Mid-Atlantic accent

[rogusx]

I've read about this "mid-atlantic" accent and how it supposedly combines features from both American and British accents. Is this accent more clearly defined than that rather vague description? In terms of phonetics, can anyone point out some of its characteristics?

[Tdol]

I've generally heard it used for British people who have adopted certain American aspects, which sit on top of the British accent, so Mick Jagger does it a bit, and Elton John does when he sings. It seems to me to be a slightly unconvincing American accent.

[rogusx]

Apparently it can also be adopted by American speakers with international influences (or a desire to sound more "sophisticated"). I've read online that F.D.R. had this type of accent and so did many American movie stars in the 40s and 50s. For the most part it seems not to be too highly regarded by either Americans or Britons.
I was told only a few days ago by an American that I had an "interesting mid-Atlantic accent". I was intrigued by that and not sure if it had been meant as a compliment or an insult. I was taught RP but I've been living in the US and my speech has undergone some serious and involuntary changes.

[Tdol]

That's interesting- I had always thought of it as BrE speakers changing and was often associated with selling out of trying to break into the US market.

[Hayseed]

Originally Posted by tdol

I've generally heard it used for British people who have adopted certain American aspects, which sit on top of the British accent, so Mick Jagger does it a bit, and Elton John does when he sings. It seems to me to be a slightly unconvincing American accent.

I was recently thinking about how many singers, whether Brits or Americans, seem to use a "neutral", or ambiguous accent when singing. Is this the type of accent you guys are talking about? As a kid, I wondered why (most) Brits didn`t have an accent while singing, yet their accent "returned" when speaking. I guess it didn`t occur to me that the Brits were trying to tone down their accents so they`d sound more appealing to Americans. I kinda figured it was just easier to sing with an American accent (although an American accent doesn`t sound like an accent to me! ).
Adding something that`s beside the point, Klaus Meine of The Scorpions did a nice job of losing his German accent, at least when he sings.

[Tdol]

An interesting example of BrE pronunication is Tony Blair. In the UK, he adopts an Estuary twang, and uses glottal stops for 't' at the end of words, though doesn't use any of the Cockney grammar. However, when abroad, his accent becomes more RP.