Justine Larbalestier

reading, writing, eating, drinking, sport

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Accents

Enough of you have been asking me what accents I think are sexy that I figured I’d best respond. My answer:

None.

There is no accent in the world that’s intrinsically sexy.

When I was little I thought Southern USian accents were sexy. Then I met more people from down there, travelled to Texas, North Carolina, Florida and Louisiana and heard many decidely unsexy voiced Southerners. Turned out I just thought Elvis’ voice is sexy. Which it is. But his accent is neither here nor there. He’d've had a sexy voice no matter where he lived.

Same for Clive Owen, Denzel Washington, Charlotte Rampling, John Clarke,1 Lauren Bacall and Grace Jones. It ain’t their accents—it’s their voices.

Being into accents is being into the other, having a yen for someone cause they’re not from round here. Nobody ever told me I had a sexy accent until I was many thousands of ks from home.

To sum up: voices sexy not accents.

And, um, Magic’s Child pubs on Friday.

  1. And a few more because I love Messers Clarke & Dawe so much. [↩]

Posted by Justine at 11:48, 19 March 2007 under New York City/USA, State of the World, Sydney/Australia | 16 Comments »

Comments

  1. veejane Says:

    I find accents interesting but not sexy per se. Well, interesting in the sense that the first time I heard NZ speech, I needed subtitles, but that repeat exposure makes everything easier.

    Although, people who can winningly put on accents, those people are sexy, because they are performing a skill, like knife-fighting or freeclimbing (only with less chance of death at the end).

    March 19th, 2007 at 12:29 PM

  2. 2. Justine Says:

    Mmm, but whenever I know the accent that they’re putting on I’m deeply unimpressed and I lose all faith in any of their accents. Yes, I’m looking at you, Meryl Streep! Your Lindy Chamberlain was the worst Aussie accent attempt of all time. “A diiingoe’s gort mai babee.” Aaarggh!!

    I’ve never heard anyone but a New Zealander do a convincing Aussie accent. And I’ve never heard anyone get a New Zealand accent right cept a New Zealander.

    March 19th, 2007 at 12:38 PM

  3. Amanda Coppedge Says:

    Hey, Justine, just wanted to let you know that Magic or Madness ended up on the Palm Beach County (Florida) Library System’s 2007 Favorite Books for Young Adults list. This list is very popular with our patrons and will be on display till about February 2008 . . . so there will be a lot of people in Palm Beach County reading your book this year. :)

    (No 2007 love for Scott, though The Secret Hour was on the 2006 list.)

    March 19th, 2007 at 1:32 PM

  4. 4. Justine Says:

    That’s wonderful news! Thank you for letting me know.

    And I hear folks down there have wonderful accents ;-)

    March 19th, 2007 at 1:36 PM

  5. jessiegirl Says:

    I am not attracted to any specific accent. Yes, they are fun to listen to, and I often wish i had a more interesting one. But a perfectly good accent can be destroyed by being a great big jerk.

    March 19th, 2007 at 3:29 PM

  6. veejane Says:

    but whenever I know the accent that they’re putting on I’m deeply unimpressed

    I will say, the Boston accent separates the true accent-chameleon from the tongue-tied. Many a Serious Acktor has attempted it, and very few have done it successfully. (I know you hated The Depahted, but there were two very good local accents in that movie — both actors from here –, and almost all the rest sucked.)

    I lived in another city when Good Will Hunting came out, and didn’t even know I was homesick till I heard the (generally good) accents. It’s not that good a movie, but just listening to people say “library” with only two syllables made me happy.

    March 19th, 2007 at 5:15 PM

  7. Dawn Says:

    YAY for Magic’s Child on FRIDAY!!! WOO HOO!!

    March 19th, 2007 at 7:30 PM

  8. Rebecca Says:

    i am trying to work out how to say “library” in two syllables. li-bry? hehehehehe. ;)

    hurray, magic’s child!!!! i am so so so so so so excited. i think sarah and i should have a release party. ‘course hers is coming in the mail. but amazon is usually good about these things. lalalala, makes me smile! :D :D :D :D

    March 19th, 2007 at 9:00 PM

  9. shelly rae Says:

    As a teacher of ESL I don’t tend to think of accents as sexy so much as being interested in where people come from. For me, it’s all about the sound of the voice. There are some people I could listen to all day long, others who inspire lust and impure thoughts, and unfortunately far more that just get on my nerves (like the woman in the pottery studio some Thur. mornings, grrrr).
    Congrats on the new book. I’ll pop out and get a copy this weekend!
    Anon

    March 19th, 2007 at 10:57 PM

  10. 10. Justine Says:

    Um. I am confused. I see no way to pronounce library that isn’t two syllables . . .

    March 19th, 2007 at 11:41 PM

  11. Rebecca Says:

    lie-brair-ee?

    March 20th, 2007 at 12:59 AM

  12. Heloise Says:

    To sum up: voices sexy not accents.

    Ok. But on the other hand, I find some accents definitively unsexy. Only the sexiest voice, looks and intelligence can make up for them. They’re not ugly, I can be friend with their owner, but they’re an absolute turn-off. For example, the Swiss or Quebecian accent in French.

    March 20th, 2007 at 7:55 AM

  13. gwenda Says:

    Hey, who are these people you met from the south that convinced you southern accents aren’t sexy?

    March 20th, 2007 at 8:50 AM

  14. amanda coppedge Says:

    Yes, I say “library” in 2 syllables but that’s kind of uncommon in the states. Li-bra-ry. Or, worse but not uncommon, li-ber-ry.

    People in south Florida tend not to have an accent at all, unless they have lived somewhere else for much of their lives and still retain that accent (New York, Mexico, Wisconsin, etc.).

    March 21st, 2007 at 7:15 AM

  15. 15. Justine Says:

    Amanda: Hate to break it to you but there is no such thing as not having an accent.

    March 21st, 2007 at 7:44 AM

  16. John H Says:

    My UK cousins pronounce library as “lie-bree”, which is two syllables. I pronounce it as “lie-brair-ee” – three syllables.

    “Lie-bear-ee” drives me insane as much as “new-cue-ler” does…

    March 28th, 2007 at 11:13 AM

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