Yeah, I always found nothern/north of midlands accents quite musical. I know that's a blanket observation, but I had a hard time telling Manchester from Scouse for a bit - but scouse is a bit more shrill/sharp to me and manchester is more oooooh imo with the vowels? Dunno how off that is. Both have a musicality. And Geordie sounded so thick to me the first time I encountered it. I'm fine at understanding it now, unless I'm viewing Geordie Shore and in that case I don't WANT to understand what they're saying - I caught one of the girls talking about getting a 'wide on' (new term to me) over some gorilla looking creature and I can't unhear that. The term and the inflection. Though I spent some time in Carlisle before we went to Scotland on our honeymoon and I found the accents softer there and people friendly overall.
I'm good too at picking up London/cockney accents, newscaster posh accents moderately well (though would like to improve, feels cartoonish to me) and Yorkshire ones too (they tend to say 'luuuuve' like that, right?) Again, apologies for simplifying, I just find it interesting. When I first started talking to my husband, we'd send voice messages to one another and mess about with accents. I nailed a Jersey guido one before Jersey Shore was even a figment in someone's vacant soul. He didn't know what one was at the time, so it was an education. I also would get confused when he'd say 'us' meaning him/me. I'd be like 'who else is there?' haha. 'Alright' as a greeting took a bit, too. I didn't know what he was saying at first, and even when I did, it took a few times for it to feel familiar. Now I say it too, along with 'Oi', 'chuffed', 'knackered', 'quid', 'wanker', 'wankstain', 'tosser', and an even more wide reaching, enriched vocabulary of excellent slang. You guys win on that. We have douchebag, which I'm proud of, or the simplified 'douche', but I think UK terms/disses have more panache to them.
And for real, I'd love to hear you all have a go at US accents. Just harden the vowels and soften the 'h's. People always think I'm Irish when I'm in the UK or seem taken aback for a second when I talk b/c I think they don't expect an accent to pop out of me, especially in the midlands.
Somebody from the south is likely to miss those not-very-subtle subtleties and lapse into that one 'northern' accent that they do. Y'know, the one which seems to flit between Yorkshire and Lancashire without ever sounding anything like Manchester. Either that, or the Liam accent, which nobody actually speaks in.
Like everybody, I tend to think my accent is a lot less distinctively regional than it is.
Oh, and only somebody from Wales would render 'bus' as 'bws' in order to demonstrate Manc pronunciation, but I see what you mean. :D
No need to change it though - the pronunciation of 'bus' around here is pretty correct. It's these idiots catching the 'bas' who are losing their grip on the language.
I think that's what I do w/ Northern accents, flit. I hope I don't pull a Liam. Please you have permission to make me carry out the most embarrassing dare you can imagine if I ever do such a thing. And Bus is the same as back home. Only Bostonites say BAS or CAAAHR or PAHHHHK THA CAAAAH. Not to rag, and not all, but the hardcore, Boston pride types. It's pretty entertaining when you're stuck in a Boston bar full of drunk beantown enthusiasts singing Bon Jovi (true story). I don't sound too NEW YAWK. I'm more refined, but can get ghetto if my temper comes out, I've been told.
Anyway, sorry to go on, I find this interesting. Thanks for the clarifications and perhaps one day we can all humiliate ourselves together! I wait with baited breath, ha.
