Scouse, formally known as Liverpool English or Merseyside English, is an accent and dialect of English associated with Liverpool and the surrounding county of Merseyside. The Scouse accent is highly distinctive; having been influenced heavily by Irish and Welsh immigrants who arrived via the Liverpool docks, it has little in common with the accents of its neighbouring regions or the rest of England. Scouse is also a general term for this pan-ethnic community or Liverpudlians in general. The accent is named after scouse, a stew eaten by sailors and locals.