9 Difficult Scottish & Irish Accents You WON'T Understand

[@storylearning]

Ready for another accent challenge? kzbin.info/www/bejne/oIW5moNthtSKZs0si=vnJQmxHS5GF327kt

[@gallowglass2630]

The Northern irish segment was very lazy .Liam Neeson has a rural county antrim accent and Jamie dornan has a north county down accent totally different accents

[@KGTiberius]

📍 🇻🇮 I’d love to see an analysis of the Lesser Antillean Caribbean. Here in St Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands the language/dialect/accent is Crucian. While we can tell if someone is from one island to the next, much is mutually understandable. SOCA music carries us all from Trinidad through to the U.S. Virgin Islands. Sample music of Machel Montano (Mr. Fete, Happiest Man Alive), Kes (Hello, Savanna Grass), Pressure (Virgin Islands Nice), Baby Bells Riddim (Good Vibes Only), etc.

[@KGTiberius]

Missed the last two, nailed the rest. Surprised Manx wasn’t in the mix!

[@storylearning]

Manx was not forgotten! Check it out here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/l6XNgn-Ggr9noMU

[@theRhinsRanger]

Our local accent. Galloway Irish, around the Rhins o Galloway. Just opposite Belfast across the water.

[@Lucien234-i2z]

I am Scottish and I don't understand how anyone could mistake an Irish for a Scottish accent vice vera even when talking in a strong dialect! It honestly baffles me! You can hear the distinct Scottish accent despite the dialect.

[@coreyc1685]

I agree but with one exception. I'm from the north of Ireland and I confuse north Antrim accents for Scottish sometimes. Lots of Scots moved to that area during the plantation of Ulster and completely changed the accent. They have a dialect they call Ulster Scots. I can usually pinpoint it after a sentence or two but at first it can be difficult.

[@cleanthe3276]

Do you mean for a native English speaker ? I'm not and it wasn't easy at all ! Considering the number of accents in both countries, it can be easily confusing :)

[@geordiewishart1683]

Corey, how come you meet Antrim folk in the north of Ireland? Are they on holiday in Donegal? Unless you mean you are in Northern Ireland? If so, just say so.

[@bumarse6667]

​@@geordiewishart1683Gimp

[@edenjay406]

If your from the UK and a native speaker it's easy but people from further afield often get them confused, similarly with Americans thinking Welsh people or Liverpudlians are from Australia lol

[@CezTV]

As an Irish person I can tell you that banjaxed is not exclusively Northern Irish, it's used in the republic as well. Does my head in as well

[@HelloCruelWorldItsMe]

We say it in Glasgow and thereabouts too.

[@aligindahouse7777]

And baltic for freezing cold haha

[@IExpectedBSJustNotThisMuchBS]

I think a word from each list is used at least.

[@SteveCondron]

We have that one in Dublin too aswell as " me head is melted"

[@mob-kw9hz]

​@@HelloCruelWorldItsMepossibly because a lot of back forth migration between Ireland and Scotland

[@craigbolton2231]

The first glesga speaker outside parkhead was the only one that had a proper glasgow accent. The rest sounded more like a glasgow uni accent. That homogenised american one. The edinburgh ones were barely there too. The lassie that was putting on her edinburgh accent sounded more glasgow to me

[@baneofsalmon]

that ginger lassie had the most glasgow uni accent ive heard 😂

[@jameson5735]

I was in a French DIY shop. I heard two guys talking whilst examining plumbing sockets. I approach and said, 'You're from Ballina aren't you?'. His reply was brilliant. 'And you're from Leeds'. Both exactly accurate, our cultures mix in the most unexpected places.

[@jameson5735]

I live in France now but my local is full of Corkies. Many a French local goes over to Ireland. First stop from here is Cork. For people from Britain, it's Dublin or Belfast. They say the road you take makes your impression.

[@TheUffeess]

It's funny that as a Swede, I understood most of the Scottish dialects.🙂

[@isarose3136]

That's pretty cool!

[@drunkengamer1977]

That's pretty cool gotta admit as a Scot I really have to listen hard to Doric to understand it I can make it out but that's probably the hardest one for me. It is pretty crazy tho I grew up in a wee fishing village near St Andrews in Fife and even within Fife there's differences in dialect. It's kinda shame tho as the local children have that weird homogeneous Scottish accent that could be from anywhere that seems to be taught in school all the local words are disappearing it's just English with an accent and the locals are being replaced with air bnbs and retirees inflating house prices. I left 20yr ago couldn't afford to stay there anymore

[@andrewmaccallum2367]

My Swedish family understand many of my Scots language words 🇸🇪 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

[@andywilliams7323]

That's because all of the Scottish dialects are significantly evolved from old Norse language, as is Swedish. Some parts of Scotland have more in common with the Nordic countries than they do with the rest of the UK.

[@skipperclinton1087]

​@@drunkengamer1977: How about your Jordies?

[@lisalally]

I’m Irish, and I’ve always loved the Scottish accent. It wouldn’t bother me if I didn’t have a clue what they were saying! I’d still listen to it all day. 😍

[@tasha1721]

Iam Scottish and feel exactly the same way about the Irish accent. ❤

[@Guildofarcanelore]

Here's a story for you. Its 2010, I'm in Kandahar Afghanistan in a line to get into a DFAC.(Dining FACility) Behind me two soldiers are having a conversation and I'm trying to figure out where they are from without looking. Estonia..? Belgium..? When we get to the door, to satisfy my curiosity I hold it open and let them go it. Two Scottish soldiers...speaking English.

[@brianhayden3509]

A similar tale from Ireland - an academic on a train, back in the day when there were compartments on trains. He was listening attentively to 2 priests chatting, trying to identify the dialect of Gaelic they were using. Ultimately, he discovered that they were two Kerry men speaking English!

[@skipperclinton1087]

Guildo: A feeble attempt at speaking English, I might add.

[@dublindave78]

I'm pretty sure if you'd have turned around their braw ginger hair would have identified their patois

[@janetmackinnon3411]

Dearie dearie me...

[@jamiejaycar]

Hey thanks for featuring my content 💚☘️🇮🇪 and happy Saint Patrick’s day

[@davemcdave2169]

Grew up on the southside of Glasgow in the 70s and 80s. My dad's side of the family were from Ayrshire. Between Pollok, Barrhead and Neilston there would be 3 different nuances in dialects. The distance is less than 10 miles. My granny spoke proper old Scots. Loved it. ❤

[@carywest9256]

There's a community in North Central Louisiana called Pollak. Always wondered where the name came from. Now I know-Scotland!

[@deirdrebeecher3508]

Yeah I'm from Cork, but I'm rural so I have a completely different set of slang from the City. Was in the pub once with a newly arrived English college and there were some Northsiders at the table next door. He would not believe me that they were Cork born and bred. He thought they were speaking some hybrid Polish/Irish accent. If you ever want a real laugh, get a Cork person to speak Italian words. There is something about the way we draw out our vowels which makes us absolutely mangle Italian.

[@mikesavage8793]

Yep, rural Cork myself, different slang and the farther west you go a completely different accent. I'm about as south and west as you can go.

[@jedsithor]

As a Norrie with friends from around Europe who all live and work in Cork I tend to tone my accent down for them...until i get drunk...then I go hard...bai, feen, beor, like, la, daycent...it all comes out.

[@noelcahill6707]

North cork lads not a townie

[@anoniaino]

i heard one about a french teacher with a cork accent. french in a cork accent is a funny thought.

[@mikeyfoley2240]

Ronan O gara​@anoniaino

[@0KeepRockin0]

The Scots Leid is a language. NOT a dialect of English. Both Scots and English developed from the same ancestor "Old English". So they are sister languages. Doric and Glaswegian are Scots dialects.

[@kennethrollo7891]

Glaswegian is an accent that's for sure as it it is English, Doric no, it's so different it's more dialect . Aberdeen doesn't speak doric, but aberdeenshire foes more north, aberdeen city has more of an accent as oil has softened the dialect.

[@niamhturner1451]

Scots isnt a language, Gaelic is our language, Scots is just a dialect of English. It's as much of a language as Jamacian English

[@0KeepRockin0]

@@niamhturner1451 1. Scots is a language, it's protected under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. 2. Gaelic is ONE of our languages. But I don't see how this makes Scots not a language . Considering the Scottish Government recognises Scots as one of the three historical indigenous languages of Scotland along with Gaelic and English 3.Scots and English have the same common ancestor, as I already stated. That's nothing like "Jamacian English" that evolved from "Modern English".

[@dairallan]

@@kennethrollo7891 Glaswegian is a creole of Scots and English with a few Irish and Gaelic influences. Its really not an accent at all.

[@TheJpf79]

@@niamhturner1451 Robert the Bruce came out of a church one evening and he said "I think I have killed John Comyn" a man called Patrick said "I mak sikkar" its old Scots for "I'll make sure" sikkar is Norse, not English, no one here spoke English as you suggest.

[@spacelab777]

The difference between dialects and accents are very apparent in Dundee where I am from. The older generation, sadly dying out, speak with a very distinct Dundee dialect, whereas the younger generation it is more of an accent. Both recognisable as Dundonian but many differences. The transition from dialect to accent is from words that are distinct from English to English words said with a Dundonian tilt. In Aberdeen 60 miles further up north the Doric dialect is completely different. There is actually a comedy film fully in Doric 'One Day removals' available on KZbin that is worth a watch.

[@storylearning]

Super interesting. Thanks for sharing!

[@annecurran2886]

And the classic "Ballater Toy Shop" comedy sketch is another delight in Doric!

[@ThomasCampbell-d7n]

No Navy, No language

[@krashd]

As a fellow Dundonian I have noticed this too, but I can understand why it is happening. Our natural dialect is one of the strongest in Scotland, this wasn't a problem in the 1950's when people didn't travel but the world is more cosmopolitan today and we are more likely to encounter non-Dundonians in every day life who would not be able to make heads or tails of what we were saying if we spoke our natural Doric. Watch any interview of the band The View, they carry their Dundee heritage with pride but the interviewer always struggles to understand them. Even our fellow Scots struggle with broad Dundonian so how is an English person ever meant to know what we are saying? 🤣 On top of that we supposedly speak twice as fast as other Scots so it's a double whammy for anyone not used to hearing words like kundy, keek and ken 😉

[@ThomasCampbell-d7n]

@@krashd Dainchya, Wherry Leof, I noticed summat the other day The lilt is hard to recognize all the way over here in Southern California but it's present If you read Beowulf with an accent like the Sea Turtle from finding Nemo while "Mumble Rapping" at top speed..... ....yeah, folk duh-nu fugg 'm seyn kneether

[@deebelisle963]

I had a grandmother who was born in Scotland and another born in Ireland - as a kid never could understand them but they were so kind - typical grandmothers

[@GunsRgoodGovtRbad]

6th Gen Texan here... out of Viking & "Scots-Irish" stock. (yes, some of my ancestors came thru Appalachia where the term "Scots-Irish" came from, to the American South then to TEXAS) The lady at 1:11 reminds me a little of my Granny who was from Denmark! And yes, some of my ancestors were Vikings who came to Scotland!

[@w33burd]

I LOVE that you included Caithness- many fellow Scots don’t even recognise us as being Scottish and were frequently confused with Irish. The man in the video sounded exactly as I remember my old Granda used to sound, definitely from the West of the county I’d say- losh, ye’ll want til wash yer loogs oot if ye hear a Weeker (someone from Wick) speak, now ‘at’s a foosum accent! 🤣 Whilst the accent has sadly become somewhat diluted since the 50’s, especially in the West of the county due to a huge influx of settlers when the fast reactor was built, many people do still encourage their kids to learn Caithness dialect, and it is the cutest thing ever, to hear a wee bairnie speaking it. 🥰 I’m from Caithness and my husband is Glaswegian and I’d say our accents have definitely rubbed off on each other over time. As for the kids- the oldest spoke Caithness with a slight Glasgow twang on some words, more-so now she’s studying in Glasgow; the youngest was and still is pure Caithness. 😄

[@davidbarrass]

yeh I got them all right apart from Caithness, although I was aware it was Scottish.

[@johncowan1993]

I'm from Glasgow & couldn't understand anything that old guy said!

[@bombski5657]

I frequently pronounce j with the Ch sound to annoy my central belt wife

[@scotshawk8315]

Couldn’t agree more with the confusion with Irish. I still remember one of my English Uni mates asking me what part of Ireland I was from? I’m Thurso born and bred 😊

[@w33burd]

@@scotshawk8315👋🏽 Hullo from a fellow Teenabowlie👋🏽😄

[@KenGraham-f6s]

People's ideas of what are local words are interesting. I often think some of the people who claim a word is local to an area have never spoken to anyone from outside that area. A few of the words/phrases on these lists are ones I've used my whole life, and I grew up in the west of Scotland. I see it often in listicles shared online, they claim a word is from some place but it is pretty widely used in other places too. Not claiming there are no local words, just that not all are really local 🙂

[@riankane8677]

How is Kerry not in this. Even Irish people can't understand them

[@BRIDINC1972]

So true😂😂😂

[@patrickdestaic]

I do, but then I'm from Kerry 😂

[@matthewbarry376]

Only dubs don't understand em

[@eamano8474]

Easy enough to understand most of them. Doune similar enough to Cork people. The hard ones to understand would be the muckers or real country people. That would be the same in Cork, Limerick or most counties

[@user-dl6jz4bh6h]

Sorry.. what did you say?

[@steviebrd1065]

I'm from Northern Ireland and my wife is from Aberdeen. Her grandmother had a strong doric accent, which I couldn't understand. To be fair, she had no idea what I was saying either.

[@lanabmc3519]

Haha. My mums Dingwall born but raised by Shetlanders. My dads Spamount and I grew up confused

[@spacehopper77]

Fit like?

[@TP-om8of]

I don’t understand what the hell you’re saying either.

[@moiracoutts2573]

@steviebrd1065 you can now get a book on teaching yourself Doric - hilarious. I gave it to my English cousins can now understand me😂

[@tomwalsh2244]

Probably best! LOL. Arguments are shorter!

[@bernardmolloy6241]

thank you for this. however the north of ireland accent is not just in Northern Ireland. it will also be found in counties donegal and monaghan as well as soft versions of the north of ireland accent in counties cavan, louth and north meath. within that same area, the ulster dialect of the irish language was originally spoken.

[@scottw.3258]

I'm from West Lothian, but my Maternal Grandfather came from Aberdeen. I'll never forget this wee phrase he told us about. So the back story is that a Pilot crashed his plane in a Farmers field during WWII. The Farmer came rushing out his house, irate, and as the Pilot was exiting his plane, the Farmer scolded him with... "If you dinna tak that aeromachine oot fae among my kye, i'll pap steens atit."

[@uthinkaboutthat]

What are steens?

[@scottw.3258]

@@uthinkaboutthat Stones.So the phrase reads... "If you don't take that aeroplane out from among my cows, i'll throw stones at it.".

[@moiracoutts2573]

@@scottw.3258 😂😂😂 asts abit richt

[@moiracoutts2573]

@scottw.3258 😂😂😂 att soonds aboot richt

[@diesel_dawg]

I'm from Belfast (born in Ballymena like Liam), and I hate our accent. Something to note is that many of the words used in Northern Ireland are used in Ireland and Scotland too, such as "baltic" and "coup'n". You mentioned the word "boy" being added to a lot of sentences in Cor; a lot of places in Ireland add "so" to sentences for example "Ah, go on, so." which is "Ah, go on, then."

[@gearoiddom]

Thanks. Never consciously realised the ‘so’ to be uniquely Irish until you pointed it out. You also often hear a ‘so it is’ extension like a verbal tic.

[@ranica47]

​@@gearoiddomThis. I never noticed I spoke like that until I went out, at different times, with two women from other countries who then asked why I needed to justify my statements by adding "so it is/was, so they are" at the end!

[@mickmurphy1132]

Secret societies in 18th Century Ireland campaigning for reform were the White Boys, Right Boys and various other groups all ending in Boys. I suspect that is where the copious use of the word Boy comes from and does only refer to males

[@dublindave78]

It's Ulster Scots. Don't hate it, embrace it

[@richardsmith5249]

​@@gearoiddomI grew up with "so it is". Of course, I live in Scotland now. The Glaswegian equivalent of "so it is" is "by the way".

[@amym.4823]

I think some of those Scottish accents are still spoken in Appalachia!

[@KennethWade-n6h]

It is.

[@leonisaacson4224]

True huge population of scots irish emigrated there the 18 hundreds, there also famous for their moonshine whiskey

[@colinmorrison5119]

Disappointed Northern Ireland got clubbed together as one accent. It certainly isn't - Dornan has a generic middle class accent, but the north coast sounds a bit like the Shetland accent, while the long vowels and rolling consonants of the Fermanagh lakelands are starkly different from the harsh, flat Belfast accents (yes, that's plural). And then there's Derry/Londonderry.... The differences are great than Edinburgh v Dundee. There's a clip of Kenneth Branagh speaking in his native North Belfast accent, and despite being 20 miles east of Neeson's home town, it's starkly different. P.S. Northern Ireland actually has no official flag atm. The one with the red hand was retired in the 80s and not replaced.

[@londongael414]

15/20 I had little difficulty with most of these, but one or two of the Shetlandic clips absolutely sounded like a completely different language. Fun game, and lovely to hear all these speakers and learn a little about what languages fed into their speech. Good job, Olly!

[@cleanthe3276]

I watch the tv show "Shetland" , I don't know if their accents are completely accurate but I can understand almost everything. I didn't feel it was the same here 🤔

[@jennifercufley1728]

The accents are not accurate, apart from one actor who is from Shetland.

[@rdouthwaite]

​@@cleanthe3276no one in the TV show Shetland has a Shetland accent except for Sandy who's played Steven Robertson an actual Shetland man and even he goes easy on the accent in the show (he has more of a Shetland accent in person)

[@lyrakeltica]

The Glasgow is the one I missed, and that's where my grandparents are from. They came to the US in the early 1900s.

[@iselldreams]

I grew up in the Western Isles (Hebrides, Scotland). I lived in Wick, Caithness, for over ten years, in County Kilkenny (Ireland) for three years, and in London for five years. The hardest accent for me to understand is Welsh; it really confuses me. Cornish is difficult to follow as well. Great video! Well done :) I enjoyed the little accent tour. ❤

[@ksrt2654]

Great video!! American here. Always have had an affinity for UK and Irish accents. This was very fun. I only got Glasgow and Dublin correct!

[@thevis5465]

The UK is not a legitimate state. I am Scottish, not british.

[@donnyrogers1445]

@@thevis5465 SNP haven't gotten that far yet mate haha.

[@thevis5465]

@@donnyrogers1445 We voted yes in 2014, it was English people living here that pushed the vote to a no as they make up 10% of the population. The union was never democratic, we were forced into it by our wealthy elite when England enacted the alien act and and placed multiple debilitating trade embargoes on Scotland. The fact you think it is somehow legitimate and decomcratic just shows how brainwashed you are by your pedo cult of a monarchy and your "government" which is in reality just a CIA lapdog (see the coup of Gough Whitlam in 1975.)

[@ksrt2654]

@@thevis5465 Humblest apologies! Should’ve fact checked before posting.

[@scunner6828]

Don't apologise. ​@@ksrt2654 He's talking about his feelings not facts!

[@decodecks8738]

I’m from Donegal and we always put “hi’ on the end of a sentence. “It’s a wile day out hi”

[@Backpfeifengesicht45]

My wife and I are both from Cork, and we have completely different accents. I can think of about 10-12 different Cork accents. On the Northern Ireland accent, banjaxed is an Irish word in general. It's not just the North.

[@BRIDINC1972]

Wisconsin lady here, and yes Banjaxed is a fairly common word, although my kids claim to not understand what I'm talking about. Too much American TV😂😂

[@UncleMick]

There are plenty of different accents and sets of slang within the North… especially rural areas. If I’m in Kilkeel, I’m going to speak differently and use different colloquialisms than the people in warrenpoint, just up the road.

[@rsfaeges5298]

LOVED this! Intriguing & Delightful.

[@peterwilding1203]

Great fun! I wasn't much good at the guessing, but I knew (and use) some of the vocab expressions you chose. (Australia)

[@melly9037]

Beautiful languages and should be cherished and spoken all the time, I'm English, but I believe strongly in our lands.

[@samuelazura7334]

Try watching this with automatic generated subtitles 😂

[@storylearning]

I can only imagine!

[@jessicapigg]

😂

[@philroberts7238]

I've been watching with automatically generated French subtitles. Why, you may ask? Good question, but strangely enough they do a reasonable job with most of these odd accents.

[@cleanthe3276]

Practically nothing during the accent from Caithness 😆

[@jessicapigg]

I love it when an accent is so unrecognisable that the AI reads: '[Music]'

[@gavinstuart3446]

I live 10 mins away from buckie, and Doric is spoken alot in the surrounding areas, keith, elgin and people speak it do varying degrees, but you just cant use it when speaking with others, i was also in school when it was discouraged this has now changed thankfully. I think even the scottish are flabbergastered when they hear doric. The causal greeting commonl used is "Fit like iday" = how are you

[@McConnachy]

Look at the clues, nearly every town, city, village, farm in Scotland has a Gaelic name, that’s the origins of Scotland. Doric / Scots is a language of an English base, but it’s closer to Gaelic than you might think. Example, English; I don’t like potatoes. Scots / Doric; cannae tholl tatties. Gaelic; Cha toll leum buntata. Doric is kind of a mixture of 2 entirely different languages

[@gavinstuart3446]

@@McConnachy scandanavian influence to, Bairn / barn in norwegian and theres other examples also

[@spacehopper77]

I ken fit ye mean, Buckie High didnae like the Doric

[@elaineb7065]

I'm on the bus route including Buckie masel xxx I'll hiv to pop o'er for some o they fine Lidl mini pizzas again...

[@BobsYirUncle]

Nae bad, yirsel?

[@catherinegraham5170]

As a Scot I had no trouble sorting out which were Scottish and which were Irish. I confess it was a little harder to pinpoint the areas. The Glasgow accent ? Well obviously that just sounded like proper English to me. 😄

[@patrickleehebertii6587]

You are the best Olly! My collection of books is growing quickly with your wonderful storybooks!

[@philodendron6]

One was most surprised to see the Cork, or more correctly one of the Cork accents included in this video. The actors have downplayed it, the actual spoken one is louder and faster, some say it comes from the Norwegian 'vikings', a sing song accent.

[@DeusExMamiya]

The Norrie Cork accent (suburbs like Farranree and Knocknaheeny) has a French rhythm and intonation of vowels, from the Huguenot influence.

[@BarneyLeith]

I love the Shetland dialect/accent. I lived in Shetland for 10 years and for part of that time taught in junior high and high schools. I'm of Aberdeenshire heritage but have lived most of my life in England, so it was a bit of a cheek for me to teach English in Shetland! When I moved there in the mid-1970s it took me six months to understand what my pupils were saying. Christine De Lucca speaks Shetland beautifully! As a child visiting my granny in Aberdeenshire I recall struggling to understand the Doric!

[@collieclone]

Fascinating video and thanks for all the work you put into this. One comment though. In Scotland, Gaelic is pronounced like 'Gallic', the other way (as pronounced in this video) refers to Irish Gaelic.

[@UnsafeToast]

Aye the way i tell people to remember is it galic in scots and gaelic in irish causs the irish are gay

[@jackieblue1267]

@@UnsafeToast From my understanding it is either Irish (in English) or Gaeilge.

[@UnsafeToast]

@@jackieblue1267 hey dude that was a joke, but if you are actually intrested(as native scot) There both called Gaelic its just the pronouncetion that changes nobody calls it Irish, since it a language native to both celtic countries

[@jackieblue1267]

@@UnsafeToast I did understand the joke but I'm not a dude.😀 It is indeed called Irish in Ireland. I've seen it called Scots Gaelic in Scotland.

[@joebloggs5583]

I’m Irish but as a social work student at Robert Gordon’s in Aberdeen I had to learn to understand Doric on my client visits. Very fond memories of there.

[@anthonyhind1308]

Got them all!But I'm Irish and ma da wiz fae Glesca😁

[@nunpho]

Glesga 😉, or Glasgae

[@redwarrior2424]

I'm American and I was lost almost the entire time but it's still a fascinating video. Thanks.💙

[@eugdee7293]

The north of Ireland has many accents, what you claimed is that accent was first a Belfast accent and then Liam’s Ballymena accent. The Tyrone accent is greatly different from both. The Derry accent is different again from the three previously mentioned. It is very insulting to claim either Belfast or Ballymena accents are the accent for the two thirds of Ulster that is under foreign occupation. Also banjaxed is a word used throughout all 32 counties.

[@McGillicuddy-cjv]

26 + 6 = 1!!!

[@rogink]

Funny coincidence. I've never watched any of Olly's videos before. Yesterday I was in Foyle's bookshop in London and, browsing the German section, spotted a book of short stories in German - something I don't think I've seen before. The author's name Olly Richards seemed familiar, but I couldn't quite place it. Having just watched a Dr Geoff Lindsey video, Olly's name popped up, and that's where I realised why the name was familiar. It's a small world :) I got most of the accents/dialects right, although I have to admit I didn't get Caithness, despite having lived there for 8 months - well that was 30 years ago.

[@215Gallagher]

Perfect until Caithness, but I was born in Northern Ireland, spent my childhood summers in Donegal, spent the best part of a year in Mayo/Sligo as an almost Australian adult and spent a moth motor-homing around Scotland, yet have lived 82% of my life in Australia. Fun video.

[@OriginalBeardedHaggis]

1: scotland, shetlands. 2: Ireland, gonna guess Cork? 3: scotland, Aberdeen 4: Northern Ireland, belfast 5 Scotland, Edinburgh accent. 6: Scotland, Glasgow 7: Ireland? Maybe Dublin 8: Ireland, no idea. 9: Scotland, but no idea 🤣! I’m from Scotland, and heard an Irish lass speaking and I thought she was from Scotland. Turns out she’s from Ulster, so makes sense

[@AmethystDew]

I'm going to hazard a guess that she was from the North coast - Co. Antrim.

[@TheHekateris]

Aw, I just felt a wave of nostalgia listening to the Doric. ♥

[@elaineb7065]

It's awffa couthie, aye??? I wiz like, I'm hame!!!

[@Lorignal]

My grandmother was from the islands of Scotland, and had the most wonderful combination of the breathy way Gaelic speakers speak English and the harsh Glaswegian accent. Lots and lots of dialects to be found between Ireland and Scotland indeed!

[@davidmiller3709]

We went from Belfast on a holiday to Lake Garda with the blue rinse brigade back in 2014, the tour manager on the coach trips was Misha from Napoli. Returning to the coach parked outside the walls of Verona after a guided walk, the halt and the lame were strung out behind. “You know, I pride myself on the regional accents of Britain,” she said turning and looking back. “But do you see the man with the walking stick, I cannot follow what he is saying at all.” “Oh he’s from Greenock, we don’t understand him either.”

[@gearoiddom]

This gave me a chuckle. A good story well told. I’m from Limerick myself, not near either. But I have similar stories. A friend of mine told me once how a Derry man working in a Limerick company eventually left in frustration. He couldn’t understand people very well, nor make himself understood, in meetings. My friend was from Barcelona.

[@davidmiller3709]

@gearoiddom my younger son works for Smyth’s Toys out of Dublin now, but he was up here in the local store from school age fixing the systems when they went down. He was then recruited to the help desk in Galway City, where he was ribbed for his accent on the phone lines, his line managers from Ennis and Limerick teased him but only because they knew he could take it as he was unflappable and straight to the point. He would wear his Ulster top to The Showgrounds and Thomond with them.

[@yeahnothx-e9l]

Absolutely fascinating! I'm an American and only got Northern Ireland right. The hardest for me were Glasgow, Caithness, and Cork. Not in the video, but I've have gotten a little used to Yorkshire from watching Last Tango in Halifax and All Creatures Great and Small (if the actors' accents were authentic).

[@storylearning]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@diesel_dawg]

On Cork: Irish comedian, Tommy Tiernan, did a great bit on the Cork accent. I laughed until I cried!

[@anotherbloodytruckie455]

As a native Doric speaker I'm glad it's protected now, because it was dying when I left for NZ 20 years ago. Kiwis think I have a really strong accent even though I sound English to my ears. English and Doric are so different my jaw muscles would ache after a 5 minute conversation!

[@CCc-sb9oj]

Languages being 'officially protected' don't stop them from dying out, increased status helps sure, but density of speakers matters more than anything... typically if the number of speakers of a minority language/dialect falls below 67% in proportion to speakers of a majority language in a geographic area, that language/dialect will continue to lose the ability to regenerate itself intergenerationally unless very serious actions are taken to help it protect itself.

[@BobsYirUncle]

Aye abdy thocht I wiz Irish the six month i wiz oor there affa fine place wid love tae gan back sumtime seen.

[@fletch5840]

It is dying, i try my best with my kids but they all have this homogenous shite accent now, i've always spoke Doric to them since they were born to make sure they know the words etc. But even myself due to working in O&G around the world i had to soften how i spoke, unless of course anither Aiberdonian wis gan aboot. The teuchters still spik the Doric but toonsers nae so much

[@soberhippie]

I got the Cork accent only thanks to Tommy Tiernan's routine about "Imagine if the president of Ireland was from Cork"

[@LiamGrubby]

Daniel Sloss is from Fife 11:09

[@BobsYirUncle]

And his dads fae Tain that’s why he’s nae quite the fifer accent 😉 bit aye he’s nae fae Edinburgh.

[@adelemarieish]

I had an advantage. I'm from Orkney, my Mam was from Dublin and me Dad was fae Aberdeenshire. So I recognised every accent as the Dubs call anyone else Kulchies which means country and my Aunt lives in Belfast. Peedie is an Orkney word, no just a Caithness word. The Orcadians used to call people from Wick dirty weekers. lol Brilliant vid. loved it.

[@fletch5840]

Abdy caas em dirty weekers 😁

[@steve3291]

My wife is Hebridean. She doesn't speak, she sings and it is one of the most beautiful ways of speaking.

[@jamesmacoisdealbhaigh9904]

I'm 100% Irish from Co.Meath and I simply cannot understand a thick Cork or Kerry accent 😵‍💫😁

[@versioncity1]

I'm English and it seems blatantly obvious which are the Irish and Scottish accents. I think it may be more understandably difficult for people who (are english speaking) but further afield like Americans or Australians.

[@iamme6773]

The northern Ireland dialect, does indeed, sound like a certain type of American accent. I live basically on the boarder of New York, Massachusetts, and Vermont. That's very close to how we talk. Basically, anywhere in the far inland northeast/New England area. To me, the north Ireland dialect sounded a lot more familiar, and easier to understand, than a Boston, New York City, or Maine accent, that people usually assume we speak with here.

[@Merc-ve4ue]

was my my experience living in the us for 4 months from belfast, when talking to people after a few words you can see they focus more and registers to them you have an 'accent' but they understand you 95% ..so many times I forgot to switch to US english vocab and spoke in british english vocab..big confusion

[@rainbows_trees_clouds_dais1766]

I lived in Japan as an English teacher + caught up with my good friend from England. She brought along a guy who she'd met from Ireland who I think was working short-term in Japan in a blue collar industry. I'm from Australia + have travelled a load etc.... THOUGHT I could pretty much understand any native English accent. I honestly couldn't understand a word he was saying most of the time. Admittedly it was a loud venue, but I think he mustve been using some British Isles regional dialect that my English friend could understand (despite her speaking RP English) because I literally had no idea what his conversation was about (I couldn't piece it together).... eg for a word as simple as "girl" or "good" he seemed to be using another word I'd never heard of (or maybe had heard of/I could get the dialect but with his accent it was impossible). It was one of the most bizarre experiences of my life... I think it must be the equivalent of a North American or ESL (but fluent) person arriving in Australia and meeting someone from the Outback with a REALLY broad Australian accent using lots of slang??

[@michaelkirk1198]

You should try the Fife Dialect it's really tough especially around the Pit Villages

[@lenboy4479]

Absolutely!! I’m an Ayrshire man recently moved to the kingdom of Fife and I huv tae say the dialect is quite different from Ayrshire Scot’s. Many folk get Ayrshire folk confused with Glaswegians but even at that we have noticeable differences in the tone. A weggie accent tends to be more nasally.

[@michaelkirk1198]

@@lenboy4479 It's certain words like Baffies meaning slippers, Dey meaning grandad and Neebur meaning friend

[@kimberlyvespa]

My ancestors are from County Fife.

[@ianbeddowes5362]

I am from the West Midlands and worked in the building industry. Normally I was quick to pick up on accents, even to the extent of being asked to translate what a big Irish gangerman was saying. But then I was set to work with two Scotsmen from Fife. After two weeks working with them daily, I still had to ask them to repeat what they said.

[@javiermoretti1825]

I'm an American who actually studied in London for a semester. I also spent some time in the Midlands and Scotland, but these accents/dialects are largely incomprehensible to me.

[@ballybunion9]

"Go 'way outta that!" is a Dublin expression? 🤨 I've heard it plenty of times in Kerry.

[@Ophelia771]

It's just an Irish phrase. Well used in Wexford when I was growing up. Deadly was very common there too.

[@MarcelGomesPan]

I could pick up bits and pieces of the Shetland one, perhaps because i’m Scandinavian. And i recognized the Cork dialect in a second since i lived in Co Cork once.

[@gordonreynolds8854]

This wis a braw bit o’ fun. Cheers Pal.

[@jonbaum]

The second one is Cork, and yes, I could understand what they were saying

[@overlordnat]

Kerry is something else, I’m surprised it wasn’t mentioned. The ‘r’ sounds are strange and French sounding, almost like ‘h’, and sometimes the ‘l’ doesn’t sound normal either, a farmer talking about a ‘lamb’ can sound like he’s saying ‘wham’, ‘yam’ or ‘lyam’. They also speak at a mile a minute!

[@sarahquinn6989]

I love the Irish from Kerry. Now it's one many need subtitles for ❤ 🇨🇮😂.

[@londongael414]

I remember seeing a clip from the film Gregory's Girl, dubbed for an American audience, into a less challenging Scottish accent. The fascinating thing was that, against my expectations, and even though it was still Scottish, and the voice actors were OK, nonetheless it was as if every scrap of joy and humour and every nuance had been surgically removed. Accents matter!

[@ballybunion9]

"Yerra, Jay-sus!" 😉

[@dawnrussell7887]

Doric is spoken over the whole of the North East of Scotland not just Aberdeen. I grow up speaking this to fit in but I am English. Lost most of it now as I've lived in England for 30 years but a few words remain.

[@carolann811]

I cheated a bit . I knew the first location spot on -- because I had watched a video with the lady before. I also knew what smocks were because my aunt called them that. That side of the family is from southern Scandinavia.

[@billypaisley6211]

Old Yorkshire accents would make a great video (if you haven't done one already, that is). Loved this, I'm from Yorkshire but spend a lot of time on the west coast of Scotland and I got all the Scottish accents. Irish ones are tougher for me, apart from Dublin. No hiding that one haha.

[@RubiksSolver25]

Got me cackling with the first irish accent as that's my home city. Young offenders really got a spotlight for us haha. The Dublin one is the the north accent. It's quite funny though as 'what's the story?' or even 'story?' is "how are you?' which you can see is relating to how you teach languages

[@potatoheadedsurprise]

Christine De Luca, the first speaker, is indeed from Shetland, but she was the Edinburgh Makar (poet laureate) as well. A very versatile lady!

[@Migrant2008]

I became mostly a Scotland and Ireland fan in these last months. These lands and their people showed an excellent humanity performance 👏 thank you all and all other high quality human nations ❤🖤🤍💚🇵🇸❤

[@Alexander-vo4gv]

Thank you, from Fife Scotland 🇵🇸

[@Migrant2008]

@@Alexander-vo4gv ❤️

[@McConnachy]

Tapadh leibh a charaid, bhon Alba. Thank you friend from Scotland

[@londongael414]

@@McConnachy 'S math a' Gàidhlig fhaicinn an-seo! Suas i!

[@lisalally]

Go raibh mile maith agat. ❤️🇮🇪

[@cejannuzi]

Your videos always blow my mind. Thanks.

[@harry9392]

Could be wrong but I've been told Scots was spoken before modern English

[@AquarianAgeApostle]

You'd be right, and way more informed than the bawheided sassenach putting out this ill infomed content.

[@HarryFlashmanVC]

Sort of. Modern English has a LOT of French words in it. This is due to the Norman cultural influence post 1066 where the ruling class became Norman, French became the language of the courts and ruling class for about 200 years. Scotland wasn't conquered by the Normans so there wasn't the same cultural influence on the Anglo Saxon spoken by the Angles and Jutes who had settled the south of Scotland and up the east coast. Contrary to modern place signs, Gaelic was never spoken in the and Borders on particular, and only somewhat in Fife and the north east coast. Anglo Saxon was the language. So the Anglo Saxon of England became 'contaminated' with Norman French whilst that of Scotland remained true to its Germanic roots. Modern Scots has more in common with Anglo Saxon than Modern English does because it retains Anglo Saxon words that were replaced by French ones. Now there was some Norman influence after the Reign of David I who invited Norman, Flemish and Breton knights to Scotland during the 'Davindian Revolution'..this introduced the feudal system to Scotland and also saw the establishment of European monastic orders and the emergence of the first towns, Royal Burghs. Amongst the families who responded to David's invitation where the De Bruse (Bruce), Stewart (hereditary Stewards to the Comte de Dol in Brittany), Ramsay, Campbell, Bailioll. This new Norman/Breton aristocracy clashed with the ancient celtic aristocracy and was the start of many long lasting feuds: MacDonald vs Campbell; Campbell vs MacGregor; MacGregor vs Drummond; MacDougall vs Bruce and Campbell; Bruce vs Comyn. In fact the Scottish Civil War saw the triumph of the Bruce, Norman faction over that of the ancient Celtic aristocracy who had actually allied with Edward I. Many of the losing families were exciled to England where they became known as 'the disposessed'. Edward III sponsored them when.Edward Balioll seized the Scottish throne. After he was usurped again, the Disposessed continued to fight for Edward III in the 100 years war, several of them.rising to positions of command in the English Army, they married into the English aristocracy. Bruce is seen as THE Scottish hero but history is complex because, as a French speaking Norman Anglo Scot who defeated the ancient Celtic and Pictish rulers...

[@ThECaMpErBoY99]

Damn the Cork accent hits different 7 years after moving back to Germany. I miss this lovely region and also the people there.

[@thevis5465]

The rhotic R is pronounced in every single accent you covered. All accents of Scotland and Ireland are rhotic so it is a moot point.

[@givenfirstnamefamilyfirstn3935]

Listen to Southern English DEMAND that only shed-you’ll is proper innit! Sked-yul is world wide or in Scotland Wuruld wide.

[@BrianBorumaMacCennetig367]

Scotland has a thrilled R Irish is more like an American R.

[@thevis5465]

@@BrianBorumaMacCennetig367 I am Scottish. 1. this isn't relevant theyre still all rhotic 2. not all scottish accents trill their Rs many do not and pronounce them similar to the Irish way.

[@BrianBorumaMacCennetig367]

@@thevis5465 There are some who don't trill their Rs but this is very recent adoption.

[@thevis5465]

@@BrianBorumaMacCennetig367 it's really not, are you Scottish? I know some very old people who do not trill their Rs and many with otherwise thick accents. What makes you think you are an authority on this

[@PhansiKhongoloza]

No BS! I got them all right. English speaking South African of Scots descent, married to a Scott from Fife. And rather well travelled across the UK.

[@johnharrington1294]

Easy for me to get the Cork accent..I live up the Road from Cork City😂😂

[@stefanodadamo6809]

There seems to be even more distance between English dialects and accents out of England proper and British standard than between our accents and regional takes on Italian and the literary standard...

[@TheAnthraxBiology]

You should've thrown in at least one proper country accent from Ireland like Kerry, Galway, or Mayo. That would have confused the hell out of the Brits and Yanks.

[@jacksimpson9212]

2:56 Shetland is a part of the UK! I think it would be more accurate to say a set of islands between Britain (i.e. the largest of the British Isles) and Norway

[@harry9392]

Scunnerd or scunderd mean annoyed, missed off , not embarrassed

[@billgallagher4370]

Scunered means your sick of it

[@mourningireland4560]

7/9 double points isn't bad! I am from one of the places though... and my grandparents are from another... The last one was fascinating to hear.

[@craigbolton2231]

I understood that irish accent better than the Shetland one. And I'm scottish. Knew they were scottish from the coast but that was about it. Funny about Cork being the true capital. I say the same about glasgow for Scotland. Edinburgh is the most English place in Scotland

[@user-mu9xe4qz8n]

I’m Edinburgh born and bred, no a surprise to hear a weegie greetin about no being the capital 😂 But yer bang on wi the English here. It’s like a suburb of Sussex. That fuckin accent man 😂

[@mueslimuncher1950]

Being Glaswegian, may I offer a slight correction? 'Glasgow' kiss, is only used by NON Glaswegians.

[@tussk.]

keh eh. better tae gie em the malky.

[@amydebuitleir]

Glad to see Donegal was well represented! We have two excellent Irish language schools here as well, one of which is just up the road from me. For bit of craic, here's a great comedy sketch about the Dublin accent: kzbin.info/www/bejne/rpPOZqJvgthpqassi=MS3XmGNK-ob2G9jc

[@kim_elise]

It's amazing! I can recognise the sound of the Doric accent as something I've heard in Cape Breton thats similar! Not quite the same, but close I think.

[@spacehopper77]

That’s interesting, I spik Doric, wiz at a weddin in Sydney and they kint fit I was sayin and me o them.

[@thegoon33]

Are the Scottish ones just the Scots language , as opposed to dialects of English?

[@Parker_Douglas]

Depends who you ask . Ask a Scot & it’s a different language.ask the English they will tell you it’s a dialect but it’s not Scot’s & Scottish Gaelic are a different language in their own right. There’s a reason the English say it’s like we’re speaking a different language cause most of the time we are .

[@AquarianAgeApostle]

@@Parker_Douglas It's a language. West Germanic. A dialect is a language offfshoot, Scots evolved as a distinct language prior to the Union. Most Scottish speak on a spectrum of Scots at one end and SSE at the other. shifting up and down in accordance with each communicational context

[@life952]

Just a point about the word scundered at 10.42 in the video - this only means embarrassed in Belfast or surrounds lingo - it more generally means to be fed up or very irritated elsewhere in NI in my experience.

[@auroraasleep]

The Northern Ireland dialect/accent really did travel to the Rochester/Buffalo area of NY State. We adore our R's here.

[@johnbuterbaugh]

This is especially evident in words like "car," "heart," and "start." That "-ar" sound is bright and open like in Irish accents. I hear this sound not only in Western New York but also in many other Great Lakes cities as well.

[@auroraasleep]

@@johnbuterbaugh agreed. It's definitely part of the Great Lakes accent. Go a little south of the Great Lakes into NY's Southerntier and you'll get a broadening and softening of the r into an ah sound, but they toss in extra t's like a 2 for 1 sale. Garbage becomes 'gahbitch' and garage becomes 'gah-raj-', sandwich becomes 'sam-rich,' roof is 'ruff' and creek is 'crick.' I think that's the Scotts-Irish, though they'll say "scotch-EYErEEsh'.'

[@AbitWiser-m2k]

Where i live in Scotland there are about 15 or 16 towns/ villages in a 13 mile radius, when i was a kid each place had a different accent some slight and some quite noticeable.

[@hollywebster6844]

The Northern Ireland bit was very interesting. I live in North Carolina, where many people have ancestors that are Scots-Irish. Some of the words and phrases are familiar or similar, like "does my head in" and my father's version, "band jacked".

[@weejackrussell]

People say "does my head in" all over the UK as well as in Ireland.

[@outoforbit00]

The Welsh accent is much more noticeable in the Cork accent, than the Danish or Norse.

[@givenfirstnamefamilyfirstn3935]

Yeah, I always thought there was s lot of Welsh in a KaRrRk accent.

[@BrianBorumaMacCennetig367]

That's not a true Cork accent it's a cork city accent the accent in the countryside sounds totally different and is more a Gaelic accent.

[@traceymarshall5886]

I got all of these correct but then I am from Dublin Ireland and work with people from all of these places - hence I could pinpoint each accent

[@donnchadhban]

The woman who talks about the hailey puckles in Shetland has an English accent underlying her specific Shetland phonemes.

[@dariogemelli]

braw

[@sarahball-ruck846]

Really enjoyed this