Not understanding broad Scots accent "racism"?

[Ponders]

I hesitate to say this is PC gone mad - but this is PC gone mad

Alex Ferguson & Kenny Dalglish would generally benefit from subtitles on the rare occasion they agree to an interview - why is it racist, FFS? There are dozens of strong British accents which can be hard to understand if you're not local to them!

Collins should not have "made a grovelling apology" (if he actually did )

That's a tricky one. Clearly the need for 'translation' is taken as an insult, but is that because being foreign is seen as a negative thing? And surely that is actually racist?

One of the most painful transactions I listened to as quality control at a call centre was a Scottish lady who rang in and reached one of our staff in Mumbai. I could understand each of them, but they couldn't communicate due to the accents. Nothing either of them could have done.

Well, at that point you own up to your own poor ear for accents (which I think is true, actually - I have a pretty good ear for most accents, and very rarely find anyone hard to unsderstand), and say, i'm going to have to ask someone to help me, as I've got a really bad ear for accents, I do hope this doesn't offend you.

TBH I think this is hitting a nerve because it that anyone without a 'queens english' accent is somehow inferior. I don't know why this says that to me, but it does.

;because it implies

Hmm I don't see it as racist per se, maybe tactless.

FWIW, I took more care to enuniciate my words clearly when I visited a friend in Scotland a couple of years ago only to hear people in a shop who would have made the Queen sound like a chav .

Scottish accents impossible imo. I can manage most UK accents but heavy scots accents just defeat me.

Were you in Morningside, perchance, Sally? Am quite taken with the idea of you speaking Very Carefully...

@ scottishmummy

im from Lanarkshire, where the "unintelligable" person in question was from and tbh sometimes i struggle with strong Glaswegian accents and its only a few miles away! i imagine its the same all over

On another note, i think Rab c Nesbitt was subtitled when it was shown in England, but i cant really recall any English speaking programs being subtitled when shown on Scottish tv?

Mend your ears, Quattro! Come and visit more.

no that's what I'm saying - I do have a good ear for accents - but give me a proper broad Scots (generally West Scotland) accent and they could just as well be speaking to me in Gaelic.

IMO - Broad west Scots is one of the most difficult to understand from the UK - and it's a lot harder than any overseas accents I've ever listened to as well.

all scotish accents Quattro?alistair darling,kirsty wark,edith bowman all understandable

'Translate' sounds sarky, that's what was wrong with it. 'I'm sorry, I'm finding it really hard to hear' or even 'understand' would be okay, I think. Or even: "Sorry, i'm not very good with Scottish accents, can someone jsut confirm for me that I've understood the question accurately?"

Any of those would achieve clarification without giving the impression that the speaker is at fault for not speaking in the same accent as you.

West more difficult, I guess. My uncle-in-law has a v. strong highlands accent, but mostly the problem is that if you think he's said something bizarre and bonkers, you're usually right.

I lived in Glasgow for 8 years, and never really had a problem at all. And I'm a Scouser, and they didn't have a problem with me.

People who speak with strong regional accents quite often use a lot of regional phrases as well, which means that sometimes they are on the verges of speaking a different language. Would the guy have been called a racist if the person asking questions had been a not-native English speaker with a strong accent and he hadn't understood? Anyone to whom English is not their native language is going to find strong regional accents problematic (if they learned their English from someone with a marked Geordie/Cockney/Glaswegian accent they are still going to be flummoxed by a broad Yorkshire/Devonshire/Belfast one, for instance).

alright then those that think that "translate" is the wrong word for it

please give the meanings of the following words (taken from the famous Auld Lang Syne) - NO SCOTS ALLOWED TO ANSWER THIS QUESTION

auld lang syne

gowans

twa

be

braid

burn

monie

Eddie Mair , James Naughtie?

As others have said, sgb, it's "translate" that's wanky, not the inability to understand.

admittedly Glasgow is a leeetle easier than slightly more north and east from there

I still to this day wonder what that lovely friendly gentleman at Carrick Castle Hotel said to me..........

I don't believe for a minute translate was meant to be sarky, it was meant to be a light-hearted way of getting over the problem.

If someone spoke to any of you anti-"translate" lot using impenetrable (but English) jargon, what would you say? I would definitely ask for a translation!

Gosh, I couldn't really say now (I was staying in Dumfries)but I know for sure it wasn't Kirkcudbury (sp) as I visited there later on. I didn't actually speak to any locals though so I couldn't vouch for the accent from a Sassenach point of view .

Kirkcudbright, sally

my (Scottish)friend 1st day GP "och ah've goat a skelf oan ma pinkie gonnae git it oot"

LOL he hadn't a clue

was panicking.imagining worst

But jargon is something that needs translating, accent isn't. He was in Dundee - should he not have expected Scottish accents?

Splinter in little finger!

bingo ponders
see? it's easy!