Dialects and lazy speech - there is a difference

My dad's mum called me duck.
At least that's what it sounded like.

FannyCornforth

‘Duck’ is very much East Midlands.
Wlm S. is more likely to have said ‘chick’ or ‘bab’

I'm West Midlands and we said "duck", me duck
?

Re: ? Apparently it comes from ‘dock’ or something similar, (I don’t know the exact word. I don’t have time to find out at the mo) which is Old English for love.

Ah Callistemon! I remember we’ve had this conversation before.
Apologies, chick

I love Hen.
My exes 2 girls used to call me that.

Yes, hen is gorgeous.

FannyCornforth

Ah Callistemon! I remember we’ve had this conversation before.
Apologies, chick

All reet me duck

I had a feeling of déjà vu aiussi
That's posh because it's French!

aussi

Not Aussie

I’m with those few, it would appear, who have no problem with regional accents, (God knows, I have one myself) but would prefer clarity and precision from national tv presenters and announcers. As a Highland Scot who has gone on to live in Glasgow and several different parts of England and Wales, I have encountered and enjoyed many different regional accents. But there is a world of difference between those who speak clearly, whilst using all the vocabulary, pronunciation and intonation specific to their dialects, and those who speak lazily: slurring their words and making no allowances for the listener. Surely the whole point of speaking is communication? It’s fine to speak as you wish amongst your cronies who will always understand your utterances, but in other circumstances it’s no more than common sense and good manners to ensure you are understood by the individual(s) whom you are addressing. If there’s any snobbishness involved, it’s on the part of those who hold their audiences in contempt by refusing to make any allowances to aid comprehension.

I like to listen to different accents and dialects.

would prefer clarity and precision from national tv presenters and announcers
However, pronouncing words clearly is of paramount importance.

Some presenters seem to 'swallow' the ends of their words which I find annoying.

There are people who speak "correct" English but whose diction is poor and makes them hard to understand.

There are also people who speak in regional accents and use what some consider "incorrect" English, but who are perfectly understandable, even if they say things such as foree five rather than forty-five.

In my opinion, the latter make perfectly good presenters, and it is good that presenters do not all speak RE, given that most British people don't speak it.
Be proud of the richness of our language.

It seems so lazy to only want to hear one version

I agree I think it’s appalling. I come from East London but my mother would soon pick us up on it if we started saying things like ain’t or wort-er. I hate it when people say things like you done, you was, etc. instead of the correct words. It makes me cringe.

No, she is quite correct. Most people, especially younger ones don’t know how to pronounce the letter ‘T’.
It’s become everyday accepted last speech and it’s very sad.

Sorry, I’m as bad. ‘It’s become everyday accepted speech’

Matthew:7 vv1-3

Perhaps you could post a quote or link to save us getting our Bibles out?

My little grandson, his mum comes from further north than Watford, corrects me when I say bath, “there’s no ‘r’ in bath Nanny, or path or laugh” ?. There wasn’t where my parents came from either but they worked hard to lose their accent. It’s all a bit silly in my opinion. I like the ‘different’ dialects we hear on the BBC these days. My parents were snobs and I am not.

Germanshepherdsmum

Perhaps you could post a quote or link to save us getting our Bibles out?

I would have thought you could guess

"Judge not less that ye be judged"

People do speak in different registers depending on where they are or who they are with. At grammar school I learnt to speak in one register and spoke in another at home. Richard Hoggart mentions this in 'The Uses of Literacy' which I read as a working class pupil.

I has the misfortune to catch Eastenders last night....the way the female child spoke using scripted colloquialisms didn't sit quite right at all. In my experience, children of this age (I guess she was about 7 or 8) don't speak like this at all. It was irritating. I think Eastenders is trying too hard@ ?

That's how I would sound if I tried to speak "properly".
So, I just speak how I always have; in my first visit to Scotland, the young woman in the cafe at the airport screamed with joy when she heard me talk.
She called her friend from out the back so she could listen to my dulcet tones, too.

I have no problems with the way people speak. I do have problems with the written word when all sorts of abbreviations are used. For example, hasn't, wasn't, can't, which can be confusing for people who do not have English as a first language.

The glottal stop also exists in some Scottish accents, eg the Dundee one.

Yes, but it's far more satisfying to pick on estuary English.

Grantanow

People do speak in different registers depending on where they are or who they are with. At grammar school I learnt to speak in one register and spoke in another at home. Richard Hoggart mentions this in 'The Uses of Literacy' which I read as a working class pupil.

This exactly! I speak with a Norfolk accent. But because I have taught/teach so many foreign students, I have to completely flatten my accent/dialect/idioms etc because otherwise they don't understand me.

When I started doing this, I really felt very Hyacinth Bucket and fake, but I've heard myself on recordings (oral exams) and I just sound English. Not posh. But not me either.