This!Originally Posted by lacroix4
Are you having a laugh or larf?
This!
Are you having a laugh or larf?
Is anyone embarrassed by their accent?
Does anyone hide it?
Not me... me' duck...!
I have a very vague Leicester twang, which sounds really slovenly to my ears... only comes out in certain words... otherwise it's neutral (ish)... my kids accents are pretty much neutral too
It's strange how you can live in an area for most of your life and not really take on the accent as you might do in other regions... I'm not sure if I'm embarrassed by my twang, but, I don't try to cover it either...
How about you Tinker? Are you full on Lestah?
I'm almost accentless, I think. Mind you, I don't say 'barth', so I don't sound southern, but someone from Essex would no doubt think I did.
On balance, however, I regret losing my Manchester accent, because some of my identity went with it.
Are you sure you have?I left Liverpool for London (via Bath) in 1987 and whereas my accent has softened a lot, I find most (if not all) people I meet can quickly tell where I grew up.
Aberdeen vs Inverness. OK, not exactly close by but neighbours in that there's not much inbetween.
'Proper' Aberdeen Loons are, well, Air-Burr-Dean. Invernetians by comparison have very little accent at all.
I certainly speak slower than I used to. Not dozy slow, you understand, but not as quick or as sharp as a Mancunian who never left.
Some accents aren't just a matter of sound, but of speed, too, aren't they?
I'll paraphrase as this is G&D.
In his autobiography 'The moon's a balloon', David Niven mentions a regimental dinner whilst posted in Malta, where he was seated to the right of the colonel.
'His words words were few and his point was made with admirable clarity "I have rogered women of every nationality and most animals, but the one thing I cannot abide is a girl with a Glasgow accent. Now pass the port". He never spoke to me again'.
Last edited by grey; 17th October 2016 at 17:31.
I dont hide mine(Salford/Manchester) as such, it just appears to be softer than any of my brothers or friends from my youth.A lot of it was down to a former girlfriend and her Dad who was an ex Navy officer . I cringe when I hear people say "Me Mam" and suchlike.
Ive worked all over the country for years and I love accents. Im fairly good at picking the bones not of most conversations too.
As a Scot/German brought up in Doncaster I decided to adopt a neutral accent when I began teaching. Now most people think I come from further south, or am posh (ha). In private it's still 'me mam' (late, sadly) and other local idioms.
Great thread,
Being a Northern Monkey myself, from Todmorden but living in Burnley, I can fully appreciate the massive differences in regional accents in such short distances. Todmorden border is three miles from Burnley centre and the accent difference is incredible, you need a translator depending on which pub you're in.
I highly recommend the book 'pies and prejudice' Stuart Maconie to any fellow Monkey. As you'd expect it's your usual Northern dry sarcy humour, a good read.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Pies-Prejud.../dp/0091910234
Just don't move to France.....
https://www.theguardian.com/football...h-accent-video
You can go in a straight line from estuary Essex up to the North Norfolk coast, and hear a hole spectrum of accents. There are quite notable changes in just a few miles, for example as you cross the Essex / Suffolk border.
Conversely, da yoof speak Multicultural London English from Croydon up to Nottinghamshire and beyond.
https://youtu.be/Fyd3VMoG3WM?t=34
Wiki has some theories about its origin, though to me it simply sounds like English kids trying to speak like US rappers. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multic...London_English
Last edited by hogthrob; 18th October 2016 at 11:26.
More likely a laff.
I am from Glasgow myself, now living in London and I agree the 'common' accent is hard to tell from one area or another,
but about a dozen streets away from me, there seems to be the start of the 'common area' around here (its never far in London) there is a lot of 'U WOTM8'
and 'U AVIN A GIGGLE M8' along with 'IRL REK YA M8, I SWEAR ON ME MAM'
just a bit further, is another tribe who talk very oddly, they use words like 'u feel me bruv' and 'breadrin' along with 'mudder from anuder brutha'
I am not sure were these people came from originally, I cant place their accents.
My accent would probably described as (very slightly) posh - not in the RP bracket in any sense, but you get what I mean. It's due to an early public school education and then moving frequently enough to not really assimilate any local accents (although I confess to getting a little estuary whilst living in London, probably more of an affectation at the time (student)).
The interesting thing is that my German colleagues refer to the way I speak as 'Monkey English' as it's in the ballpark of the accent mostly used in English language lessons in German schools
^
Oddly, most of the Germans I know who speak English use a sort of American accent. Not all from the same school either.
I think that's true of most non-UK English speakers. They will pick up pronunciation from US movies and TV, which are much more far-reaching than British ones. If the US spoke a different language, English would not be as widely spoken as it is.
I think the general rule of thumb is the more common less worldly the person the thicker their accent wherever they hail from.
Also when surrounded by people with thick accents it can be infectious.
I speak fairly normally but when talking about football with like minded people I come over all Ray Winstone.
Aw'right my son?
Cheers,
Neil.
just pure logic in operation here, the answer to the above is that there would be 324,814,509 less people speaking the English language. (population of America) and of course not as widely spoken as it is.
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