Is "smart British guy" an accent?

May 24, 2011 5:56 AM

Can't believe I'm using a question on this, but it's driving me mad...what accent is shared by David Mitchell and the character Maurice Moss on the IT Crowd (no idea if the actor actually shares this accent when not playing the role). Is it a regional accent, or just a peculiarly nasal way of speaking? Do Brits perceive them as having the same accent? Is it upper-class, nerdy, or what?
posted by sarahkeebs to Writing & Language (10 answers total)

They don't share an accent, really, other than both being middle-class and from the South of England (though different parts of it) - Mitchell speaks in fairly straightforward received pronounciation and Moss / Ayoade has a slightly estuary English accent.

It's just slightly nasal, really.

They both went to Cambridge University and were in the Footlights, like Peter Cook (who had a similar nasal tendency), so you might be on to something.
posted by Grangousier at 6:09 AM on May 24, 2011 [1 favorite]

To me, it's more of a non-accent, than an accent.

As Grangousier says, I think they've both got fair "generic" middle-class South of England accents. I speak fairly similarly, my accent comes from growing up in estuary Essex (think mockney/eastenders), and trying not to sound it!
posted by chrispy108 at 6:18 AM on May 24, 2011

Estuary English, fyi. If Mitchell were to have an accent that reflected the area he grew up in, it would be more like Andy Partridge out of XTC.
posted by Grangousier at 6:50 AM on May 24, 2011

Middle-class, slightly pompous (aware and partly affect in Mitchell's case, unaware and character-indicating in Moss's case) South East English Nerds.
posted by Happy Dave at 7:32 AM on May 24, 2011

Best answer: An inflection rather than an accent, I'd say. One could give this nasal inflection to a lot of accents, but the combination of that with the roaming middle-class southern English accent gives them a special affinity.
posted by robself at 7:33 AM on May 24, 2011

Peter Cook (who had a similar nasal tendency)

And Cook's E.L. Wisty (the original 'Beyond the Fringe' rendition of the skit Grangousier linked, with a slightly more affected accent) is a good example of how nasalish Estuary/RPish is deployed as a stereotype of a pedantic, nerdy or swottish 'I think you'll find...' character. There have been variations on it in British comedy and drama, often in the role of officials or bureaucrats, for ages and ages.
posted by holgate at 8:02 AM on May 24, 2011 [1 favorite]

Grangousier has it. Vaguely southern middle class, with a touch more of the toff in Mitchell's case, seasoned with a nasal quality that makes the overall effect a bit whiny. At it's most extreme, Kenneth Williams happens.
posted by Decani at 9:14 AM on May 24, 2011

Grangousier has it. Vaguely southern middle class, with a touch more of the toff in Mitchell's case, seasoned with a nasal quality that makes the overall effect a bit whiny.

Is that the difference between Ron Weasley and Harry Potter's accent?

Also, why does Harry have a good accent if his parents aren't quite as posh as they would like to be?
posted by jfwlucy at 8:09 PM on May 24, 2011

The accent they both sort of share is a kind of toned down public/independent school accent. Mitchell grew up in Wiltshire and Ayoade was born in Whipp's Cross, which would have produced accents a mile apart if they had been through state funded schooling.
posted by roofus at 11:16 PM on May 24, 2011 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: OP here...having listened to the links, it's much more clear that it's a nasal-ness combined with speech patterns, inflection and diction (modern nerd?) rather than an accent, properly speaking. I here quite a different between the two Peter Cooks, btw. Thanks for the assistance!
posted by sarahkeebs at 6:02 AM on May 25, 2011