The Yorkshire accent is frequently cited as the friendliest and most trustworthy in the UK due to its straightforward and warm, "no-nonsense" tone. Globally, the American accent often ranks as the friendliest (19.5%), followed closely by British (13.6%). Other top contenders include the sing-song Geordie and Welsh accents.
The Welsh, Yorkshire and Cornish accents also all ranked as the top three "most friendly" accents in the UK, with researchers saying that "often our perception of 'friendly' and 'relaxing' can be one in the same".
We found in a recent study that the Southern Irish accent is the most likeable to British people, followed by Welsh, Yorkshire, and RP (RP being the 'standard' English accent spoken by British Newsreaders and Sports Commemorators).
If "softest" means "easiest for a non-British person to understand" then I would say RP since that is the most familiar. If it means "the most lilting and poetic" I would say the Welsh accent .
Geordie: The Friendliest Accent | Jason Manford LIVE | Universal Comedy
Which accent is the hardest?
The Scottish accent consistently ranks as one of the most challenging English accents to comprehend, both for native speakers in the UK and internationally.
British, Australian, and Irish accents are the top 3 foreign accents people find to be most attractive. When it comes to attraction, 80% of people feel that accents make someone more attractive, with 77% saying someone's accent was what attracted them to a person.
The most posh British accent is Received Pronunciation (RP), also called the Queen's English, BBC English, or Public School Pronunciation, known for its prestige and historical association with the upper classes, though it's now spoken by few and sounds somewhat dated, with a more modern, neutral RP (like some royals) being more common today, focusing on non-regional clarity and specific vowel sounds rather than overt class markers.
The most neutral English accent is often considered to be General American in the United States and Received Pronunciation (RP) in the United Kingdom. These accents are widely understood, lack strong regional markers, and are often used in national media and formal settings.
Accents with melodic intonations, rhythmic speech patterns, and softer consonant sounds are often perceived as more pleasant and attractive. For example, the Italian accent is admired for its musicality, while the Australian accent is loved for its laid-back, friendly tone.
The easiest accents for English speakers to learn tend to be those that use the same language and linguistic rules, such as: American dialects like Boston, New Jersey, New York, Southern, and Transatlantic.
Recent surveys list the top 10 sexiest UK accents as: 1) Essex, 2) Northern Irish, 3) Mancunian, 4) Yorkshire, 5) Scouse, 6) Geordie, 7) Glaswegian, 8) Received Pronunciation (RP), 9) West Country, and 10) Cockney. These rankings often change as trends shift in media and pop culture.
Posh English is a British English accent that we call Received Pronunciation, or RP for short. This accent can also be referred to as Standard Southern British, the Queen's English, "proper" English, Cambridge English, or BBC English.
Oi is an expression similar to hey, something you would say to grab someone's attention. Depending on the context, it can also convey implications of surprise or urgency. Just to add on, oi is commonly spelt as oy in some regional dialects.
