To wonder why many MNetters say oop north

[Topanga1]

Are you pronouncing oop to rhyme with loop?
I've never heard a northerner, or anyone else for that matter, pronounce up to rhyme with loop.

How do southern people pronounce cook, if it is not cuck?

I thought most people pronounced cook = cuck, except for certain regions that pronouce it to rhyme with fluke?

"Cuck only sounds like cook in northern accents though."

Yes, I know. I was referring to the way I pronounce it, in my own NW English accent. I explained that upthread.

In Hull it kind of sounds like,"Goo'in oop rerd te gerra a can o Cerk".Which translates as"Going up the road to get a can of Coke" Hope that makes sense and does t offend Hullish people. I love Hull

Yes that makes sense (I've been to Hull once or twice...)
There's a MNetter called NerrSnerr which is, I believe, the Hull weather forecast

It is very difficult to convey these sounds on a screen! Cook absolutely doesn't rhyme with duck in a southern accent, or indeed in the dictionary. Looking at the phonetic pronunciation key in the front of my Oxford English Dictionary, the vowel sound made by the 'oo' in 'book' is denoted by a totally different symbol (like an upside down Greek omega). The 'u' sound in 'duck' is denoted by an inverted v.

The southern 'u' is almost more like an 'ah' sound, made with a very open mouth. The 'oo' is made with a smaller, rounded opening, similar to the mouth shape when you say the 'oo' in 'fluke', but with a shorter sound.

"I'm not sure that the southerners who say it are always being self deprecating Huldra. Some people seem to genuinely believe it, and think that the hundred year old pictures of mines and smoky factories are present day."

Yes. I've had "Ooh, you have WiFi up there?" delivered in all seriousness, as well as people who work in office jobs like marketing or sales claim they 'couldn't find work in the North', and when I've pressed them they've gone flustered and given it the ol' "Oh, yes, well I knew you had offices and things, but..."

They might claim to be kidding when they 'joke' about us having indoor toilets and electric lighting, but they slip up over other stuff and frankly, I think they do believe it.

"How do southern people pronounce cook, if it is not cuck?"

You might have to go listen to some soundclips or Youtube or something, as it's not easy to convey in text, but basically imagine an exceedingly posh lady saying 'Fuck'. Mimic it, say it aloud. It's a little bit 'Fark' but obviously not a lot, just a tiny hint of it.

Right, now get all Ned Stark and Robert Baratheon and say it. Fuck. Duck. Right deep U sound.

Hear the difference?

Like I say, not easy to write out, but in a soundclip you would hear it.

thought most people pronounced cook = cuck, except for certain regions that pronouce it to rhyme with fluke

I pronounce 'cook' to rhyme with 'look' and 'book'

My Lancashire relatives are a bit different when it comes to pronouncing 'cook'.

And as for how they pronounce 'Blackburn'.