What do you sound like ?

I have a broad Brummie accent It is considered by some to be the worst accent ever. We moved nearer to the Black Country (but still in Birmingham) not long after we married and I couldn't understand a word anyone was saying!

Brought up in the Midlands by a mother who spent her first 8 years in London and the next 8 in Suffolk. Before we went to school we obviously sounded like Mum but gradually assimilated to sound more like our classmates. We'd say, 'we can't come out to play on Sunday as it's 'barth night' and this pronunciation was obviously questioned.
At various places I've been asked where I come from (even my home town) as I evidently don't sound 'broad' enough to be local. When I recorded my voice I thought that I sounded like Su Pollard.

People do make fun of southern accents and perceived behaviours-look at Harry Enfield's Loadsamoney or Tim Nice-But-Dim characters for a start. Never mind us Scots being seen as Begbie (Trainspotting), or Mel Gibson Braveheart types....and that accent was atrocious! Second only to Dick Van Dyke's cockney!

I was born in West London to Irish parents in the 1950s, who were very over protective because of the racism shown towards us at the time. Therefore my sister and I have english refined accents from nowhere in particular, but my baby brother has an irish accent. All our friends who had more freedom than us had London accents bordering on cockney. It also depends on who you associate with on how your accent changes. My sister married a South London boy so now has a completely different accent from me. I associated with the "upper echelons" for almost 40 years through work, so speak with what would be classed as a BBC accent. Strangely I haven't taken on my husband's North East accent. My brother still speaks with an Irish accent because most of his freinds and aquaintances are Irish and does all things Irish.

I speak Estuary English
When I went to college my roommate, who was from the East End of London thought I sounded posh! We are still best friends.

Gillybob, southern Irish accent being dreamy - Michael O'Leary, anyone?

I agree I am64 This image persists, why do TV presenters think its amusing to mimic the northern accents but never the southern ones. Specifically Tim Wonnacott and Dave? Lamb from Come Dine with Me.

MagicWriter2016...... fit like? Presume you are a Doric speaker!

I was born in the north west, moved around a lot in Lancashire and Gtr Manchester so my accent reflects that. It's odd that we northerners are accused of having chips on our shoulders when we object to eg "ooop" rather than "up". I've seen that regularly on granset but never seen "loight" for "light" . Presumably because it's assumed only so called northern accents need spelling out.
My mother told her children not to pick up the strong line cal accentsvin the various places we lived because people would think we weren't as "clever". The flat cap, clogs and whippet image persists towards those of us like vying in the northern poor house. Sorry for not being as light hearted as the OP intended, it's a response to reading some of the exchanges here

I looked st that a few times before it clicked Kaytek

As in .... "draw...ring "

Good point Juliette .

I'm from Belfast but don't have that 'hard' accent mines quite soft except when I'm talking to my sister and it all quickens up. My partner thinks it's hilarious. It's wee this and wee that, yer man/woman lol

I was born in Liverpool but lived from 3 weeks old to five and a half years in north London. Then we lived in Bury, Romiley, Sutton Coldfield, back to Liverpool, Derby, Cardiff, back to Derby, St Helens, Morpeth, Whaley Bridge and finally back to Morpeth. You'd know me for a northerner (short 'a' but no oop!) but I think you'd find it hard to pin me down more specifically than that.

And there is no 'r' in drawing!!!

Edinburgh Scots with a tinge of NE Scotland. We moved a lot with the RAF when I was a child so I have a chameleon tendency and find myself speaking in the same accent as the person I'm talking to! There was a time when I was very anglicised and it can rise to the surface on occasion.

I was brought up in the North West, Cheshire to be exact. I've lived in the South now for more than 40 years; I used to be told that I wasn't 'from around here' (which surprisingly I already knew!) Now people tell me I have a 'soft' northern accent.

I was born in a small fishing village in North East Scotland that has its own dialect, moved down to Leicester when I was 5/6 and lived there until my early 30's. a good Leicester accent is very 'slangy', which I had. We moved back to Scotland in 1989, but although I have never lost my 'Leicester ' accent, it has been watered down somewhat, but folk think I come from Manchester, Yorkshire and generally the North of England, apart from folk who come from those areas lol. No one believes I am in fact Scottish and I have occasionally suffered 'racist' comments from folk who consider that because I have an English accent then I must be English. So lesson here is 'never judge a person by their accent', as you may get a shock!

I was born in Tynemouth to Lancastrian parents. Now I live in Norfolk and got there via, Carlisle, Barnsley, Nigeria, Hong Kong, London, Surry, Sussex, Devon and Derby!
I sound posh but say certain words the Lancashire way e.g. ow er not arr( as in ow er kid).

Like the queen, I'm told.

I was born in London, we moved several times, in Somerset & Kent finally settled in Lancashire when I was 9. No trace of a southern accent. I'm a Lancashire lass through and through, with the accent to prove it. I think our local accent sounds awful on the telephone. It's definitely bath, castle for me no r's in those words..

Black country born and bred and proud of it but according to one or two people posh Black Country, lol. Never Brummy as it is a completely different accent and they use a different phraseology. I love how some people eg my two Welsh friends have lived in the Black Country for nearly 60 years but both still have their gorgeous accents. One is from Swansea and one from Brecon and yes you can tell they are Welsh but their accents are different.x

Being from Blyth I suppose I'm not a true Geordie by some standards. but I do understand those from Eshntn.
I belong to another forum where the Blyth/Ashington/Bebside accents are sometimes discussed.
And the very narrow localised dialect words used in each town. It's fascinating.

I agree Smithy her accent is rubbish. People from the South probably think that Vera' s accent is true Geordie.

I can barely understand the Ashington accent it's so thick. They almost say
"Eshuntun" don't they ? when we had our caravan we were next door to the sister of a very famous Geordie . She did a very funny party piece of describing her first driving lesson around the perimeter of a farmers field;

"aa just cuddun garn strait and Neely had the bluddy cew"

''Vera'' as in the TV detective series, has a terrible Geordie accent, its more Wearside than Tyneside and too sing-songy.
Its a cardinal sin to confuse a Geordie accent with a Sunderland/Wearside accent. A true Geordie is someone born on actual Tyneside. Northumberland had a different accent again, with things like Ashington pronounced Eshington.

Sunderland isn't that far from South Shields. Geordie has always been North of the Tyne and specifically Newcastle although lots of places in the NE now want to be regarded as such, and the accent is different.
Just as a Northumbrian accent is different.
I still don't know how you would distinguish in writing between a Northern accent with the longer "U" sound and the Southern accent with the shorter "U" sound gillybob. Northerners do lengthen the sound and "oo" seems a reasonable way to show it. Can I ask if you think this is some sort of an insult?
I would regard it simply as a way of communicating, much as I would write a Londoner as saying " loight" and "broight"