Talking for Britain: A Journey Through the Voices of a NationDo you say gooseberries or goosegogs? Would you call someone hen, my luvver or me duck? Do you like to eat a cob, butty or just a plain sarnie? And do you know what a grockle is? Using material from the BBC's ground-breaking Voices survey, Talking for Britain explores regional English in the twenty-first century, painting a vivid portrait of the British people and uncovering fascinating facts about local language. We may think that English is becoming homogenized as words such as chav and knackered spread across the country, but there is still surprising regional variation. How, for example, would you describe someone who is a bit moody? In Barrow-in-Furness you might say that they are narky, while in the Midlands they're probably mardy. In Scotland they might be crabbit, but in Northern Ireland they could well be feeling distinctly thrawn. A fascinating and superbly browsable book, Talking for Britain proves that regional English is very much alive and well - and constantly changing. |
Contents
CORNWALL I | 1 |
THE WEST OF ENGLAND | 24 |
LONDON AND THE SOUTHEAST | 49 |
Copyright | |
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Common terms and phrases
accent amongst Anglian Annalong Belfast boot Bristol Bristolian Britain chav Cockney Cockney rhyming slang coom Cornish Cornwall Cumbrian Derbyshire Devon distinctive drunk east England English Dialects expression Gaelic Geordie ginnel Glossary glottal stops heard industry interviewed Irish knaw Lancashire Lancastrian landscape language linguistic listen Liverpool lives liyke London Lutton meaning Middle English Midlands miles nineteenth century Norfolk Northern Ireland Northumbrian Nottinghamshire Old English Old Norse Old Scots older origin Pitmatic pronounced pronunciation recorded rhyming slang rural Scotland Scottish Scouse Snapshot sound speak speakers Stanley Ellis story Suffolk Survey of English talk term TH-fronting thass there's town urban usage Valleys vernacular village vocabulary Voices survey vowel Wales Welsh English Welsh language Welsh word yerr Yorkshire young