English usage

  • Oatcakes!

    Steve WoodsLanguage, Media

    Earlier this month, Staffordshire-based production team THE 7TH TOWN released its first feature length documentary called Oatcakes!

    It’s a film about local pride and the people of the Potteries directed by Robert Burns and produced by Toby DeCann.

    Local delicacy the Staffordshire oatcake (posts passim) features prominently in the film, as do the ales produced by Burslem’s Titanic Brewery (Edward Smith, captain of the ill-fated RMS Titanic, was born in Hanley. Ed.).

    There are fine renditions of the local accent too, as well as lessons in Potteries history, heritage and culture.

    It may be 1 hour and 45 minutes long, but if you have an interest in the food and/or people of the Potteries and North Staffordshire, it’s well worth watching.

  • Dark Ages Christmas cancelled at Poundland

    Steve WoodsBristol, Language, Media

    cards with wording hark the herald anglesLocal papers around the country, including the Bristol Post, have reported that budget retailer Poundland has withdrawn Christmas cards containing a basic spelling error.

    The cards themselves feature the words “Hark the Herald Angles“.

    Furthermore, The Independent also reports that Poundland was also selling Christmas decorations spelling out either “Merry Shristmas” or “Merry Christmay“.

    It is apparent that proof-reading costs far too much and would – if implemented – destroy Poundland’s profit margin on seasonal kitsch.

    Incidentally, the Angles of East Anglia, in the shape of the Wuffingas dynasty, were instrumental in the establishment of Christianity in England. Rædwald (who was buried in the ship burial at Sutton Hoo) was the first East Anglian king to be baptised in 604. His descendant King Anna (or Onna), who reigned from c. 636 – 654 AD, had several of his offspring canonised as saints: his son Jurmin and all his daughters – Seaxburh, Æthelthryth, Æthelburh and possibly a fourth, Wihtburh.

  • Travelodge produces guide to the West country accent

    Steve WoodsBristol, Language

    Alright me babber? Have you heard that hotel chain Travelodge has produced a guide to the West Country accent? The Gloucestershire Echo has.

    The Echo article has a brief list of common phrases – presumably from Travelodge’s publication – to help visitors get by in the West:

    • Alright me Babber: How are you?
    • Oldies: Holiday
    • Fotawl: Photograph
    • Pown: Pound (Money)
    • Safternun: This afternoon
    • Laters: See you later
    • My luvver: A term of endearment
    • Tiswas: Confused
    • Gurt lush: Really good
    • Babba: Baby

    Adge Cutler
    Adge Cutler – an archetypal West Country man
    The West Country accent is the third most popular in the country, according to research, behind the Geordie and Yorkshire accents (don’t tell my Lancastrian brother-in-law! Ed.).

    One noticeable omission from the glossary above is ‘daps‘, Bristolian dialect for those shoes used for PE in schools, otherwise known as plimsolls or pumps. Bristolians also use the term to describe trainers.

    The research also found that people who speak in West Country accents are less likely to be able to understand the accents of other people from elsewhere in Britain than they could understand Spanish or Italian. Curious (Blige! As one would say in Bristol. Ed.).

    My copy of the Oxford Companion to the English Language, published 20 years ago, says the following about West Country accents:

    The range of accents in the West Country extends from broad in the working-class and in rural areas through accents modified towards RP in the town and the lower middle class to RP proper in the middle and upper classes. Local speech is rhotic, with a retroflex /r/ in such words as rap, trip and r-coloured vowels in words such as car/cart. Postvocalic /r/ is widely retained in such cities as Bristol and Exeter, despite the influence of RP, which is non-rhotic. In other cities, such as Plymouth and Bournemouth, rhoticity varies. Traces of variable r-pronunciation are found as close to London as Reading and Berkshire.

    The entry then goes on to deal extensively with local grammar, vocabulary and the literary West Country.

    Hat tip: Yelena McCafferty.

  • Bristol opens Europe’s first speech lab for non-native English speakers

    Steve WoodsBristol, Language, Tech

    Earlier this week Bristol University announced the opening in Bristol of Europe’s first speech laboratory designed to break down communication barriers faced by those who speak English as a second language.

    microphone and recording equipmentIn a linguistically diverse society, with many people speaking English as their second language, researchers at Bristol University are pioneering a new approach to help understand how factors such as accent influence communication.

    The speech lab, which is funded by the European Commission through a four-year €100,000 Marie Curie grant, uses state-of-the-art audio technology to capture and analyse second language speech samples and to train people to assess the speech in a purpose-built environment.

    The insights gained will then be used to train those who speak English as a second language and also to improve the teaching of English by targeting the elements of speech most likely to achieve successful communication.

    Dr. Talia Isaacs, Director of the Second Language Speech Lab, conducts research at the lab as part of a research programme with international collaborators to identify aspects of speech that are most important for engaging in effective communication when English is not the speaker’s primary language.

    general view of speech labShe said: “Reducing language barriers is a pressing social and educational challenge, especially in countries like the UK where the linguistic palette is very rich.

    “Improving oral communication skills for non-native English speakers will help with many aspects of everyday life – from success in the workplace and in education to improving social integration and accessing vital services.

    “Although accents are very noticeable to listeners and may lead to social stereotyping, someone who sounds different is not necessarily communicating ineffectively. In fact, a whole host of factors, such as pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary, contribute to the successful transmission of a message. So we often need to listen beyond the accent.

    “Research conducted at the lab will enable us to study the linguistic factors that contribute to breakdowns in communication in greater depth and identify ways to mitigate these.”

    By way of an example, future research could collect data from GP consultations, where either the doctor or the patient is speaking English as a second language. This could help to ensure such consultations are conducted with greater clarity.

    Furthermore, there could be instances where engineers from various countries are collaborating on a joint project and there’s a need to ensure that everyone fully understands each another and can communicate their findings effectively.

  • The British pub – undergoing gastration?

    Steve WoodsBristol, Language, Oddities

    I’m a great lover of no-frills, working-class pubs. They’re what I grew up with and frequented when I first started drinking. Indeed I still give them my custom and can often be found at the Little Russell in Barton Hill, Bristol (posts passim).

    One worrying development in recent years is the rise of the ‘gastropub‘.

    Eagle_Gastropub_Clerkenwell_2005
    The Eagle, Clerkenwell, London, reputed to be the first victim of gastration. Picture courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
    The term gastropub is a portmanteau of gastronomy and pub, and originated in the United Kingdom in the late 20th century. The establishment itself is defined as ‘a bar and restaurant that serves high-end beer and food‘.

    My Bristol Wireless colleague Rich has devised the verb ‘to gastrate‘ to describe the phenomenon of converting boozers to gastropubs. I would define the verb as follows:

    gastrate (v.) – to ruin a perfectly good pub by converting it to sell small, overpriced portions of food.

    See also: gastration (n).

    The process of gastration is also being actively encouraged by the media, as shown in a piece last week on the Bristol Post website.

    Will traditional drinkers soon be struggling to find traditional boozers if this trend continues?

  • Overshare: Chambers word of the year

    Steve WoodsLanguage, Social Media, Tech

    speech bubble with speechLanguage is dynamic, constantly mutating and changing. One sign of this dynamism is the appearance of neologisms, i.e. newly coined word, or phrases or familiar words used in a new sense.

    There are plenty of neologisms in evidence in this year’s Chambers Dictionary annual search for its word of the year, many prompted by or associated with information technology.

    Chambers has this week announced that overshare is its word of the year for 2014, The Guardian reports.

    “Overshare” topped a shortlist compiled by the Chambers editorial board, which included “bashtag”, defined as “a hashtag used for critical or abusive comments”, and “digital native” – “a person who has learned to use computers as a child”.

    And the meaning of overshare? To reveal an inappropriate amount of detail about one’s personal life.

  • Stephen Williams MP caused by Al Qaeda – Post exclusive

    Steve WoodsBristol, Language, Media, Oddities, Politics

    It’s not very often the Bristol Post manages to come up with an exclusive, but today’s online edition proved a winner on that score.

    The text below was concealed in a letter to Post from reader Stephen Farthing:

    THE news of 15-year-old girl Yusra Hussien leaving Bristol to become a supporter of IS, allegedly, is a worrying outcome and I echo what Stephen Williams said, that such an objective is not only foolish but profoundly unwise.

    In some ways, what Al Qaeda started in 2001 has produced many problems of his kind.

    Yes, you did read that correctly: “problems of his kind“, i.e. problems like him, if you prefer to paraphrase.

    image of Stephen Williams MPThe Post has exclusively revealed that Bristol West MP Stephen Williams is a problem that has been caused by Al Qaeda, an organisation never before known for its links to the UK’s Liberal Democratic Party, let alone elected members thereof.

    Perhaps Mr Williams would care to comment on his links to Al Qaeda below; or alternatively perhaps the Post could employ a little more care when publishing reader’s letters where a lost or missing consonant can give a phrase a whole new meaning.

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