I have just come back from jolley old England. Had a great time etc etc, but 2 things struck me.
1- The amount of kids that just seem to walk down the street and smoke.
2- The amount of Eastern Europeans there are now in London. Seems that they have all uped sticks and moved to the UK.
Just really 2 things that struck me. Those of you that have been home, what has struck you thats different?
There are a huge amount of Eastern Europeans in Lincolnshire.
In and around London there are lots of immigrats from just about everywhere.
What struck me, the way everyone talks there.
Like little kids who cant say "th" and use "f" instead.
White people have accents you expect from black people. Not sure wether that's just because there are more black people in Croydon or just the whole place has melded into some new accent.
The stores still close way too early.
everyone in what was my local, still sits at the same stool, moaning about the same thing/people, with what appears to be the same amount of beer in the glass they had when I left )
Will let you know what I find in about a month Goose -
Flying back Wednesday...
What struck me, the way everyone talks there.
Like little kids who cant say "th" and use "f" instead.
White people have accents you expect from black people. Not sure wether that's just because there are more black people in Croydon or just the whole place has melded into some new accent.
I think that's just current trends in speech -it's just how it is here. Children's speech "impediments" are left uninterfered with until much later, and HipHop talk is cool. Or phat. Or however one says that these days ;)
In London, there was a tendency for little children to use "f" instead of "th" when I was growing up. Add to that, that 'h's "were omitted from words where they should be and added to words that should start with vowels, so a deep thinker might quote Descarte
"I fink, therefor high ham."
Another sentence that illustrated these tendencies is;
" 'ow 'umble high ham."
Of course, we thought that dialects from north of the North Circular Road were strange lol
What struck me, the way everyone talks there.
Like little kids who cant say "th" and use "f" instead.
White people have accents you expect from black people. Not sure wether that's just because there are more black people in Croydon or just the whole place has melded into some new accent.
I think that's just current trends in speech -it's just how it is here. Children's speech "impediments" are left uninterfered with until much later, and HipHop talk is cool. Or phat. Or however one says that these days ;)
Isn't it the same kind of thing here too?
A lot of my brother-in-law's mates are teenagers and use ebonics and try to sound black. I wouldnt try to sound like that myself, so 'foshizzle' 'y-e-a-h' and I'll keep drinking with my crunk cup!! :wink:
Teenagers are known throughout history to develop their own language just to go against adulthood and so their parents won't understand what they are saying. The fact that there is already a language there from a different culture just helps make it easier. Before the invention of the dictionary many new words that don't have an origin that came into the English language came from teenagers inventing them.
Wendy, I have noticed a few people here pronounce 'th' as 'f'. Not as many as you get back home mind you and one of them is a young man who is from England anyway lol
It's not just the little kids(as u would expect) or teens with their own speech back there though, it seems like everyone talks that way.
Well maybe it is the way the English language is heading, very sad all the same.
It's not just the little kids(as u would expect) or teens with their own speech back there though, it seems like everyone talks that way.
Well maybe it is the way the English language is heading, very sad all the same.
Why is it sad?
Sloppy speech = sloppy thoughts/attitudes/lifestyles. IMO, of course. wink
Unless you are Sacha Baron Cohen, an extremely talented, educated man, who has taken a particular genre of "Sloppy Speech" and made a gazillion bucks from it!
Debs x smile ( Who also finds the over-rapid degeneration of the English language to be a tad upsetting.)
We are heading back to UK for a couple of weeks shortly and it'll be interesting to see what differences will really stand out. I remember from previous returns from US that most people in UK seemed really grumpy.
I'm also expecting everything to appear smaller and 'quaint'. Does this mean I'm turning American? ???
Timbo
Sloppy speech = sloppy thoughts/attitudes/lifestyles. IMO, of course. :wink:
Yes, but is is considered sloppy if done on purpose?
One of the complaints I hear around here is the double negatives used by teenagers. Considered part of 'black' speech and wrong. Yet, double negatives were part of the English language until the academic world decided to introduce the mathematic approach of two negatives make a positive. Double negatives are used in many other languages but it is considered 'sloppy' and just plain 'wrong' in English today. Many youths today do it on purpose and enjoy using the double negative in speech. :)
Yes, but is is considered sloppy if done on purpose?
Do you mean for someone to do it to "fit in" to a particular section of society? Not necessarily. Consider the police's way of tracking and trapping internet predators.....they have to be perceived as being genuine, the real McCoy or the process would not work, so adopting internet slang is an absolute must, making it sound second nature is where the talent lies. Same goes for any of the undercover agencies and let us not forget that the reverse is also true.
One of the complaints I hear around here is the double negatives used by teenagers. Considered part of 'black' speech and wrong. Yet, double negatives were part of the English language until the academic world decided to introduce the mathematic approach of two negatives make a positive. Double negatives are used in many other languages but it is considered 'sloppy' and just plain 'wrong' in English today. Many youths today do it on purpose and enjoy using the double negative in speech. :)
Mmmmm......."I aint not gonna" and all that. Still sounds sloppy to me and I'm just a farm-raised northern lass!!! :wink:
Debs x :smile: