Irish accent beats French as world's sexiest

[Mr. Sparkle]

The Irish accent has beaten its French counterpart as the world's sexiest, thanks to stars like Colin Farrell and James Nesbitt.

Men with an Emerald Isle brogue came top in a poll of 5,000 women worldwide, while the French accent only came fourth, just ahead of Australian.

Italian, the native language of stars such as jockey Frankie Dettori, was second.

In third place was the Scottish burr, made famous by actor Sean Connery

English was sixth and Swedish was seventh, with Spanish, Welsh and American completing the top 10.

A spokesman for www.OnePoll.com, which carried out the international survey, blamed French president Nicolas Sarkozy for the French accent's fall from grace.

"The French accent is nowhere near as popular as it used to be," he said.

''You can probably blame Nicolas Sarkozy for that, he has single-handedly changed the perception of how the world sees French men.

''It is good news for the Irish that they have come top, they have been in and around the top five for years now.

''But high-profile stars such as Colin Farrell have helped bring the accent more to the fore.''

The study also found three fifths of women admitted they hade been seduced by someone purely because of their accent, while two fifths said they would much rather sleep with a man who had a nice accent, compared to a harsh one.

World's Sexiest Accents

1. Irish

2. Italian

3. Scottish

4. French

5. Australian

6. English

7. Swedish

8. Spanish

9. Welsh

10. American

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/irelan...

[marmar]

1. I don't get it......I definitely don't think "sexy" when I hear an Irish accent.

French? Most definitely. Spanish? You betcha. ..... but Irish?

[katty]

37. really? Irish?, I like Italian...rolls off the tongue like butta

[PSzymeczek]

39. Oh, Hell yeah!

An Irish accent can turn me into a quivering puddle of goo! When I was a switchboard operator on an Army post back in the 80's, there was an Irish guy that placed calls to an AFB in England almost every night. That's a swoonworthy voice!

[enlightenment]

2. How silly.

Which accent?

All those languages have variations; some are wonderful and others are rot.

[cartach]

31. Most definitely !

There's quite a difference to me between the accents of the northern Irish and the southern. Being a male and straight neither one turns me on sexually but northeners seem to end each sentence on an upbeat note much like they're asking a question,similar to some teenage girls do. Or maybe I just have a negative bias because my ancestors came from the south and there's not much I like about northern Irish anyway. As they say,it's all in the ears of the listener.

[tridim]

3. I guess I'm the only one turned on by Russian accents?

[Captain Hilts]

7. Trust me, no woman would want to hear one! It's fine for you guys...nt

[lanlady]

35. me too

and looooove those rich, deep Russian male voices to go with them.

[Sukie]

4. 3. Scottish

No wonder I could listen to Craig Ferguson endlessly. His accent is so damned sexy to me. LOL

[xchrom]

5. i can see that. nt

[Captain Hilts]

6. The problem is...the French speak a foreign language!

[marmar]

8. But even a Francophone speaking anglais is incredibly sexy....

[Captain Hilts]

9. Just kidding. Yes, it is. nt

[Captain Hilts]

10. This is a real turn around as Irish and Scottish accents were always seen as lower class...

and still are in many circles.

[depakid]

30. My bet is that the same thing happened with Scouse in the 1960's

due to the influence of the Beatles.

[cartach]

32. You must be a Brit.

I can smell the bigotry.

[monmouth]

11. Where's Jackeens? Perhaps she could lend some insight..Haha...n/t

[JonQ]

12. No argument here

I love the irish accent, I would have put australian higher though, and swedish but only for women.

[av8rdave]

13. I've always been most partial to the Irish accent

Glad to see the world finally realizes what good taste I have!

[Blue_Tires]

14. they got the list wrong

the woman i eventually marry will probably have to have one of these...

1. Scottish
2. English
3. German
4. Russian
5. Spanish (and I mean 'Euro' Spanish, not American-there is a slight difference)
6. Portuguese (Brasil)
7. U.S.A. Southern-style twang
8. Australian
9. Greek
10. Dutch
11. French
12. Italian

[jehovas_waitress]

18. Which Southern?

South Carolina is way diferent from Texas. Georgia is different from North Carolina. I used to be able to tell Kentucky from southwestern Virginia, as close as they are to each other.
I'm fascinated by regional accents. I wonder which 'Irish' regional dialect they based the survey on..

[Blue_Tires]

20. i'm thinking Georgia/Alabama...

[depakid]

21. You mean like the pothole commercial?

Gak.

[DRoseDARs]

23. You're kidding, right? That's some ungodly amalgam of generic Southern and SoCal Valley Girl drawl.

Sooo... k bai!

[depakid]

24. Actually, it sounds like my niece when she was in her teens and 20's

Born and raised North Carolina.

[DRoseDARs]

26. My condolences to your ears.

[depakid]

27. Lol-

Yep- not exactly music to the ears. Now a Welsh accent- that's melodious. As is the Scottish burr.

Ms. Depa is an Aussie- so I like that as well- probably as much for the dialect (they say some really funny things) as the inflections. She agrees with you though- doesn't think it's sexy at all. She likes the generic American, so I tease her that I'll be taking voice lessons, so I'll sound like an Ocker.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ocker

Interestingly enough- 'Strine is about the hardest to learn- American the easiest- and Scottish the hardest to lose.

[Blue_Tires]

34. nah; that's just a cartoonish extreme, like Boris and Natasha's 'russian'

[Lautremont]

15. Icelandic is a very sexy accent.

[spanza]

16. What about Mandela's accent?! nt.

[Mr. Sparkle]

17. i have some bad news...

Brace yourself
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3sJ_lOgXuH8

[ShortnFiery]

19. No, I don't think so. n/t

[DRoseDARs]

22. Interesting the Aussies are up there, they speak English worse than the English.

Seriously though, what the Hell is an "American" accent? There are numerous regional dialects that sound distinctly different.

[depakid]

25. "There are numerous regional dialects"

There are in England too- some even more pronounced, other subtly so.

In order to hear a generic American accent of course, you have to be from somewhere abroad!

[provis99]

28. what, Ozzy Osbourne's Brummie accent isn't on the list?

Must be a contrived list then. And who the heck think French and Australian are sexy? Frenchmen sound like leering, drunken Germans with marbles in their mouthes, while Australians just sound like verbal farting. And how come all the accents on the list are white person accents? I happen to like smooth Jamaican accents too.

on edit: and American is on the list? what, like Kansas or Nebraska? Who on earth thinks Midwestern accents are sexy, unless you're a moose?

[proteus_lives]

29. American? That's rather vague.

I get the Irish one. Sexy is right, a buxom redhead with an Irish accent? Start your engines!

American is rather vague. I have heard that European ladies go crazy for a Southern accent.

[cartach]

33. Whoever put together the list

either betrays his/her ignorance or has that typical American attitude that people abhor. There's much more to "America" than the U.S. Thank God!

[BobTheSubgenius]

36. What exactly is an "American accent?"

[Capt. America]

38. Perhaps they mean Dubya speak --Amerikuhn.