Hall: The ‘Gentleman’ Holding A Head

I recently heard a cable news anchorman refer to the terrorist dude who cut a man’s head off as “the gentleman.” It was one of those grisly episodes in the new war in Iraq and Syria where a hostage is brought forward and the person who kills the poor soul gives a self-righteous little speech before decapitating the hostage in cold blood. The killer spoke English and the news anchor, pointing that out, said “the gentleman speaking” appeared to have a British accent. The gentleman speaking? It would have been more pertinent to refer to the lethal spokesman as “the gentleman who is killing.” My first thought was to remember that not even a snooty British accent can warrant attaching the word “gentleman” to someone who is slicing another person’s head off. Some accents can give the illusion of a quality person whether the person is first rate or not/ Bill Hall , Lewiston Tribune. More here.

Question: Which accent impresses you most?