General Chat

Hi Jenny, When I first moved down south, I got taken for Norwegian, Irish, Welsh, South African and Scottish! What i hate more is people who, when they find out I'm a Geordie, make a pathetic attempt at an 'Auf Wiedersehen, Pet' type accent and think they are amusing! Or, worse still, tell me 'Oh I LOVE Catherine Cookson!' like that's supposed to endear them to me! Thanks for the opportunity to rant, Jenny! Sal - proud to be a Geordie lass

Thank you all, for your replies, I am so pleased the thread has had so much interest. Speedy, I forgot you were from Walsall. Where abouts? Teri, hails from there also. It would be nice to chat about the area. Apparently Walsall now has loads of nighclubs. Keep the replies coming, it makes very interesting reading. Jenny.xx

I can understand what you mean, I have been asked when visiting some parts of the country if I come from Birmingham, although I come from Liverpool. People think if you come from Liverpool you cant talk properly well how wrong they are... but I can talk proper Liverpudlian if needed be. I like the different accents some of my relatives live in the Midlands and Durham and its nice to hear different accents sometimes. My nephew was born in Liverpool and partly raised in Huntingdon in Cambridgeshire and now lives in Gloucester so you can imagine his accent. Yvonne

Jenny We moved to midlands 3 years ago and people here always say to us ' you're not from here are you' Think I at least have a confused accent as have a bit of bucks, and sussex also very lazy when I speak so drop letters etc. Steve has a Devon accent with sussex as well. He usually gets 'are you from London'. worse bit is working out the different way of saying things Rolls = baps drainpipes = spouting Alleyway = jitty /gully was wierd when Nath came home asking for money for took shop took me ages to work out it was Tuck shop. Zoe being born here is already talking as the locals do even though we don't, must be picking it up from nursery.

Jenny I know what you mean, and if they make that mistake then fine, just as long as they don't stand there arguing with me when I do say where I am from. When I first moved to Exeter one man in a pub asked me if I was from Scotland, no I replied, I am from Walsall in the midlands, oh he said that is just the other side of the border to Scotland, er no it is some distance from Scotland, nah right next door to it, then he asked me what I was doing down in the south west...well I had the perfect answer...I came down here to educate you if you think that the midlands is Scotland then you need educating.... Bev

There is absolutely no confusion over where I am from! I've got a horribly distinctive voice - let alone accent - and once you have spoken to me once on the phone you will know me as soon as I say 'hello'!! The thing that really hacks me off is the assumption that all cockneys are thick. I also have had jaws dropping when people find out I have 3 A Levels. The media does nothing to dispel this ... people from all other parts of the country are allowed to retain their 'regional accents' but cockney is regarded as 'not talking proper'. Have you ever heard a cockney newsreader? Its either Home Counties or a 'regional' accent - even on the London/South East news. I know for a fact that I am first judged by my accent, its not until people actually get to know me that they can see beyond it. Maz. XX

Lol Anna, we say that in Gloucester as well (where I come from originally) !!

Agree with Sheila that West Country folk get it in the neck about being country bumpkins. We even have a saying 'Wiltshire born, Wiltshire bred, strong in the arm and thick in the head'! Anna

Jenny Good job you weren't in New York with me!!! 1, For obvious reason's and 2,The American's thought we were from Ireland or Scotalnd so god know's where they would have thought you were from---lol Only joking!!!

Ahh now you see Gwynne, I KNEW I liked you! ;o) I didn't think I had an accent either, but I get mistaken for a Brummie( or at least correctly taken for a Midlander) when I visit friends a bit further down south so I guess we all have an accent that we don't realise, it is just that we hear ourselves all the time I guess. Claire xx

Hi Claire, That's odd. I don't think you have an accent at all, you speak perfect English, just like me. lol Gwynne (also near Cov)

What really irritates me is stereotypes on TV, when a) most actors can't seem to manage a West Country accent b) West Country people are shown as red necked, cider drinking yokels! Just awf to get summat teat, ooo aaaaarh!

What a great thread Mommy It has happened to me on many occasions I have a reasonably Broad Yorkshire Accent and I worked in a hospital in the operating Theatre. I was presumed by some of the hoitey toitey doctors that I was dumb and lower class. Until one day I answered a question that no one knew except me. One of the doctors said how do you know that. I said it doesn't need brains it needs commonsense. Shut them all up from that day on and then they respectd me. Not that I needed their respect I just put it down to their ignorance. I also got ridiculed about the way I said things (Broad Yorkshire sometimes still comes out) living in Australia and being a Pom. But I just take it with a pinch of salt now. Doesn't worry me any more Regards Jackie

Now I get particularly annoyed when people confuse my COVENTRY accent with a BRUMMIE on (CB)!!!! ;o) Jenny will tell you it is very different. Even Nuneaton and Bedworth, Coventry, Birmingham, Wolverhampton ect all being very close geographically have very different accents. If you come to Cov, then go to Brum, you will hear a difference......having said that, I expect Sunderland is very different from Newcastle, and Leeds very different from York but I can't tell! Claire xx

I have quite a distinctive Manchester accent but sometimes when down south people ask if Im from Liverpool! Dont understand why. Davex

YES! When I am over in the UK, people mistake my accent for an American accent. There is no comparison. There are many dialects in the USA, yet Canada has only a couple of 'distinct' accents. 1) Canadian 2) French Canadian 3) Extreme East Coast (Newfoundland, Nova Scotia. etc) The Newfie accent is Irish sounding, very distinct. I revert to my Liverpudlian accent only in the company of other Scousers. Sorry, I should have mentioned that I am bilingual, Canadian and Scouse :)) I love the look on the face of a Brit who is living here, when I tell them that I am from Liverpool (in my Canadian accent). I'm sure that my reputation falls right then and there!!!! Oh, the stigmatism. but that is another subject, another thread. Deb

This is funny for me Jenny as we are all mixed up in my family. OK My Mum and all her people her Mum and dad are West Brom, Dudley and Smethwick and further back their great grandparents Birmingham. I'm london, my Dad Dublin Ireland. lol. I have a funny accent as its london mixed with some Irish words over here they say I'm English I was in my home patch (chapel Market Norf London) a bloke says to me you down from the norf (of England) I was disgusted, never happend to me before I moaned at hubby as I have to listen to Irish accents endlessly obviously corrupting my vocal expression and I don't like it. but that is only because it was brought to my attention, I would not have known only for that one incident in Norf London, different people hear different things. I have been mistaken for Scandinavian Dutch and where do you come from ? lol. At the end of the day does it really matter? Pat x

Nice to meet you Ian, thanks for adding to my thread. Hope to see you posting on GR often. New blood is always needed. Cheers, Jenny.

Hi Jenny, I was born in England but was brought up in southern Scotland and have a Scots accent which I still have after 13 years in Oz. I am not new to GR - I joined in January but I am very selective in which threads I participate. If I don't have anything constructive to say I don't say anything. Ian

OMG, you have all made me laugh, I think I may have a bit of a hang up here. Terri, I was born in the slums of Walsall Wood, ( not to be confused with Walsall) Lived in Brownhills for a long time. But I would imagine, you are the same as me. Defo not a Brummie or from the Black Country. I lived in Stourbridge for a while, I have to admit, everyone thought my children were ' very posh'. The Black Counrty is great, Hubby is a Geordie and just loves the dialect, pubs and hospitality. Plus Bank's Bitter. Lol. Jenny x