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Can you guess which accent is officially the best in the UK?

New research has revealed Britain’s most beloved dialects – and no, London doesn’t make the top ten

Written by
Henrietta Taylor
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In the UK, we could (and often do) argue ‘til the cows come home about which accent is the sexiest, friendliest or the most prestigious. But now, new data has officially revealed the best of the best.

Using data from Twitter (or is that X?) a study by Wordfinder WordTips analysed 528,600 tweets and implemented an AI algorithm to sort through Twitter users’ thoughts on 40 UK dialects, assessing whether tweets were positive, negative or neutral. And what came out on top? Well, that’d be the mighty Sheffield accent.

Revealing what Alex Turner fans have known since 2006, it turns out that the sound of Shef is reyt good, with nearly 40 percent (39.9 percent) of accent-centred tweets being considered positive. We wonder whether the Starks in Game of Thrones, headed up by IRL Sheffield native Sean Bean, has anything to do with it? 

It’s good to see the more distinctive dialects in the UK having a positive moment, with Wiltshire coming in at second best, followed by Geordie, Nottingham and Somerset accents. Better luck next time, southerners.

The top ten in the UK are as follows: 

  1. Sheffield
  2. Wiltshire
  3. Geordie
  4. Nottingham
  5. Somerset
  6. Derry
  7. Lancashire
  8. Cardiff
  9. Essex
  10. Bristol

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