Houl yer whist: New survey says NI accent is ‘pure weeker’

A new survey has revealed that Northern Irish is the most desired dialect many people the UK wish their current spouse had, or future spouse has.
'Mother of God' it's Adrian Dunbar as Superintendent Ted Hastings. (C) World Productions - Photographer: Steffan Hill'Mother of God' it's Adrian Dunbar as Superintendent Ted Hastings. (C) World Productions - Photographer: Steffan Hill
'Mother of God' it's Adrian Dunbar as Superintendent Ted Hastings. (C) World Productions - Photographer: Steffan Hill

The Ulster tongue also came in joint first with the Geordie accent as the dialect that sounds the most fun.

However when people were asked by language experts Babbel which accent they wished they had instead of their own, Northern Irish only came in fourth place behind the Geordie, Cockney and Scots dialects.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Welsh came out top as the dialect that sounds the kindest while the Cockney accent was found to be the one that people most like to listen to.

Famous exponents of the Northern Irish accent on national TV include Adrian Dunbar as Superintendent Ted Hastings who has made famous such colloquialisms as ‘Houl Yer Whist’, ‘Mother of God’ and ‘I didn’t come up the Lagan in a bubble’.

In the most recent series of Line of Duty he almost broke the internet when he uttered ‘Jesus, Mary, Joseph and the wee donkey’.

Other familiar Ulster accents in the UK include TV presenters Eamonn Holmes and Christine Lampard, and actors Charlie Lawson, Jimmy Nesbitt and Jamie Dornan.

Derry Girls also did its bit for promoting the local dialect, showing people in the rest of the UK that even in a country as small as NI, accents can vary wildly.

Related topics: