# North/South London accents



## vauxhallmum (Sep 15, 2009)

Mr VM insists there is a distinct difference between a typical North London accent and South London accent, however, he can't demonstrate the difference 

Can anyone tell me in what way they differ? What words/ vowels/ consonants actually sound different?

I've lived here all my life and I can't tell.


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## vauxhallmum (Sep 15, 2009)

He's now trying to tell me Suggs has a 'typical' North London accent, but to me he could come from Bow or Catford or any of those

Or have I just got crap ears?


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## Leafster (Sep 15, 2009)

vauxhallmum said:


> He's now trying to tell me Suggs has a 'typical' North London accent, but to me he could come from Bow or Catford or any of those
> 
> Or have I just got crap ears?


Wasn't he brought up in Hastings? 

And to answer your question, I can't tell the difference but then I'm a Home Counties boy!


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## vauxhallmum (Sep 15, 2009)

No, he's from Eltham, or Sarf, in his language


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## vauxhallmum (Sep 15, 2009)

Oh, sorry, Mr VM is from Eltham. Not Suggs


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## spanglechick (Sep 15, 2009)

There are differences.  At acting school we were taught the difference between South London accents and East End accents.  

A south london accent has long, strong, elided vowel sounds - think of an ice skater travelling in a series of elongated, smooth steps.  Conversely, an east london accent is stacatto - like a boxer training with a punching bag.  Short, but very strong vowel sounds.  

East london accents are also more lateral than other london accents: say an 'eee' sound with a wide mouth, showing lots of top teeth - that position is quite dominant in east london accents - and also in essex ones, though as the accent travells out of the city the vowel itself becomes less strong in relation to the consonants.  East london also has a tendancy to a non-rotive 'r'.

however, even born and bred londoners are more nomadic now, and immigrant populations have massively influenced accent.  The modern peckham accent is unrecognisable from that of even 20 years ago.


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## Greenfish (Sep 15, 2009)

i sweat to God Bermondsey has got its OWN accent.  North London has one, mainly posh.


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## Greenfish (Sep 15, 2009)

spanglechick said:


> There are differences.  At acting school we were taught the difference between South London accents and East End accents.
> 
> A south london accent has long, strong, elided vowel sounds - think of an ice skater travelling in a series of elongated, smooth steps.  Conversely, an east london accent is stacatto - like a boxer training with a punching bag.  Short, but very strong vowel sounds.
> 
> ...



fascinating, thank you.


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## Upchuck (Sep 15, 2009)

I have a good ear for Wood Green accents.


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## wtfftw (Sep 15, 2009)

My grannie says my accent has changed since I moved to north london (from south) 7 years ago. It's the vowels but I wouldn't be able to tell you how.


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## Mrs Magpie (Sep 15, 2009)

There is a difference. Can't put my finger on it though. My son's girlfriend (Norf) sounds different from my son (Sahf) but having worked in schools both sides of the river, the biggest difference is the slang.


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## Puddy_Tat (Sep 15, 2009)

Certainly when I was growing up in SE London and until I moved away (until about 20 years ago) I could - with some degree of accuracy - tell roughly where someone was from in London - Croydon sounded different to outer SE London, which sounded different to (say) Bermondseyish, which sounded different to East End and so on.

But I can't exactly explain the differences.

And as others have said, it's got a lot less noticeable over the last 20 years or more.  Combination of people moving more, more universal telly, people mixing more with first and second generation immigrants, and so on.

I am told that at one time, it was possible to place someone to within a few streets by their accent / slang.


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## wtfftw (Sep 16, 2009)

Everyone knew each other then though, so they were probably cheating. 


I'd forgotten about croydon. An ex is from there.


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## toblerone3 (Sep 16, 2009)

.


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## Pip (Sep 16, 2009)

spanglechick said:


> There are differences.  At acting school we were taught the difference between South London accents and East End accents.
> 
> A south london accent has long, strong, elided vowel sounds - think of an ice skater travelling in a series of elongated, smooth steps.  Conversely, an east london accent is stacatto - like a boxer training with a punching bag.  Short, but very strong vowel sounds.
> 
> ...



That's very interesting 

I used to think there was, but now I'm not so sure.


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## upsidedownwalrus (Sep 16, 2009)

vauxhallmum said:


> Mr VM insists there is a distinct difference between a typical North London accent and South London accent, however, he can't demonstrate the difference
> 
> Can anyone tell me in what way they differ? What words/ vowels/ consonants actually sound different?
> 
> I've lived here all my life and I can't tell.



There definitely is a 'cockney' accent which is from sarf London which is different to 'proper' cockney.  And then there's the norf London cockney from places like Chingford which is different again...


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## Andy the Don (Sep 16, 2009)

Greenfish said:


> i sweat to God Bermondsey has got its OWN accent. North London has one, mainly posh.


 
Very noticable when they use any word ending in "th", example being "month" which folks from Bermondsey say as "monf".

There is also difference between South East London accents and South West London accents..


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## Miss-Shelf (Sep 16, 2009)

east london accent now is heavily influenced by Bengali/Sylheti sounds where it used to be influence by Jewish- Yiddish sounds - so there's an age difference in accents - not too sure where the age divide line is - people of 50+ sound v different from under 30's accents

know what spanglechick means about the staccato sounds


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## London_Calling (Sep 16, 2009)

spanglechick said:


> East london also has a tendancy to a non-rotive 'r'.


I don't know what that is but doesn't east and south east London have, what I call, a baby-talk 'r'. Maybe that's what you're referring to . . .


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## ovaltina (Sep 16, 2009)

I've lived in both for years (not at the same time obv) and there's a difference but, again, I couldn't explain what it is. North is definetly more posh.


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## vauxhallmum (Sep 16, 2009)

Andy the Don said:


> Very noticable when they use any word ending in "th", example being "month" which folks from Bermondsey say as "monf".
> 
> There is also difference between South East London accents and South West London accents..



But someone from say, Tottenham would say Monf as well


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## Griff (Sep 16, 2009)

Being from East London, I could certainly tell the difference between the two. Can't describe what it is though. 

My wife says I don't have a London accent at all any more.


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## Pip (Sep 16, 2009)

ovaltina said:


> I've lived in both for years (not at the same time obv) and there's a difference but, again, I couldn't explain what it is. North is definetly more posh.



What about when you compare like with like? There may be more posh people in North London (although I doubt it), but do two people with identical backgrounds from different parts of London sound different? There's a good chance they do, but I don't think it's got much to do with geography. I think a lot of the time the differences in accent we attribute to North or South Londoners is just coincidental IYSWIM. 
Me and my best friend grew up on two different estates in South London about fifteen minutes from each other, and our accents are very different - both South London but noticeably dissimilar.


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## vauxhallmum (Sep 16, 2009)

Pip said:


> What about when you compare like with like? There may be more posh people in North London (although I doubt it), but do two people with identical backgrounds from different parts of London sound different? There's a good chance they do, but I don't think it's got much to do with geography. I think a lot of the time the differences in accent we attribute to North or South Londoners is just coincidental IYSWIM.




My argument exactly, only better put


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## Pip (Sep 16, 2009)

vauxhallmum said:


> My argument exactly, only better put



It might have been true when there was less travelling, but these days I don't buy it. We like to see patterns though don't we - look at how superstitions start.

Btw I'll film her and me - and then my brother who has a much, much broader version of my accent - to illustrate my point if anyone wants


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## tarannau (Sep 16, 2009)

There's definitely a separate 'cockernee' South London accent, as opposed to the 'propah' East End version. Lots of rhyming slang and a fierce pride in the authenticity of South London's accent. 

That said, it's a dying group. Just like many others, social mobility and gentrification has pretty much killed off such differentials. There are problem minor differences now, but I'd bre lying to say that I could easily pick them apart.


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## ovaltina (Sep 16, 2009)

Pip said:


> We like to see patterns though don't we - look at how superstitions start.



Maybe that's it - I can't think of an example of how they're different accents so it could be down to perception. Will have to listen out next time I'm in north London


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## Minnie_the_Minx (Sep 16, 2009)

I can't tell the difference at all, but then I never go to North London. 

When I moved to London people told me I had a Southend accent, yet when I lived in Southend, people told me I had a London accent.


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## Griff (Sep 16, 2009)

Just asked at work, and I indeed do still have a London accent according to them.


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## Minnie_the_Minx (Sep 16, 2009)

vauxhallmum said:


> But someone from say, Tottenham would say Monf as well


 

so would people from South London and people from Essex


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## Pip (Sep 16, 2009)

ovaltina said:


> Maybe that's it - I can't think of an example of how they're different accents so it could be down to perception. Will have to listen out next time I'm in north London



If I was to tell you I was from West London and aforementioned pal from East London, you might well think "ahhhh, there's an East/West accent" and labour under the impression that West Londoners have lazier Rs (or whatever) for the rest of your life 

As it happens my mum was bought up in West London and hers in East London, and their accents probably did influence our own. I've also got more posh friends than her, which I'm sure has a similar effect, or did somewhere down the line.

It could also be that people from certain parts of London are more transient than others. I know people from North and East London who'll never move far because that's where their respective communities are based.


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## London_Calling (Sep 16, 2009)

What about the West Indian influence - that's only been around for about 10 years. Seems very estate-centric in my experience, is it also south ?


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## Griff (Sep 16, 2009)

Well my dad from was Northern Ireland and my mum's a Geordie which probably had something to define my 'East London' accent.


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## spanglechick (Sep 16, 2009)

London_Calling said:


> What about the West Indian influence - that's *only been around for about 10 years*. Seems very estate-centric in my experience, is it also south ?


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## Minnie_the_Minx (Sep 16, 2009)

Griff said:


> Well my dad from was Northern Ireland and my mum's a Geordie which probably had something to define my 'East London' accent.


 

That's a shame, a Geordie accent is nice.

Some Northern Irish ones are nice but.... 


















is twistedAM around?


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## ovaltina (Sep 16, 2009)

Pip said:


> I've also got more posh friends than her, which I'm sure has a similar effect, or did somewhere down the line.



I lived just outside Leeds for a few years when I was about two or three and then we moved to north London. Loads of people were taking the piss so I decided to try and talk like Margaret Thatcher (because she was on the telly all the time). Then my parents started taking the piss too.

I do tend to tune into peoples' accents. There's a woman at work with a strong West Country accent (might be Dorset) and I can't help taking bits of it on when I'm talking to her - I bet she thinks I'm taking the piss but I'm not.


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## Pip (Sep 16, 2009)

London_Calling said:


> What about the West Indian influence - that's only been around for about 10 years. Seems very estate-centric in my experience, is it also south ?



It's been around for considerably longer than 10 years 

I think what you mean is that under 25 inner city accent. That isn't confined to South or North London, you hear it everywhere (and often from the mouths of affected middle class kids). I never understand why it's said to be influenced by West Indian accents though - me and my brother and our friends sound nothing like a 20 or 30 or 40 or 50 year old Jamaican.


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## sheothebudworths (Sep 16, 2009)

I have a North London accent.....it's pretty much just an unpleasant nasal whine. 

People often used to think I was Australian when I was travelling outside the UK. 

My ex seems to find it hilarious when I say sandwich and quite often tries to trick me into saying it for his own amusement. 
He thinks I say 'saaaaaaaaaanwich', but I don't I just say it right, as opposed to his West Mids version, which is clearly wrong.


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## Pip (Sep 16, 2009)

Like Supernanny? I would have said she had a North London accent, but then my boyfriend told me she had a North London Jewish accent, which is when I started to doubt everything I believed.


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## Minnie_the_Minx (Sep 16, 2009)

Pip said:


> Like Supernanny? I would have said she had a North London accent, but then my boyfriend told me she had a North London Jewish accent, which is when I started to doubt everything I believed.


 


It's not asseptible


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## tarannau (Sep 16, 2009)

Unless you say milk like 'miwk' you ain't a proper Londoner

I love the idea that West Indians have only influenced 'the yoot' in the last 10 years.


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## Pip (Sep 16, 2009)

Minnie_the_Minx said:


> It's not asseptible



It's not, in fact it's complete UNASSEPTABLE 
As an aside, I'm ambiguously beige enough for everyone to ask me "what are you? Where are you from?" my whole life and I kept seeing these exotic North Londoners who also looked like me. I thought we formed our own little sexy ambigious sub group and one day they'd show me the secret handshake, but it turns out they're just Jewish and I'm alone in the world again


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## Pip (Sep 16, 2009)

tarannau said:


> Unless you say milk like 'miwk' you ain't a proper Londoner
> 
> I love the idea that West Indians have only influenced 'the yoot' in the last 10 years.



Like in 1999 we all went "you know what, screw Chaz and Dave, Vybz Kartel has got it going ON".


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## ovaltina (Sep 16, 2009)

Pip said:


> North London Jewish accent.



There are different subsets in that accent too - I know lots of north London Jews in their early 30s who have BBC accents and sound very different to their parents (apart from a word or turn of phrase that crops up once in a while)


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## Pip (Sep 16, 2009)

ovaltina said:


> There are different subsets in that accent too - I know lots of north London Jews in their early 30s who have BBC accents and sound very different to their parents *(apart from a word or turn of phrase that crops up once in a while)*



I think that could be parental influence too though, my boyfriend's got a definite East London gawwwwd that he didn't get in Elstree and that's for sure.

Edit: oh right, that's what you're saying. But yeah, there are so many things that accents are shaped by, that's it's impossible to try and draw up an accent map.


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## Griff (Sep 16, 2009)

tarannau said:


> I love the idea that West Indians have only influenced 'the yoot' in the last 10 years.



It was happening when I was at school in the late '70s.


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## tarannau (Sep 16, 2009)

He's a bit of a cock that LondonCalling and make no mistake. Loving the 'estate-centric' sneer as well, possibly written when taking out his monocle and reconsidering his username.


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## London_Calling (Sep 16, 2009)

Pip said:


> I think what you mean is that under 25 inner city accent. That isn't confined to South or North London, you hear it everywhere (and often from the mouths of affected middle class kids).


Yep, that's what I mean. At least you agree it is affected by some. Fwiw, I don't hear it around the country. In my experience it is London based,  and  estate based.

It's quite fascinating to listen to the accents on busses as the kids get off at different stops.


Pip said:


> I never understand why it's said to be influenced by West Indian accents though - me and my brother and our friends sound nothing like a 20 or 30 or 40 or 50 year old Jamaican.


I do. Hey ho.

Fwiw, I have no idea where Jo Frost went to schoool but she was born in south west London of a London father and a Gibraltarian mother - I've never seen any mention of Jewishness?


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## Treacle Toes (Sep 16, 2009)

London_Calling said:


> *What about the West Indian influence - that's only been around for about 10 years*.


What are you talking about? 10 years?  




> Seems very estate-centric in my experience, is it also south ?


 What?


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## London_Calling (Sep 16, 2009)

tarannau said:


> He's a bit of a cock that LondonCalling and make no mistake. Loving the 'estate-centric' sneer as well, possibly written when taking out his monocle and reconsidering his username.


Not playing. Go and sit on the naughty step for two minutes and practice a  convincing sneer.


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## Pip (Sep 16, 2009)

London_Calling said:


> Yep, that's what I mean. At least you agree it is affected by some. Fwiw, I don't hear it around the country. In my experience it is London based,  and  estate based.
> 
> It's quite fascinating to listen to the accents on busses as the kids get off at different stops.
> 
> ...



Oh well, that just goes to show that you can't attribute anything to anything.

BTW I'd be genuinely interested in what makes you think these "estate accents" (please fucking stop saying that btw ) sound West Indian. I don't mean appropriated slang words, but the actual sound and speech patterns etc.


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## London_Calling (Sep 16, 2009)

IIRC, I suppose I first noticed it when the whole Yardie gangsta thing was playing big about, like I say, about 10 years ago. May have been longer. All of a sudden the yoof had yards instead of bedrooms and began with the accent as well.


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## tarannau (Sep 16, 2009)

Sweet Bejesus, the man's a bone fide idiot.

(I can say that with or without my 'estate accent' if you like)


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## Pip (Sep 16, 2009)

London_Calling said:


> IIRC, I suppose I first noticed it when the whole Yardie gangsta thing was playing big about, like I say, about 10 years ago. May have been longer. All of a sudden the yoof had yards instead of bedrooms and *began with the accent as well*.



Really? REALLY? Are you sure? English children started speaking in a West Indian accent and didn't get laughed out of town?


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## tarannau (Sep 16, 2009)

Ach, they may get laughed at but it happens.

I reckon at least half the youthful population of Croydon say 'akse' rather than 'ask' these day. I doesn't half vex me, the nincompoops.


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## London_Calling (Sep 16, 2009)

REALLY?

Yes, it's cool to talk like a gangster when you're a schoolboy


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## Griff (Sep 16, 2009)

I think the accent LondonCalling is talking about is prevalent across the whole South East with teenagers. I've heard it from kids on trains in deepest Hertfordshire who have never been on an 'estate' let alone mixed with a Jamaican kid.


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## Pip (Sep 16, 2009)

tarannau said:


> Ach, they may get laughed at but it happens.
> 
> I reckon at least half the youthful population of Croydon say 'akse' rather than 'ask' these day. I doesn't half vex me, the nincompoops.



I nearly gave my grandma an aneurysm when I said "arksted him" when I was a little kid (over ten years ago, London_Calling) . I still don't think the accent we're talking about bears any resemblance to West Indian accents.


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## Stoat Boy (Sep 16, 2009)

I reckon I can tell the difference for white people over the age of 30 but anybody younger and I would not have a clue.


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## London_Calling (Sep 16, 2009)

Pip said:


> I still don't think the accent we're talking about bears any resemblance to West Indian accents.


Maybe we're talking about different things.

A phrase I saw on Wiki that I haven't come across before was 'London-Caribbean':


> The arrival of large scale immigration to England has produced another layer of regional accents that have merged with the accents of immigrants. Such examples include London-Caribbean, West Yorkshire mixed with Pakistani, Indian and Bangladeshi.


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## tarannau (Sep 16, 2009)

'Aksed' is a West Indian thing though Pip. I had it drilled out of me as a nipper - my folks wanting me to aspire to a Trevor McD style Windies accent. 

It's an inauthentic, slightly laughably interpreted West Indian accent perhaps, but there's definitely a strong influence


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## Pip (Sep 16, 2009)

Tarannau, I respect your opinion and wisdom on the matter more than most, but I'm still not entirely convinced. Arksed and yard and a whole host of other words may well have travelled from the Caribbean, but language is more than words. The sounds are totally different.


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## London_Calling (Sep 16, 2009)

I'm confused as to who's sneering at whom atm 


(((Sir Trev)))


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## Minnie_the_Minx (Sep 16, 2009)

London_Calling said:


> It's quite fascinating to listen to the accents on busses as the kids get off at different stops.


 
Going through Dulwich when school's finished is great for that


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## Pip (Sep 16, 2009)

London_Calling said:


> I'm confused as to who's sneering at whom atm
> 
> 
> (((Sir Trev)))



I don't think anyone's sneering at Trevor


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## Griff (Sep 16, 2009)

We have a girl at work from Mauritiaus whose English is superb, but says 'arks', (so pronounced that so many people have picked her up on it) so not sure if its _purely_ Caribbean.


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## dtb (Sep 16, 2009)

there is a definite difference between north and south london accents, if you're a londoner then it's quite easy to pick up otherwise you might not notice.


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## Minnie_the_Minx (Sep 16, 2009)

dtb said:


> there is a definite difference between north and south london accents, if you're a londoner then it's quite easy to pick up otherwise you might not notice.


 

I think you'll see that there's quite a few Londoners on here who can't tell the difference


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## London_Calling (Sep 16, 2009)

Minnie_the_Minx said:


> I think you'll see that there's quite a few Londoners on here who can't tell the difference


I wonder if the problem is not so much people moving around - which may be part of it -  but they're not comparing like with like. 

If you took a genuine, all-their-life, working class north London accent and compared that with a southern counterpart it might be easier. It's just that so many people speak a kind of generic London you think they're life-long Londoners but are not.

Fwiw, if you want a genuine 1970s Peckham or Bermondsey accent nowadays, you're better off on the  gated communities heading out towards Orpington and Biggin Hill. Or Malaga.


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## vauxhallmum (Sep 16, 2009)

dtb said:


> there is a definite difference between north and south london accents, if you're a londoner then it's quite easy to pick up otherwise you might not notice.




Londoner born and bred and I honestly can't tell and I don't think I'm alone.

Of course I can tell the difference between posh and not posh but that's a different thing, isn't it


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## Pip (Sep 16, 2009)

tarannau said:


> Unless you say milk like 'miwk' you ain't a proper Londoner
> 
> I love the idea that West Indians have only influenced 'the yoot' in the last 10 years.



Miwls on wiwls


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## London_Calling (Sep 16, 2009)

Pip said:


> Miwls on wiwls


You're aving a giwarfe, luv.


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## madshadow (Sep 22, 2009)

All characters in 'Nil by Mouth' - I'd say very south london. Cant think of a good north london example... maybe Colin Firth in 'Fever Pitch'? or Poppy and her workmates in 'happy go lucky' ? dunno... when I came to ldn 1st all sounded the same. I had a nightmare job in irish pub with landlord, 2 fellow Irishmen and 2 blokes from county durham... couldnt understand a word. (im serbian btw...) Ive developed an ear for this over years, nowdays I can spot a muswell hill accent from a mile


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## Treacle Toes (Sep 22, 2009)

London_Calling said:


> IIRC, I suppose I first noticed it when the whole Yardie gangsta thing was playing big about, like I say, about 10 years ago. May have been longer. All of a sudden the yoof had yards instead of bedrooms and began with the accent as well.



Oh so that was YOUR first contact/knowledge of Caribbean people in London then? They didn't exist or have an influence before the rise of 'Yardie' gangsters?

Makes sense then why you only accept their influence for the last 10 years...

What about lingustic influences through music? Surely your memory is not that bad?


Seriously mate...


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## London_Calling (Sep 22, 2009)

The conversation was about the influences on yoof accents. The populist media portrayal of 'Yardie gangsters' was significant at that time because it glamorised, and boys in particular were drawn to it as before they had been drawn to other working class sub-cultures like football hooliganism,  skinheads, mods, etc. The Yardie one happened to have an accent rather than a haircut.

Tell me what you see as linguistic influences through music, say, pre 1995?


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## Treacle Toes (Sep 22, 2009)

London_Calling said:


> Tell me what you see as linguistic influences through music, say, pre 1995?



 I believe you personally might relate to.


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## Treacle Toes (Sep 22, 2009)

Oh and 
I don' like cricket'ta...I love it'ta!


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## London_Calling (Sep 22, 2009)




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## Pip (Sep 22, 2009)

Can anyone honestly hear any discernible difference between these ?


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## Treacle Toes (Sep 22, 2009)

London_Calling said:


>



Thought you'd like that...


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## Pip (Sep 22, 2009)

Rutita1 said:


> I believe you personally might relate to.





Very good.


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## Doppelgänger (Sep 22, 2009)

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned Estuary English, which is broadly spoken in East London, South Essex, South East London and North Kent. This accent bridges the north/south gap, but is a pretty neutral accent on the whole and most people from outside South East England would struggle to place it.


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## Nixon (Sep 22, 2009)

I've met quite a few Frenchies who think the South London accent is well sexy.He he.I wish I was joking.


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## Pip (Sep 22, 2009)

Nixon said:


> I've met quite a few Frenchies who think the South London accent is well sexy.He he.I wish I was joking.



I'm glad you're not


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## London_Calling (Sep 22, 2009)




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## Stobart Stopper (Sep 22, 2009)

West Ham fans have their own distinctive accent.


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## 萌_wendy (Aug 23, 2012)

*I can't understand British accent, why is that?*

Hi! I'm from China and i'm leraning english and i have been watching alot of british movies but i can't understand what the characters say although i can understand american english/accent quite well =/ is it me or british accent is hard to understand? will i get used to it or something?

Thank you and sorry about my english.......Now, the UK movies I've been watching may be in any of the following accents: Cockney, Estuary, Received Pronunciation (RP).I am not sure.... Cockney is hard to understand.The Geordie from Newcastle, Scouser from Liverpool, Glaswegian...All of these accents are strong,difficult to understand..........


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## Favelado (Aug 23, 2012)

萌_wendy said:


> *I can't understand British accent, why is that?*
> 
> Hi! I'm from China and i'm learning english and i have been watching alot of british movies but i can't understand what the characters say although i can understand american english/accent quite well =/ is it me or british accent is hard to understand? will i get used to it or something?
> 
> Thank you and sorry about my english.......Now, the UK movies I've been watching may be in any of the following accents: Cockney, Estuary, Received Pronunciation (RP).I am not sure.... Cockney is hard to understand.The Geordie from Newcastle, Scouser from Liverpool, Glaswegian...All of these accents are strong,difficult to understand..........


 
Wendy, it's probably that you have more exposure overall to American accents through music and film and now training your ear to British accents is more difficult. There are some other factors too. If you watch an American film, it will probably be a Hollywood one. It is likely to feature a relatively generic type of English and not feature excessive amounts of slang or local dialect. On the other hand, If you watch the American TV series "The Wire", you will be just as confused as if you were watching a film about people from Glasgow, as this series is full of strong accents and dialect. Conversely, if you watch "Four Weddings and a Funeral" the British English in that would be relatively easy for you to understand.

A higher proportion of British films are about working class lives and make a point of featuring local slang and accents. From "Trainspotting", to "Billy Elliot" to "Snatch" the local dialect is a feature of the film, rather than something incidental.

There are some cases where people just find British or American English more difficult to understand when learning the language, and it tends to be a 50/50 split. One isn't necessarily more difficult than the other, it depends on the person too.

There are lots of native speakers of English who would struggle to understand some British dialects, so don't put pressure on yourself to understand it all too quickly. Watching the film with English subtitles helps you to connect the sounds to the words, so don't feel like you've failed by putting the subtitles on, it's a good thing to do

Just keep practising and it will get easier bit by bit.


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