Which British Accent Do You Have?

By: Zoe Samuel
Estimated Completion Time
4 min
Which British Accent Do You Have?
Image: Shutterstock

About This Quiz

The United Kingdom and Ireland take up the British Isles - those landmasses just across the Channel from France where everyone speaks a very slightly different version of English to the person next to them. How you talk is an excellent way to figure out which part of those isles you come from, and even more things about you, such as what sort of school you went to and what job you're lucky to have. 

These traditional distinctions are happily growing weaker with time, but there are still some strong correlations that mean a person's accent does give you a certain amount of information about them that is probably correct.

Some British accents are universally known and understood, such as Received Pronunciation, AKA the Queen's English - which is the one that you've heard James Bond and the Lannisters use - and standard Scottish English - which you'll recognize from actors such as Ewan McGregor and David Tennant. 

Others are more obscure and harder for foreigners to grasp; for example when the movie "The Full Monty" originally came out, some American audiences needed captions to understand what the Sheffield-based characters were saying! That means, of course, that there are lots of ways we might figure out what accent you have. Answer a few questions and let's see how we do!

Do you ever drop your H's?
Not really
Once in a while
All the time
Only for fun

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Which World War II figure do you admire?
Paddy Finucane
The Dam Busters
Patrick Reid
Winston Churchill

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Where is "the city" to you?
Belfast
Birmingham
The City of London (the area, that is, as opposed to London generally)
London (generally)

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What job do people assume you have, based on how you talk?
Honestly? Farmer (which is not accurate)
Any junior white collar job
Postman
Barrister

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Do Americans just assume that you are smart?
No, but they don't assume I'm not either
Somewhat
Not just that, they also think I'm posh when I'm actually not
Yep

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What alternative to "thank you" might you use?
Go raibh maith agat
Ta
Cheers
Thanks

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What would you call a woman you don't know, if you wanted to be friendly?
Pet
Duck
Love
Miss

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What time of day do you have "tea"?
I don't
6 p.m.
7 p.m.
5 p.m. of course

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Do you pronounce words like car and darling as if the R were an H?
No
Not really
I actually go extra hard on the R
Of course

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Glottal stop: yay or nay?
Nope
Very rarely
All the time
Only to be ironic

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How do you feel about Dick van Dyke's Cockney accent in "Mary Poppins"?
It seems off
It's hilarious
It's so, so, so, so bad that it makes me angry
It's bad

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How do you feel about America (as in, the people, not the government)?
They're fun!
They're OK
They're annoying
They're silly but I like them

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Would you ever go to the races?
Weekly!
I haven't but it sounds fun
A couple times a year plus I have a flutter on the Grand National
I go to Ascot

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What sort of house did you grow up in?
Cottage
Semi-detached, urban
Terraced, urban
Detached, urban, plus a country cottage

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What sort of car do you drive?
Vauxhall Astra
Ford Mondeo
White van
Secondhand Land Rover

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Do you ever shorten the word "the" to just a T sound?
Sometimes
All the time
Not really
No

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What do you call your father?
Da
Dad
Old Man
Daddy

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How often do you travel overseas?
Once a year
Twice a year
A couple times some years and then not at all other years
Several times a year

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Generally speaking, how much of the world can understand your accent?
It's highly regional, but about a third
Literally no one can outside Britain
About half
Everyone

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Have you ever traveled outside of Europe, and if so, how often?
I've been to the US a few times in my life
I went to the far East for my gap year
I went to Australia on my gap year and I'm saving up to go to Disneyworld
I went on safari last year and the year before that I went to India, plus I go to the Caribbean most years

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What do you call your grandmother?
Gram
Nan
Gran
Granny

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What celebrity do you sound like?
Colin Farrell
Ant and Dec
Michael Caine
Elizabeth Hurley

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If you were to march for a cause, what cause would it be?
To stop Brexit
To stop war
Workers' rights
Conservation

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What would you do if someone trod on your toe on the train?
If they say sorry then I wouldn't start a fight but if they didn't then I would
Say sorry but also expect them to say sorry
Wait for them to say sorry then forgive them
Apologize to them

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How easily can you understand rural Scottish accents?
Totally
Mostly
I have no idea what they're saying.
It takes time to tune in but then it's fine.

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Which movie villain are you?
Alex Trevelyan in "Goldeneye"
I am not a villain
The Kray twins
Scar, Loki, Sheriff of Nottingham...

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Did you just assume growing up that you would go to college?
No
I thought it was more likely than not
I thought it was about 50/50
Of course

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What would you wear to a "smart casual" event?
A nice dress
Slacks and a nice top
I have no idea, that's nonsense, that is
Jeans and a blazer I inherited from Grandpa

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How do you feel about Gwyneth Paltrow's posh accent in "Shakespeare in Love"?
It's good
It's adequate
It sounds fake but technically perfectly accurate
I am embarrassed for her

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Is your accent associated with being emotionally closed off?
LOL no
I don't think so
In a Blitz spirit way, sometimes
Yes

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You Got: