I'm one of those Americans who don't know the defining differences between most British accents. I like accents but I don't hear British people often enough. To be fair, though, how many UKers are able to identify - or even notice - the many different accents in the US? Do you know the difference between a Maine accent and a Massachusetts one? The difference between a Kentucky accent and a North Carolina one? Or even a Kansas one and one from Alabama? Some of our states have several working accents cheek by jowl to each other. In Virginia, I knew a husband and wife who had very different accents. Came from different regions of the state.