AIBU to think that I need to start a thread about the Birmingham dialect?

[threeelephants]

I'm so annoyed lately at all of the threads belittling my accent/dialect. I'd like to describe it as snobbery but I actually feel it goes beyond that.

In Birmingham we say mom, not mum. It has been this way for at least a hundred years. It is not 'Amercanism', in fact it was us who took the word over there. Mum is a slang word, it isn't 'the correct term' in anyway-if you want to have a dig at me saying mom then you'd better be calling yours mother!

We eat nougat and pronounce it nugat (not nugget, like some of you seem to think). We also eat marshmellows...tbh I'd never noticed there was supposed to be an a in there!

We pronounce tooth with the shorter oo sound (like in book, look, foot etc).

We are not uneducated, nor are we all bloody working class!

And while we're here, dinner is a hot meal, doesn't matter what time of day you eat it, lunch is a cold meal in the middle of the day, tea is a simple meal at the end of the day and supper is a biscuit before bed.

The Birmingham accent/dialect is the closest in existence to how Chaucer/Shakespeare would have spoken. Which makes us more correct than most of you.

[SleepingStandingUp]

I say donnie to DS but wonder if its falling out of use and his friends will look at him oddly if he says his are cold?

[bookmum08]

The Chiltern Trains voice always says "Birmingham Muurrr Street" (actual name Moor St). Nothing to do with Brummie accent - just I love the way it sounds!

[beenandgoneandbackagain]

I am a pure-bred Brummie (born at the Queen Elizabeth when it was still in the old bit). I strongly object to the stereotype of the "brummie accent". I say "mum", "buss", "tooth", with a longer "oo" sound, and "dinner" is the evening meal (or "supper" if it's really late). And nougat is definitely pronounced noogar unless you're an uneducated twollop.

Not all "brummies" conform to the stereotypical accent, which to me sounds much more like a Black Country accent than what I hear every day on the streets.

[mintich]

I think it's all got a bit confused here. Saying things in different accents is not incorrect, like tuth and tooth as that's just how you pronounce oo.
However if someone says free instead of three (not due to a speech impediment before someone says) then that's not correct, it's just lazy IMO.

[PasstheStarmix]

‘And nougat is definitely pronounced noogar unless you're an uneducated twollop’

Abit harsh^ I don’t think pronouncing something in a local dialect makes you the above pp

[mintich]

Nuggat is definitely used in many parts of the country!

[PasstheStarmix]

Exactly mintich, it seems the pp who posted that may need alittle education on local dialect herself.

[FluffySloth]

I feel alot of what you said in terms of the pronunciations, sound more Black Country than Birmingham?
I have often been asked if I'm Irish when visiting Birmingham, then get funny looks when I say I'm from Wolverhampton lol.
I do get mocked alot for my accent (which is definitely not Brummie) but i love it and wouldn't change it. I think I'm too laid back to be annoyed

[WrenNatsworthy]

m.youtube.com/watch?v=EAYUuspQ6BY

[WrenNatsworthy]

'An Englishman's way of speaking absolutely classifies him,
The moment he talks he makes some other
Englishman despise him.'

Still true!

[Eltonjohnssyrup]

mintich, that isn’t right. Because lots of people in the SE and London say ‘free’ and it is part of their dialect just as ‘tuth’ is part of someone in Birmingham’s dialect.

I think part of it is that there are certain phrases which are local, but are clearly wrong and people are actually choosing to pronounce it like that or are just ignorant. ‘Tuth’ and ‘free’ are fine, because they are just the result of sounds coming out in a particular way. People will pronounce the ‘oo’ or ‘th’ sound in the same way regardless of which word it’s in.

But things like ‘bokkle’ for bottle or ‘hospickal’ for hospital or ‘nugget’ for nougat are wrong, because exactly the same people are completely capable of using the ‘t’ sound or ‘ou’ sound correctly in other words so it’s a deliberate adoption rather than a speech pattern due to accent. They don’t drink wakker or hear sunds.

[beenandgoneandbackagain]

Abit harsh^ I don’t think pronouncing something in a local dialect makes you the above pp*

Errrr? Did you not read my post. My dialect is the local dialect. I have lived and worked in Birmingham since I was born, fifty years ago. I am a proud Brummie. And I do not know any other fellow Brummies who pronounce it nuggatt. Maybe it's a Black Country pronunciation rather than a Brummie thing?

[rinabean]

It is class based though OP. Especially on mumsnet of all places, the posters here aren't exactly representative. You've had the posh brummies come in and tell you they don't have accents. (Most of them do have audible brummie accents, some of them really don't but most really, really do.)

They're claiming we're "wrong" because we are "ignorant" and "uneducated". Snobbery and without even a thin veneer to hide it, because they find it so acceptable to discriminate based on accents and class.

My mum is a snob (not posh though), she had me call her mum because "mom is american" even though her own mom always said mom, as did her mom, as did her mom... lots of people are self hating but that reinforces what you're saying, it doesn't contradict it.

Though I think there's a bit of confusion too. Stuff like gambol is definitely normal speech in south staffs where I'm from, and the local accent had both black country and brummie features. I think people insist on a strict line between the dialects which doesn't actually exist, or perhaps did a long time ago. In any case I will defend everyone's midlands dialects, and all stigmatised dialects everywhere.

[rinabean]

beenandgoneandbackagain well you now of one now at least, my grandad from birmingham has always said it as nuggat, he's not from the black country, he's from Aston and Saltley

[PuppyMonkey]

I don't mind any type of West Midlands accent, but what I don't like is people referring to that way of talking as a "Midlands accent." Because I come from Nottingham and I can assure you we sound nothing like those from the West Midlands.

Me duck.

[MissionItsPossible]

I don't mind any type of West Midlands accent, but what I don't like is people referring to that way of talking as a "Midlands accent." Because I come from Nottingham and I can assure you we sound nothing like those from the West Midlands.

And those that stereotypically mimic a “Birmingham accent” do a Black Country accent anyway.

[SleepingStandingUp]

PuppyMonkey but it is a Midlands accent. It isn't THE Midlands accent but its like people talking about Northern Accents, its one of

[missyB1]

I remember moving from the midlands to the south west,and the looks I got when I called people duck,and asked where to catch the buzz

[StripySocksAndDocs]

TheJoyOfSox buzz has been mentioned. Though possibky not on this thread there's more than on Brummie accent threads at the moment!!!

[SharronNeedles]

If you read Chaucer in a Geordie accent is sounds like a match made in heaven

[BackforGood]

And if we really want to get the discussion going, how does one pronounce Alvechurch, and does the National Rail lady say it correctly?

It is definitely Alve (to rhyme with valve) - church. No "er" in the middle.

My sat nav has a lot of trouble with 'Tyseley' - thinks it is 'Tisserley' and 'Halesowen' - which I'm not even going to try to spell.

[PickAChew]

I grew up being very bad at tipple tales.

Now further north, where mam rules and tooth definitely has a long oo, just like cook and book :o

[ChampagneSocialist1]

One of friends was born and grew up in Brum but she doesnt have a Brum accent just sounds like she's from Surrey can someone explain. Her dad was a lecturer and her mum a teacher so solidly MC

[Forevertired19]

I got savaged for posting about mothers day as to what to get for my 'mom' and all these women were slating me for it telling me to talk properly.
Do they really have nothing better to do? :/
I'm proper black country but I'm also of American ancestry as well as German and you pick things up from your environment.
Everyone is different and I'm not sure why we can't embrace it and different ways of talking.

Nt laik am tlkin laik dis rly iz it!
It's ridiculous

[mintich]

Eltonjohns you do know that people who say "nugget" are well aware it's pronounced nougat, it's just another word that's used... it's dialect not pronunciation. Saying free instead of three isn't dialect, it's just being lazy , you can tell as they don't pronounce all 'th' words like that....I've done it myself when I've been talking fast, then corrected myself. I don't think that's the same as saying tuth, as that's how they pronounce oo for all words.