McIlroy Declares for Britain?

First topic message reminder :

Rory McIlroy has declared "I’ve always felt more British than Irish", "Maybe it is the way I was brought up, I don’t know, but I have always felt more of a connection with the UK than with Ireland". This seems like a pretty strong indication to me that McIlroy will represent Team GB at the Olympics in 4 years. I think its a smart move to declare his allegiance early and in good time rather than letting the media make a storm in a tea cup about the whole issue in 4 years time close to the games.

GunsGerms wrote:

Diggers wrote:Read my post about the banter , he was joking before going on to talk about her coach and club. He never remotely claimed it as a British triumph.

Clearly he wasnt as Clare Balding had to correct him, plus he kept going on about it.

I guess you see what you want to see.

super_realist wrote:
If he is a product of the irish system, it doesn't seem to have rubbed off on his sense of belonging to a particular nation. Sure he'll be at SPOTY this year.
Do Ireland have one in the back of a transit?

Did the Austin Metro break down again? Rory can be anywhere he wants to be come SPOTY time, super, he ain't our concern, he's yours Besides, he'll be a long time waiting for anything mushy to be said about him given that half of the UK are going to be awarded SportsStar of the Year on that night. I'll pass - I can only stomach so much Eddie Butler poetic slush.

I agree, SPOTY is a bit of an embarassment these days.

Yes definitely kwini.waste of space

dyna,
Certainly looks that way. Unfortunately the US media seems infatuated with that sort of British person, presumably thinking, incorrectly, that it's personality. Makes the toes squirm/blood curdle. Just awful.

kwinigolfer wrote:Never knew anything about Piers Morgan until he started polluting TV shows over here.

Is he as much of a witless pr1ck that he comes across as? Certainly hope Bradley Wiggins DID say that!

Piers Morgan hada bit of a funny spat on twitter with Paddy Barnes (Irish boxer from Belfast) during the Olympics. Morgan was giving a €1000 to Gt Ormond St Hospital for good renditions of the British national anthem (GSTQ).

Morgan tweeted: "For singing their anthem louder than anyone at the Olympics, the amazing Irish crowd at Katie Taylor ceremony deserve £1k to @GreatOrmondSt."

Barnes tweeted back: "Keep your £1k for a face lift #prat!"

Morgan: "Shall we split it? Looks like we could both do with one".

Barnes: "Won't need to, this Chinese fella today might give me one anyways."

Morgan: "Pretend he's me, you'll be fine."

Kwini, what is the American impression of us over here, they seem to confuse an accent with intelligence.

super_realist wrote:Kwini, what is the American impression of us over here, they seem to confuse an accent with intelligence.

Can they understand a Scottish accent ?

Fortunately I don't have much of one, being from the East.

s_r,
They only ever show Scots with mid-Atlantic accents, like Andy Murray (who I think is a great interview, very funny especially when he's taking the urine which his victims seldom get - except Brad Gilbert who seems to take it very well) and Martin Laird.

Seriously, many British personalities come with sub-titles when interviewed, very seldom see interviews with true Geordies, Scousers, Valley-boyos, North Ayr/Glaswegians. Pathetic.

They seem to mistrust accents though, usually casting English as villains.

super_realist wrote:They seem to mistrust accents though, usually casting English as villains.

Ever since Ross started dating Emily on Friends every US sitcom has to have a token English character as if the success of the show depends on it.

Mind you I quite like the English gent on Mad Men even if he is the steriotypical English ponce.

Anyone who dumps something called One Direction (yes, with a token Irish dumpling onboard) on another country deserves the title of villain

Kwini

I would need subtitles for most west coast scottish accents so I wont hold it against you guys.

kwinigolfer wrote:s_r,
They only ever show Scots with mid-Atlantic accents, like Andy Murray (who I think is a great interview, very funny especially when he's taking the urine which his victims seldom get - except Brad Gilbert who seems to take it very well) and Martin Laird.

Seriously, many British personalities come with sub-titles when interviewed, very seldom see interviews with true Geordies, Scousers, Valley-boyos, North Ayr/Glaswegians. Pathetic.

Cheryl Cole (a Geordie), got the sack from X-Factor USA as a judge because no one had a clue what she was saying.

Mac,
You'd better take that up with Doon, Kirky or Hayston!

Me too Mac, along with the Scouse and Geordie accents which I also find hard to understand and which also grate.

kwinigolfer wrote:s_r,
They only ever show Scots with mid-Atlantic accents, like Andy Murray (who I think is a great interview, very funny especially when he's taking the urine which his victims seldom get .

Agree, really enjoy Murray's interviews. One of the few sportsmen that is himself in interviews. Not at all airbrushed by a PR machine like Nadal and Federer. Lots of people accuse Murray of having no personality yet he is one of the few tennis players whose personality we actually see.

Its not that unusual to have people with heavy accents subtitled on UK TV these days so I can see why they might do it in the States.
There are certain UK accents that just make you want to punch the person in the face, to be honest most of them are fairly annoying. Brummie, is bad, Welsh pretty awful, Geordie annoying, Scouse unbearable...the list goes on.

Agreed, he's dry but a sparkle in his eye belies his perceived dourness and reveals his urine extraction.

super_realist wrote:Kwini, what is the American impression of us over here, they seem to confuse an accent with intelligence.

So, do Americans see British as intelligent or dumb because of their accents?

Sin, come on, it would be a bit rich the Americans seeing another nation more stupid than them wouldn't it?

I LOVE British accents - except the Piers Morgan patronising type.
Actually like all accents though some John Edwards-type North Carolina twangs sound as if they're meant to be so superior as to be sneering.

Sin é wrote:

super_realist wrote:Kwini, what is the American impression of us over here, they seem to confuse an accent with intelligence.

So, do Americans see British as intelligent or dumb because of their accents?

In fairness some people confuse their own accent with intellegence.

Also always wondered why the Hollywood default accent for non english speaking ancient civilisations is a posh English accent.

super_realist wrote:Sin, come on, it would be a bit rich the Americans seeing another nation more stupid than them wouldn't it?

If you don't rate Americans for their intelligence, why are you asking:

super_realist wrote:
Kwini, what is the American impression of us over here, they seem to confuse an accent with intelligence.

?

Super - You're seeking a single stereotype that simply does not exist.

You'll get different POV's based on what American groups you are talking to: Richer, Poorer, More Educated, Less Educated, Liberal, Conservative, Urban, Rural, Southern, Midwestern ...

Probably general ignorance Gun, I'm sure they'd cast an irishman to say "top of the mornin', tanks a million, or there 's your man there" a Scotsman to be nothing other than Glaswegian accent and a Welsh, well, I doubt they know anything about the Welsh.

Whats a British accent sound like then?

I'm only asking because I can't understand a word that pretty young lady who presents the one show says.

Every single country and language in the world has regional accents, nothing particularly interesting about the UK ones other than the fact we recognise them.

GunsGerms wrote:

Sin é wrote:

super_realist wrote:Kwini, what is the American impression of us over here, they seem to confuse an accent with intelligence.

So, do Americans see British as intelligent or dumb because of their accents?

Also always wondered why the Hollywood default accent for non english speaking ancient civilisations is a posh English accent.

Because its easy to understand? Note Cheryl Cole got the sack. No problem with Simon Cowell who has a posh English accent.

I like real American accents... the accents that existed in the movies and then in the 60s, 70s and 80s on TV land. The new girlie-golly-gee, baby-boobie, toothy giggly skittishness that even mature American women have adopted in the last decade or so...with, as Stephen Fry said, the question mark pitch to the end of every sentence:

Hi, I'm Suzi? I'm going to be cooking steak for my husband? If you say that to me again I'll break your neck?

Never did an affected accent grow so quickly and become so commonplace.

super_realist wrote:Probably general ignorance Gun, I'm sure they'd cast an irishman to say "top of the mornin', tanks a million, or there 's your man there" a Scotsman to be nothing other than Glaswegian accent and a Welsh, well, I doubt they know anything about the Welsh.

The default accent for an Irish man is usually an northern Irish accent ala Brad Pitt in "The Devil's Own" (Lady Di's favorite movie)

GunsGerms wrote:

super_realist wrote:Probably general ignorance Gun, I'm sure they'd cast an irishman to say "top of the mornin', tanks a million, or there 's your man there" a Scotsman to be nothing other than Glaswegian accent and a Welsh, well, I doubt they know anything about the Welsh.

The default accent for an Irish man is usually an northern Irish accent ala Brad Pitt in "The Devil's Own" (Lady Di's favorite movie)

or a Darby O'Gill accent obviously.

I have had to stop watching the one show, you just end up nursing a semi the whole way through.

To be honest, Cole was probably sacked due in part not only because she is hard to understand, but because no one over there knows who the talentless waste of skin and oxygen is.

super_realist wrote:Probably general ignorance Gun, I'm sure they'd cast an irishman to say "top of the mornin', tanks a million, or there 's your man there" a Scotsman to be nothing other than Glaswegian accent and a Welsh, well, I doubt they know anything about the Welsh.

Richard Burton, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Tom Jones for starters;)

Irish characters don't have time to have a cliched accent, they're always too busy planting a bomb. Never eff with a guy trying to work out a red and a blue wire.

Diggers wrote:Every single country and language in the world has regional accents, nothing particularly interesting about the UK ones other than the fact we recognise them.

Actually Im pretty sure that the UK and Ireland has much more diversity in regional accents than other nations for whatever reason.

Sin é wrote:

super_realist wrote:Probably general ignorance Gun, I'm sure they'd cast an irishman to say "top of the mornin', tanks a million, or there 's your man there" a Scotsman to be nothing other than Glaswegian accent and a Welsh, well, I doubt they know anything about the Welsh.

Richard Burton, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Tom Jones for starters;)

precisely, they'll ask where in England is Wales.

Mac, still fond of Susannah Reid?

McLaren wrote:I have had to stop watching the one show, you just end up nursing a semi the whole way through.

Yes that Welsh girl (is she Welsh?) is fairly nice.

Useless fact:

Aparently the Irish accent in particular the Limerick accent is quite similar to an English accent in shakespearean times because this is around when English began to be spoken in Ireland.

super_realist wrote:

Sin é wrote:

super_realist wrote:Probably general ignorance Gun, I'm sure they'd cast an irishman to say "top of the mornin', tanks a million, or there 's your man there" a Scotsman to be nothing other than Glaswegian accent and a Welsh, well, I doubt they know anything about the Welsh.

Richard Burton, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Tom Jones for starters;)

precisely, they'll ask where in England is Wales.

Bet they wouldn't ask where in England is Liam Neeson from (or Colin Farrell).

guns,

I think she is maybe deaf or welsh. Whatever the case, she is hot.


Super

Yes, I still like Susana Reid. What is there not to like?

GunsGerms wrote:

Diggers wrote:Every single country and language in the world has regional accents, nothing particularly interesting about the UK ones other than the fact we recognise them.

Actually Im pretty sure that the UK and Ireland has much more diversity in regional accents than other nations for whatever reason.

Well I cant argue with you being pretty sure for whatever reason, obviously must be the case.
If you take a country like the Phillipines the regional dialects vary massively, in fact they are halfway to being different languages half the time. India is the same. Cantona was always slightly mocked in France because of his southern accent.
We really arent that special.

GunsGerms wrote:Useless fact:

Aparently the Irish accent in particular the Limerick accent is quite similar to an English accent in shakespearean times because this is around when English began to be spoken in Ireland.

Yes, and a shared propensity for daggers too....

sorry, sorry folks, only joking. Fine folk down in Limerick.

Rather a lot of them can't differentiate a Scottish accent from an Australian or an Irish accent though.

McLaren wrote:guns,

Super

Yes, I still like Susana Reid. What is there not to like?

I agree she is hot.

Diggers wrote:

GunsGerms wrote:

Diggers wrote:Every single country and language in the world has regional accents, nothing particularly interesting about the UK ones other than the fact we recognise them.

Actually Im pretty sure that the UK and Ireland has much more diversity in regional accents than other nations for whatever reason.

Well I cant argue with you being pretty sure for whatever reason, obviously must be the case.
If you take a country like the Phillipines the regional dialects vary massively, in fact they are halfway to being different languages half the time. India is the same. Cantona was always slightly mocked in France because of his southern accent.
We really arent that special.

Dialect and accent are two different things. I am talking specifically about accents.

SecretFly wrote:Anyone who dumps something called One Direction (yes, with a token Irish dumpling onboard) on another country deserves the title of villain

Ahem, Boyzone, Westlife, U2, Bewitched.

Those are equally bad.

Well sir Sean won an Oscar playing an Oirish cop named Malone with a Scottish accent.

Wahht aghrrrre yee prahparred tee duh.....