To think that many Mumsnetters despise regional accents and dialects?

Spelling is either right or wrong, and the spoken accent is irrelevant when you come to write it down. In the UK it is preferable to use the regular English spelling and not the American English one.

Grammar is grammar. It varies with the spoken word, but in writing, it should be correct unless you are writing dialogue. Likewise punctuation.

Pronunciation varies according to people's accents, but some things are still a no-no. It doesn't matter what your accent or dialect is, 'miss-cheevious' (for instance) is still wrong.

I was keeping it as simple as possible for @PleasantPedant.

I explained my point myself and you didn't get it .

I shared a link to blog that explained it and you wouldn't read it.

I've pointed you to a book about it and you insult me

If you just had it in yourself to understand a pretty basic concept, we wouldn't be here.

The King actually speaks a version of RP, which is closer to heightened RP, as did his mother before him (though her accent changed during her lifetime).

@MasterBeth , you come across as patronising.

Because they don't speak RP. The King speaks RP. They speak Standard Southern English.

(Of course they speak differently within the same accent, just as people with a Birmingham or Geordie or West country accent do.)

BBC English is no longer a useful term when Graham Norton, Brian Cox or Sara Cox are modern BBC voices.

If reading a blog is beneath you, try this book by a doctor of linguistics from UCL:

https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-04357-5

@RaraRachael , do you mean a rhotic R or an intrusive R?

What amazes me is that there are people on MN who don't realise that people in other parts of the UK speak differently.

I have been shouted down because I pronouncd R in words and told that I'm wrong, however much I defend the fact that it's a regional variation.

@MasterBeth , I cba to read a random blog. The three you mentioned don't have the same accent. If you meant 'BBC English' or RP why not use those terms.

I didn't say it was weird or inappropriate.

I said it was tedious and not fun.

You misunderstand.

I am not saying all southern English people speak the same with one standard accent.

I am saying there is a common accent in southern England called Standard Southern (British) English. It's the accent I have. It's Holly Willoughby or Naga Munchetty or Amanda Holden. It's modern BBC. It's all explained on that blog post.

My father was from Lancashire and had a Lancashire accent.

In the 1950s he moved to Somerset and played rugby for Bath. At his first match he thought the crowd was booing because they were shouting what sounded to him like “bah”.

One of his teammates had to point out that that was how locals pronounced Bath (obviously normally with a “th” at the end)!

Don't you have in family jokes? Well, one of ours is that I find it amusing that my husband and children can't pronounce the word "loch" - they try to dobit and we all laugh and they are impressed when I can do it. They try to say "with" and they can't make the "th" sound at the end so it cones out "wiv" and they try and try and can't do it and again they wonder at my ability.

I don't see why you think this is wierd or inappropriate.

I know that, I still pronounce the two the same way! 🤷‍♀️

Not to do with accents, but your use of "west country" has reminded me. When I first lived in the UK, knowing it was made up of several countries, I thought "the west country" was one of the UK countries situated in the west (geography is not my strong point!) And I was super shocked by what I saw as the racist use of "the black country"!

(I do know what it means now 😃)

@MasterBeth , There isn't a standard southern accent. If you are so convinced, what is it?

ETA: That link is to some random's person's blog.

@Piglet89 , the link was mine. It was to show the area that is southern England, not to prove the existence or non-existence of a standard southern accent.
The area will have many regional accents.

You should come down to the South West. I grew up saying drore. After many decades living in other places I've sadly mostly lost my native accent but I do still say drore. In any case, the name for a thing that you pull in and out of a piece of furniture is a drawer, not a draw.

Bizarre post - a throwback to the last century. Does anyone care about accents these days?

That's rude of them, innit? I come from a land of 'tea' meaning evening meal but realised a while ago I started saying 'lunch' instead of 'dinner' meaning midday meal, I think it's because it reminds me of school dinners though, so it feels childish. More than that, I avoid the word tea or dinner at night and just ask whether anyone is hungry instead 😆 even the dog knows the word 'food' and not 'dinner'! Ha! Talk about avoiding the debate. Nobody even cares in my house!

Technically it is grammatically correct, all the parts are in the right place, just shortened. I know what you mean though 😁 i love accents too! My old neighbours are Glaswegian, I miss them.

I think people genuinely forget their accent is not the default, particularly if they're surrounded by it. I'm in a Northern city with an even more Northern accent, I can't bring myself to care about it on a personal level. I do know some people have more of an ear for accents in the same way some people have an ear for music, so it's possible that affects people too. I will say I've noticed what you have OP, that some folk will swear on the pronunciation of a word despite its regional variances. Maybe some of them are doing it to wind others up.

My in-laws have some reverse snobbery going on. When I say things like 'dinner' instead of 'tea' my FIL corrects me every single time.

I think it is because I am not a native speaker.

I love hearing different dialects. I think different dialects are part of British history, and part of our culture. On holiday when you meet another Brit, almost everyone loves to guess where you are from based on accent. Your vernacular is part of your heritage and shared cultural references in your area. I actually think it's quite an important part of your identity (just like it is elsewhere, such as African American vernacular!). It's great when you are away from home and find that one person from your hometown who sounds the same as you.

And it's also ridiculous to equate accent/dialect to intelligence. I'm from Derbyshire and I'm probably quite broad (not in my own mind, but people not from Derbyshire would think I have a strong accent!). I certainly greet people with 'ayup, your rate?' without a second thought. But I have two degrees from good universities, and I am well educated. The fact that I have a distinct vernacular doesn't tell you anything about my education or intelligence. I also think slang/dialect is unfortunately still associated with being lower class, which I presume is a historical remnant from living under a very strict class system. It's a great shame, as I truly enjoy hearing some of the weird and wonderful words from different regions, and I love teaching people random words/phrases from my area!

I also think the media doesn't help, as we don't often see people with strong regional dialects on the TV.

I just can't imagine caring about someone's dialect/accent. Also, just because someone uses an incorrect grammatical pattern in speech, it does not mean they do not understand grammar. Again, it is simply dialect. I will say things like 'I'm goin' t' tahn', or 'When I were on't bus other day'. I absolutely know the latter statement does not make grammatical sense. It's just my dialect 🤷 I would never write it that way because it's wrong, but it would also absolutely feel very weird/unnatural to say 'When I was on the bus the other day'. It's weird, but it's just how it is for me 😂

I have ASD and one of my challenges is understanding spoken words in general. I often look at people’s mouths and read lips as they are talking. I have no idea why.

accents are hell for me. I can’t understand people at all. That is my problem though.

I love that subtitles are now so easy to get in media and even now in conference calls at work. It helps so much.