Talk:Mid-Atlantic accent/Archive 1

Alan Partridge speaks with a Transatlantic accent
Could anyone source and/or confirm this? I doubt this is correct.89.166.141.235 (talk) 21:49, 28 May 2014 (UTC)

Unsatisfying Description

 * Header added 05:23, 9 August 2010 (UTC).

Describing Mid-Atlantic English as some kind of half-American, half-British hybrid is vague and unsatisfying. The term was used to designate a very specific variety of English that is now historically defunct. I have moved the historically specific definition of the term to the top of the article. -Sewing - talk 19:36, 31 Aug 2004 (UTC)


 * The general description is still unsatisfying, but I'll leave the paragraph order the way I found it (giving prominence to the general description) until I've done more research on the historical definition. -Sewing - talk 19:50, 31 Aug 2004 (UTC)
 * You are not satisfied? Everybody together now ready_ ONE TWO THREE - Awwwwwwwwwwe I'm sorry boopsie. We want you to be satisfied unfortunately their definition of a mid-Atlantic is spot on. I don't know whom had said it is now defunct. I wouldn't use that term. It just isn't popular anymore. Griessinthewood (talk) 00:25, 21 August 2016 (UTC)

Peter Jennings?
There's a line in the article "Canadian English in some ways approaches this ideal, as was demonstrated by the well-known news anchor Peter Jennings." I'm not an historical linguist, but I'm pretty sure Peter Jennings adopted an American accent, and Canadian sounds nothing like mid-atlantic anyway.

In fact, that whole section called Features, about Canadian and spelling, does not belong here. Should I just delete it?

Aren't we talking about "Main Line Lock Jaw?" This is typical of Philadelphia's main line elite. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.224.27.66 (talk) 05:26, 26 December 2007 (UTC)

I'd say. I am a Canadian and I have never seen anyone who would use "colour" use "labor" or vice versa. This seems rather unsourced and completely spurious. I will delete it.GBMorris 01:26, 7 June 2007 (UTC)

Need for disambiguation
There's a redirect to this page from "mid-atlantic" that should probably be turned into a disambiguation page. Mid-atlantic also refers to US States along the Atlantic seaboard south of New England and north of the "southeast." (Roughly, from Maryland to New Jersey.) The USGS has a page on these states, if someone wants to write up an article. I'm far too lazy at the moment. User:Exia 11/09/04

Mr. Burns
Would anyone consider Mr. Burns from the Simpsons to have a Mid-Atlantic accent? His accent is intriguing, would it be considered a "posh" or educated North American accent?

I think so. I would also consider Frasier and Niles Crane to have it.

The old Boston Brahmin accent(not obsolete) seems similiar to this accent, which I've never heard of before(I never heard of this category). FDR was from upstate NY, so I considered his dialect Northern New England since my impressions of upstate NY were that it was closer culturally to New England than NYC.


 * I agree.--FrickFrack 20:08, 18 August 2006 (UTC)


 * Frasier and Niles do speak in a Mid-Atlantic. My favorite is Major Charles Emerson Winchester III of the TV show MASH.Griessinthewood (talk) 00:32, 21 August 2016 (UTC)

Fix it up, if you can
This article goes around in circles and says nothing. Does any-one know what mid-Atlantic English is, and could you please make the article clearer? Thankyou. Felix the Cassowary 07:05, 5 Jan 2005 (UTC)

Former New Jersey Governor Tom Kean?
and also 9/11 Commission Head is also a good example of this accent

He used to be on TV and radio with these ads for NJ tourism --"New Jehsey and you...puhfect togethaa"

The origin of his accent is discussed on the Brian Lehrer radio show from New York public radio wnyc, with William Labov (referenced in this wikipedia article) as a guest.

A link can be found here...

http://www.wnyc.org/shows/bl/episodes/2004/03/25#segment28346

Maybe include this as a footnote to the article? ShmorgelBorgel 17:37, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

Possible references
--129.21.179.34 22:43, 26 January 2006 (UTC)
 * http://www.hig.se/hs/forsk/Andra%20publikationer/publmmo.html
 * http://www.studentlitteratur.se/o.o.i.s?id=2362&artnr=6145-01&csid=102&mp=2424

Actual examples
Compared to lots of other articles, this one doesn't really give solid examples. It describes well enough what one is from a dictionary standpoint, a dialect of the English language which is neither purely America, British, or Canadian and was used by frequently in the past by many actors, media people, and rich folks. But it doesn't really describe their patterns of speech. So, while one can walk away from this article knowing what Mid-Atlantic English is from a definition standpoint, unless you're really familiar with the actors listed (luckily I am) and with other dialects of English, you don't get a firm understanding of what it would actually sound like in its spoken form. Anyone know enough about it to try and tackle this? If I can find enough about it elsewhere I'll try, but someone out there has to know more about it than I do.Gorovich 06:49, 27 December 2006 (UTC)


 * I think it is important to stress that mid-atlantic is english devoid of any regional inflections (i.e. : "perfect/standard english"). I added some trivia about the fact that many americans who live abroad for a very long time tend to develop this speech pattern. Wedineinheck 12:35, 4 September 2007 (UTC)
 * It is impossible to be devoid of some regional inflections, such as rhoticity. The article already says Mid-Atlantic English is non rhotic. We need to know whether the BATH lexical set sounds like TRAP or like PALM. Also, if CLOTH sounds like LOT or like TAUGHT. Another (less important feature) to know would be if secretary is /ˈsɛkrəˌtɛri/ or /ˈsɛkrətri/ or something in between (maybe /ˈsɛkrətəri/). Esmito (talk) 23:03, 20 February 2013 (UTC)

More speakers of Mid-Atlantic
These include actor-producer John Houseman, journalist-broadcaster Alistair Cooke, and TV chef-presenter Lloyd Grossman. The former two represent Americanized English, the latter Anglicized American/Canadian.

I'm not an expert here and would not argue with the two examples you have given, otherwise though, in many cases is the natural dialect of parts of New England (Boston in particular) being lablelled "mid-atlantic" simply becasue it sounds more similar to an English accent than other American dialects. I think of Frasier as a good example of an accent and good diction appearing deliberatly anglicized where it is perhaps just the natural accent of a certain group of people in that area ? Dainamo 00:35, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

John Barrowman has stated that his accent is often called Mid-Atlantic. Wedineinheck (talk) 21:08, 14 January 2008 (UTC)

Would Barbara Stanwyck or Rosalind Russel qualify? 192.122.237.11 (talk) —Preceding undated comment added 14:53, 14 June 2011 (UTC).

I have heard that many Canadian Naval Officers affected a mid-Atlantic accent, though the practice largely disappeared by the seventies. "Rear-Admiral Mifflin: Before I answer — and I think that is a key and important question — I want to go back to traditions again. I would commend to the clerk and the committee, if you can get a copy of it, the Mainguy report of 1949. From 1945 to 1949, there was angst in the Royal Canadian Navy for a number of reasons but mainly because our officers, Canadians, were trained in Britain. Many of them had served in the Royal Navy during the war, before the war and after the war. Canadians were speaking with what was called a mid-Atlantic accent, and the communication between officers and the men was not what young Canadians who joined the navy expected it to be."131.137.245.209 (talk) 15:31, 27 June 2016 (UTC)

Boston Brahmin accent
The article lists several people and characters as having a Mid-Atlantic accent who are more typically said to have a Boston Brahmin accent, such as the character Charles Emerson Winchester III from MASH fame. 70.20.135.211 (talk) 15:46, 28 June 2008 (UTC)

I believe David Ogden Stiers accent, although he played a character from Boston, he spoke in a Mid-Atlantic as opposed to a Bostonian or like a Kennedy. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Griessinthewood (talk • contribs) 02:10, 5 July 2015 (UTC)

Confused with Standard English
The point of this article is to describe the specific dialect of peoples in geographic locales of the Mid-Atlantic Ocean, such as Bermuda, the Azores, and parts of the Carribean. Mixing American/British dialects etc. is simply more standard (Universal) English (the variety that has seen growth over the past 25 years or so). —Preceding unsigned comment added by 204.108.8.5 (talk) 20:38, 12 March 2009 (UTC)


 * Mid-Atlantic English is a joke, not a geographical name. It refers to a blend of American English and British English, and that is the point of this article. Esmito (talk) 23:07, 20 February 2013 (UTC)
 * Its not a joke and I'm pretty certain that in noway shape or form is the point of this article. It would seem that most talking here can not wrap their head around the fact that there is no specific geographical origin nor is it an inherited dialect. For all intents and purposes it is a stage accent used in the entertainment industry. Period. Why that is difficult to grasp is beyond me.Griessinthewood (talk) 00:50, 21 August 2016 (UTC)


 * I think I can explain why it is difficult to grasp the concept of Mid-Atlantic English. It is hard to understand the idea because the need isn't there anymore.  Looking back at the time the transatlantic accent was taught, the very concept of General American hadn't been invented yet.  In the early twentieth century, celebrities needed some standard way of speech.  (If celebrities, politicians in particular, with very regional accents used their own accents, it could be very challenging to understand their words.)  Therefore, purely because it was already a standard at that time, British English was used as a basis, however not the standard in full.  (The celebrities didn't want to sound too British, either.)  So, a transatlantic dialect of English was created, using British as the basis, and adding some features typically found in many American dialects.  The concept of General American developed around the 1960s.   Over and out.74.102.216.186 (talk) 03:58, 12 November 2016 (UTC)

No standard
I think it's fair to say we are not in any way suggesting M-Atlantic English is a dialect, or that it embodies a standard form of speech. There are huge fluxuations in character, accent and idiom within this category, usually dominated by the spaker's origins. There is no point treating this article as a comprehensive "how-to". Koppenlady (talk) 21:18, 22 October 2009 (UTC)


 * There are so many problems with this article that it is hard to justify it - it certainly misses out the fact that it is used on both sides of the pond. There is really only one way to describe “Mid-Atlantic”, and that is the adoption of Americanized speech by British persons, and Anglicized speech by Americans, so that it can become hard to identify the true origin of some speakers. Mick Jagger adopts an American-ish drawl to the British listener, but may not sound anything like an American to a U.S. listener; John Houseman tends towards RP and a British sound whichever side of the Atlantic you are. I doubt that anyone in the U.K. would think that Kelsey Grammer sounded anything other than American (he certainly doesn’t sound remotely British to me), but there are probably a lot of people in the U.K. who wouldn’t ever have known that Alistair Cooke was British. It is so much a matter of degree.Jock123 (talk) 23:46, 6 November 2009 (UTC)


 * In this case, a distinction should be made between the mid-Atlantic accent of WWII-era upper class Americans and British immigrants to America who just sound ambiguous. I mean, obviously, Mick Jagger's accent was not the same as President Franklin D. Roosevelt's. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.251.116.245 (talk) 06:40, 26 September 2011 (UTC)

Richard Harrison?
I'm not sure, but perhaps someone meant either Richard Harris or Rex Harrison? - Special-T (talk) 22:20, 10 August 2010 (UTC)

Bermudian English
Although there are distinctly Bermudian accents, most Bermudians are described as speaking with a 'trans-Atlantic' accent, which is fitting, given its location, and its close ties to both Britain and North America. Aodhdubh (talk) 04:27, 4 September 2011 (UTC)