Fancy Pants' Accent

[MrPandaa 204]

Hey, everypony!  So I was just watching S2E9: "Sweet and Elite" of the show, in which Rarity bumps into Fancy Pants while staying at Canterlot for a short time.  After listening to Fancy Pants' awesome accent, I found it hard to place.  Does anypony know what you would call his accent?

Thanks!

[hawkflame 3,310]

I'd say it's some variation on Middle Atlantic, somewhat similar to Rarity. If an accent sounds vaguely British-esque, but not British, it's probably Middle Atlantic.

[MrPandaa 204]

I'd say it's some variation on Middle Atlantic, somewhat similar to Rarity. If an accent sounds vaguely British-esque, but not British, it's probably Middle Atlantic.

Oh, okay...thanks, @hawkflame!  I'm glad you told me, because I was really getting tripped up on him sounding somewhat British, but not quite enough to be British British.  Thanks!

[Courageous Thunder Dash 7,824]

I would say his is in between British and Scotish. Rarity seems like she's full-fledged British but listen closely, she also has some American accent as well. 

 

Thus, I'd say Fancy Pants has a sort of Middle Atlantic, so therefore I agree with hawkflame. 

[MrPandaa 204]

I would say his is in between British and Scotish. Rarity seems like she's full-fledged British but listen closely, she also has some American accent as well. 

 

Thus, I'd say Fancy Pants has a sort of Middle Atlantic, so therefore I agree with hawkflame. 

Okay.  Thanks for the brief analysis, !

PS @Thunder Your OC (Thunder Dash) is really cool!  @@hawkflame I love your siggy, but forgot to tell you in my other post.  Rarity and Sweetie Belle are such dears!  (My absolute favorite episode so far is "Sisterhooves Social," the one in which Sweetie Belle and Rarity disown each other and then become sisters again after Rarity runs the race at the Social with Sweetie Belle without Sweetie knowing.)

[Courageous Thunder Dash 7,824]

Okay.  Thanks for the brief analysis, !

PS @Thunder Your OC (Thunder Dash) is really cool!  @@hawkflame I love your siggy, but forgot to tell you in my other post.  Rarity and Sweetie Belle are such dears!  (My absolute favorite episode so far is "Sisterhooves Social," the one in which Sweetie Belle and Rarity disown each other and then become sisters again after Rarity runs the race at the Social with Sweetie Belle without Sweetie knowing.)

Hey thanks dude! Yeah, he's my primary. Speaking of accents, I'm surprised that Sweetie Belle doesn't have Rarity's half British accent. I'd also add that Canterlot is like a modern day England, with ponies who've got that luxurious elegant British accent. 

[MrPandaa 204]

Hey thanks dude! Yeah, he's my primary. Speaking of accents, I'm surprised that Sweetie Belle doesn't have Rarity's half British accent. I'd also add that Canterlot is like a modern day England, with ponies who've got that luxurious elegant British accent. 

Hey no problem dude! Y'know that's a very interesting point you bring up there (that Sweetie Belle doesn't have the same accent as Rarity).  Maybe it's because Sweetie doesn't care as much for the glamour life as Rarity, or because Sweetie's been raised in Ponyville, where everyone speaks like that, and...Rarity wasn't raised in Ponyville?  Hmm...

[hawkflame 3,310]

Hey thanks dude! Yeah, he's my primary. Speaking of accents, I'm surprised that Sweetie Belle doesn't have Rarity's half British accent.

It's not really a surprise, given that Rarity's accent isn't real. Between her very New Joisey sounding parents and her own lack of accent in the flashback in the Cutie Mark Chronicles, it's been suggested that her accent is something that she cultivated to make her sound more upper class. Middle Atlantic is generally an acquired accent of American aristocracy, so this makes sense.

Edited November 30, 2013 by hawkflame

[Courageous Thunder Dash 7,824]

Hey no problem dude! Y'know that's a very interesting point you bring up there (that Sweetie Belle doesn't have the same accent as Rarity).  Maybe it's because Sweetie doesn't care as much for the glamour life as Rarity, or because Sweetie's been raised in Ponyville, where everyone speaks like that, and...Rarity wasn't raised in Ponyville?  Hmm...

Or, maybe Rarity WAS raised in Canterlot...or she's just forcing her accent out so she can APPEAR to be a Canterlot pony, rather than a Ponyville pony. 

[MrPandaa 204]

It's not really a surprise, given that Rarity's accent isn't real. Between her very New Joisey sounding parents and her own lack of accent in the flashback in the Cutie Mark Chronicles, it's been suggested that her accent is something that she cultivated to make her sound more upper class. Middle Atlantic is generally an acquired accent of American aristocracy, so this makes sense.

Ah, that could certainly explain why Sweetie has the Ponyville accent, but Rarity doesn't.

 

Or, maybe Rarity WAS raised in Canterlot...or she's just forcing her accent out so she can APPEAR to be a Canterlot pony, rather than a Ponyville pony. 

Hmm...I think I sense some crazy theorycrafting going on here!

[Lordav 3,427]

But technically speaking Rarity uses a bit of french too from time to time...

[Scootalove 10,689]

It could either be Mid-Atlantic, British, or an American accent. From those three accents, those are some guesses on the type of accent that Fancy Pants speaks with.

[An Old Head 4,816]

It's a British accent. The MLP Wiki states the following (quite a fun fact if I may say so myself):

 

 

 

His voice actor, Trevor Devall, recalls being instructed to make Fancy Pants sound like John Cleese.

 

After all, John Cleese is about as British as they come

[MrPandaa 204]

But technically speaking Rarity uses a bit of french too from time to time...

Does she?  Hmm...I believe that might point to @hawkflame's idea that she was faking her accent to appear more sophisticated.  She could very well be speaking French for the same reason, as it is considered to be a high-society language in some circles.  Thanks for the extra info!

 

 

It could either be Mid-Atlantic, British, or an American accent. From those three accents, those are some guesses on the type of accent that Fancy Pants speaks with.

Thanks for the input, @Scootalove!

PS I don't know if I've said this before or not, but your avatar picture is really cute.

 

 

It's a British accent. The MLP Wiki states the following (quite a fun fact if I may say so myself):

 

 

After all, John Cleese is about as British as they come

Oh, now that is an interesting little fun fact!  Thanks for the tidbit, !

Edited November 30, 2013 by MrPandaa

[Philocleon 27]

It could be possible her accent is genuine. Maybe that's just the way her voice naturally is.

[MrPandaa 204]

It could be possible her accent is genuine. Maybe that's just the way her voice naturally is.

Could be, for sure!  The only reason I don't believe that on the spot is the odd fact that none of Rarity's family have the same accent as her.  Of course, their family could have just moved around a lot, and so Rarity's accent is different from her mother's and father's, and Sweetie Belle's is different from all three.  Or, you could be correct--Rarity could just have a different way of speaking.  I have had a few friends who spoke differently from their family members.  (Or, maybe it's just because those are the voice actors that Hasbro got for Rarity and her family, and we're just thinking about this way too hard)

Thanks for the input, @Philocleon!

[DokiLoki 519]

Fancy Pants as we all know is a unicorn and according to the episode Hearths Warming Eve it describes unicorns as really royal like so we would expect Fancy Pants to have a formal accent. I would say it sounds a little British. :3

[MrPandaa 204]

Fancy Pants as we all know is a unicorn and according to the episode Hearths Warming Eve it describes unicorns as really royal like so we would expect Fancy Pants to have a formal accent. I would say it sounds a little British. :3

Oh, okay.  Interesting...thanks for the info, !

Btw, your name is awesome.

[Zygen 6,066]

Idk, i've always just thought of it as posh ;p.

 

But i guess that realistically its like some kind of British accent, sounds to be about the closest, and most of the ponies in canterlot seem to speak with a British like accent. (Exaggerated, but still.)

[MrPandaa 204]

Idk, i've always just thought of it as posh ;p.

 

But i guess that realistically its like some kind of British accent, sounds to be about the closest, and most of the ponies in canterlot seem to speak with a British like accent. (Exaggerated, but still.)

Yeah, that seems to be the general consensus.

[Fhaolan 4,483]

Fancy Pants has what is variation of the 'Received Pronounciation' or RP accent. It's a manufactured accent that the BBC used to insist on way back when as a 'region-neutral' British accent that is clear and easily understood through the static of radio at the time. Anyone who graduated from Oxford or Cambridge would put on a similar accent, and so it became associated with upper class poshness. Eventually it became a 'real' accent that people naturally had from their parents.

 

Rarity's accent is 'Mid-Atlantic'. Basically it's what happened when Americans took on RP accents from sending their kids to British Universities. Again, because of it's aristocratic associations, graduates from Harvard and other high-end American Universities would pick it up from their professors and instructors who would have this accent.

 

Universities aren't as... all-consuming as they used to be, so this isn't quite as common now.

 

What this means is that Rarity likely wanted to, or did actually, go to a 'Finishing School'. Given that Ponyville seems to be following the one-room schoolhouse model of the 1900's, Rarity (and Sweetie Bell) will only get four to six years of primary school. From there, if the Bells had the funds, Rarity would have been sent to a boarding school in Canterlot to be 'Finished'. That's where she would have been indoctrinated with the 'posh unicorn' accent (which I'm calling PU), and end up with a blending of PU and her natural accent, ending up with a Mid-Atlantic equivalent.

[MrPandaa 204]

@@Fhaolan Wow, thanks for the detail, bro!  That just about clears it up right there.

PS I looked at your fanfic, and I'll definitely check it out--looks very interesting.

[Fhaolan 4,483]

@@Fhaolan Wow, thanks for the detail, bro!  That just about clears it up right there.

PS I looked at your fanfic, and I'll definitely check it out--looks very interesting.

No prob. It's not that anything anyone else said was wrong, either. John Cleese has a Received Pronunciation accent because he's a graduate of Cambridge University with a degree in Law, as well as teaching Latin and whatnot at a prep school himself. So by imitating him, the voice actor was automatically doing that specific accent.

 

The fanfic isn't that good, to be honest. I'm better at essays than stories.