How do American accents sound to British ears? Their accents sound so refined to us. Do we sound refined to them?

　　英国人听美式口音什么感觉?我们感觉他们的口音很有教养，他们听我们的口音也觉得有教养吗?

　　获得7.7k 好评的回答@Joel Thomas：

　　No, and I think the main reason for this is the “prestige non-rhotacism” of British Received Pronunciation.

　　不。我认为主要原因是英式英语标准发音中“著名的不r音化”。

　　You know how typically in American accents you can always hear the “r” sound? Well that's rhoticism, and it's perhaps the difference between British and American accents that most stands out.

　　你知道美式发音中最有特点的就是你总能听到“r”这个音吗?那就是“r音化”，这可能就是英美发音最显著的区别。

　　One of the things that really gets up our noses is “Americanisms”. In Victorian times we would play fast and loose with our own language to our heart's content, but with the old order upended a large number of these innovations started to come from the wrong side of the Atlantic, and so to preserve our Britishness it is now our duty to identify and reject all such dilutions of our pure language. After all, it's called English so it must be ours!

　　有一件我们真正讨厌的事是“美国腔”，在维多利亚时期我们根据心情会把自己的语言说得时快时慢，但随着旧的社会秩序被推翻，大西洋彼岸传过来大量类似的语言创新，所以为了把英式英语的特色保留下来，现在我们有责任识别并抵制所有类似的对我们纯洁语言的侵犯。毕竟，它叫作“英语”，所以必须是我们的!

　　获得1.9k好评的回答@Paul Rodgers：

　　I have a Canadian accent but live in London. Most people I meet assume I’m American. Those that guess that I’m Canadian often say that my accent is softer that an American accent. I suspect that this means that they find American accents harsh, and Canadian accents a bit less harsh. They certainly don’t consider them refined.

　　我有加拿大口音但住在伦敦，我见到的大多数人都以为我是美国人。那些猜我是加拿大人的人经常说我的口音比美式发音听起来更柔和。我想这就意味着他们发现美式发音很粗糙，而加拿大口音没那么粗糙。他们当然不会认为美式口音“有教养”。

　　获得630好评的回答@ Neil Highnam：

　　I don’t know what you mean by refined. However, I do like American accents and generally prefer listening to them than to many British accents which can sound so dull.

　　我不知道你说“有教养”是什么意思，然而，我确实喜欢美式口音，相对一些英式口音我通常更喜欢听美式口音，英式口音有时听起来很无趣。

　　I grew up in south east England and the typical middle class accent spoken there sounds really whiny and uninteresting to me. I’ve had friends from various places in the US with different accents and most films, videos and tv shows I watch involve Americans. I don’t think of American accents as being in any way exotic.

　　我在英格兰东南部长大，那儿典型的中产阶级口音我真的很烦，觉得很无趣。我有来自美国不同地区的朋友，都有不同口音。我看的很多电影、视频和电视节目里都有美国人。我不觉得美式口音像外国口音。

　　I like the fact that an American is judged more by the words he speaks than the accent with which he speaks them. In Britain politics, theatre and cinema, along with all manner of powerful positions are filled with bumbling toffs talking nonsense with posh, “refined” accents. The only reason many got where they did is because they come from a wealthy or aristocratic background. Success due to background is not limited to the UK, but I always liked the fact that the President of the USA will speak in the same way as most people from the same area, rich or poor. Bill Clinton’s Arkansas southern accent is a modern example of this.

　　我喜欢人们评判美国人时更多的是看重他们所说的词汇，而不是看重他们的口音。在英国政界、剧院和电影院里，还有所有有权势的人中，都掺杂着很多装模作样的纨绔子弟，操着优雅的、“有教养的”口音胡说八道。很多人能有这种口音只是因为他们来自富裕的或贵族家庭。靠家里获得成功的现象并不仅限于英国，但我总是喜欢美国总统和来自同一地区的大部分人口音一样，包括富人和穷人，比尔·克林顿的阿肯色州南方口音就是当代的一个例子。

　　Listen to the words, not the accent. Then you will truly understand how refined the orator is.

　　听一个人说的话，而不是听他的口音，你才能真正知道说话的人多有教养。