David raises an interesting point. Jasper Carrot would not be perceived as funny in a "normal" accent I think. Accents are most noticed, it seems to me, by somebody who has an accent themselves. I recall my Norfolk accent being pointed out to me as "funny"when in the RAF at Weston Super Mare by people with a broad West Country accent. ( every sentence a question!) Similarly in the Southern States of the US. I think too I recall different intonations during my visits to other parts of Norfolk than my own. I also remember my visit years ago to the Plymouth Plantation, the Pilgrim Father's Heritage Site near Boston ,Mass, where the period clad staff spoke in a remarkably close to Norfolk accent. I recall pointing this out to one of them and he agreed that this was the effect they were trying to achieve though I think he was not totally clear on the origins of the accent he was using. I tried to "broaden" it up a bit for him as I recall. Dave On 13/03/2014 7:47 AM, David Mills wrote: > The most maligned accents/dialects are Black Country and Birmingham > accents.....next seems to be the accents of Liverpool... the psychology of > all this must be very interesting. > I wonder if , as well as influences in the ex colonies, Norfolk and Suffolk > have influenced other areas. I'm thinking of the periods of migration from > the land to industry, like the NE. Also the influences of migratory workers > on Local speech, such as in Yarmouth . > > Must get on.. > > David > > > >