Dialects and lazy speech - there is a difference

Nobody ever announced that colloquial Scots as spoken was banned by some 'master' at Westminster. Gaelic was only spoken in the West Highlands if that's what you mean. See Elegrans post.

Aveline

By the way paddyann who is this 'master at Westminster' who says we had to speak a certain way? Unfortunately you undermined your point.

I wonder if paddyann perhaps meant a hundred years ago or more, Aveline.

The same happened in Wales as the Welsh language was banned in any official documents, people speaking Welsh were not allowed in certain areas of employment.

Children heard speaking Welsh in school were forced to wear a Welsh Not even at the beginning of the 20th century. I remember a friend's mother saying she had to stand in the corner of the classroom with the Welsh Not around her neck as a punishment for speaking Welsh to another child.

Now, of course, every sign, every official letter, every official phone call is in Welsh first, English second.
Not easy when you're driving!

Glorianny

GagaJo

This is regional English, in a place I used to work in.

A divvnt knar.

Haway wi wa

Ironically, I also taught a boy in Spain who spoke that dialect.

Howway mon are ye sayin we divna kna taak proper up 'ere.?

LOL It took me three months when moving up north to be able to understand my students. Fabulous kids though. The best.

Local pronunciation such as the glottal stop is not lazy or stupid. What makes talk lazy and stupid are lies, limited vocabularies, poor reasoning, and lack of imagination.

Dialects are not the causes of the above. Ability to talk in a dialect is the same ability as fluency in any language.

GagaJo

This is regional English, in a place I used to work in.

A divvnt knar.

Haway wi wa

Ironically, I also taught a boy in Spain who spoke that dialect.

Howway mon are ye sayin we divna kna taak proper up 'ere.?

I am a Yorkshire lass through and through and a lot of us ( not all ) drop of H's, but I am sure there is lazy pronunciation amongst.

It doesn't bother, I look on it like I'd be hypocritical when I don't speak Queens English myself.

I didn't write "Ere, me old mucker, ave you eard about the quali'y ov mercy not bein strained? Yeah! It droppev as the gen'le rain..."
No I didn't. I spoke with a Midlands accent, so it would have sounded much more Black Country when I read it out.
Regards Wm Shakesper

When I was 10 our family moved from the East End of London to the Essex Coast. I had an accent but my parents picked up on any dropped letters and my mother was particularly hot on what she called rude words. When I went to Grammar school I stood out like a sore thumb as my London accent was quickly picked up on and my speech corrected. I'm glad it was but it's not all gone and living in the North West now I'm told I have a London accent but a bit posh. DH comes from a different part of London and has no accent. I just want to fit in wherever I live. I certainly feel that any humiliation in my school days which there was was worth it as speaking clearly was a big help in my career. I enjoy regional accents but am definitely a member of pendants corner when it comes to Grammar especially on the BBC.

Bad use of English right there.
My legs are all hot makes me sound as if I'm a centipede.

Crap, innit?
I'll pay for this by feeling terrible later.
My legs are all hot and itchy though.

Nor can I….

Irritable vowel syndrome.
I can't sleep.

MissAdventure, put it there pal !
that is an americanism, used to denote friendly greeting with hand extended.
for those who need a translation.
at work we had a frequent complainer who would start every phone call with, this is mrs boss. spell it.
b-o-s-s. spell it ! she would insist that the person on the other end spelt it, although she and her name were well known. then she'd go on about having irritable bowel syndrome. nothing to do with local govt, whom she was ringing. a colleague on eventually managing to end the call, slammed down the phone and announced, i'm not surprised she's got irritable bowel syndrome; she bl--dy irritates me.

Oh Hyacinth where's my smelling salts!

It wouldn’t in the south though.

The morning traffic presenter on Radio 2 pronounces all the shires as 'sheer',
Bedfordsheer, Lincolnsheer...
In our area, Lanarkshire, this would rhyme with fire.

Listening to how people talk in some of the southern states of America, Carolinas, Georgia, sometimes I detect very occasional English vowel sounds, so fleeting but definitely there. Interesting! my thoughts are those somewhat English sounding vowels, vestiges from early English settlers possibly! It's always interesting how accents evolve given we live in such a small country with umpteen different and varied accents influenced by centuries of immigration and then exporting many of those accents overseas by waves of emigration.

Well, not to put too fine a point on it, the announcer I have trouble understanding sometimes is the one with cerebral palsy.

It doesn't worry me to hear people talk in local accents but I do think that announcements on TV or radio should be understandable by all. When watching American dramas on TV I quite often have to use subtitles.

That is, not that’s is. I really am the most terrible proof reader.

MissAdventure

She is great, though, isn't she?
Her pained facial expressions; she is a wonderful actress.
I used to work for the woman I would imagine she was based on.

I think everyone knows someone like her. That’s is why the series is so successful, and not just in this country.

She is great, though, isn't she?
Her pained facial expressions; she is a wonderful actress.
I used to work for the woman I would imagine she was based on.

GagaJo

But the phrase, speak 'properly' implies that anything isn't proper. Which is a load of bo**ocks. It's all just language. If we are communicating well, the language is working fine.

That’s why I put ‘properly’ in inverted commas.

Hyacinth Bucket is the prime example of someone trying to do everything right, and not quite managing it. That includes speech, especially when she answers the telephone.

Nuffink, I believe is standard in these parts.

Much ado about nuthin