WeegieDave Posted January 14, 2014 Share Posted January 14, 2014 British employers have labelled the Australian accent "a clear indicator of a person's insecurity or emotional weakness" and warned young Brits not to imitate it or risk unemployment. known as the high-rising terminal or the Australian question intonation (AQI), the inflection's signature characteristic is raising the voice at the end of a statement to make it sound like a question. AQI is becoming more common among British people thanks to imported Australian TV shows, but it's a trait that employers have branded "particularly annoying", reports Mail Online. A poll of 700 managers, executives and business owners conducted by UK publisher Pearson found that more than half believed AQI would hinder an employee's chances of scoring a promotion or pay rise. More than 80 percent declared that AQI is "a clear indicator of a person's insecurity or emotional weakness", while just 16 percent said they would be willing to ignore an employee's rising inflections and focus solely on their skills. Luckily for Aussies hoping to land a job in the UK, AQI was only deemed to be damaging when used by British people. The popularity of Australian soaps such as Neighbours and Home and Away has long been held responsible for polluting British accents with AQI, along with other series including MasterChef Australia and Kath and Kim. http://news.ninemsn.com.au/world/2014/01/14/09/07/australian-question-intonation-hurting-young-britons-careers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WeegieDave Posted January 14, 2014 Author Share Posted January 14, 2014 I thought I'd post it before Simmo did!! Sorry to have stole your thunder mate!! :laugh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BritChickx Posted January 14, 2014 Share Posted January 14, 2014 Meanwhile in the real world.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WeegieDave Posted January 14, 2014 Author Share Posted January 14, 2014 It's a load of bollocks but quite funny!! The fact it is supposed to be serious is the funny part! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BritChickx Posted January 14, 2014 Share Posted January 14, 2014 Where do they get these stories from? Thin air i guess.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul1Perth Posted January 14, 2014 Share Posted January 14, 2014 I thought they would have been more worried about pigin English innit.:wink: and white kids trying to talk like black rappers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Counting Stars Posted January 14, 2014 Share Posted January 14, 2014 Aww I like their accents. Much nicer than the chav crap some people talk. I know who I would rather employ x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gee13 Posted January 14, 2014 Share Posted January 14, 2014 Maybe Employers prefer Indian Accents Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WeegieDave Posted January 14, 2014 Author Share Posted January 14, 2014 I thought they would have been more worried about pigin English innit.:wink: and white kids trying to talk like black rappers. innit!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pommyaussie Posted January 14, 2014 Share Posted January 14, 2014 If it's true - it just goes to show there are di*kheads the world over. Someone should be employed based on their skiils and their fit in the business and the team they will be working in. What the heck has an accent got to do with anything?:rolleyes: Bonkers:biglaugh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flag of convenience Posted January 14, 2014 Share Posted January 14, 2014 It has been found to be true but like most things it requires qualifying. It is not hindering Aussies in UK so much, as Brit's who somehow imitate the intonation in the main. They say from years of watching Aussie soaps or from the year or two spent Down Under on a WHV. So the claim went. Wonder when it became cool to imitate an Aussie accent? Slightly bizarre story. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pommyaussie Posted January 14, 2014 Share Posted January 14, 2014 It has been found to be true but like most things it requires qualifying. It is not hindering Aussies in UK so much, as Brit's who somehow imitate the intonation in the main. They say from years of watching Aussie soaps or from the year or two spent Down Under on a WHV. So the claim went. Wonder when it became cool to imitate an Aussie accent? Slightly bizarre story. Has it? Not sure if it's sensationalist clap trap? Nine news have started a riot reading the comments on there - the Aussies now think the Poms don't like them and it's all due to losing the cricket:wacko: Daft story... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gee13 Posted January 14, 2014 Share Posted January 14, 2014 Apparently telemarketing research has depicted the scottish accent to be most successful in this line of business..maybe because no one can understand half of cannae buy me a wee haggiss! They have to say aye everytime...hook line sinker Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pommyaussie Posted January 14, 2014 Share Posted January 14, 2014 Apparently telemarketing research has depicted the scottish accent to be most successful in this line of business..maybe because no one can understand half of cannae buy me a wee haggiss! They have to say aye everytime...hook line sinker LOL aye...I'll go wi that:laugh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quoll Posted January 14, 2014 Share Posted January 14, 2014 Ah, the bloody Rising Terminal! Hate it with a passion (my mother in law and one of my brothers in law have it in spades - fortunately neither of them are great chatter boxes!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pommyaussie Posted January 14, 2014 Share Posted January 14, 2014 Ah, the bloody Rising Terminal! Hate it with a passion (my mother in law and one of my brothers in law have it in spades - fortunately neither of them are great chatter boxes!) Do you think it's a regional thing Quoll? I notice it more in Melbourne than in Brisbane and funny enough some of the Italians in Melbourne seem to have a really pronounced way of speaking with this rising voice. Don't notice it so much with Lebanese mates in Melbourne but mainly the "kath and Kim" Aussies and Italian friends in Melbourne :laugh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmjg Posted January 14, 2014 Share Posted January 14, 2014 My accent never seemed to hurt my career. Mind you for the first 6 months in Northampton the kids didn't understand a thing I said. The same thing repeated itself on my first year in Dewsbury. And for some reason these were my best two years of results............ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petals Posted January 14, 2014 Share Posted January 14, 2014 I think that this could be classed as discrimination and there is bound to be a person who will test it, if this is in fact the case. As long as people speak good English who cares what accent they have, in the UK there are so many and judging a person by an accent is a bit like racism especially when defining the people as unreliable as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nikey Posted January 14, 2014 Share Posted January 14, 2014 It is really annoying when it is extreme... IMO the Scottish accent is mega sexy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quoll Posted January 14, 2014 Share Posted January 14, 2014 Do you think it's a regional thing Quoll? I notice it more in Melbourne than in Brisbane and funny enough some of the Italians in Melbourne seem to have a really pronounced way of speaking with this rising voice. Don't notice it so much with Lebanese mates in Melbourne but mainly the "kath and Kim" Aussies and Italian friends in Melbourne :laugh: Regional? Possibly. Rural Victoria seems to have it in spades. (Ballarat and Bendigo for my two!) That at said, my Aussie son hasn't had too much trouble here in UK though I did note that he adopted quite a bit of the vernacular early on - he never had the RT tho. The other one that gets me is ending a sentence with a "but" apropos of nothing in particular. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ptp113 Posted January 14, 2014 Share Posted January 14, 2014 Better any Aussie accent than some of those god awful pommy ones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nikey Posted January 14, 2014 Share Posted January 14, 2014 Bristolian accent does that as well, but..... But what? Regional? Possibly. Rural Victoria seems to have it in spades. (Ballarat and Bendigo for my two!) That at said, my Aussie son hasn't had too much trouble here in UK though I did note that he adopted quite a bit of the vernacular early on - he never had the RT tho. The other one that gets me is ending a sentence with a "but" apropos of nothing in particular. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pommyaussie Posted January 14, 2014 Share Posted January 14, 2014 Regional? Possibly. Rural Victoria seems to have it in spades. (Ballarat and Bendigo for my two!) That at said, my Aussie son hasn't had too much trouble here in UK though I did note that he adopted quite a bit of the vernacular early on - he never had the RT tho. The other one that gets me is ending a sentence with a "but" apropos of nothing in particular. I like that, but ( sorry Quoll couldn't resist) Yes country Vic deffo has it. Personally I think any accent adds flavour in whatever country. Can take it or leave it, it is what it is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest littlesarah Posted January 15, 2014 Share Posted January 15, 2014 I think that this could be classed as discrimination and there is bound to be a person who will test it, if this is in fact the case. As long as people speak good English who cares what accent they have, in the UK there are so many and judging a person by an accent is a bit like racism especially when defining the people as unreliable as well. Prejudice exists, and in the case of personal traits like accents it would be very hard to prove that one was the victim of 'accent prejudice'. It's like the way that humans tend to prefer taller job applicants to shorter candidates, or that the most disliked in the UK is the West Midlands one. I'm sure in the past people have been so patronising because I am so small (and from the West Mids, so a double-whammy of potential assumptions there!). In fact 'prejudice' is possibly too strong/emotive a word to describe what is really just bias. It's about a general impression, and humans will always generalise because that's how our minds make sense of all of the information we have to process. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul1Perth Posted January 15, 2014 Share Posted January 15, 2014 Is ending a sentence with "but" better than ending a sentence with "innit"? Or should that be another thread. Yeh, but no but, innit.:cool: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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