Because of me accent, that's why

[suprunp]

- Didn't understand a word of what you just said.
- Because of me accent, that's why.
- It's not your accent...
(Wannabe Hardman Admits To Sleeping With His Cousin | The Jeremy Kyle Show)

Would you be so kind as to tell me whether people with 'thick' accents in the UK think they are difficult to understand, which should be occasionally confirmed/reinforced by somebody asking them to repeat what they just said from time to time (this was not the case here, but the guy's reaction was telling)?

Thanks.

 

[jutfrank]

That's a very general question so it's hard to answer well.

Sure, some people are quite aware that their heavy accents can be hard to understand, but I'd say that in general, people are mostly unaware of quite how much this is true. Many people are not even willing to accept that they have an accent!

 

[Skrej]

It wasn't his accent that was too thick to understand. He was just too thick to be understood.