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Question about British accents

(93 Posts)
CanadianGran Wed 31-Aug-22 23:54:37

I have been watching the Great British Bake Off; we see it one season behind the UK. BTW, please don't tell me who wins... we are just at the semi-finals!

Getting back to accents, there is a colourful woman called Lizzie on the show that I have a very hard time understanding. Apparently she is from Liverpool. I have met a few people from there (and the Beatles were my idol), and to me she has a very different accent.

Are there different accents within one city? Just curious.

Mizuna Thu 01-Sept-22 00:43:58

Some of the Liverpool accents are much stronger than others and harder to understand. I really love the accent, makes me very nostalgic, but when I lived there I went to a hairdressing training school full of young Liverpudlian women with such strong accents I could hardly understand them!

nanna8 Thu 01-Sept-22 00:46:07

For a while I lived in Warrington and you could pick out people from different small towns round there by their accents so,yes, I am sure there are. One lot used to say, ‘ skewl’’ for school, maybe Leigh ?

yggdrasil Thu 01-Sept-22 08:34:25

I lived for a while in Worcester. It was clear where people came from, the south of the city was Gloucestershire while the north was pure Black Country.

Visgir1 Thu 01-Sept-22 09:10:23

Recently work with a young chap with a thick Liverpool accent.
Here in the South we don't get to hear it much.
After a while you do tune in and it's a pleasure hearing.

Yammy Thu 01-Sept-22 09:29:37

I live in the Northwest of England part of my true accent can be understood by Scots, Irish, Liverpudlians and my own area, move twenty miles inland and it is completely different. The word Skewl is the way I would say school and I cook not cuck.
Liverpudlian accents are regional in their own city just like the rest of our country

Greyduster Thu 01-Sept-22 09:33:47

Yes it does vary. I find some Liverpudlians difficult to understand, but I had friends who lived on the Wirral and my hairdresser was from nearby Birkenhead and, while it was still obvious where they were from, they were all very easy to understand.

LauraNorderr Thu 01-Sept-22 09:37:56

I think in cities everywhere most accents are stronger in the inner cities and lighten the further from the centre you go.

BigBertha1 Thu 01-Sept-22 09:42:51

I have lived in several places in England but my London accent (not cockney) is picked up straight away especially up here in the North West - small town 20 miles so9uth from Warrington.

My niece is from Liverpool and I have to ask her several times what she has just said.

Callistemon21 Thu 01-Sept-22 09:44:56

I'm British CanadianGran but I often have to put subtitles on!

CanadianGran Thu 01-Sept-22 17:38:02

Thanks all; I'm sure there are lots of fans of the Baking Show here, so perhaps you remember who I mean. She is very cheerful and jokey, with hair half natural and half bright orange. I enjoy her on the show, but can't catch half of what she's saying!

It's all good fun. I'm fine with most accents, but I have a hard time with hers. My mum was from Jersey, so I'm sure I must have had a bit of an accent myself as a toddler before school.

grandtanteJE65 Thu 01-Sept-22 17:49:34

In Glasgow the answer to your question is most assuredly "Yes".

And outside the city itself anyone brought up as I was in the greater Glasgow area can recognise a person from Giffnock, Newton Mearns, Paisley, or farther afield from Rutherglen or Motherwell instantly. Or going down the Clyde, Govan, Gourock and Greenock .

I believe the same can be said by any inhabitant of Edinburgh of the various local variations there too.

Fleurpepper Thu 01-Sept-22 17:56:24

Don't watch bake off our of respect for friends who lost lots of money when Paul went bankrupt- which he has never repaid even though he is now very rich.

So not sure who you are talking about. Liverpool/scouse accent can be very hard to understand, and the 'ck' endings turned into very guttural 'rrrrr' sound.

JaneJudge Thu 01-Sept-22 17:57:58

you must do a tour of the UK, your mind will be blown smile

Grandma70s Thu 01-Sept-22 17:58:25

I have lived on the outskirts of Liverpool for a long time, and I can’t understand the accent if it’s strong. How anyone can find it pleasant is beyond me. I think it’s hideous!

growstuff Thu 01-Sept-22 17:59:03

CanadianGran

Thanks all; I'm sure there are lots of fans of the Baking Show here, so perhaps you remember who I mean. She is very cheerful and jokey, with hair half natural and half bright orange. I enjoy her on the show, but can't catch half of what she's saying!

It's all good fun. I'm fine with most accents, but I have a hard time with hers. My mum was from Jersey, so I'm sure I must have had a bit of an accent myself as a toddler before school.

Her name was Lizzie and I think comes from Halewood, which is in south Liverpool. I didn't have any problem with understanding her, although her accent was quite strong. I was born and brought up on the Wirral and I can differentiate between Merseyside accents.

CanadianGran Thu 01-Sept-22 19:42:20

Yes, that was Lizzie.

JaneJudge... I would love to!

hollysteers Thu 01-Sept-22 20:13:03

My Liverpudlian mother could tell the by their accent if someone was from the north or south of the city. She herself had a soft, not unpleasant accent (think Beatles).
I believe the accent has changed over the years and not for the better, or maybe I’m just getting old. It can be so loud and raucous.
Doesn’t matter how much effort you put into dressing up, if you open your mouth and make people’s ears bleed, you have wasted your time.

Chrissyoh Thu 01-Sept-22 20:29:29

Grandma70s

I have lived on the outskirts of Liverpool for a long time, and I can’t understand the accent if it’s strong. How anyone can find it pleasant is beyond me. I think it’s hideous!

& your accent is ……??? ?
Obviously lovely to all ears !

Nannagarra Thu 01-Sept-22 20:38:42

I live in Sefton which borders the city so am familiar with the accent. Nevertheless, I have to ask my friend to ‘translate’ if someone from the inner city speaks to us, particularly if they are speaking quite fast. She finds it hilarious!

Mapleleaf Thu 01-Sept-22 20:44:30

Accents can differ widely within just a few miles of where I live, so yes, I’d say that the same is very likely in other parts of the UK.

LOUISA1523 Thu 01-Sept-22 21:14:39

Grandma70s

I have lived on the outskirts of Liverpool for a long time, and I can’t understand the accent if it’s strong. How anyone can find it pleasant is beyond me. I think it’s hideous!

?

25Avalon Thu 01-Sept-22 21:20:11

When I first came to Bristol many years ago one of the staff could tell which part of the City anybody came from by their accent. It’s not the same now though.

Grandma70s Thu 01-Sept-22 21:22:18

LOUISA1523

Grandma70s

I have lived on the outskirts of Liverpool for a long time, and I can’t understand the accent if it’s strong. How anyone can find it pleasant is beyond me. I think it’s hideous!

?

Aren’t I allowed to think that? Why not? It’s just an opinion.

Chrissyoh Thu 01-Sept-22 21:37:19

???