Ha ha! I know it must sound silly! But I have heard it before! Sometimes people in the mountains in the south have very similar accents to Irish. at least the ones I've heard.

Actually eland are antelope. Moose/ Elk/ Alces alces are the largest deer. According to wiki however the name "Eland" comes from the dutch word for "Moose"... oi! I believe they're among the largest of antelope, but don't quote me on that. And alpacas are smaller than llamas with a shorter head (both of which are camelids). Deer are introduced in Australia...? I didn't know that... (Weren't there enough invasives already?! )

I wasn't aware we sound similar to the Irish.... though I fail to see the resemblance. However a few eastern accents might match the general tone

Yes, I was talking about the southeastern mountains. It's more slow than Irish, and not all Irish accents sound like it.

Do British people think they don't have accents and us in America have American accents? A few years ago I met a woman with an Australian accent and that's how she felt.

I'm an Aussie but everyone has an accent of some description, some are just stronger than others.

Yes, I was talking about the southeastern mountains. It's more slow than Irish, and not all Irish accents sound like it.

The Appalachians were mostly settled by Scots-Irish, Protestants from Scotland who were settled in Ireland (mostly Ulster) as a bulwark against the Irish Catholics and who later moved to America. They have an accent distinct from the rest of the Irish.

Do British people think they don't have accents and us in America have American accents? A few years ago I met a woman with an Australian accent and that's how she felt.

I think that the UK people are only too aware of the various accents there and elsewhere. Looking at a map or a globe of the world it is hardly possible to realise just how small the place is, and that it is possible to reach Lands End in Cornwall to John O'Groats in somewhat less time than it takes to cross from Sydney to Perth, or even from Brisbane to Hobart.

Australia isn't UK, and although in South Australia they speak a little differently from us Easterners, by and large, it is only small differences in vocabulary, slang and in pronunciation. Australia as a nation has only been in existence for a century and a decade, since 1901, and in the previous century when its constituent states were settled, there wasn't sufficient isolation and time for markedly distinctive regional accents to build up. With the exception of New Zealand, which in 1901 chose to go its own way.

The 1800's was the era of not only the heroic explorer journeys, such as those of John McDowall Stuart, Burke and Wills, or Eyre crossing the Nullabor, but also of rapid gains in transportation and communication, after all. Furthermore, in the last century, up to when I was a child, there was some pressure for children, or at least, in some schools, like the school I first attended, to speak with a nice BBC accent, something I subsequently learned only too well to disregard. It is also why an Australian might not be aware of how pronounced Australian accents can be to other English speakers. Including neighbouring New Zealanders.

There was a Scottish entertainer called Andy Stewart, who put out a recording called Andy the Rhymer. One of the funniest parts of this compilation was a tale called the Rumour. We never heard exactly what the rumour was, but it travelled all over Scotland to Tobermory and Skye and over the water to Ulster and Old Ireland, before returning back to where it came from. By that time it hardly resembled what it was in the beginning.

Andy mimics all the regional accents of the people involved, which he couldn't do if he wasn't aware of the differences. And let us not forget Professor Higgins, of My Fair Lady fame, who carolled 'Why can't the English teach their children how to speak...?' And in the same song, sang 'to hear a Cornish or a Yorkshire man converse...I'd rather hear a choir singing flat'. And 'In America they haven't spoken it [English] for years'.

My Scottish-born, but hearing-impaired, husband tends to fall all over anyone who speaks with a Scottish accent. The weird part about it, is that he is usually right. Sometimes when I thought someone had a Scottish accent, it turned out to be Irish or even American or Canadian.

You're correct, Wagga. South Australians often get mistaken for Brits overseas. I've always thought that was quite hilarious.

I've got a few questions for UK people
1. I read somewhere that dessert was called pudding, even if it's not not really a real pudding. Do you guys really do that?

2. What is the most common mode of transportation to get to Ireland from England?

3. I also heard that people from England sometimes can't tell much of a difference between an American accent and an Irish one. I can sometimes hear a similarity but I've never been not able to tell the difference, so I'm doubting it a little.

4. And do you guys REALLY call eggplant aubergine, and zucchini courgette?

I was born in New Zealand, but had a very English upbringing and education.

1. Dessert and pudding are often used interchangeably. A bit like 'sofa' and 'couch'
- I couldn't tell you the difference between those though!

3. Americans are immigrants and descendants of immigrants; their local accent will usually reflect their origins to some extent. I would be surprised if an English person (native speaker) perceived most American accents as Irish.

Now another comment about "lack of accent" : this idea has often come up here when discussing our differences, or the accents used by Narnia actors/characters.

To anyone who thinks they or their country/area have no accent, let me explain: an accent is basically the set of vowels you use. This varies from country to country, and from one area to another. So you do have an accent - but if all the people you meet speak the same way, you would assume your speech is "normal" and therefore has "no accent".
Technically an accent is the variation heard when the speaker is a non-native speaker of English (their first language affects the vowels and sometimes the consonants). People who are native speakers of English have dialects, which are variations of sounds and also words or phrases.

I don't mean to change the subject, but I was was wondering if people in different countries eat sunflower seeds. Here in Russia it's a must. Everyone eats sunflower seeds. Soooo does anyone else here eat them?

I eat sunflower seeds but they're not the most common seed to eat here (Australia).

My family eats sunflower seeds here (in Canada) as well, I think they are fairly common.

not everyone in Russia eats sunflower seeds I hate them....though a lot of people look at me as excentric and weird, almost like it's a crime that I don't like them

I just thought of a question I have for anyone from Russia. I hope it hasn't been asked already.

Is Russia considered part of Europe or part of Asia? Or is it half and half? I've always considered it part of Europe, myself.

well to start here in Russia continents are divided a bit differently, very often Europe and Asia are united into one continent, Eurasia but if Europe and Asia are divided then Russia is considered to be half/half. I live in the Europian part, but if you travel east and get into the Asian part, people look more Asian, particualry in the north, or down south, so I think it's safe to say it's half/half