Is Britain closer culturally to the US or the rest of Europe? (population, places)

[BECLAZONE]

Just to muddy the waters, a sample of Englishness.


YouTube - ‪last of the summer wine glory hole part 1‬‏

[BECLAZONE]

And another.


YouTube - ‪last of the summer wine car and garter part 1‬‏

[Acajack]

Fair enough, but do these videos necessarily show that the UK is more similar to France, Germany, Italy or Sweden?

[paull805]

well heres a few brits!

scotland


YouTube - ‪Burnistoun S1E1 - Voice Recognition Elevator - ELEVEN!‬‏

east london


YouTube - ‪Cockney Rhyming Slang‬‏

[paull805]

liverpool


YouTube - ‪Fonejacker | Scouse Steve | E4‬‏


hard for anyone to be similar to britain, if we aren't even similar to each other! lol

[BECLAZONE]

Originally Posted by Acajack

Fair enough, but do these videos necessarily show that the UK is more similar to France, Germany, Italy or Sweden?

Only, in that regionally, we have great differences.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by BECLAZONE

Only, in that regionally, we have great differences.

Very true, although the UK is not unique in this respect. Fairly homogenous countries are the exception on this planet, not the norm.

[paull805]

i don't know enough to say, but is there any other country in the world with so MANY different accents in such close proximity to each other like the uk? 10/20 miles north, south, east and west from me there is totally different accents, and in britain the varying accents are so different, would be interesting to know if there is similar countries to this?

[ben86]

Originally Posted by paull805

i don't know enough to say, but is there any other country in the world with so MANY different accents in such close proximity to each other like the uk? 10/20 miles north, south, east and west from me there is totally different accents, and in britain the varying accents are so different, would be interesting to know if there is similar countries to this?

Perhaps not 10/20 miles, but in Norway a lot of towns developed in relative isolation from each other caused by mountains/sea etc, so some parts of Norway have accents which literally can't be understood by other Norwegians, and dialect words are still used in formal situations because there's not the association with class like in the UK, just with geography. I've also heard that China has actual language differences (written as well as spoken) within regions (though again, bigger differences in distance) but I don't know anything first-hand about it.

[paull805]

it' an interesting one, never knew that about norway, makes sense though, with the isolation, with that as a factor there must be plenty of similar countries, and like you said there is different accents to do with geography, and also class and age in britain, a melting pot of different accents