TO DO "ACCENTS" As the 5-Live phone-in did this morning

[ScousyFogarty]

Nicky Campbell handled it well. But a lot of callers were speaking something close to standard English.

TERRY CHRISTIAN , a broadcaster with a Mancunian accent, came on and talked a lot of sense at the end. He is always canddid on the subject.

Mr Christian makes no bonesabout it. The Northern accent has effected his career. He did a groundbreaking programme for TV years ago. It was for young people called THE WORD

The brummie accent (unfairly) is called the most unpopular of the lot.

Does Mumsnet have an accent running through the many posters? Perhaps it has all sorts of accents.

Peronsonally ,I can understand most accents on radio and TV . You do have to listend hard to the Liverpool Manager. (But its much better than Capello)

I bthink that accents are becoming more widely accepted in braodcasting, but they do seem to be the "milder" versions of the regional accent.

Whilst you will hear a Geordie or scouse accent, they aren't as thick as many you will hear if you travelled to Newcastle or Liverpool.

But that is to be expected surely? if you have a thick regional accent then being on national TV will make it difficult for a great many viewers to understand. I think it is more common sense than discrimination....now. Not so sure it was the case some years back though

Snobbery exists everywhere, and judging people purely on accent is wrong. Different matter, of course, if someone's command of English is so poor or they are so inarticulate that they can't be understood. Then they should seek help or they'll get nowhere.

Mama I talke the point about regional accents on talk media tend to be the
refined end of the accent. And you do have to be understood on nation media

COGITOL....Snobbery does exists , humans try to fit in or social climb. Yes help can be obtained.....

But a woman on the phone-in was upsetting the whole of the North East.
I cant afford to be thought of as thick or working class she said. (She was a voice coach)

She was riding a very raunchy tiger Needed to choose her words more carefully

Ditto as Mamazon has said, as far as broadcasting goes it does make sense that NATIONAL TV presenters are understandable by ALL, so those with accents have the more diluted version.

Though I have to add in RL that same snobbery of old DOES exist, especially here in the South, something that I personally find very funny, as it shows up total ignorance of the North, as opposed to the perpetrator being as bright as they'd like to be seen - I'm Northern, (Geordie via Yorks) but having lived here in the South for very long time, its something that sometimes gets missed & I've been party to many a conversation with certain Southern friends who think everyone "up north" is "ever so working class & the place is just so grim" haha - so ignorance is rife it seems

& on here I have also witnessed pedants picking up grammatical errors that are in fact actually classic Northern speak, something I read as the poster writing as they speak, NOT being illiterate - have/of being a prime example - so - a very interesting question :)

rockinhippy

Interesting post...yes the southernerners are a bit uppity their own Derry Airs

You will understand that E Ba Gum is Mugabe backwards. (that is not a sexual comment)

I am sure most areas of Engand have a mixture of Grim, not so grim and
darnright posh,matey. Give us a bash at the bangers and mash me me muvver used to

The system has gone a bit unusual. I am sure its not me. But it will sort isself self out. I was saying before I was stopped. I am a Midlander. We are not strong on accent. Some speak a bit like Brian Clough. But its not a disinct accent. Although it is different to cockney, and Geordie

"How be thy mangold wurzels gaffer?" is common in rural Midlands

Let me tell you, it Does. Not. Do. to have a Black Country accent and live and work in Essex

Curryspice. That is obviously very true. Could one get away with geordie?

IT makes my blood boil - the ignorance of some people (and, in my experience mostly southerners) about other accents than their own

I have a t-shirt which says "Yow Cor Spake Propa" on it :o

Adrain Chiles has a brummie accent and his career is thriving. Regional accents are great and should be cherished. It is typical on the beeb that you have to talk plum - most of the presenters are like this. We should see more of it on TV. My DH hates Alex Jones's Welsh accent on the one show though

Yes Scousy - I think they wouldn't mind that so much. Some people are breathtakingly rude about BC accents and the place I am from and expect me to laugh

It's pointless talking about "the Midlands" in terms of accents IMHO because the difference between say a Birmingham and a Nottingham accent is like the difference between a Cockney and a Geordie.

I come from Nottingham and my natural setting is to talk like Su Pollard - although I have learned to posh it up for professional purposes now.

I love all accents me. More the merrier.

Btw, Brian Clough came from Middlesbrough, so is not representative of any Midlands accent whatsoever.

And Adrian Chiles hasn't got a straight brummie accent either. Not that I can stand to listen to him as he supports West Brom

Come on Vicki childs is very refined brummie,,,Jasper carrott is more brummie...Lenny Henry can do it...

We can't help our accents and many people who have one often don't think they do (if you see what I mean).

I'm guilty of that - I think my voice is fairly neutral but most "emmetts" (i.e. non-locals) whom I meet say I have a very thick accent to the point of becoming almost incomprehensible when I'm angry. :(

I will however admit to having an entirely irrational dislike of the English 'southern' and London accents.

Don't know why.

Lenny Henry is not a brummie. He's from the same small town in the Black Country as me. HTH

I get told I have a strong accent all the time by people with strong Essex accents pendeen I point out that ifaiac they have the accent, not me :o

Tell it to Cheryl Cole. Sacked for an accent. By the yanks.

Snobbery goes both ways though: I was raised in Surrey and haven't lost the vowel sounds despite having been in the north (north west via scotland) for more years than I was there. People assume I am "up myself" and on several occasions have sat me down to explain how Southerners are all posh and rude while people here are friendly. Which seems quite rude, really.

I love that CurrySpice - I also work in Essex and have non-specific Southern English accent but grew up in Ireland and spent 2 years in Edinburgh so possibly may have traces of both. When I meet people, they sometimes say to me 'have you got an accent?' Makes me want to ROFL and say 'have you heard yourself lately???'

I'm a northerner by origin (do NOT call me a Geordie... do NOT call me a Geordie) and Cheryl Cole's accent makes me cringe by how pronounced it is.

I went to a very posh uni, with a really strong Sunderland accent - people couldn't understand a word of what I was saying. Sharpish got me out of all my lazy speech habits - and while I still have an accent, and I'm proud of my roots - I speak much more clearly than I used to.

I actually had a minor identity crisis a few months back when someone told me I didn't have my Sunderland accent and had a Nottingham one! I've picked up a lot of it and mine's toned down a lot - but I'm still distinctly Northern. Amusingly though kids can never guess where it's from - we get Ireland, we get Scotland, we get them assuming I'm Welsh - but never NE.

Hasn't held me back - with one minor issue, well two. The kids piss themselves laughing at how I say the word "poem" and there are certain phonemes I have to be careful to pronounce in the local way, not my native way when teaching phonics (oo springs to mind particularly). I work around it.