loppylugs 8,429 Posted November 12, 2015 Report Share Posted November 12, 2015 Thanks Scriv. I had a feeling it would not be flattering. (grin) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jonab 1,644 Posted January 16, 2018 Report Share Posted January 16, 2018 I don’t have an accent. Never have had an accent. I talk proper, it’s other people who have accents. In most of my, not inconsiderable, years I’ve thought that my way of speaking had remained pretty much the same. I could certainly tell the Nottingham accent whenever I left ‘Ucknall to visit the city. I quite speedily learnt to distinguish the nuances of intonation in different parts of ’Ucknall and certainly Boo-ull and Annslee. I went to college in Nottingham and it was noticed there that the way I spoke was different to the other students. I still thought that it was they who had the accent and my diction was pure. After six years of daily commuting to Nottingham, I moved there to live full time. I must have picked up a Nottingham “twang” as every time I returned to ‘Ucknall some wag would remark on the way I spoke. Even so, as far as I was concerned, I still spoke the way I always had done. Some years later, I made the move to the South of England. First to Kent and then to Surrey/Sussex. I immediately thought that the locals spoke with a very posh accent (sticking “r” into words where “r” has no right to be – barth, larff etc) and they immediately identified me as being a Northerner – they don’t differentiate between the Midlands (with Nottingham) - and the North. Six years in the South of England and it was time for me to move on again. I thought, before I left, that I would pay a visit to the old friends I had left behind in the Midlands (‘Ucknall, Nottingham and Leicester). That trip was something of a disaster. Several, who I thought of as friends, seemed remote, almost like strangers. The thing I noticed most was that they all had very strong Nottingham(ish) accents. How could that be? As far as I knew, my diction was the same as it had always been – the same as theirs. Without exception, all my old friends told me I had gone posh and chucked my roots away. I was now, in effect, stateless. My homeland of the Midlands told me I had gone Southern and dead posh and the Southerners still thought of me as a Northerner (and concomitantly dead common). It wasn’t with a heavy heart that I left England. I was depressed, yes, but that was in consideration of how my younger years seemed so fleeting and wasted. The start of my living in France was pretty uneventful (not so later on but that’s not the point of this thread). I make a UK trip every year or so (I still retain a house there) and during my recent visit over Christmas, I was frequently asked if I was French because of my accent. I tried to explain I don’t have an accent. The way I talk now is the way I’ve always talked – proper! As a rider to the above, the locals here and my staff as just beginning to accept me as being an honorary Frenchman. The final bit here is that I go down to the resorts a fair amount and it’s always interesting to eavesdrop on the jabbering of the tourists. Quite often I can be similarly be jabbering away in the local lingo and then suddenly interject their conversation with some English. More than once I have had the response “Ar yo’ frum Nottin-ghum?” 4 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
loppylugs 8,429 Posted January 16, 2018 Report Share Posted January 16, 2018 I guess we acclimatize to wherever we are. I heard of an Irishman who moved to New York. His wife couldn't join him until a year later. When she arrived she said to him, "Don't these people talk funny? To which he replied, "eye, tha do, but their getting better. You should have heard 'em when I first got here!" How does it work for immigration requirements into France? You mentioned you have a house in the UK. When I moved to the US from Canada I was told that I had to decide my place of residence. I could only live in the U S for six months and I would have to leave unless I applied for permanent residence. You could come back but you had to leave every six months. So I just applied for a green card. Made things a bit simpler. I'd sold my house in Canada so apart from visiting my kids I wasn't spending much time there. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jonab 1,644 Posted January 16, 2018 Report Share Posted January 16, 2018 The UK being in the EU makes a lot of difference in regard to residency. Leaving the EU also could make a difference to my national status - in which case I will take up French citizenship. I will still be able to own my English property but not live there more than a short time each year and I'm not sure what that is. I don't think the French authorities know yet, it depends on what Mrs May and her juddering government decide will happen to French nationals living in the UK. My big problem currently is a battle with the UK tax people. I get most of my income in the form of US dollars which is paid into UK offshore accounts in the Isle of Man. The HMRC want to tax me on my $ income at the full UK rate even though those accounts are used as a passing convenience and the UK is not legitimately losing anything. The loss to me would be quite substantial. I admit this is a rather silly arrangement but when it was made many years ago, I didn't intend taking up permanent residence here. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
colly0410 1,189 Posted April 5, 2018 Report Share Posted April 5, 2018 When I moved from Bestwood Village to Kirkby I noticed the accent was different & it was only a 7 miles move. When I moved from the Meadows to Bestwood Village I also noticed the accent change & I was only 14. Biggest change was when I was a kid & we moved from Meadows to Chester-le-Street, I couldn't tell a word they said when I first started school up there. Then when we moved back to the Meadows I had a thick Durham accent that took me years to lose... 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
letsavagoo 968 Posted June 24, 2018 Report Share Posted June 24, 2018 I think to some extent this has changed now but when I was younger my Radford accent was slightly different to say a Bulwell accent. They seemed very territorial. My wife's uncle born 1900 lived and died in Hyson Green had a lovely accent. I can hear him now when enquiring, "aye up Uncle John, how are yo" his reply 'I'm all rete". I certainly noticed a marked difference in the mid 1970's when I went to live and work in Hucknall where there was a distinct difference. I still ask "what's foh snap" picked up from Hucknall. Could have been influenced by miners from Newcastle and other parts of the country coming to wok at pit. Even today My grandsons live in Eastwood so I'm over there quite often and where as I say me-duck they will ask in a shop what do you want my duck. Always my duck. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
FLY2 10,109 Posted May 2, 2019 Report Share Posted May 2, 2019 On one of the Costas years ago, a group of us passed two Brit guys selling timeshares. One of them shouted to me 'You from Ilkeston ?' I yelled back 'Bugger off..... Basford ' . They laughed uncontrollably. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Andy D 7 Posted June 2, 2019 Report Share Posted June 2, 2019 Although I am originally from Yorkshire and believe that I have not lost my Yorkshire accent, I was talking to someone at work a few months ago and he asked me where in the East Midlands I was from. He guessed that it was probably Nottingham. I told him that I lived in Nottingham for 5 years and then Leicester for another 5 years. Incidentally I have a couple of friends where I now live in Bristol and I picked up their Leicester accent as soon as they spoke. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
LizzieM 9,539 Posted June 2, 2019 Report Share Posted June 2, 2019 At the first Parents Evening at Grammar School my English teacher asked if I’d had elocution lessons, which I hadn’t (parents couldn’t afford such things but they were beaming with pride that they’d taught their little girl to talk ‘proper’) When I got married at 25 (almost on the shelf in those days) I moved down south. Oxfordshire, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire then Hertfordshire. Our sons were born down there in the Home Counties and they have southern accents but I never changed my accent. It just seemed false to say ‘barth’, ‘parth’ etc. I remained ME. My husband is a Sussex boy originally, he still talks ‘posh’ as a few Nottingham friends have commented over the years. Does it really matter? All that’s important is that we can converse and communicate with anyone at all levels of society and I feel I am able to do that. I don’t like getting into arguments and disputes and would really rather observe and work people out from a distance but if something bothers me enough I’ll give ‘em some Nottingham speak. 4 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mary1947 2,107 Posted June 3, 2019 Report Share Posted June 3, 2019 Going on my husband's works Christmas party which was at Leeds we stayed with one of his work friends, oh! said Pat the mans wife you do speak well, I wish I had a Nottingham accent you really do sound nice when you talk. Now I did not know weather to believe her as coming from St Ann's I used to think that I used to speak lots of Nottingham slang like Lizzie M I had not had any elocution lessons. Growing Up in St Ann's always had a bit of a bad reputation about it (it was a lot to do with what papers and councils said + TV) people from St Ann's were all one big family I can now say that I'm proud to have lived and been brought up there. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jopip 31 Posted June 4, 2019 Report Share Posted June 4, 2019 Beat this one. We are having dinner in an up market hotel in Tropical north Queensland, (Port Douglas) being served by the waiter who I guessed was from the Midlands. I asked where he was from & he said "England" so I assume he thought I was Australian. I told him that I knew which Country but where exactly in England. He said "Guess" so I said either Nottingham or Leicester. He couldn"t believe it & said that he was from Nottingham. Next question; Where in Nottingham? He said "St Ann's" So I said" what Street." He told me he was from St Ann'swell Road which I'm not really familiar with but joking I said "which Number!" By now he's so shocked that he sits down! Then I informed him that I was originally from Bilborough which was even more amazing as he went to Bilborough College. The crowd around the table could not believe this conversation & that I could pick an accent from the other side of the world. We talked about the Palais & the Loccarno which of course he did not know on account of his age but said that his Mother had talked about those places. So I said "just think...I may have known your Mother!" My wife (smart arse) them pipped up "No! No! You might have known his grandmother!" Very funny my wife! 5 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BeestonMick 263 Posted April 6, 2022 Report Share Posted April 6, 2022 I’ve just watched “Newark, Newark” (Morgana Robinson - Australian) and have to say that the use of “duck” is wrong, it’s the same on “Bloods” (Jane Horrocks - born Rossendale Lancs) as well. I know I’ve lived away from the East Midlands for a long time but the word “duck” on it’s own is more Stoke on Trent than Nottingham. I always thought it was “meduck” in Nottingham, if you’re a purest? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
philmayfield 6,274 Posted April 6, 2022 Report Share Posted April 6, 2022 Newark’s been my local town for 60 years and I’ve never been called ‘duck’. Perhaps because I’m not endearing! 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
doodle 35 Posted April 6, 2022 Report Share Posted April 6, 2022 Somewhere I have a book (can't remember what it's called as I've had it years) which is to with Ilkeston and refers to ey up mi duck as a local saying & which according to my ancestry searches Ilkeston was originally in Derbyshire. The same with Stapleford. I had a great deal of bother searching for ancestors in Stapleford Nottingham only to find they were in Stapleford Derbyshire. So I would guess that HUMD was more local to Derbyshire? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Cliff Ton 10,547 Posted April 6, 2022 Report Share Posted April 6, 2022 My parents (born in Lenton/Radford and lived at Clifton) always spoke to each other as 'Duck'; they never used their real names and never said 'Meduck'. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Brew 5,480 Posted April 6, 2022 Report Share Posted April 6, 2022 The use of 'duck' and 'mi/me duck' were common expressions in my youth, but I don't think it's a particularly Nottingham expression. It was common in Derbyshire and throughout the North, also in London's east end, though they seemed to prefer the plural, as in; "ello ducks". I don't hear it so much now in Nottingham, perhaps due to the influence among the young of our huge student population. I've read that its origin is 'Ducas', an Anglo-Saxon expression of respect, no idea if it's true. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BeestonMick 263 Posted April 6, 2022 Report Share Posted April 6, 2022 I’ve not spoken with anyone from Nottingham for years, except for my sister who’s lived in Rearsby forever and was always a bit posh anyway, grammar school girl you see. It would be a shame if the colloquialisms died out. Incidentally, duck with a harsh ‘u’ I always associated with Stoke on Trent as in “ayup duck”, the Nottingham version “ayup meduck” was what I remembered especially from living in Papplewick/Hucknall and working at the ROF where they tended to have their own language anyway. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
benjamin1945 16,281 Posted April 6, 2022 Report Share Posted April 6, 2022 EY-UP Duck yo or rate ? EY-UP Brian...ye am ok Duck........ Normal Duck ? No Ta Duck....just a black coffee....... How much is this Cat Duck ? £3 Duck... Goo on then...i'll ey it............ EY-UP Jean...ya still love me Duck? No...never did....yo know that...... Any chance moving in we ya when Mrs chucks me out ? AY YA got any money? NO No chance then....... Nice ta see ya Ben And you mi Duck...... Buy ya Coffee next time Duck That'll be nice......Ben....ta ra Duck.......... Ta Ra Duck............ Normal converations in Bulwell......this morning........proper folk....... 5 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jill Sparrow 10,398 Posted April 6, 2022 Report Share Posted April 6, 2022 Duck is still very common in Derbyshire, as is nesh, tabs and a host of other sayings ascribed to Nottinghamshire. One that isn't, is smockravelled, meaning confused or bewildered. I confess, I do like that one and use it frequently. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
philmayfield 6,274 Posted April 6, 2022 Report Share Posted April 6, 2022 'Mate' seems to be the more prevalent form of address these days. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MRS B 572 Posted April 6, 2022 Report Share Posted April 6, 2022 I tell you what really annoys me when you go out for a meal and the waitress/waiter (serving person I guess, to be pc) says”Are you ready to order GUYS?” I really feel like saying “have you not noticed I’m female? Aghhhh Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Cliff Ton 10,547 Posted April 6, 2022 Report Share Posted April 6, 2022 I've noticed that as well but I think it may be one of those cases where language evolves over time - Guys has now become a word to address any group of people, regardless of whether they are male or female. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MRS B 572 Posted April 6, 2022 Report Share Posted April 6, 2022 Brew annoying though, I never assume, it’s always dangerous. I’m an evaluator of all situations and possible outcomes. Maybe comes from being in a planning environment for an airline for 30+ years where anything is possible. Mrs B Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DJ360 6,760 Posted April 7, 2022 Report Share Posted April 7, 2022 9 hours ago, Jill Sparrow said: Duck is still very common in Derbyshire, as is nesh, tabs and a host of other sayings ascribed to Nottinghamshire. One that isn't, is smockravelled, meaning confused or bewildered. I confess, I do like that one and use it frequently. Reminds me of 'Cross-Chockled', which as far as I can determine..has similar meaning, but derives from St Helens. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DJ360 6,760 Posted April 7, 2022 Report Share Posted April 7, 2022 5 hours ago, MRS B said: I tell you what really annoys me when you go out for a meal and the waitress/waiter (serving person I guess, to be pc) says”Are you ready to order GUYS?” I really feel like saying “have you not noticed I’m female? Aghhhh It's just an example of developing 'usage'. 'Guys' is now used as a term of address to a mixed group. I'm not taking sides on this, but I do think that mostly it is used as a more familiar and friendly term, as opposed to lazy or disrespectful. Personally, I'd use 'Ladies and Gentlemen', because it would sit better with my own age, and I'd use a mildly ironic inflection, gently mocking both myself and the 'punters'. But then I've always had a weird sense of humour. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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