Anonymous wrote:Slightly overly articulated, reasonably fast speech with no discernible accent reads as most educated.

Which raises a good point. There is no such thing as a “posh” accent. But people who sound educated are valued. Sometimes.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When I moved to California from DC in the early 90s at age 8 the other kids in school made fun of me for having, as they called it a “fancy accent”. I think it was mid Atlantic, although I have heard that Mid Atlantic actually means something like the way the children in The Sound of Music spoke - not fully “posh” British but in between that and American.

LOL! Who told you that?? 🤣🤣🤣

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mid-Atlantic_accent

Slightly overly articulated, reasonably fast speech with no discernible accent reads as most educated.

Anonymous wrote:When I moved to California from DC in the early 90s at age 8 the other kids in school made fun of me for having, as they called it a “fancy accent”. I think it was mid Atlantic, although I have heard that Mid Atlantic actually means something like the way the children in The Sound of Music spoke - not fully “posh” British but in between that and American.

LOL! Who told you that?? 🤣🤣🤣

Anonymous wrote:The “poshest” 😂 American accent is no accent at all.

Agree, today at least, it's the nondescript, newscaster "accent" that is impossible to place. Any additional "poshness" would then be more about diction, enunciation, tone--basically you are looking for a clear, lower-pitched, well-modulated voice from an educated person (with no discernible accent).

Anonymous wrote:Kids used to get them at elite NE boarding schools (and from parents). Alas, neither of my kids returned home sounding like FDR (one having even gone to the same school).

I am sorry for your loss.

A close adjacent, is it still proper to say “how do you do?” My parents and grandparents would say this in formal situations. My dad and my grandparents on his side had some of this accent. It was always “how do you do?” Instead of “hello” or “nice to meet you”. It seems rather stuffy and old fashioned now - but I also wonder if it’s actually the proper way to meet people formally. I don’t say it because I worry it will hit people in the wrong way. This and a few other quirks I either consciously suppress or have unlearned. Anyone else?

Kids used to get them at elite NE boarding schools (and from parents). Alas, neither of my kids returned home sounding like FDR (one having even gone to the same school).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mid-Atlantic English or Harvard Lockjaw (aka Yale Lockjaw).

Locust Valley Lockjaw

I know tons of Northeastern born and bred boarding school alums and don't know any under age 70 who speak with the Hepburn/FDR/Kerry accent

Both my dad's parents and their siblings etc had this. It wasn't affected: before mass media, this class was fairly insular, going to the same churches, schools, colleges, belonging to the same clubs, living and vacationing in the same places, marrying each other. Typical would be a home on the upper east side, a country place in Oyster Bay, and something in Palm Beach.

Personally, I loved it: sing-songy, melifluent.

As someone else wrote, anyone under 70 speaking this way sounds affected.

Phillip Seymour Hoffman was many things, but his accent was not from affect.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mid-Atlantic English or Harvard Lockjaw (aka Yale Lockjaw).

Locust Valley Lockjaw

I know tons of Northeastern born and bred boarding school alums and don't know any under age 70 who speak with the Hepburn/FDR/Kerry accent

Both my dad's parents and their siblings etc had this. It wasn't affected: before mass media, this class was fairly insular, going to the same churches, schools, colleges, belonging to the same clubs, living and vacationing in the same places, marrying each other. Typical would be a home on the upper east side, a country place in Oyster Bay, and something in Palm Beach.

Personally, I loved it: sing-songy, melifluent.

As someone else wrote, anyone under 70 speaking this way sounds affected.

The “poshest” 😂 American accent is no accent at all.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How about deep south? A refined drawl can be so genteel

Reminds me of fire hoses, snarling German shepherds, and burning crosses.

Not Dixie Carter! I loved her voice.

I had a lisp as a little kid and had to go to a few years of speech class and they basically wash out your accent as part of the classes. I often unconsciously add an accent in from where i'm living because it sounds strange outside of a news cast

Lol “posh American accent”! Please never stop DCUM.

ITT: a bunch of people hoping that they have a “posh” American accent