Local accents.

[cushyno]

There are certain words or phrases that really accentuate individual local accents. The ones I can remember are:

Geordie: Conjunctivitis, Kawasaki & Kodacolour Gold.
Belfast: Burglar Alarm & Motorcycle Helmet.
Scouse: Murder & Purple Shirts.

There are loads more I cant think of at the moment.

As a displaced Geordie I once got deliberately drawn into a conversation on eye complaints by a guy from the Black Country who thought my mention of conjunctivitis was hilarious. For someone who emmanated yows and yeys and tows and teys between his guffaws, I thought that a bit rich.

I often worry that I'm picking up a Scouse twang now.

Mate of mine who hooked up with a Liverpudlian girl and supported Arsenal was affectionately known as the Cockerney-Geordie-Scouser.

 

[marshbrewer]

Coming from Lincolnshire, I don't have an accent at all and speak properly, as God intended. You lot, on the other hand, are barely understandable....

..... and if one more poncy chef pronounces the 'fire' in samphire the same way as the hot, flamey burny stuff, instead of the proper way, I'll kick off!!!

 

[Andy lemon]

No one here from London? South London myself, born and bred(with the occasional excursion).
All this talk of chips......
(language alert)

A born and bred south Londoner too

 

[Bevvied]

Chips cooked in the oven, ain't chips, they're roast spuds.
Chips should be cooked in a chip pan, preferably overfilled and 3mm away from starting a house fire.
3 parts lard and 1 part dripping. sorted.

I was born in Portsmouth, lived there until I was 17 then worked and lived in Scotland until I was 40. Since then I've lived in Barrow in Furness. I still sound like a southern shandy drinking poofter, but when aled up, i apparently sound like a middle aged adrian mole.

 

[Zephyr259]

..... and if one more poncy chef pronounces the 'fire' in samphire the same way as the hot, flamey burny stuff, instead of the proper way, I'll kick off!!!

How's samphire meant to be pronounced?

 

[marshbrewer]

How's samphire meant to be pronounced?

The proper way of course! Samphire.


(I'm not very good at phonetics, but its a bit like 'fur' shortened with no 'r', sort of. But then, that's 'fur' like I say 'fur', so that's probably not very helpful!)

 

[Wilfy]

Torky Borgers (turkey burgers) as well

Don’t forget the sand dancers.

Porple turbur murtur burt.

 

[MmmBeer]

I grew up in a small hamlet called Nor Flundun. While at school, I had a north London accent, which is not cockney; the two are about as distinct as geordie and smoggie, brummie and yam yam or mank and scouse. In my later teens, I consciously reduced my accent and now still have just a fairly generic southern accent. Several people have told me that they can't believe that I am from London with my accent.

I have lived in the midlands for the last twenty plus years, but when I return home I find that the under 35's have now adopted a weird accent that seems to be a cross between a cod Jamaican accent and Harry Enfield's Stavros character.

 

[Dutto]

Coming from Lincolnshire, I don't have an accent at all and speak properly, as God intended. .........!

Reminded me of my English Teacher who was a dyed in the wool Yellow Belly. He told a great tale about the Londoner who kept ribbing one of the men he worked with because he came from Dogdyke.

Finally his workmate lost patience and asked him where he had originated from himself and got the rather haughty answer in a posh London accent "Me? I'm from Houndsditch old boy." :thumb:

 

[Smileyr8]

I have a Sheffield accent with a touch of Barnsley thrown in as I live right on the edge of Sheffield, Barnsley & Rotherham, but its not overly strong. This guy's is similar but not quite the same.

 

[Hoddy]

Deepest darkest west country here....... my lover!!!!!

 

[BlackIsland]

We'll be touring the UK in a couple of weeks, and I've been practicing the phrase "I'm sorry, could you repeat that, I don't speak English, I'm a Yank."

 

[Dutto]

We'll be touring the UK in a couple of weeks, and I've been practicing the phrase "I'm sorry, could you repeat that, I don't speak English, I'm a Yank."

I loved the following when I looked up Washington State ...

"Eighty percent of the glacial ice in the U.S is found in Washington State."

... so you should feel right at home here in a UK summer if it has returned to normal and I dearly hope that Chinook Hops were named after the native Indians in your area! :thumb:

BTW, the last thing you will have to say is "... I'm a Yank." As soon as you say a single word in the UK, the residents can usually tell where you come from; and that's within 20 miles in the case of people who were born and bred here!

Enjoy your visit and I hope that the weather stays good for you!

PS

I also hope that the Seahawks do better against the Chargers than they did against the Colts last week! abigt

 

[chewie]

This interview got quite a bit of attention back in the day, the old nationwide programme and the man from strabane.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

A bit of a twist on the thread - accents you like -

 

[Zephyr259]

We'll be touring the UK in a couple of weeks, and I've been practicing the phrase "I'm sorry, could you repeat that, I don't speak English, I'm a Yank."

I'll always remember totally confusing a Texan lad when i was in Houston by saying i was going to "nip to the loo."

 

[Dutto]

I'll always remember totally confusing a Texan lad when i was in Houston by saying i was going to "nip to the loo."

I'll bet he wasn't as worried as the Texan from Electra that lived next door to me in Iran.

I told him that, after he had gone to work the next morning, I would nip round to his home, knock his wife up and take her to the swimming pool.

 

[Zephyr259]

I'll bet he wasn't as worried as the Texan from Electra that lived next door to me in Iran.

I told him that, after he had gone to work the next morning, I would nip round to his home, knock his wife up and take her to the swimming pool.

Haha, yeah that use of the phase "knock up" is getting rarer over here too, I've used it offshore when referring to waking someone up for a job and got strange looks from brits.

 

[BlackIsland]

I'll always remember totally confusing a Texan lad when i was in Houston by saying i was going to "nip to the loo."

I had a Brit as a pen pal as a kid, and "pinch a loaf" left me befuddled.

 

[Dutto]

I had a Brit as a pen pal as a kid, and "pinch a loaf" left me befuddled.

To make it clearer for you, the pen-pal should have said that he had "nicked a loaf"!

Welcome to the wondrous world that is "Spoken English"! If you don''t understand anything just look blank and the person you are talking to will:

• Wave his hands about to mime what he has just said, and
• Simultaneously shout exactly the same words very slowly.

If you still don't understand he will think you are retarded anyway, so my advice is to just smile and walk away! :thumb: