To think that many Mumsnetters despise regional accents and dialects?

[binnibonnieboo]

I'm Irish, and I've been on Mumsnet for years. I've seen so many threads fulminating about pronunciation, spelling and grammar. These so often ignore the diverse accents and dialects across the UK and Ireland. There seems to be a view that anything not RP or standard southern English is common, ill educated, Americanised (wrong), and just Not Right. Sometimes (not always) I sense a thinly veiled contempt for how I and others (Scottish, Northern Irish, Welsh, northern English) talk. AIBU to feel this?

@RaraRachael , I'm not surprised you got into an argument.

I wouldn't say Bears-dun either but only because someone said it wasn't said that way.
I only found out a few months ago that Cumbernauld is Cumber-NAULD.

I wouldn't say a person with a non rhotic person was mispronouncing Aberdeen if they said Abideen I'd understand that it was their accent

@RaraRachael , I doubt that Aberdeen is pronounced Abideen in any accent.
Would you say a non-rhotic person was mispronouncing Bearsden if they said it as Bairsdun?

Well I've heard loads oc people say Abideen.
Where did Bears dun come from anyway?

I don't want this thread being derailed so that's an end to it as far as I'm concerned.

Let's not get into Milngavie.

But yes, we do generally pronounce the endings of words. Bearsden is Bears - Den.

Because that's what it looks like and how I'd say it in my accent if I didn't know that it was a mispronunciation.

I think your phonetic description is misleading.

I'm English, lived in west central Scotland 29 years and counting. Non rhotic accent. "Bearsdun" with or without the "r" sounded would be wrong as the stress is on the second syllable. Is that what you mean?

Also, Cumbernauld is pronounced exactly as it's spelled, well, I don't sound the "r", because if I did it would just sound forced, and come out like "Cumberrrnauld", and like I was taking the piss. So I don't. 🤷‍♀️

It's Miln-GAY-vi in my accent and I'm not mispronouncing it. Accents vary.

(I think it's mʌlˈɡaɪ)

@UnctuousUnicorns , if I read it as an 'English' placename I'd be mispronouncing it and it would not be because of my accent.

If you listen to BBC traffic reports, you will hear how badly the announcers mangle Scottish place names. They seem to put the emphasis on the wrong part of the word.

Yes, it's the wrong emphasis that always annoys me with BBC mispronunciation of Irish placenames. The emphasis is on the last syllable of Donegal.

@Arran2024 , @WellHardly , complain to the BBC.
Complaints | Contact the BBC.

Make a note of who said it, exactly when (date and time e.g. 27/02/26 08:10:37) they said it, and what programme (e.g. BBC1 Newsnight) it was on.
Explain why the pronunciation was wrong, give the correct one, and say why it matters.

I have done this a few times, and I didn't get fobbed off the last time.

Wow I didn't know that. Thanks!

You're welcome.

My complaint was about names that they really shouldn't be getting wrong but seemed to consistently get wrong - something a bit like saying Sinn Féin as Sin Fawn. When you hear more than one person get it wrong in the same way, it looks like someone is advising them incorrectly.

The irony of course is that dropping the 'r' sound began in working-class communities in South East England but was later adopted as a fashionable way of speaking by the upper-class in the late 1700s / early 1800s. Now it's on its way to becoming the norm all across the country as regional accents are in decline, which probably means that the elite will adopt some other linguistic feature in order to continue to distinguish themselves from the rest of us plebs.

You really should replace British and UK in this context with English because Halloween is absolute a national event and appreciated in a significant part of Britain and the UK 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

YANBU

Whenever there’s a show about Shannon Matthews going missing and they play the 999 call, any MN discussion has someone’s brain spinning about the dialects

the call handler, in a typical West Yorkshire dialect, asks “What they call her?”cue loads of MNers saying “I don’t understand? What who calls her?”

Its very boring

Every day is a school day. I didn't know that. It was always overshadowed by bonfire night here.

Sorry to ask, but does it mean ‘what’s her name?’

AgnesMcDoo as pointed out a million times akready. Halloween may be a thing in the uk were you live but certainly not nationally.
As a bonus i have a birmingham accent. The no 1 contender for the most despised. Does anyone know why- the association always seems to be pigs and stupidity.

Yes.

My in-laws are all from Yorkshire and that phrase does sound odd when you hear it for the first few times if you're not used to it.

"What do they call her?"

"Her name, presumably."

Benny from Crossroads.

I love different dialects/accents! I find them so fascinating personally 😂
I have never encountered anyone who has given the impression they despise them either but maybe they’re just hiding it?
I grew up with a Scottish (Ayrshire) lodger, my maternal grandparents were from the West Indies, my paternal grandparents were French and our neighbours (we live in the Home Counties) when I was between 5-10 from Hull. I still now remember loving listening to them all speaking - I found it all so curious and wonderful. I suppose I still do.

Yes

@UnctuousUnicorns , ...Cumbernauld is pronounced exactly as it's spelled, ...
I was saying it as CUM-bern-auld not Cumbern-AULD.

cf Cumberland. I know someone with the surname Westmoreland but she doesn't say it like I'd say Westmorland.
West-MOR-land vs WEST-m'r-lund.

I always thought it was West-MORE-land. There’s a Westmoreland St in Dublin.
Which way does she say it?