Sudbrooke News June 2013 - Lincolnshire County Council

The Old Codger................
In general I find most regional country accents
pleasant and they give a bit of character to the
speaker and add weight to whatever is being
related whether it is a story or description of
something. Before TV became so popular almost
every part of the country had it's own
accent and an expert could at once identify
from where in the UK the speaker originated .
(Mind you even an expert could be wrong. We
all remember The Yorkshire Ripper tapes and
boy did the expert get that one wrong !?).
The early days of TV had Ena Sharples and all
the cast of Coronation Street speaking in a
broad Yorkshire accent, as did the characters in Emerdale Farm as it was called
then. But over time all those accents seem to have been watered down and disappeared
and even these two very regional TV shows have lost their
verbal identity and so have people all over the country.
Our children today do not speak in the broad accents of our grandparents.
Certainly not in this area anyway. Some parts of the country have retained
watered down versions of accents, but nowhere near as strong as they were
fifty years ago. It is still possible to identity a Geordie, a Liverpudlian, Welshman,
Devonian, Yorkshireman or Scotsman by his accent and be reasonably
sure of an East Anglian. But try to pick out those who come from the south of
England and you will have much more difficulty and may well find it impossible
to pin down a location. There seems to be an opinion of those seeking to
achieve success in today's world that accents are out and it is better not to
have one.
There are however, some accents that positively irritate me. The Glaswegian
one for a start. I love the plots of "Taggart " that Scottish detective series on
TV but I am always two words behind the speaker trying to translate what they
have said, especially when they are excited. (Perhaps they could provide sub
titles ). In general I love the Scots accent and it is a fact that very many of the
best English teachers hail from Scotland (Miss Jean Brodie springs to mind).
Am I alone in detesting the French accent ?. Some ladies find the smarmy
voice of Charles Hasnovoice or Maurice Chevalier pleasant and sensual but like
Winston Churchill said of Charles de Gaulle. "I find myself irritated the moment
he opens his mouth" .... mind you, I feel slightly more appreciative of the
accent when Edith Piaf sings ....can't think why ??. (My wife has just grunted
disapprovingly).
The Cockney accent as spoken by Barbara Windsor in particular and by several
June 2013 http://parishes.lincolnshire.gov.uk/Sudbrooke/ Page 14