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nomad soul
Joined: 31 Jan 2010 Posts: 11454 Location: The real world
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Posted: Fri Aug 19, 2011 1:37 am Post subject: World's 12 most "appealing" accents |
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A bit of mindless reading (edited to tone it down).
World's sexiest accents
By Jordan Burchette, 18 August, 2011 | CNNgo.com
(Source: http://www.cnngo.com/explorations/life/worlds-sexiest-accents-130333?hpt=hp_bn12)
Because a foreign language can be the best aphrodisiac, we traveled the world in search of the 12 hottest accents.
In the unending pursuit of love, or its less eternal surrogate, the right accent can be as attractive as bright eyes, a beaming smile and a parabolic backside. For world travelers, a far-flung tongue promises the unknown, confirms the known and dispels the thought-we-knew.
But no accent is sexy when it�s strong enough to crush a beer can. Which means not all accents are created equal. It�s estimated that there are nearly 7,000 languages on earth. That�s nearly 7,000 different ways to traipse clumsily through the English language.
Which begs our list of the world�s hottest brogues. Some of you may have a legitimate case for inclusion in the top twelve but others do not. Our also-rans included Putonghua (especially when this Taiwanese language is spoken in gentle tones), Australian (as appealing as warm Foster's to some, tantalizingly exotic to others) and Japanese (the language of repressed salarymen is also strangely designed for pillow talk). Because when it comes to accents, there are no absolutes, except that Bronx English is absolutely horrible.
12. Argentine
A historical refuge for Spaniards, Italians and Germans, the South Ameripean melting pot of Argentina has cultivated a proud, pouty tone. With its own pronunciation of Spanish letters (�ll� sounds like �shh�) and its own words (�you� is �vos�), this is a dialect that�s hard to get. (Or at least plays that way.) Sounds like: A tightly tuned guitar strummed by a lamb shank.
11. Thai
With five tones comprising their native speech, the speakers of this often fragile accent turn any language into a song of seduction. Thai is largely monosyllabic, so multi-beat foreign words get extra emphases right up until the last letter, which is often left off, leaving the listener wanting more. Sounds like: R-rated karaoke.
10. Trinidadian
The Caribbean island of Trinidad offers an undulating, melodic gumbo of pan-African, French, Spanish, Creole and Hindi dialects. Sounds like: A rubber life raft bobbing on a sea of steel drums
9. Brazilian Portuguese
Perhaps owing to its freedom from French influence, the Brazilian Portuguese accent has a more colorful, puerile flair than its coarser European counterpart. The resulting yowl of drawn-out vowels reveals a flirty freedom of spirit that sounds like a permanent vacation. Sounds like: The near, then far, then near again hum of a low-wattage vacuum cleaner that runs on dance sweat.
8. U.S. Southern
There�s nothing sexy about being in a hurry, and you could clock the growth rate of grass with the honeyed drawl -- less Tea Party, more �True Blood� -- of a Southern beau or belle. Sounds like: Molasses taking a smoking break.
7. Oxford British
Authoritative. Upright. Erudite. Scholarly. Few accents promise the upward nobility of the Queen�s English. It�s a take on the language that sets hearts devoted to James Bond and Hermione Granger aflutter. And, should the speaker fail to slake your most wanton desires, eh, at least you�ll learn something. Sounds like: A crisply ironed shirt playing a harp.
6. Irish
Valued slightly more in men than in women, the Irish brogue is a lilting, lyrical articulation that�s charming, if not exotic. Fluid and uplifting, it can swing from vulnerable to threatening over the course of a sentence, restoring your faith in the world again � right before it stabs you with a broken bottle top. Sounds like: A marauding pixie.
5. Nigerian
Dignified, with just a hint of willful naivet�, the deep, rich �oh�s� and �eh�s� of Naija bend the English language without breaking it, arousing tremors in places other languages can�t reach. Kinda makes the occasional phone scam worth the swindle. Sounds like: The THX intro with teeth
4. Czech
Like Russian, without the nettlesome history of brutal, iron-fisted despotism, Czech is a smoky, full-bodied vocal style that goes well with most meats. Murky and mysterious, the Bohemian tone is equal parts carnal desire and carnival roustabout. Sounds like: Count Dracula, secret agent.
3. Spanish
Beckoning, but with the passion to unleash hell kept just barely restrained, Castilian is like a dialectic Hoover Dam. But then there�s the lisp. Tender, vulnerable and cute as a baby�s hangnail -- no one owns the �th� sound formed by tongue and teeth like those who speak the language of Cervantes. Sounds Like: An outboard motor on Lake Paella.
2. French
The demotion of this perennial prizewinner of global brogues to second place may illustrate the declining love of Old World petulance. Still, the come-hither condescension and fiery disinterest of the French tongue remains paradoxically erotic. Sounds like: A 30-year-old teenager.
1. Italian
Even when bathing in a fountain, a romance language is a romance language. Raw, unfiltered and as grabby to ears as its president is to rears, the Italian accent reflects the spectrum of Italic experience: the fire of its bellicose beginnings � the romance of the Renaissance � the dysfunction of anything resembling a government since Caesar. Insatiable, predatory and possessive, this is sex as a second language. Sounds like: A Ferrari saxophone. |
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dean_a_jones
Joined: 03 Jul 2009 Posts: 1151 Location: Wuhan, China
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Posted: Fri Aug 19, 2011 1:42 am Post subject: |
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This can't be right, they seem to be missing Scouse. |
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ancient_dweller
Joined: 12 Aug 2010 Posts: 415 Location: Woodland Bench
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Posted: Fri Aug 19, 2011 12:29 pm Post subject: |
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Quote: |
Raw, unfiltered and as grabby to ears as its president is to rears |
elequent prose, simply sublime. |
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spiral78
Joined: 05 Apr 2004 Posts: 11534 Location: On a Short Leash
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Posted: Fri Aug 19, 2011 1:27 pm Post subject: |
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I am impressed to see that Czech is fourth
Not sure it works like that for me, but spouse and Czech friends have been duly notified that they should officially consider themselves sexy |
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GuestBob
Joined: 18 Jun 2011 Posts: 270
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Posted: Fri Aug 19, 2011 1:31 pm Post subject: |
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Where is Scots Standard English?!
edit
This survey can suck my brogue!
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