kiwi and an aussie are rounding up sheep for shearing from the back paddocks of a farm, when the Aussie sees a sheep that's tried to jump through the fence and has broken its neck in the process".

    The Aussie turns to the kiwi and says: "damn shame to leave that there waste... do you reckon we can shear it?"

    To which the Kiwi replies: "Get your own bro', I'm not sharing* with anyone"

    ---

    (*pronounced "shearing" in Kiwiland)

    Geddit?! no? Sigh. Mine's the one with the wallaby on it.

  29. John F***ing Stepp

    We do need the likes of Holmes

    "Obviously the man is from Brnklsinglsinggggmzn (the upper west side to be sure) see how he not only drops the Haich, he stomps it under foot. His father was a Butcher, told by the long scar along his left cheek indicating that his father was right handed and about 6 feet 3 and one third inches."

    "His father had anger issues."

    "Yes Watson, and poor coordination."

  30. Joey

    Well...

    John and Edward are Irish, so that proves something?

  31. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    @A.C :10:09

    Richard Burton. Nothing more to be said.

  32. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    what is my world coming to??

    I read Irish is # 1 accent, Mr Bono signs for Mr Microsoft, and now my excellent Polish cleaner (on a stipend of 2 meals a day) is emigrating for a better live in Warsaw.

    The only normal thing to read today on the Reg is that Google is now available to Norfolkians but their gene pool being rather arid, they shall only resist to spell "goog" before mating again with their brothers mother.

    Should any unemployed Irishman, preferably Degree-level, seek employ with electricity ( 4 fully charged AA batteries daily for torch included), don't hestitate to contact

    Concerned of Kent - living near Disgusted of Tunbridge Wells

  33. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    @Lee

    seconded. I still shudder when I hear female ozzie accents (and i'm currently stuck in a hostel with 5 of them!). Doesnt matter where you're from: you either sound like a back wood hick, or a screaming harridan.

    In retrospect tho, i think i could see while male ozzies could be seen to speak attractively...the relaxed drawl you sometimes get.

    *wishes there was a symbol to show appreciation at no longer living in the Antipodes.

  34. Graham Bartlett

    Canuck accent

    Even with the Canadians, you need to differentiate between French Canadians and the other sort.

    A Canadian couple we know, one is French-Canadian and the other is "English" Canadian. The French-Canadian woman has a strange accent which prefixes every word starting with a vowel with an "H". So a typical greeting would go something like: "Hallo Hemma, how harr hyou? Hand how harr Handy hand Heddie? Harr zey hexcited hit's holidays?"

    Lovely woman, but can be tricky to follow when you're not sure if she said "hangry" or "hungry"...

  35. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Not all Irish accents are attractive

    Have you heard the awful accent used by some young people in South Dublin? They call it the Dort accent, because users can't pronounce the name of the Dublin rail system Dart.

    It has developed among nouveaux riches kids from a working class or lower middle class background, who were trying to sound Anglo-Irish. It was voted least attractive accent in Ireland in a recent internet poll of ex-pats living in Ireland.

  36. Tikimon
    Alien

    American?? WHICH ONE?

    http://www.theregister.co.uk/Design/graphics/icons/comment/alien_32.png Survey FAIL! Lumping the harsh tones of New York City with the courtly drawl of the deep South is an insult as well as a travesty. As a Southerner, I've been complimented on my accent numerous times, usually by dewy-eyed women. True, the ignorant assume I have a low IQ, but that's the least of their problems.

    "America"! I can list a dozen distinctive accents without much effort. Ah, well, what do we expect from survey monkeys.

    Alien head because they would have about as much trouble as the survey folks had.

  37. Anonymous Coward
    Boffin

    @Fredd

    What is /your/ world coming to? First we have Lester doing his bit for Labour and their Glasgow Northeast by-election, them I'm suddenly thrown by my sudden possession of the World's third sexiest accent. Honestly, I don't know whether to explode with indignation or regale my office-mates with my woman-electrifying brogue!

    As to the South Africans - "diplomatic immunity". As you were.

  38. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Seriously?

    American even made the list? Too bad I'm from Kansas, where we have a "neutral" (or non-existent) accent. Guess nobody likes us guys here.

  39. windywoo
    Coat

    Irish women

    Oddly don't find my Irish accent sexy enough to sleep with me on a regular basis. And as many commenters have remarked, which part of Ireland? Up here in Belfast we sound a lot like Frank Carson although we don't all say "Thats a cracker". Liam Neeson I would imagine appeals to women but he's atypical of the the town he is from (Ballymena) who you would need subtitles to understand. Colin Farrell is probably who the girls are thinking of when they think of an Irish accent. Is it really the accent they like or just the men they most associate with that accent?

  40. Garry Mills
    Thumb Up

    Well...

    As somebody who once went out with a Dublin lass I can't agree more.

    Come on, admit it, that's why so many people stayed with AOL when their call centre was based over there!

    Although the comments I've had on my Yorkshire accent when in the States does make me think about moving there...

  41. Danny 2

    Unfair, unscientific and rigged

    "Our beloved English accent" ? I came in third myself, but beyond that, which particular English accent ? And accents vary hugely within countries, so it would be better to vote on regional voices. Even women who like Glaswegians will find an Aberdonian accent abhorennt.

    That is a weighted survey, since it is only women voting on what is attractive in a male voice. If you factor in the gay vote then the Scots would beat the Irish, gays always prefer a Scotsmen to another-wise equal Irishman, perhaps because we're slightly less homophobic or maybe just for the kilts.

    Besides, some accents sound very differently between depending on whether it is male or female speaking it. I think most people of a certain age still flinch instinctively at the sound of an Afrikaner accent of whichever gender, for no good reason anymore, so such a poll should be adjusted for social background and age to be accurate.

    Plus, do the survey sample have to give their top ten in order, or did they simply vote for their favourite? I think that is another step that would factor out the obvious anomally of Irish being considered sexier than Scots. Any result should factor in the obvious bias towards certain accents in mainstream media - meaning the the 'Colin Farrell' effect should be factored out. Of course Colin Farrell is more shaggable than Sean Connery today, but if my mate John was plastered all over Hollywood then Scotland would regain it's top-spot.

    The Register should run it's own poll on the sexiest female voices to add to this important research. I vote France, but I want to change my vote to Scotland if Ireland is winning.

  42. Anonymous Coward
    Alien

    Do I win or lose this one?

    I'm triple-damned - I'm a Scot, lived in South Africa for 30 years and now living in Texas.

    I'm buggered if I know what my accent resembles these days... but the girls love it anyway :D

    I'm the (legal) alien.

  43. MeRp

    bleh, I dunno

    @Seth G

    Neutral accent is just the name of an accent. Trust me, anyone with any different accent will think you have an American accent.

    As for American accents vs Canuck accents; for people living near the border there is little difference, as you get farther away from the border (especially towards the East), the regional accents diverge. Realistically. however, the differences between any given Canadian accent and any given American accent are no greater than the differences between two Canadian or two American accents. And not even close to the level of difference between some of the English accents.

    Australian and New Zealand accents are similar, however the difference is in the squint... if you can speak in a New Zealand accent, then squint your eyes tightly, and you;ll sound Australian. Oddly enough, a Philadelphia accent sounds very similar, to me, to a Kiwi accent.

  44. Robert Moore
    Pint

    @Andy Towler

    "or a Yank from a Canuck"

    Simple, If they are polite they are Canadian.

    BTW as a Canadian I hate the term Canuck.

  45. Mike Flugennock
    IT Angle

    I assume they broke this down by gender...?

    I suppose I could get into a woman with an Irish accent, if her name happened to be Enya. (;^>

    Still, speaking strictly for myself, my all-time fave has got to be French, by a long shot.

    Coming up second, though, would have to be your "classic" British accent (but not Cockney). I don't know what it is about it; a British girl wouldn't even have to look like Carol Cleveland in her prime -- she could be average-looking at best, but all she'd have to do is say two sentences to me and I'd be all over her. I'm serious. I don't know why, but I'm a total fool for it.

    IT angle: A Ms. Sarah Bee moderates this board, is quite above-average looking from the fotos I've seen, and I'm sure her accent could totally melt me down.

  46. Mike Flugennock
    Pint

    American accent last? No surprise there...

    ...although the "American" accent can differ widely depending on the region.

    You've got your New York City -- upwards of half a dozen different accents in NYC alone, depending on where you are: Queens, Brooklyn, Bensonhurst, Jewish/Manhattan... I'm oddly attracted to girls with a Brooklyn accent, for some reason.

    Just a bit south, you've got your nasal, "hard" North Jersey, or "Joisey" -- you could be a PhD. from Princeton, but if you're from North Joisey, you'll always sound like a dumbass. Think Marissa Tomei in "My Cousin Vinny".

    Then, there's your South Jersey/Philadelphia -- kind of like North Joisey, but not quite as "hard". My wife is originally from South Jersey; it took her years to get rid of her accent, but when we head up to Cherry Hill to visit her family at Christmas, she instinctively lapses back into it.

    Then, you've got your Boston -- again, several types: your classic Bahhstn, as in "pahk the caah in Haahhvahd Yahhd," your South Boston, and your Brookline (think JFK).

    Then, there's your Southern, of course -- but once again, this depends on whether you're in Virginia (fairly mild), the Carolinas, Georgia, and worst of all, the Deep South: Mississippi, Alabama, thereabouts.

    You've got your sort of corn-fed twang in the Midwest, kind of twangy, but not as strong as Southern.

    Then, of course, Texas: enough said.

    And, moving west, you get your Classic Californian accent which, to the untrained ear, sounds like someone who's been smoking a lot of weed, especially around San Francisco.

    Myself, I'm from Washington, DC, mid-Atlantic East Coast, and have what I like to call a "Six O'Clock News" accent -- that is, plain, homogenized, no distinctive inflections, like a TV news anchorman, a sort of American counterpart to the British "BBC English" accent.

    Pint of ale icon because, as I mentioned, I'm a total sucker for a girl with a British accent.

  47. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Down

    So...

    ... the ladies find Colon Feral sexy?

  48. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    @GrahamT

    I guess you've seen someone who speaks French then and not the usual Fawltyesque, loud, slow, "I'm talking to you in French, you silly Frenchy", use of English?

  49. Andy Bright
    Heart

    Not cool..

    In the US I was always told my English accent was second only to the French.. even after marriage, although I'm not prick enough to take advantage of it..

    I know it's hard to believe but they genuinely didn't recognise what an insult that is.. French?!? They're so... French.. (carefully ducks under cover from a number of French ex-girlfriends).

    Scottish? Seriously? Can't have been a poll of 5000 Americans then, because not a one of them can understand even the most mildly spoken Scot. In fact they warrant subtitles on BBC America, which surprised me because I thought the only English requiring subtitles came from Tyne and Wear. Irish? Yes, well, it surprises everyone, including a large number of fake US Irish, that you lot don't all talk like pixie-sized leprechauns in a Disney movie.

    Personally I find the only worthwhile accent is the true Southern Californian..

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