Re: No accent?
I believe British people have a greater sensitivity to accent than Americans. This is probably because of the variety of UK accents, and also because of the role of accent as an indicator of class, something that matters a lot to the British (cf Henry Higgins).
When I first visited my in-laws in Southern Illinois I was told that everybody there speaks with the "homogenized Midwest accent" that is General American. But I could quite clearly hear the difference between generations. I suspect there was a more pronounced relic of German accent amount the older people.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
