O.T. : What Have We Done ... ?

[The Natural Philosopher]

Agreed on both counts.

And as for the dreadful Kirsty Wade..is she drunk all the time, or is she brain damaged..she slurs every word..

[Bob Mannix]

Eh? Of course we do - it's "a phenomenon" and "a number of phenomena" - I don't think anyone disputes that - what was the point you were making?

[Alang]

Only for french people. In English the 'h' i sounded

I suspect Cuventry is a local usage

I spent two years learning French at school in the 50s. Never met a frenchman until 1992. I can just about recall Je suis Tous et Vous et Quelle pillock!?

[Bob Mannix]

It is now but the (old-fashioned) and, some might say, "correct" prununciation, is without the "h". The fact that you do not think so merely underlies my point about the dynamics of langauage. It was certainly regarded as "correct", if posh, when I was a boy.

No, perhaps the opposite! Ditto my remarks above. The RP BBC guide pronunciation was "Cuventry" and that was "correct". I very much doubt that it is now! AFAICR the last time a BBC newsreader used "Cuventry" that I heard, was in the 1970's.

[Doctor Drivel]

There are lots of regional accents on TV, that is good thing, but many do not pronounce the words properly. There is the Geordie financial man on the TV news who can't pronounce "to"'s. That is a no, no. Northern Irish say "noi", not "now. Stephen Norris, top knob in the snotty Tory party, is a Liverpudlian with a Liverpool accent however all is pronounced correctly, so comes across very well. The accent is usually fine, except grating Northern Irish, which is difficult to understand for many - especially foreigners - as the best of times. I recall an American I know, only half understanding a Northern Irish presenter on TV, who spoke the words reasonably well.

This snotty uni man is clearly on about "accent", which to his small mind the only proper way to speak English is with a southern England snotty uni accent. When this bunch say Hawwwwlt instead of halt - and say they speak the correct way. Cheeky bastards.

Is estuary English Cockney?

[Doctor Drivel]

Pklease eff off as you are a plantpot.

[Roger]

The message from Dave contains these words:

It used to be said that the purist english could be heard in Edinburgh whose English roots are uncontaminated by French rule.

[Roger]

The message from John Rumm contains these words:

There is a subset of English that has strong French roots. Something to do with being ruled by a bastard William whose native language it was despite him being of Viking descent.

[Roger]

The message from PeterC contains these words:

I don't speak Welsh either but surely that should translate as Welsh water?

[Clive George]

Make your mind up. You said three or four messages ago you didn't feel RP was necessary, now you're back to saying it is.

[Alang]

It was regarded as trying to be french when I was a boy. There used to be a french onion seller who spoke with a geordie accent.

Probably just sloppy pronunciation

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Are you ever going to understand the difference between dialect and accent?

They're mostly reading it so you need to broaden your criticism.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

'Grammatically correct English' can be spoken in any accent. Having your preferred southern English one doesn't guarantee good English. Often quite the reverse. And the quality of the voice is yet something else which isn't a part of intelligence or education.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

That's nothing whatsoever to do with accent.

As may be any dialect. Or jargon.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Because you obviously think there is only one Scottish accent...

[Dave Plowman (News)]

As I said - trying to appear clever. Speech is basically to communicate with others. Your way restricts that communication to those with a good knowledge of a long dead language.

Of course it's not so long ago Latin was used by doctors to write prescriptions. Handy to prevent some patients knowing they were getting coloured water. Strikes me that's what you want.

[Arfa Daily]

You just can't resist pulling politics and class prejudice into it, can you. Everyone from the lowest educated council house kid to privileged public school kids go to university (not that dreadful Australian "uni" word) now, which if you had the faintest idea about the subject, you would, of course, know. Drivel by nic. Drivel by mouth. Empty-minded saddo ...

Arfa

[Arfa Daily]

No good trying to explain it to him John. Everybody has already had a good laugh at his inability to understand your subtle humour ... ;-)

Arfa

[Arfa Daily]

That's an interesting one. I live not far from Coventry, and I have never heard it pronounced that way. Any idea what the reason for that pronunciation is? Any connection to the word 'coven' maybe ?

Arfa

[John Rumm]

Just look at the mess people get into with using data as a singular... (rather than datum)