Accents Quotes

“I’m nobody’s sidekick,” Annabeth growled. “And, Percy, his accent sounds familiar because he sounds like his mother. We killed her in New Jersey.”
Percy frowned. “I’m pretty sure that accent isn’t New Jersey. Who’s his—? Oh.”
It all fell into place. Aunty Em’s Garden Gnome Emporium—the lair of Medusa. She’d talked with that same accent, at least until Percy had cut off her head.
“Medusa is your mom?” he asked. “Dude, that sucks for you.”
― Rick Riordan, The Mark of Athena

“Fo' shiz.”
― Stephanie Perkins, Anna and the French Kiss

“Americans may say they love our accents (I have been accused of sounding 'like Princess Di') but the more thoughtful ones resent and rather dislike us as a nation and people, as friends of mine have found out by being on the edge of conversations where Americans assumed no Englishmen were listening.

And it is the English, specifically, who are the targets of this. Few Americans have heard of Wales. All of them have heard of Ireland and many of them think they are Irish. Scotland gets a sort of free pass, especially since Braveheart re-established the Scots' anti-English credentials among the ignorant millions who get their history off the TV.”
― Peter Hitchens

“He sucked his lips in an attempt not to laugh. "Aren't you Spanish?"
She raised one arm in a salute. "Viva la Queen Isabella!"
"I see. Then why are you speaking with a French accent?”
― Julia Quinn, To Catch an Heiress

“Flight 2039 to Boston is now boarding at gate 14A," a voice announced over the PA system.
Nellie sighed. "I love Irish accents." She paused. "And Australian accents. And English accents." A dreamy look came over her face. "Theo had an awesome accent."
Dan snorted. "Yeah, there was just that one tiny problem. He turned out to be a two-timing, backstabbing thief.”
― Rick Riordan, The Black Book of Buried Secrets

“I take pride in playing immigrant characters. I've come across people who had a negative opinion about playing Asian characters that have an accent. I've even met Asian actors who won't audition for a role that has an Asian accent. They believe these accented characters reinforce the stereotype of an Asian being the constant foreigner. Frankly, I can't relate. I was an immigrant. And no matter how Americanized I become, no matter how much Jay-Z I listen to, I'll always be an immigrant. Just because I don't speak English with an accent anymore doesn't mean that I'm better than the people who do. My job as an actor is not to judge anyone and to portray a character with humanity. There are real people with real Asian accents in the real world. I used to be one of them. And I'm damn proud of it.”
― Jimmy O. Yang, How to American: An Immigrant's Guide to Disappointing Your Parents

“Yea, v-verily, she answered, understanding his thought though not his idiom and speaking without - she hoped - noticeable hesitation. "Methought I saw a serpent moving in the grass yonder, but now I see 'twas but the stirring of the breeze." She slid her hands under the paper bag in her lap to hide their trembling.
Ana Vasilifata”
― Werner A. Lind, Lifeblood

“The accent of one's birthplace persists in the mind and heart as much as in speech.”
― La Rouchefoucauld

“Morris Weissman [on the phone, discussing casting for his movie]: "What about Claudette Colbert? She's British, isn't she? She sounds British. Is she, like, affected or is she British?”
― Julian Fellowes, Gosford Park: The Shooting Script

“I think we are wise, we English speakers, to savor accents. They teach us things about our own tongue.”
― Anne Rice, Merrick

“The sound of an English accent distracted her and lifted her spirits. She associated English accents with singing teapots, schools for witchcraft, and the science of deduction. This wasn't, she knew, terribly sophisticated of her, but she had no real guilt about it. She felt the English were themselves to blame for her feelings. They had spent a century relentlessly marketing their detectives and wizards and nannies, and they had to live with the results.”
― Joe Hill, The Fireman

“Dain couldn’t resist reaching out to brush away the tear that had now reached her chin. “Mo always says, ‘What’s done is done. Start where yer at, and do what ye can with what ye have left. Regret never moves a man forward.’”
Sable smiled. “You’re terrible at accents, you know.”
― Micheline Ryckman, The Maiden Ship

“There's an accent shift, on average, every 25 miles in England”
― David Crystal, Ben Crystal

“Eventually, I trained myself not to speak that way because I didn’t want people to single me out. I wanted to fit in other places, not just where I grew up. That’s why I now sound like an Ohio weatherman—neutral, friendly, and almost fully recovered after escaping that cult.”
― Colin Jost, A Very Punchable Face

“Some studies of successful language learners have suggested that they're more "open to new experiences" than the rest of us. Temptingly, psychologist Alexander Guiora proposed that we have a self that's bound up in our native language, a "language ego", which needs to be loose and more permeable to learn a new language. Those with more fluid ego boundaries, like children and people who have drunk some alcohol, are more willing to sound not like themselves, which means they have better accents in the new language.”
― Michael Erard, Babel No More: The Search for the World's Most Extraordinary Language Learners

“Many of the people who left the South never exactly sat their children down to tell them these things, tell them what happened and why they left and how they and all this blood kin came to be in this northern city or western suburb or why they speak like melted butter and their children speak like footsteps on pavement, prim and proper or clipped and fast, like the New World itself.”
― Isabel Wilkerson, The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration

“I have never lived anywhere but New York or New England, but there are times when I’m talking to you and I hit a Southern vowel, or a word gets caught in a Southern truncation, and I know it’s because I’m swimming in your cadences, that you permeate my very language.”
― David Levithan, The Lover's Dictionary

“The only thing worse than an Aussie or Kiwi intonation is its intermittent use. When it's Auckland talking, or Melbourne, fine. But when a snatch of downunder drawl erupts from the mouth of a Euro, it's like blood in your urine.”
― Joshua Cohen, Book of Numbers

“Imagine living in a world where we judge each others intellect based on social statuses and class. Raw intelligence is not reserved for "upper classes" or those with a particular accent.”
― Torron-Lee Dewar, Creativity is Everything

“You’re loading the deck. You’re wasted. And I’m ninety-percent sure you’re Irish—tell me, why would I trust you?”
Quinn thought about it. The man had a point—well, several. “Because you like my accent?”
― Daniel Younger, The Wrath of Con

“I’m mesmerized by the way he speaks—New Orleans is pronounced N’awlins. When he says backyard, it’s backyaaad. It’s the kind of voice that makes you feel instantly at home, like you’re a close friend or part of the inner circle.
—SINGLE-MINDED”
― Lisa Daily, Single-Minded: A Novel

“Although Swedish is one of the few languages on this Earth that I enjoy the sound of. That and Japanese. French is all right, Italian is tolerable depending on who’s speaking it. Everything else makes me cringe. Even English with some accents is bad. Australian? Spare me.”
― Caspar Vega, The Sexorcism of Amber Holloway

“It almost boosts your self-esteem being screamed at by someone with an English accent.”
― Andrew Smith

“Olivia was by no means a snob but she was aesthetic and the details Mrs. Saunders gave about her illness were not; also Mrs. Saunders' accent--how could one help noticing with her droning on and on?--was not that of a too highly educated person...”
― Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, Heat and Dust

“Prejudice is by definition unreasonable and illogical. A reasoned dislike or a logical objection is not a prejudice, although false reasoning and pseudo logic are often found in the service of prejudice. Prejudice is invariably a symptom of a character defect, but tragically it is one that is shared in some degree by us all. Race, national and cultural prejudice is being recognized by thinking men as the great evil which as brought us to the brink of destruction. Prejudice which finds its focus in the accents,manners and styles of others is passed off as comparatively innocuous, but even this brand of prejudice does more to divide men than does any real differences in ideals and aspirations.”
― Euell Gibbons, Stalking the Wild Asparagus

“Just how did you know where this guy grew up?!"
"Was it mere coincidence?! No way! This has to be deliberate! But how?! What kind of magic trick is this, Miss Yamato Nadeshiko?!"
"Um, it's kind of hard to explain but... sometimes there's a certain lilt to how you pronounce your words. It sounded an awful lot like the lyrical accent unique to that area."
"Huh?"
"Eheh heh... when I'm not paying attention, sometimes my hometown accent slips outdo.
Given your outfits and brand choices, I figured you were American... so I wondered if you were born in the South near the Gulf of Mexico... which made me think you probably had gumbo a lot growing up."
"Well, I'll be! You managed to deduce all that?"
"Was I right? Oh, I'm so glad!"
"No way! I don't believe it! Just who are you?! How can you even figure something like that out?!"
"Eheheh heh... it wasn't much. I've just been doing some studying, is all."
"Voila. C'est votre monnaie. Au revoir, bonne journée."
"Merci!"
In the few months since earning my Seat on the Council of Ten... I took advantage of some of the perks it gave me... to visit a whole bunch of different countries. I went to all kinds of regions and met all kinds of people... learning firsthand what it feels like to live and thrive there.
I experienced the "taste of home" special to each place... and incorporated it into my own cooking... so that I could improve a little as a chef!
"And that's how you knew about gumbo? But still! All you did was make a dish from my hometown. That's it! There's no way it should've overwhelmed me this much! Why?! How could you manage something like that?!"
"I think it's because, deep down, this is what you've truly been searching for. Um, to go back to what I mentioned to you earlier... I think you might have the wrong idea. I'm pretty sure that isn't what real hospitality is. In your heart, the kind of hospitality you're truly looking for... isn't to be pampered and treated like a king for a day. If that kind of royal luxury was all you were looking for... you wouldn't need to come all the way to Japan. You could have just reserved a suite at any international five-star hotel to get that experience.
But you said you specifically liked Japan's rural hot springs resort towns. The kind of places so comfortable and familiar they tug at your heart... places that somehow quietly remind you of home.
"I think... no, I know...
... that what you really want...
... is simply a warm, gentle hug.”
― Yuto Tsukuda, 食戟のソーマ 31 [Shokugeki no Souma 31]

“His voice has the texture of an old blues singer. His accent peppered with the quintiscential New Orleans lilt. The way the vowels and words, like 'point' and 'joint' evaporate off the tongue. Replaced by a soft r that turns its language into jazz. The way words like 'corner' walk around the edges of the mouth before slipping off into the wind.”
― Clint Smith, How the Word Is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America

“At least I know you are American.”

Crap! “What? I bloody am not…mate.”

“That could be the worst Australian accent I have ever heard.”

“That’s because…I’m British. Jolly good. Pip, pip! Long live the queen!”

He flicked me an amused glance and kept tapping keys. “Not British either.”

“Alright, fine, I’m a lass from Ireland. Top of the morning, boyo!”

“So you are not in Australia, England or Ireland. Thank you.”
― A. Kirk, Drop Dead Demons

“Our accents are clothing for our thoughts.”
― Brandon Sanderson, Shadows of Self

“Her accent [was] as tangy as barbecue sauce”
― Jenna Evans Welch, Love & Gelato